breakfast - to eat or not?

Breakfast does not "boost" your metabolism. Any time you eat food you require energy to process/digest the food, but this is essentially a percentage of what's eaten. Whether you eat X amount of food over 6 meals or eat it in 2 meals the difference in thermic effect is basically negligible.

Now, breakfast may have a profound effect on your dietary compliance, but that can go both ways. There are people who prefer to skip (delay may be a better term) breakfast because in doing so they have an easier time adhering to their calorie intake. There are also people who experience better satiation throughout the day by eating breakfast (eating breakfast basically makes it easier for them to not overeat later in the day).

Consequently, this is one of those topics where "do what's best for you" really makes the most sense.

can we just make a sticky thread with this as the one and only post?

Whether or not do eat is up to you. Personally, I usually wake up starving so I can hardly wait to get my hands on food in the morning. Really, what I have found works best is consistency. Eat the same size meals at the same times of day whether you are working or it's your day off. I have had a couple different life schedules so far (everything from getting up at 5am to, a few years later, working a job until 2am and going to bed at 4am). I have found that once I settled into a routine, my body adjusts and 90% of the time I will start to get hungry only when "meal times" are approaching. Just my two cents.

The MFP will allow you to track your calorie intake, but the timing of the meals are also important. A 1000 calorie meal in the morning and a 1000 calorie meal before bedtime aren't the same. The morning meal can be burned off as energy throughout the day, and the bedtime meal stores it as fat. So, my advice would be don't eat a lot if you're going to bed soon. As far as snacks, almonds and pistachios work good for me, tasty and filling. Do watch the labels as you will know how much you're taking in. It won't be easy, but stay the course. Believe you can do it, and you will.

Your body only stores calories as fat if you exceed the number of calories you burn off. When you eat those calories is up to you. Your body won't store food as fat just because you ate close to bedtime.

The MFP will allow you to track your calorie intake, but the timing of the meals are also important. A 1000 calorie meal in the morning and a 1000 calorie meal before bedtime aren't the same.

People have GOT to stop spreading this ridiculous "fact". A calorie is a calorie is a calorie. It doesn't matter if you eat it at 1 in the morning or 1 in the afternoon. Ask any competent, trained dietician and they'll tell you so.

For every person who tells you you really should eat breakfast, there will be someone else who tells you you don't need to!

The bottom line is - if eating breakfast works for you - go for it.
If it doesn't, then don't worry - just do what works.

I too get super hungry after eating in the morning, and I eat too much. I'm out of calories by mid afternoon, so I end up over my allowance and have to sit on the exercise bike before bed to work them off again :-(

If I don't eat breakfast - I have an early lunch instead (11.30) and know that I can have a substantial evening meal. When I do it this way, I usually have calories left at the end of the day for a snack.

I also felt that I should eat breakfast and persevered for months, but I'm just about to let it go and I feel happier already.

Better to do things your way if they work rather than the 'right' way and fail.

Good luck :-)

I have always been one to skip breakfast most of my life. But I have been forced into it now (due to medical issues) but I can't face it for several hours after waking.
I wake up at 7am and eat breakfast at 10ish (sometimes 11), then lunch at 1 and dinner at half 6. The worst time for me is afternoons, especially at work.
But I know what you mean about starting off your hunger, that is spot on!!! That is why I wait as long as I think is reasonable and not too far from lunch that I am tempted to munch again before it.

One more thing to add is that I always stay away from toast, it has way more calories than cereal and doesn't even start to make me full.

Wow, thanks for al the help and advice. Think I'll go with what my body tells me and eat when I'm hungry. I will also keep reading and listening to advice given to me by fellow MFP users.

Still feeling nervous but optimistic. I have entered my details and have been given 1247 calories a day (arghhh!!!) this is going to be a large shock to the system.

I have tried many diets/healthy eating plans in the past and have never succeeded for more than a few weeks then i gain whatever iv lost plus a stone on top. I feel so unhealthy and need to do this for me and my family. They are all worried I am killing myself with food, which I suppose they are right but I cant see the light at the end of the tunnel.

