Breakfast when you're not hungry?

So glad to find this post as this was exactly my question this morning.:huh: I DIDN'T eat breakfast with hubby today at the crack of dawn as usual and had a better walk time then ever, and finally ate after my shower. Could this make for a better workout too(granted I only walk at a slow pace)??? Any of you more athletic folks have an answer. I'm kinda thinking eat when hungry and there is no set rule, take it day by day??? BTW always looking for knowledgeable motivating friends to add :flowerforyou:

It depends on your workout. Walking, even at brisk pace, you probably don't need fuel immediately before. I found the only time eating before a workout helped instead of hindered is when I run more than five miles. Unless it's an extremely strenuous, long lasting workout, skipping breakfast won't make any difference other than you might not feel slogged down.

I agree. This is what I've always read and been taught.

Breakfast doesn't mean you have to eat the minute you wake up. I do Shakeology for my breakfast meal because I'm not that hungry yet. Even protein in coffee would help. Eating or having a healthy boost for breakfast DOES speed up your metabolism though. That is why when you eat early you are hungry more often. This is why people are able to eat small meals throughout the day rather than large meals where they over-eat. The end result being significantly better because as you read in most fitness magazines "6 small meals or snacks a day is better than 3 large ones." We were even taught in the military starting in bootcamp to do that. We didn't come out tiny from lack of food or too much exercise. Fueling your body throughout the day helps you to have better workouts even if it is just a handful of nuts for protein.

But why??? Please state why eating breakfast is better for you?
And why is being hungry more often better?
And why are 6small meals better for you? Just because thats what you have readin fitness magazines doesnt make it true. Remember they write articles to sell magazines and they never give a balanced argument they look at scientific studies and pick out the results they wnt to use to prove their point.

Please dont reply with the 'scientific survey' that concluded that non breakfast eaters eat more calories later in the day because there is another which states that other non breakfast eaters tend not to eat back the calories missed from that meal. It comes down to will power if you miss breakfast and dont want to snack later you wont if you convince yourself that by missing it you will snack then hey Ho you will snack.

And in the military it is very different to real life, in real life you know most of your days plans and you know when you have time to eat and what you wil be getting and how much, when I was in training it was a case of eat as and when you can and eat as much as you can. Some lads were consuming 4000-5000 calories plus per day, now I wouldnt recommend that to many people would you? (they werent gaining)

In my experience it is down to personal preference. If you dont feel like breakfast then dont eat if you are hungry in the morning then eat. But not eating breakfast doesnt affect my training.

Finally, the point you make about boosting metabolism...
'There may be benefits to manipulating meal frequency and eating the same amount of food more often or less often, but metabolic rate is not one of them. There is no evidence to support the idea that multiple meals increases metabolic rate' sition. Am J Clin Nutr. (2008)
Weinsier RL, et al. (1995)
Saris WH. (1998)
Farshchi HR, Taylor MA, Macdonald IA.. (2004)
Farshchi HR, Taylor MA, Macdonald IA.. (2005)

This morning I woke up not hungry. I know it's important to eat breakfast every day. Is it better to force feed myself something or is it better to only eat when you're hungry? (Sidebar: I ended up force-feeding myself a hard-boiled egg just so I would have some protein in my belly to start the day)

Only eat when you are hungry.

Missing breakfast (if your not hungry that is) is brilliant for weight loss.

When you wake in the morning your body has been in a state of fast, the longer you can go without needing to eat the more your body will be burning body fat as fuel.

That being said if you have a relatively high carb diet, WHEN you get hungry do eat, as your body may not be as efficient at converting your stored body fat and may look to other sources (lean mass) for the liver to convert into glycogen.

If you're on a relatively low carb diet and are efficient at burning ketones for fuel - don't sweat it just eat when you're hungry.

Good luck.

I love all of what this guy said!

It is not important to eat breakfast. Don't force yourself to eat ever.

Welll I usually exercise in the morning and I feel I would die without the energy from my breakfast to keep me going
I hate missing breakfast

I don't think breakfast is important - haven't really eaten it for a year plus and have done fine losing weight.

On the other hand, I also don't think not eating breakfast is some magic bullet that will "keep you in burning fat mode".

The only advantage is personal preference. If you aren't hungry in the morning, you don't have to eat, thus you can eat more later so it is easier to sustain your caloric deficit. No magic bullets either way.

I think that most people who do not eat breakfast end up overeating or binging later in the day. Mornings I just want my coffee so I take my breakfast to work and eat when I get there. If I wait until lunch, then I am too hungry to enjoy my food plus the stomach growling can be very uncomfortable or painful if left too long. Breakfast can be something light. I have yogurt, berries, and bran buds most days. If not, a cereal bar would be my second choice.

I think that most people who do not eat breakfast end up overeating or binging later in the day.

No. Everyone is different. You can't extrapolate from one data source (yourself.) There are plenty of people on the forums who break fast later in the day. Now I do eat breakfast, but it's high protein and fat which keeps me from overeating later in the day. Someone else might do much better eating cereals. Yet another person might need to save those calories for later in the day.

To the OP: I wouldn't force yourself to eat first thing. May be grab that egg to eat later, if you're having problems with timings. As for only eating when hungry - there's hungry and then there's hungry. If you're waiting until you're shaking and nauseous, that's bad. Wait until you feel "yeah, I could eat now". I'm afraid getting your diet right is a bit of trial and error, but you will figure it out eventually!

(ETA: too many commas as usual. Sheesh!)