Breakfast and Weightloss

Options
Cortelli
Cortelli Posts: 1,369 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
This topic comes up pretty often, and is the pet hobby horse of one MFP member in particular. I found this teaser interesting, although I don't have access to the underlying studies in the next issue of the AJCN. Link is to NYT wellness blog entry titled "Is Breakfast Overrated?" commenting on the next issue of AJCN: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/08/21/is-breakfast-overrated/?_php=true&_type=blogs&ref=health&_r=0

Excerpt:
For years, we’ve heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But scientific support for that idea has been surprisingly meager, and a spate of new research at several different universities — published in multiple articles in the August issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition — could change the way we think about early-hours eating.

The largest and most provocative of the studies focused on whether breakfast plays a role in weight loss. Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and other institutions recruited nearly 300 volunteers who were trying to lose weight. They randomly assigned subjects to either skip breakfast, always eat the meal or continue with their current dietary habits. (Each group contained people who habitually ate or skipped breakfast at the start, so some changed habits, and others did not.)

Sixteen weeks later, the volunteers returned to the lab to be weighed. No one had lost much, only a pound or so per person, with weight in all groups unaffected by whether someone ate breakfast or skipped it.

More at the link.

Replies

  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    Options
    Breakfast has been sold to us by the manufacturers of breakfast products.
    People can eat when they want and do fine.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    Options
    Whether or not a person has breakfast has no bearing on weight loss at all. It's personal preference only. Breakfast is always my biggest meal of the day because I love it so much. That's it.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
    Options
    I don't eat anything for an hour after rising and only eat fruit for the next two hours.

    I've lost weight without breakfast, so I know it can be done.

    I don't think it's a bad idea to have breakfast, though. :)
  • thegreatcanook
    thegreatcanook Posts: 2,419 Member
    Options
    For myself, I find that if I skip breakfast, I overeat for the rest of the day. So I have about 500 calories for breakfast every day.
  • BombshellPhoenix
    BombshellPhoenix Posts: 1,693 Member
    Options
    If it helps you adhere to your diet. Go for it.

    I lost 53 lbs NOT eating breakfast until noon, when I wake up at around 7 am. *shrugs* because thermodynamics and stuff.
  • cmclear90
    cmclear90 Posts: 12
    Options
    I went 2 months without eating breakfast and lost 20 pounds, but recently ive started eating breakfast since im waking up at 5:30am and I dont want to end up with hunger pains before lunch, but so far I like it because I get energy in the morning which is what I need, so basically if u can sleep through breakfast then go for it lol...
  • ChronicOptimist
    ChronicOptimist Posts: 558 Member
    Options
    For myself, I find that if I skip breakfast, I overeat for the rest of the day. So I have about 500 calories for breakfast every day.

    This is my issue too. If I don't eat anything until lunchtime I'm on a trajectory to make terrible decisions all day. Don't know what causes it, but it seems to be pretty reliable. So even if it's just grabbing a protein shake on the way out the door, I make a point to have SOMETHING for breakfast. So sure, this whole "jumpstarting the metabolism" thing may be BS but I'm going to keep eating my breakfast anyway!
  • shabaity
    shabaity Posts: 791 Member
    Options
    I'm not a morning eater never have been and honestly forcing myself to eat in the mornings was just making me cranky. So I don't eat breakfast or really anything before about 2 I'm happier and everyone who has to deal with me is happier. That being said this does not mean I don't buy that egg mcmuffin and eat it later. I lose just fine and I get to sit down and enjoy a big meal or 2 daily its great for me.
  • nicsflyingcircus
    nicsflyingcircus Posts: 2,491 Member
    Options
    For myself, I find that if I skip breakfast, I overeat for the rest of the day. So I have about 500 calories for breakfast every day.

    This is my issue too. If I don't eat anything until lunchtime I'm on a trajectory to make terrible decisions all day. Don't know what causes it, but it seems to be pretty reliable. So even if it's just grabbing a protein shake on the way out the door, I make a point to have SOMETHING for breakfast. So sure, this whole "jumpstarting the metabolism" thing may be BS but I'm going to keep eating my breakfast anyway!

