Does breakfast help YOU eat less later? It hasn't yet for me.

2

Replies

  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Totally depends on the time of the month for me, honestly. But I do better overall if I wait until I'm hungry to eat (but it usually happens by 9am, usually earlier, but I rarely eat after 6pm).
  • Shoebacha1
    Shoebacha1 Posts: 2,113 Member
    I eat breakfast. Not sure that it changes my desire to eat the rest of the day, but I certainly concentrate better if I have breakfast. Plus, I have to eat breakfast to take my vitamins. I feel better all day if I have breakfast. My favorites are boiled eggs and cinnamon apple sauce, organic no sugar added raisin bran and skim milk, or whole wheat toast sandwich with turkey sausage, fried egg and mild cheddar cheese with mayo. Long as I average about 400 calories for breakfast, I function noticeably better. Also, I do not eat dinner. Lunch is my biggest meal of the day, I get the majority of my calorie allotment around 2p each day, with only a small late snack after my evening workout.
  • crzycatlady1
    crzycatlady1 Posts: 1,930 Member
    If I eat in the morning I'm hungrier the rest of the day and feel the need to snack. So I do 16:8IF and my eating window is from 11am-7pm. This works really well for me!
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
    Nope, as a matter of fact the earlier I eat the hungrier I am throughout the day.

    I prefer to eat just up until the point of falling asleep, so the longer I can postpone my first meal of the day the more likely I am to control my calories.
  • Snowdusk
    Snowdusk Posts: 36 Member
    Personally I'm just about hungry enough for something light in calories (I make a protein shake with berries pretty much every morning :p ) And I find it keeps me full until lunchtime so it definitely helps for me :D
    I find I have less concentration without any breakfast
  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,834 Member
    I am good with coffee when I get up at 4a and I have a yogurt with raw almonds around 8a. I'll throw down a protein around 10a then workout at 11a. I tend to like a bigger lunch then. No energy issues or feeling hungry.
  • dlach86
    dlach86 Posts: 18 Member
    I can't skip meals or i feal like crap. I eat lie breakfeast followed by snap snack before lunch.
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    No, it actually does the opposite. Once I start eating, I have a hard time stopping. It's largely why I IF.
  • victoria_1024
    victoria_1024 Posts: 915 Member
    I have to eat breakfast or I'm hangry. I don't eat much, usually I stick to about 200 calories and that's enough to get me through the morning. I have young kids who wake up early so we usually eat lunch by 11. I do find that I prefer a large lunch, like 600 calories or so. If I eat something small, it sets the tone for me to be hungry all day.
  • mstbyl
    mstbyl Posts: 10 Member
    Tried skipping it .. low blood sugars by 10am... have to have it - lunch 2pm - ok on wknds, M-F waiting till 2 - sends a "want to eat like a monster" signal. So mid morn weekdays, have to get about 100 cals - it works. Tail off carbs in eve... need carbs in morn-
  • Nikion901
    Nikion901 Posts: 2,467 Member
    edited February 2017
    N8ilm wrote: »
    Doesn't matter when or what I eat for breakfast, I'm hungry 2 hours (or less) later.
    I'm back on a strict calorie restriction diet. I have found that drinking 250ish cal smoothies with at least 30g of protein holds me over ok.

    Also, I ALWAYS wake up hungry, there's no way I could skip breakfast. If I do, I can feel my brain and body just coming to grinding crash.

    It's what you are eating that is making you hungry within a couple of hours ... you are probably consuming too many fast carbohydrates or not getting enough protein and fat with the meal. Fat slows down, somewhat, the digestion of carbohydrates and protein helps fuel you for longer. Try keeping your total carbs to no more than 3 or 4 servings --- that is 45 to 60 grams at any one time and see if that helps.

    PS ... at least, that is what I have found out from my own experience. I too do IT, and found that it works better for me if I have an evening cut-off time for consuming food, and when I don't have a well balanced supper I will be going crazy for more food after less than 2 hours after ANY meal.
  • hmhall85
    hmhall85 Posts: 22 Member
    I eat a small breakfast every morning. About mid-morning I have a protein shake. That seems to help me regulate how much I eat at my other meals. If I'm hungry and I skip breakfast, I tend to over eat at other meals and snack into the evening. I will also feel like crap until I get some food.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    I've never had BED but your experience of wanting to eat a big meal at night no matter what you eat during the day is exactly mine as well. I rarely eat breakfast and only have a snack for lunch. About 80% of my daily calories are eaten after 7 pm.
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
    I've never had BED but your experience of wanting to eat a big meal at night no matter what you eat during the day is exactly mine as well. I rarely eat breakfast and only have a snack for lunch. About 80% of my daily calories are eaten after 7 pm.

