Breakfast or no breakfast?

surreychic
surreychic Posts: 117 Member
edited November 14 in Health and Weight Loss
I have always had breakfast.

In fact my greatest meal is often at breakfast time, but I am someone (see my previous post) who can just eat all day. A friend said to me maybe stopping breakfast would help me to eat less... any thoughts? I know it's n=meant to be the best meal of the day and I have always treated it as such.... so just wondering about effects of removing it, which won't be easy... I wake up and think of my porridge and milky coffee!

Replies

  • rosebarnalice
    rosebarnalice Posts: 3,488 Member
    I love breakfast! If you like it, why mess with it?!
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    To lose weight, you just have to eat less. To stop eating all day, you just have to stop eating all day. (Meals is good.) Meal timing is totally irrelevant to weight loss. It's highly relevant to adherence. Do whatever makes it least difficult for you to eat less.

    Anyway, you're 5'5" and 10 stone? You don't need to lose weight.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    A friend said "Maybe", and surrychic said "Maybe not". This is your journey and if you like your breakfast just log it accurately. Eventually you may decide to alter the components and quantity of your breakfast to focus on achieving your macro goals, but that is for later. For now, just own your journey and log your food.
  • bobbinseed
    bobbinseed Posts: 39 Member
    Eating breakfast I thought was a good thing. Boosts metabolism. That being said if you must eat all day eat veggies and more veggies and more veggies. Whip up some homemade guacamole and dip carrots in it or fill celery with it. If you don't like guac how about hummus? Just make sure you measure out your portions. I am a broccoli junkie and it is very low cal and if seasoned well it can be very satisfying. Just try to opt for healthier small snacks. I have some WW mocha latte ice cream bars only 45 calories for when I need a sweet :) Good luck
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    surreychic wrote: »
    I have always had breakfast.

    In fact my greatest meal is often at breakfast time, but I am someone (see my previous post) who can just eat all day. A friend said to me maybe stopping breakfast would help me to eat less... any thoughts? I know it's n=meant to be the best meal of the day and I have always treated it as such.... so just wondering about effects of removing it, which won't be easy... I wake up and think of my porridge and milky coffee!

    Maybe you're eating all day because you are not focusing on filling foods? Please change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    Some people do feel more satiated not eating early. Some feel ill if they eat early. Others have to eat. I wake up at 4:45 for work, go in at 6, but I don't eat until 10:30 or so. Do what works best for you.
    bobbinseed wrote: »
    Eating breakfast I thought was a good thing. Boosts metabolism.

    Your metabolism doesn't need boosted.

  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,327 Member
    It is all about total calories. If eating breakfast help you stick to a healthy daily calorie goal, eat it. If it doesn't, don't.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,984 Member
    I skip breakfast 6 days a week and eat it on Sundays with family. Still the key is to say in calorie control for whatever your goal is.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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  • crzycatlady1
    crzycatlady1 Posts: 1,930 Member
    Meal timing /meal frequency is a preference thing and there's no right or wrong way as long as you're hitting your daily /weekly calorie targets. For me personally, I rarely eat before 11am (1:30 pm today), because eating in the morning triggers all day hunger/snacking. This makes it very difficult for me to stay within my calorie targets. Eating later in the day works best for me but someone else will do well with different meal timing :)
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 5,162 Member
    I always eat breakfast ton workdays and rarely have it on weekends. I do always have coffee. It really is personal preference. If you feel like it is making you overeat and you only eat breakfast because you think you ate supposed to you could try not eating it. But if you love your breakfast and can't wait for it first thing then I would try to cut out some snacks or have a smaller lunch or dinner. Just find what works for you. You do not need to worry about boosting your metabolism.
  • monkeystikx
    monkeystikx Posts: 40 Member
    "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day". That's actually just a marketing plan from breakfast cereal companies to boost profits. I wake up at 4:30 am and don't really eat a meal till 10:30 am.
  • AFGP11
    AFGP11 Posts: 142 Member
    I don't generally eat breakfast and it has never impacted my weight loss. I just don't get hungry until later in the day though. If I did, I would eat and just try to spread my calories around differently. I do eat a banana before going to gym.
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
    There folks who go great on IF (intermittent fasting), which usually means not eating breakfast. Personally, I'd want to chew my own arm off by 10am if I didn't eat breakfast. Some type of breakfast.

    Do whatever works best for you! You do you.
  • surreychic
    surreychic Posts: 117 Member
    Thank you for the above comments, I guess we all have to listen to our own body! Also the am is my quiet time, and any time I am left free in the kitchen is a recipe for disaster. I'm not actually hungry when I wake up but I want something to help lift me from the terrible malaise I feel first thing!!