If you can stick to that calorie level that's great - if not don't be afraid to up it a bit. Better to find something you can stick to long term, and lose slowly - than initially lose loads, but not be able to keep it up (and feel bad when you give up). My level is set to 1200 and mostly I can stick to that, but I sometimes up it to 1400 if I'm struggling for a while.
Even when I get to my limit for the day I will eat something if I'm genuinely hungry (rather than boredom or thirst) but I choose something healthy - otherwise I end up eating rubbish later.

Breakfast is not only the most important meal of the day, but it is also a double edged sword.

On the one hand, If you skip it, you will be much hungrier later.

On the other hand, Eating a big breakfast will keep you from snacking mid day.

The best answer is to eat small meals all day long. And when you say breakfast it doesn't have to be traditional (eggs, toast, cereal, etc). You can have pasta or beans or nuts or salad.

Breakfast does not "boost" your metabolism. Any time you eat food you require energy to process/digest the food, but this is essentially a percentage of what's eaten. Whether you eat X amount of food over 6 meals or eat it in 2 meals the difference in thermic effect is basically negligible.

Now, breakfast may have a profound effect on your dietary compliance, but that can go both ways. There are people who prefer to skip (delay may be a better term) breakfast because in doing so they have an easier time adhering to their calorie intake. There are also people who experience better satiation throughout the day by eating breakfast (eating breakfast basically makes it easier for them to not overeat later in the day).

Consequently, this is one of those topics where "do what's best for you" really makes the most sense.

I couldn't agree more, with everything said here. I work weird mid shifts, most days, and "delay" breakfast, until most might eat lunch. Lunch later in afternoon.. It is a matter of finding what works for you and your special circumstances. I , like others say, snack on nuts, KIND or Luna bars, or serving of trail mix. I Also bring in Greek yogurt , fruit or Cut up veggies and low fat dip ,and keep them in fridge at work, for Quick snacks when I only have a short 15 min. break.

You've gotten some great advice already. I definitely agree with what SideSteel said on breakfast.

I wanted to respond a little to the problem of conflicting advice (which you've also gotten here, and will whenever you post something in the forums), which I know can be a stressor when you may already feel like you aren't sure what to do.

Weight loss is one of those things where so many people (often people who just talked to their doctor once or read fitness or women's magazines or bought some recent diet book or just who lost weight themselves) think they are experts and have pet theories on how things must be done. (And maybe I'm doing the same thing, heh.)

I'll just say that consistency and sticking with a program is what really matters, as well as of course the program being decent to start with. You've chosen MFP, which IS a good program, so you'll want to maximize your ability to be consistent and stick with it. IMO, the easiest way to do that, at least at first, is don't over-complicate it. If you follow the program--eat at a calorie deficit--you will lose weight. People may say that you'll do better for one reason or another if you eat 6 mini meals or start eating breakfast or cut out this or that, etc. I don't personally believe that, but the bigger point is that that's all just noise. Maybe in a perfect world you'd lose slightly faster, but if you try to do too much and get confused or frustrated with conflicting advice, it will become hard to just do the main thing--have a calorie deficit.

So I think just focus on calories first. Then, you can figure out if adjustments (increasing protein, trying more meals or breakfast, figuring out when you are hungrier and how to fix that, etc.) are needed and try them out. But don't make it harder at the beginning than it needs to be. If you feel better or less hungry or have an easier time sticking to your calorie goal if you don't eat breakfast, don't eat breakfast. If that changes later or you want to try adding it in, you can do that later. You will lose weight without it or with it, so long as you eat at a calorie deficit!

I also really struggle when I am working as I work 12.5hr shifts in a hospital. When i am on nights I am more of a nibbler than a meal eater but fruit just doesn't cut it. What are the best nibbles and snacks that I can just leave on my desk?

Hmm. Nuts, if you can eat them in moderation, but they can be easy to overeat. Greek yogurt is great (you'd want to bring it each day). I really like smoked salmon as a snack. Maybe a hardboiled egg (again, you'd need to bring it with you each day). Raw veggies are about as obvious as fruit, but mixed with some of these other ideas could be good. String cheese seems to be popular with many, although I don't care for it. Maybe try some of the protein bars?