I'm ditching breakfast...

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GretaGirl8
GretaGirl8 Posts: 274 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have been whining about how my weight has gone up a couple of pounds and not settled back down in over a month! I've accepted it is real weight gain and not a passing fluctuation. So, what have I been doing differently? At first, I couldn't think of anything signficant. But, to be honest, there is one thing...I started to eat breakfast (though a small, nutrient packed one). I think those extra two-hundred calories and the resulting "hunger" I get mid-morning from eating it--resulted in weight gain. I know that sounds strange (why eating breakfast would make me hungrier). It does. So, I am taking breakfast off the menu.

I guess I thought since it was a small amount (and I thought I was accomodating elsewhere in my daily menu) I had it figured out. clearly, I did not. no other explanation for the weight gain other than too many calories.
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Replies

  • GretaGirl8
    GretaGirl8 Posts: 274 Member
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    okay, this is partly a shamless bump of my post. but wondering if anyone else doesn't eat breakfast and if eating breakfast makes others more hungry as well.

    another thought about my weight gain. i am so stupid i didn't recognize this earlier. i have recently been ordering my tea with an inch of steamed soy milk. i drink A LOT of tea. obviously, I am not there measuring the amount of soy they are adding. i could easily be getting an extra 100-200 calories a day from topping off my tea with soy milk. such an idiot!
  • jennibear22
    jennibear22 Posts: 95 Member
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    If you are still in a calorie deficit each day - then no - eating a healthy breakfast is not causing you to put on weight. Maybe open your diary so people can take a look and see if it is something else you are doing?

    You say it makes you hungry - maybe make sure you eat a lot of protein and slow release carbs in your breakfast, then a healthy snack at around 11am.
  • MostlyWater
    MostlyWater Posts: 4,294 Member
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    I'm not a huge breakfast fan but I find I work out better when I eat. I don't like traditional breakfast foods either.

    You have to do what works for you.
  • Nice2BFitAgain
    Nice2BFitAgain Posts: 319 Member
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    There you go - you just found ~ 400 extra calories per day in your diet. That will definitely hinder weight loss progress, assuming that is all you are logging incorrectly then that's all you need to fix... do you log accurately with weighing solids and measuring liquids? If not, that'll help you too.

    There are tons of threds on MFP that expand on the eating breakfast. Many do not. Try a search.

    Good luck with meeting your goals!
  • scraver2003
    scraver2003 Posts: 528 Member
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    I don't eat breakfast on the weekends! I just get up, sip my coffee, do things around the house. I often don't eat until noon or sometimes even later. On the weekdays I do eat b-fast b/c I am getting up earlier and going to work. But I find no b-fast on the weekends helps me fit in the "treats" on the weekends. Breakfast is over rated.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    Yes, breakfast makes some people hungrier:
    http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/08/17/eating-breakfast.aspx
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/995886-eating-breakfast-is-making-me-hungrier
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/599373-if-i-eat-breakfast-i-get-hungry?hl=breakfast+hungrier

    Yes, a lot of people around here skip it, for various reasons.

    Yes, you the added milk in your tea could be wiping out your deficit if you're not accounting for it.
  • gclauson
    gclauson Posts: 26 Member
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    Some days i do (most days) but if i'm not hungry, i dont eat, aside from some cream in my coffee. i am an early lunch guy though (11 AM). Lots of times i just have a scoop of muscle milk (150 calories) for breakfast. If i do eat breakfast, its a couple eggs, or egg beaters, or a fiber one bar and 2 servings of fruit, usually a few strawberries and an orange.
  • OkamiLavande
    OkamiLavande Posts: 336 Member
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    The only times I eat "breakfast" are school days and that's more like lunch because I've already been awake since 4:30AM.

    Other than that I don't eat breakfast because it makes me hungry. I'll usually have unsweetened, plain tea or coffee with a bit of creamer in the morning but nothing beyond that because any solid food in the morning makes me starving about an hour after I eat and I find it makes me eat more throughout the day. It just depends on your body and how it functions most effectively I guess.

    I don't like breakfast all that much unless I have a long trip ahead, then I eat breakfast.
  • GretaGirl8
    GretaGirl8 Posts: 274 Member
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    If you are still in a calorie deficit each day - then no - eating a healthy breakfast is not causing you to put on weight. Maybe open your diary so people can take a look and see if it is something else you are doing?