    I know years ago I lost a lot of weight from not having breakfast and only eating at lunch, by lunch time I was starving so would go for something savoury and healthy. I have tried porridge and coffee (with sweetened milk) but get dizzy by 10 am (we get up at 6.30) and only salt lifts me. So I think I feel worse if I eat it! Must be a blood pressure thing!
  • TonyB0588
    TonyB0588 Posts: 9,520 Member
    I always have breakfast. I wake up hungry after so many hours since the last meal.

    Skipping breakfast doesn't specifically help weight loss. The key is your TOTAL calories across all the meals you have for the day. Careful logging of everything you consume, will give you a better feel for what your true situation is. Also carefully log your exercise activity and monitor your deficit at the end of each day.
  • Ming1951
    Ming1951 Posts: 514 Member
    I never ate breakfast and most times lunch either and then around 2pm I would grab something to eat as I was starving, or so I thought my problem was then I wouldn't stop. Thats how I gained my weight. Now I eat 3 meals plus snacks and stay in my calorie deficit . I'm not hungry all the time, I'm learning portion control and how to tell if I'm just craving something and actual hunger .
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    edited January 2017
    If you wake up thinking of breakfast and will miss it if you cut it out, then I'd say have breakfast.

    I give this advice for the same reason I would never consider cutting out eating at night. I'd miss it.

    Don't make things harder on yourself. Eat at times that keep you (not anyone else) most satisfied.
  • YvetteK2015
    YvetteK2015 Posts: 654 Member
    I realized that for me, eating breakfast made me so damn hungry all day long. It was like I just couldn't stop eating, I was so hungry. So I played around with skipping breakfast (I still have coffee, and thats fine) and eat later. My hunger during the day was so much better. I was able to eat just meals, and no snacking in between. That's not true for everyone, but it really helped me.
  • letme1
    letme1 Posts: 522 Member
    Most important meal of the day (I sound like an infomercial),, but, still holds true :)
  • 3rdof7sisters
    3rdof7sisters Posts: 486 Member
    I personally look forward to breakfast. I work out first thing in the morning and look forward to my breakfast when I get done.
    Whatever works for you, as long as it is within your calorie allotment for the day.
  • crzycatlady1
    crzycatlady1 Posts: 1,930 Member
    edited January 2017
    letme1 wrote: »
    Most important meal of the day (I sound like an infomercial),, but, still holds true :)

    No it's not. Many here don't eat in the morning because it triggers more hunger throughout the day. There's quite a few of us who are doing IF protocols and don't break our daily fasts until later in the day. Meal timing/frequency doesn't matter and is a preference thing that will vary between individuals. What matters is that someone is hitting their calorie targets at the end of the day/week.
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
    letme1 wrote: »
    Most important meal of the day (I sound like an infomercial),, but, still holds true :)

    Why? Does it kickstart your metabolism or something?! lol
  • Anna_137
    Anna_137 Posts: 167 Member
    I've never really been a breakfast person. I'll eat it if I know my work day has been so booked up I won't get a lunch break.

    I find it a a lot easier to 'put off' eating until late, than it is to stop eating early, as I know a big meal is coming. Whereas if I'm watching TV at 8pm thinking I'm not allowed to eat again today I feel deprived and more likely to go over my calories. Overall skipping breakfast helps me eat less food. Do whatever works for you and helps you fuel your body while staying within your calorie goal.
  • Beploveshomer
    Beploveshomer Posts: 283 Member
    It is 100% easier for me to eat less calories if I delay breakfast. After 10 am at the earliest, sometimes noon or 1pm. And I'm not skipping breakfast, it's just later.
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    This really is an issue of personal preference and what works best for you.

    I find that eating turns on my appetite switch for the day, so I am quite happy having my hot beverage of choice for breakfast. Sometimes that's milky tea, sometimes that's brewing chocolate. I often don't eat my first meal until around 3:00 in the afternoon.

    That's me, OP. It might be different for you. Experiment and see what works best.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    I think its a personal preference, as it still comes down to CICO. Personally, the earlier I eat, the hungrier I am throughout the day. Since I wake up at around 4, I usually wait to eat until 10ish.
    Do what works for you.
  • farrell16
    farrell16 Posts: 49 Member
    I'm never a proponent of skipping any "meal" but it does depend on you. The bottom line is the best approach is not to ever let yourself get super hungry or super full. When you don't eat for long periods of time and get yourself really really hungry it is very hard not to then cave to over eating.

    Just remember when eating your gastrointestinal system has to signal your brain that your are full, a peptide known as CCK (Cholecystokinin) works like a neurotransmitter to let the brain know you are full... but its not instantaneous it takes a little time... the number often thrown around is 20 min, I'm sure it varies by person but if it is indeed 20 min and you eat till you are full then you have technically overeaten.

    If you skip meals and get really hungry the likely hood of over eating does jump significantly. If however; you don't feel hungry at all you also don't have to force yourself to eat... but listen to your body.

    Me personally would never go from dinner the day before straight through to lunch the next day as I know I'd be panic hungry by lunch that day lol
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