    I'm the opposite. If I eat too soon after waking up, I'm hungrier all day it seems. I eat "breakfast" at lunch time, some time between 11 and 1 generally, and I get up at 6 weekdays. I will have coffee in the time between waking and eating though.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
    Options
    I'm a 'Eat too soon and ravenous for the rest of the day' kinda person. I wake up at 3 a.m.ish, gym at 5 and have yogurt at around 10:00. I think people should follow the "If it works for you" here.
  • amrichards0711
    amrichards0711 Posts: 23 Member
    Options
    If I eat a small breakfast--Greek yogurt or oatmeal or cottage cheese and blueberries--something less than 200 calories, I usually am fine on calories for the rest of the day. If I eat a higher calorie and higher carb breakfast (oh, how I love my breakfast cereal), I seem to set myself up for failure. It's too many calories too early in the day, and I seem to want to eat all day. I'm a teacher, and I have been off all summer, and I have been struggling with the breakfast issue. I'm home, I have the time, and I LOVE cereal, so it is a constant battle. I return to work next week, and then I will settle into my lower calorie breakfast routine. I have maintained this summer, but I have not been able to lose and I think my breakfast issues are part of the problem. When I eat a small (but protein rich) breakfast, I am most successful at weight loss.
  • gmallan
    gmallan Posts: 2,099 Member
    Options
    For myself, I find that if I skip breakfast, I overeat for the rest of the day. So I have about 500 calories for breakfast every day.

    This is my issue too. If I don't eat anything until lunchtime I'm on a trajectory to make terrible decisions all day. Don't know what causes it, but it seems to be pretty reliable. So even if it's just grabbing a protein shake on the way out the door, I make a point to have SOMETHING for breakfast. So sure, this whole "jumpstarting the metabolism" thing may be BS but I'm going to keep eating my breakfast anyway!

    I'm the opposite. If I eat too soon after waking up, I'm hungrier all day it seems. I eat "breakfast" at lunch time, some time between 11 and 1 generally, and I get up at 6 weekdays. I will have coffee in the time between waking and eating though.

    Ditto for me, if I eat a 500 calorie breakfast it's just adding another 500 calories to my day because I will be just as hungry if not more. Just goes to prove really that there is no one size fits all approach to weight loss and the best approach to creating a calorie deficit is the one that you can stick to long term
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    Options
    I think this varies for each person. Sometimes I feel hungry at breakfast, sometimes the last thing I want to do is eat something right away. One of my older friends who was a nurse said that you need to eat 900 calories at breakfast so that your body could do the job the rest of the day. But I realized he was wrong. If you don't feel hungry, you shouldn't have too much. I don't like to skip meals so I will usually have a bowl of oatmeal and some blueberries. But that's not 900 calories like my friend who suggested to eat big meals like eggs, sausages, toast and hashbrowns, each morning.
    Yep, you're right ,your nurse friend is wrong.
  • Cortelli
    Cortelli Posts: 1,369 Member
    Options
    Breakfast has been sold to us by the manufacturers of breakfast products.

    I don't believe this at all. Well, I guess I believe that the manufacturers do try to sell us this; but I assure you that breakfast is a pretty common event in places that are more or less untouched by manufacturers of breakfast products.
    People can eat when they want and do fine.

    This I agree with.

    I like breakfast and wish my lifestyle allowed me to enjoy a much more sumptuous breakfast on a daily basis. I'd make the calories work if I could make the timing and tasks work.

    Just to be clear, I posted this because there always seems to be some sort of "breakfast!" or "skip breakfast!" flame war going on, and I found it interesting that the AJCN devoted a portion of its upcoming issue to a collection of studies on breakfast. More interesting factoids, still without access to the actual studies:
    In another new study — this one of lean volunteers — researchers at the University of Bath determined the resting metabolic rates, cholesterol levels and blood-sugar profiles of 33 participants and randomly assigned them to eat or skip breakfast. Volunteers were then provided with activity monitors.

    After six weeks, their body weights, resting metabolic rates, cholesterol and most measures of blood sugar were about the same as they had been at the start, whether people ate breakfast or not. The one difference was that the breakfast eaters seemed to move around more during the morning; their activity monitors showed that volunteers in this group burned almost 500 calories more in light-intensity movement. But by eating breakfast, they also consumed an additional 500 calories each day. Contrary to popular belief, skipping breakfast had not driven volunteers to wolf down enormous lunches and dinners — but it had made them somewhat more sluggish first thing in the morning.

    The author of this blog interprets these limited studies in a manner most in this thread have:
    For now, the slightly unsatisfying takeaway from the new science would seem to be that if you like breakfast, fine; but if not, don’t sweat it.

Categories