Eating early breakfast. Starving throughout the whole day
intrepidelephant
Posts: 100 Member
I know I'm supposed to eat breakfast first thing, but if I eat even a big breakfast at 6 AM, I am literally starving by 10AM and I can't eat lunch until at least 12PM (and then dinner again at 6). I find 6 hours is way too long for me to wait between meals. The only time eating breakfast works for me if I'm active through the day like if I'm hiking or shopping or travelling, it's OK. Unfortunately, I have a desk job now, so I'm stuck sitting down most of the day, including commuting 1.5 hours each way.
I used to eat breakfast at 9AM at work, lunch at 1:30, dinner at 6, and a little snack before bed (with a coffee first thing, of course) and I would rarely be hungry between meals. Can I do this? If I eat breakfast first thing, I'm just fighting hunger all day.
I used to eat breakfast at 9AM at work, lunch at 1:30, dinner at 6, and a little snack before bed (with a coffee first thing, of course) and I would rarely be hungry between meals. Can I do this? If I eat breakfast first thing, I'm just fighting hunger all day.
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If you are hungry, eat. There's nothing wrong with having a snack at 10 AM and another snack in between lunch and dinner. As long as it fits within your calorie goal, you will lose weight.0
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You know what you need to do, so do it. I switched from 3 to 6 meals a day to make it work for me.
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FatFreeFrolicking wrote: »If you are hungry, eat. There's nothing wrong with having a snack at 10 AM and another snack in between lunch and dinner. As long as it fits within your calorie goal, you will lose weight.
But eating the early breakfast means I just eat more throughout the day since I'm essentially adding an extra meal. I'm not really even hungry when I wake up.
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So... You know what you need to do, so do it.0
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So don't eat early if you are not hungry then! Meal time has absolutely NO influence on weight loss....0
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intrepidelephant wrote: »FatFreeFrolicking wrote: »If you are hungry, eat. There's nothing wrong with having a snack at 10 AM and another snack in between lunch and dinner. As long as it fits within your calorie goal, you will lose weight.
But eating the early breakfast means I just eat more throughout the day since I'm essentially adding an extra meal. I'm not really even hungry when I wake up.
If you aren't hungry when you wake up, then wait until you are hungry. Pack a breakfast to take with you to work… Like oatmeal with flaxseed and berries or a bagel with PB.0 -
Either eat later or eat a larger breakfast. E.g. I have to eat a third or a quarter of my calories (depends on whether I'm in maintenance or not) per meal. I eat breakfast around 7am, and can go as late as 2pm or even 3pm before needing to eat if I am eating enough food. Also if I'm eating a good carb/protein/fat ratio (I eat most of my carbs in the evening otherwise I'm starving all day even with lots of cals).0
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You absolutely do NOT have to eat an early breakfast. Do whatever works for you. There are no rules about when you must eat. In fact there are threads here by people who only eat 1 or 2 meals a day because they prefer eating large amounts twice, instead of small amounts more often.
Also, why do you say, "I know I'm supposed to eat breakfast first thing"? Who says you must?
Most days I get up at 5:45 but don't eat breakfast until 9:30 because I prefer to eat after my first bus route of the day (I drive school bus). There are lots of threads on MFP from people who eat only twice or once a day, because it works for them. You have to do you.
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intrepidelephant wrote: »I know I'm supposed to eat breakfast first thing
Says who?
Eat on whatever schedule suits you. Calories don't know or care what time it is.
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Yeah, you're going without food for four hours! The only difference between now and before is that it's still morning when you get hungry. But you don't have to eat breakfast first thing in the morning if you don't want to. It doesn't really matter.
But I used to work 6-2 at my old job (and I work 8-4 at my current one) and was famished in the morning so what I would do is sort of split up my breakfast. I'd have a bowl of cereal, toast, oatmeal or some cream of wheat and some scrambled eggs when I got to work, then maybe a yogurt, 100-calorie bar and some fruit a couples hours later (9-10am). This would hold me over til lunch. Then I'd have some small snacks here and there and a normal sized dinner. Voila!0 -
Don't eat your first meal of the day until you are hungry. Regardless of what time it is. I dutifuly ate my "most important meal of the day" breakfast first thing in the morning for years and I'm fat. I no longer think its wise to eat at prescribed times.0
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Eat a small breakfast - say 200 calories (1 egg & low carb toast) & then have a snack for around 100 calories (yogurt, nuts or jerky).0
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If possible, I would go back to the eating schedule that was working for you. Meal timing and frequency are usually a matter of personal preference.0
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I don't know why you'd try to force an early breakfast if it's not working for you? I personally don't eat breakfast, it just doesn't work for me so my first food is usually around 11. You've got to do what works for you or you won't be able to resist all the crappy snacks that will cross your path.....0
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I don't know why people think you sshould only eat 3 times a day. Back when I was logging regularly I would eat 6 or 7 times. Day and I would still lose weight.