    You say it makes you hungry - maybe make sure you eat a lot of protein and slow release carbs in your breakfast, then a healthy snack at around 11am.

    yes, i think you have a point with the protein comment. my breakfast now is All Bran cereal (.5 cup) and I mix it with an apple sauce cup...lots of carbs. I like the bran because it is amazing high in dietary fiber...but maybe i can rework it somewhere in a different meal.

    i know, my diary is closed. i truly do keep track of my eating but don't always log it into MFP. many times I keep handwritten notes of my intake and just google the calorie content if I don't know it. It would probably be beneficial to start logging religiously.
  • jwooley13
    jwooley13 Posts: 243
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    I feel the same way - without breakfast I naturally get a little hungry right around noon - and I eat. If I do eat breakfast (yes, something with lots of protein like a quest bar), I find myself ravenous by the time noon rolls around and I overeat. So, I decided to stop eating breakfast and sticking with coffee until I get hungry. It works for me and then I have room for a snack in the afternoon so that I can push dinner a little later.
  • a_stronger_me13
    a_stronger_me13 Posts: 812 Member
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    It's called intermittent fasting. I do it. A lot of people do.

    Meal frequency and timing are purely preferential. Just have to find an eating schedule that allows you to stay in a calorie deficit. Makes losing weight a whole lot easier. But, no, it's not the act of eating breakfast that is making you gain weight or not lose weight, you're simply consuming too many calories in general during the day.
  • a_stronger_me13
    a_stronger_me13 Posts: 812 Member
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    Also, if you're not weighing solids and measuring liquids and logging daily, then you aren't even remotely accurate in your tracking.
  • SoulReckoning
    SoulReckoning Posts: 48 Member
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    I eat low carb. I just have coffee for breakfast. Then I eat a low-carb lunch around 1, then dinner. I'm not hungry in between meals, and my blood sugar stays pretty level throughout the day. So, it works well for me. I don't crash around 3 o'clock like I used to and I feel good enough to lift weights when I get home. Just experiment without breakfast for a couple weeks and see if you weight goes back down. Good luck!
  • JustSomeEm
    JustSomeEm Posts: 20,210 MFP Moderator
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    I don't usually eat breakfast because like you, I get hungry because of it. Lately, though, I've been having some fruit to eat. It's helped me push my lunch to a little later (I usually eat around 11:00 and then am starving by dinner). There is nothing wrong with not eating until you're hungry. :)
  • GretaGirl8
    GretaGirl8 Posts: 274 Member
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    thank you, everyone, for your comments. i think i am going to drop breakfast for a week and skip asking for soy milk in my tea. i think i will just add a little milk instead (that way I have control over how much actually gets added)...and see where that takes me.
  • Uba31
    Uba31 Posts: 14 Member
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    A high protein, low calorie breakfast helps me personally with junk food cravings. When I eat in the morning, I'm usually good until lunch time and I don't even think about junk food around mid-afternoon slump. My body is definitely trained after several months of portion control using weight watchers and mfp.

    Chances are it's not that you are eating breakfast that's making you gain weight, it's what you are eating period. Look at the other things in your food like carbs, sugar and sodium. You may be making your calories, but skyrocketing in the other areas. There are a lot of things to factor in... cutting out breakfast totally is the last step I would take in trying to lose weight.
  • cbirdso
    cbirdso Posts: 465 Member
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    I always eat breakfast (lunch, dinner, and snacks) but I find that if I don't log, my weight creeps up (like 1 pound every 3 months) from not paying attention to that extra beer or that extra snack or that extra helping that I tend to do on a daily basis. So my thoughts are for you to log your calories on days WITH breakfast and days WITHOUT breakfast and do a compare and contrast of calories, protein levels, etc. You might find that you are indeed going over calories on the days you eat breakfast.

    That being said, they say it is healthier to eat breakfast rather than not, and for me, I feel like crap if I don't, but I know lots of people who don't like to eat breakfast and they are healthy. If it works better for you, than I would go with that.
  • MSLUC
    MSLUC Posts: 30
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    I have found that the time of day that I eat isn't as important as WHAT I eat. Four or five small balanced meals certainly work better than three big ones, if your goal is weight loss. Try adjusting the time you eat and fool your brain into not thinking it's time to eat. Changing times does help.
  • I_Will_End_You
    I_Will_End_You Posts: 4,397 Member
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    I stopped eating breakfast a few weeks ago because I prefer having a slightly larger lunch.
  • GretaGirl8
    GretaGirl8 Posts: 274 Member
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    Also, if you're not weighing solids and measuring liquids and logging daily, then you aren't even remotely accurate in your tracking.

    ugh...no, i don't weigh solids. i do measure food (with the exception of the soy milk topper to my tea). I know that isn't the same as weighing. My bran cereal says 80 calories per half cup...i measure and log that. my packet of tuna says 70 calories. I log the 70 calories--but do not weigh it. vegetables I measure and don't weigh. I measure my dressing for my salad. soup I take at face value--whatever the can states (I eat no salt added soup, btw). I log large eggs as 70 calories per egg. my popcorn states it is 100 calories per minibag...i log accordingly. Do you think these measurements need weighing? how off do you think they are? i am wondering if i can just add X amount of misc calories everyday to cover the potential descrepencies.

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