    This is me, 100%. But I have had issues with Binge - Eating intermittently throughout my teen and early 20's.

  • T1DCarnivoreRunner
    T1DCarnivoreRunner Posts: 11,502 Member
    Nope, this seems to be an old wives tale. My typical weekday breakfast is 20 oz. coffee (I need this), 2 scoops protein powder (about 40g protein), and 1 T. heavy whipping cream (for taste and creamy texture).

    I go back and forth between adding butter for additional fat or not. I eat low carb, so it is a matter of whether I'm going to use fat from food or body fat instead. I started adding butter again recently hoping it would help with satiety later in the day; but it doesn't actually have much impact. It's just something I try to desperately deal with hunger... knowing absolutely nothing works anyway.

    Nutritionally, this works as I'm spreading protein intake out throughout the day. I'll sip the morning coffee over about 1 hr. time, so 40g is reasonably absorbed. I have more protein for lunch and dinner as well, and sometimes a snack.

    On weekends, I usually have more time for breakfast so I'll cook sausages and/or eggs. Even on days when I over-do it and eat 2-3 lbs. of sausages, I'm still hungry later on. Since I'm going to be hungry anyway, I try to strive for nutrition first and use as much willpower as possible to avoid over-eating.
  • FoxyMars25
    FoxyMars25 Posts: 112 Member
    Before I lost weight, I did not eat breakfast. When I decided to change my lifestyle, I started to eat breakfast every morning and ended up losing 65 pounds. I then went into a slump and regained some weight, so I tried Intermittent Fasting 16:8 and started skipping breakfast. I was fine at first and not hungry in the morning but I didn't lose any weight and then it started to get harder and harder to keep up. So I decided to stop Intermittent Fasting and go back to eating breakfast and I feel much better doing that. I just make sure my breakfast is high in protein (about 35-40 grams) and I am good. I usually get up for work at 5:30am but don't end up eating my breakfast until about 8:30am so I am still kinda fasting because with that schedule it is usually 12-14 hours since dinner the night before but it works much better than waiting until lunch. When I eat a high protein breakfast, I am good until my lunch break at 1:00. However, no matter what I do, I am always hungrier in the evenings. Dinner is usually my largest meal of the day but I workout in the evenings after work and eat my dinner right after my workout. The one exception is every once in a great while (maybe three times a year) I will go out to breakfast on the weekend and eat a large breakfast and when I do that, I am not hungry all day.
  • SophieeBrook
    SophieeBrook Posts: 29 Member
    I eat less. Since I start eating only at 1pm I eat one less meal and one less snack.
    If I ate breakfast I would eat it around 8am and then a mid morning snack at 11am.
    So yes, I eat much less when I dont eat all morning :smile:
  • genpopadopolous
    genpopadopolous Posts: 411 Member
    Machka9 wrote: »
    Does breakfast help YOU eat less later?

    Nope. Eating breakfast is like flipping an "ON" switch ... I just want to keep eating all day long.

    This is exactly me.

    I have coffee with some protein powder that I sip until lunch. I like to feel full after eating- so I do better eating two decent meals compared to three small ones.
  • JenHuedy
    JenHuedy Posts: 611 Member
    I used to prefer skipping breakfast because I wasn't hungry in the morning and eating breakfast made hungry the rest of the day. Plus, I preferred the bigger dinner. But more recently, probably because my morning workouts are more intense, I've been waking up super hungry and haven't been as hungry in the evenings, so I've been switching things around and eating more in the morning and less in the evening. Weekends still seem to be staying the same with late morning/early afternoon "brunch" and big dinner.
  • cnbbnc
    cnbbnc Posts: 1,267 Member
    I have always been a big nighttime eater. That's when I used to do my binging too. Breakfast doesn't help me at all, no. Maybe for some it does, but not me.

    What's working for me is having a little something midmorning (I do get a little hungry), then a lunch that's on the lighter side. By doing this I can go along with my preferred eating habit by have a larger dinner and room for those evening snacks.