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You do not have to eat breakfast if the timing doesn't work for you.0
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I try to think in terms of if I had to go out and gather/hunt my food I probably wouldn't eat for atleast a few hours, so why should I have to wake up now and shove cereal in my face if I'm not hungry? Wake up, drink a glass of water to get the system running and eat when you're hungry. Not hard.0
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Skip breakfast. The body cares about how much you eat -- not what time.0
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Whether one eats 1,2 or 6 times a day, it really doesn't matter as long as calorie limit isn't exceeded for weight loss. It's a matter of preference and differs from person to person.arlenem1974 wrote: »I don't know why people think you sshould only eat 3 times a day. Back when I was logging regularly I would eat 6 or 7 times. Day and I would still lose weight.
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I have brekkie about an hour after I get up, then it takes me 2 hours to get to work so i have second breakfast then, then im ok till lunch, then an afternoon snack then dinner, and sometimes hot cocoa0
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i eat a small snack before breakfast usually and then have my oatmeal or whatever and then 2 hours later i eat another snack. if you're hungry you should eat! prep snacks/meals ahead of time and bring em with you. i eat like every 2 hours, smaller portions in frequent amounts is what my body loves. find what was working for you, timing has no effect on weight loss as long as you're watching the calories you consume. snacks are my fav thing about each day lol0
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I don't eat breakfast, not hungry for a start and if I do I end up the same situation as the OP (hungry all day!).
Sometimes I'll have a snack at 11am, most of the time I wait for lunch at 1pm.
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Eat a small breakfast - say 200 calories (1 egg & low carb toast) & then have a snack for around 100 calories (yogurt, nuts or jerky).
I agree with this, eat something smaller and then have a snack later when you are hungry. Breakfast is essential to kick start your metabolism and start your body burning those calories!
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If you're not hungry for breakfast, don't eat it. Eat breakfast when you are hungry even if it needs to be a cereal bar or something else portable because you can't sit down to eat when you do get hungry. Me, I'm starving when I wake up in the morning and eat smaller meals with lots of snacking inbetween to control hunger.0
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I have the same problem, so I don't eat breakfast until 9 or 10. As others say, it doesn't matter when you eat.
In fact, there are some theories that will argue against breakfast. I don't have an opinion either way, but here is one such article by Martin Berkhan of Leangains (not for the easily offended): leangains.com/2012/06/why-does-breakfast-make-me-hungry.html0 -
Check out intermittent fasting. There are even potential benefits from going a little more than 12 hours fasting every day, and there are many adherents of 14:10 (14 hours fasting, 10 hours eating) or 16:8 (16 hours fasting, 8 hours eating) fasting each day.
People can decide for themselves if there's any real benefits for them through such protocols, but having dabbled with a little 16:8 recently, I actually found I had increased focus in the mornings when I went without food until midday. Others find it helps with adherence to their daily intake. I didn't find that myself, but generally its supposed to take about 2 weeks to re-align eating patterns, and I only tried it for 3 days.
Personally speaking though, its something I will try again in the future, and the only reason I gave it three days, was that I needed to focus on getting other things in my diet and intake right, before throwing IF into the mix too.
Bottomline - skipping breakfast won't kill you, and may even have benefits you like
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If you aren't hungry, don't eat.0
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I have a 1.5-2 hour commute to work too. I have a similar schedule, so I eat 6 small meals a day. My eating schedule looks like this:
Meal 1 @ 6:30 am
Meal 2 @ 9:00 am
Meal 3 @ 12:00 pm
Meal 4 @ 2:00 pm
Meal 5 @ 4:00 pm
Meal 6 @ 6:30 pm0 -
I am a protein fanatic. Eggs, Full English, Tuna Pate so long as I get my Morning Protein Fix I am better able to go through the day.
Becoming a breakfast fan is way to go. always then carbs plus tea or coffee. Yoghurt etc.
I also drink milk after every major exercise episode as it helps training ie when I go stairclimbing.
I hope you sort it as you should, starving during day is not taking control and hedonistically enjoying your situation.0
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