Not hungry...don't want to eat

Breakfast is THE most important meal of the day for the main reason it gets your body going & speeds up metabolism. I used to get sick if I ate within the first 6 hours of waking up, but at the behest of my family (3 personal fitness trainers, master nutritionalist & PT) I started small: 1 cup of yogurt. Then I added some fruit. Now, if I don't eat within 1 hour of waking up I feel sick! You have to eat, even if it's just something small & simple like a small apple, handful of grapes or even a slice of toast or corn tortilla. All are less than 100 cals & won't kill your cal count for the day (if you like yogurt, Yoplait has some great fat-free flavours that are 100-110 cals each). :flowerforyou:

I know everyone here will have their own opinions, so I'll just reply with what I have experienced myself in the last few months. I'm 60-100lbs over weight (depends on how I look and feel once I get past the 60lb mark), and got this heavy by "starving' myself most days, then over eating on the days that I was actually feeling hungry. I don't have any eating disorders, just a general lack of appetite from not eating enough. Threw my body into major starvation mode....

Being "not hungry" was the number one biggest road block to my losing weight. I've been eating far too little for too many years. It seriously messed up my metabolism. My personal trainer suggested that I try to eat to 2000 calories a day (mini-meals every 2-3hrs) for a while to boost up my metabolism, which in turn would cause me to lose weight. So far I have rarely made it to 2000 calories, but the act of eating so much more than normal and on a semi regular schedule has helped me quite a lot. After about a month of eating this way, my metabolism is slowly getting up to speed. I am still rarely hungry, I have had a few days of being hungry when it was time for me to eat.

I typically have to choke down my breakfast on most days, but after that the rest of the day goes pretty good. I have learned that skipping breakfast really decreases my appetite for the rest of the day, which is my original problem. I would heartily suggest trying to make sure you eat your breakfast. Even if it is a fairly small meal. I eat 4 egg whites and a tomato almost every morning. Its low cal, but good protein and definitely helps me keep a decent appetite through out the day. I also probably spend 20-30mins eating my breakfast. This is when I get online and log in to MFP, check my emails and such....but eating it slowly helps me not feel too bad from eating. I do think that skipping meals, especially a decent breakfast will likely do more harm than good.

I lowered my own calorie goal to 1800 since that seemed a more reasonable number for me to attain. But my food diary is open if you want to see it. The last two weeks have been pretty stressful so I wasn't doing all that great in the food and exercise department.

Good luck

That used to be my problem.. I skipped meals constantly, and I now know that doing that was my downfall. I was never a big breakfast eater, either, until I started letting myself wake up enough. I don't eat breakfast until I've been up for about an hour to an hour and a half during the week. Once my body got used to that, things changed. Now, I HAVE to eat breakfast!! But even so, I rarely eat more than 3/4 cup cereal and a yogurt...and Coffee, of course... HAVE to have that!!

I'll agree and chime in. Also had trouble eating breakfast. I have low thyroid and it takes a while to wake up in the a.m. so I see nothing wrong with eating 1 1/2 hours after I'm awake. As long as I eat something as soon as i can and don't wait til lunch. Make lunch a little later if i can't eat first thing in the a.m.
The first thing I did that REALLY made eating in the a.m. more feasible - make a deadline for eating at night. I can't always keep it because I also don't get in all my calories everyday and I have min calories 1200 and max calories 1500 daily. If I am under 1200 I have to eat a little at night to make sure I don't go under.
Figure min and max will change as I go along -- those are based on my age and weight now.
But if i make a good effort I usually don't have to eat at night and when I feel hungry at night and I have gotten all calories in, I drink water and the hunger goes away, so that might parallel those who have found drinking water helps.
I am now sometimes hungry in the a.m. and sometimes I eat morning snack 1 1/2 hours or so after awakening if I find I am not hungry or forget to eat in the early a.m.
I also favor yogurt, sometimes some natural cereal with a little soy milk, sometimes sprouted bread with nut butter of some kind, usually a small meal or snack with some protein and/or fiber gets me going. I love to put fresh berries in the yogurt or cereal... it's an extra treat and gives you a burst of antioxidants in the a..m!
If I have forgotten breakfast (often on those days I'm not hungry because I ate too late), I try to eat something as soon as I do get hungry and that sometimes is a protein bar or natural bar that I have in my desk, fruit from the cafeteria, etc. I also keep some yogurt in work frig as often as I can. Nuts or trial mix can be good, but I have to portion them out to a single serving so I don't nibble.
All the studies seem to show that people who skip breakfast are much more likely to be overweight and obese. I don't think skipping breakfast is the cause, but it is a symptom, and by fixing it, I help my metabolism get the message, go, metabolism, go, we gots things to do...
want to live a long time and do a lot of stuff, don't want to check out early after prolonged illness...
so for me it was cut off food earlier in the evening
drink water
and
make easy healthy foodplan-conforming breakfasts and a.m. snacks available ....

Are you eating too late at night? Try not eating anything after 7 or 8 pm. Then you're more likely to wake up hungry... Just an idea!

Definitely wasn't a morning eater. Naturally. Never have been. And skipping breakfast, which I wanted to do anyway, was the easiest way for me to hit my calorie budget-- eating barely anything for breakfast (or usually nothing), meant I had all those cals to use up in the evening when I had a strong appetite. When "dieting", it's so much harder to eat more in the morning, knowing that's maybe 250-400 cals I can't have later in the day when I really want them! BUT that's the wrong way to go about it. I hate to say it and hated to believe it myself.

That being said, I started eating breakfast every day as soon as I took my health and fitness seriously. In order to lose the weight I want and get in shape like I used to be, it will be a permanent, life-long change. Shedding the bad habits I developed in grad school, including eating more sweets and eating more at night, and skipping breakfast has to be a permanent part of that change.

I tried to begin adjusting my habits generally and easily, without too much commitment, lots of leeway for being an imperfect human. that went on for months. Then I got really commited. It took time, but when I was really ready, I completely knew. That was June 10- about a month ago, and I've been totally committed since. It feels great.

Now that I've been eating breakfast every day for a month (plus those months of trying to off and on) I am really hungry in the morning and want to eat! My metabolism have corrected! I'm actually pretty excited about this.

This morning was a great example- it was the first time I was late to work and I HATED not eating! I had to have a balance bar when I finally got the chance and I really didn't like waiting. AMAZING how much that's changed!