    It works for me because since I eat heavy at night I'm not starving in the morning and do ok with light foods.
  • Midnight100965
    Midnight100965 Posts: 3 Member
    I have never been a "breakfast" person... I usually just have coffee in the morning. Then I don't eat till I get hungry... Only eat 2 real meals a day, with a snack or two.
  • leajas1
    leajas1 Posts: 823 Member
    When you overeat at night, is it because you still feel hungry, or is it the BED kicking in? If it's the latter, then I'm not sure whether you eat breakfast or not is going to make a difference. It sounds like you're taking the right first steps in treating your BED by seeing an RD who specializes in the area. I'd like to suggest that individual therapy with a specialist in conjunction with an RD would be especially helpful. A therapist can help you identify your triggers if you don't know them already (trauma, comfort, habitual behavior) and help to overcome them. With this type of behavior it's never easy because it feels SO good at the time, right? You'll need to grieve that way of life, that way of comfort, but you can do it. Best of luck to you.
  • ccrdragon
    ccrdragon Posts: 3,374 Member
    I eat breakfast every day - usually between noon and 1pm :D . The only thing that I consistently have before that is coffee (2 cups black and 1 cup with cream).

    If I do eat breakfast early (sometimes do for family gatherings), it flips a switch that makes me hungry the rest of the day (regardless of what I have for breakfast).
  • Heartisalonelyhunter
    Heartisalonelyhunter Posts: 786 Member
    edited February 2017
    Breakfast makes my hungrier and means I end up eating 3 meals instead of 2. So no, I rarely eat it.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Nope, this seems to be an old wives tale. My typical weekday breakfast is 20 oz. coffee (I need this), 2 scoops protein powder (about 40g protein), and 1 T. heavy whipping cream (for taste and creamy texture).

    I go back and forth between adding butter for additional fat or not. I eat low carb, so it is a matter of whether I'm going to use fat from food or body fat instead. I started adding butter again recently hoping it would help with satiety later in the day; but it doesn't actually have much impact. It's just something I try to desperately deal with hunger... knowing absolutely nothing works anyway.

    Nutritionally, this works as I'm spreading protein intake out throughout the day. I'll sip the morning coffee over about 1 hr. time, so 40g is reasonably absorbed. I have more protein for lunch and dinner as well, and sometimes a snack.

    On weekends, I usually have more time for breakfast so I'll cook sausages and/or eggs. Even on days when I over-do it and eat 2-3 lbs. of sausages, I'm still hungry later on. Since I'm going to be hungry anyway, I try to strive for nutrition first and use as much willpower as possible to avoid over-eating.

    I make a similar breakfast smoothie (albeit with less protein and fat) but I also add soaked chia seeds for fiber. Does not change taste but does add satiety for me.

    Chia seeds have equal grams of fiber as carbs, so if you are doing net carbs they don't provide any.
  • RandiNoelle
    RandiNoelle Posts: 374 Member
    I've found that if the first thing in my mouth in the morning is coffee with 70-80 calories worth creamer (like International Delights or Coffee Mate) and a Splenda, it will keep me full for a while and keep me from snacking.

    I enjoy breakfast though. Oatmeal, cereal, English muffin with peanut butter... YUM! I don't really notice a difference, but I've been eating scheduled meals/snacks for nearly two years now so it may just be a habit.
  • Bonny132
    Bonny132 Posts: 3,617 Member
    I don't eat breakfast as I am rarely hungry before lunch, and when I do, it is switching on the "need to eat all day long button"

    Having a bigger lunch and a great dinner is what works for me.
  • gnu4liberty
    gnu4liberty Posts: 48 Member
    Breakfast is my biggest meal. I am not that hungry at dinner. I am unusual. I have MS, use a wheelchair, am 5'9", 141, 65 yrs. I lost weight sticking to 1200 calories. I think I could get down to 125 and still be okay. Anyway, I don't do well without breakfast. No energy.
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    rainbowbow wrote: »
    Nope, as a matter of fact the earlier I eat the hungrier I am throughout the day.

    I prefer to eat just up until the point of falling asleep, so the longer I can postpone my first meal of the day the more likely I am to control my calories.

    I like to eat close to bed time too. I might trigger a migraine if I put off eating too long the next day, though. It's a delicate balance. Some days I can make it to 2:00 or 3:00, but lately I've been averaging around 1:00. Then again, I think some of this depends where I am in my cycle with my botox injections. Sorry, just rambling here when I meant to just comment on liking to eat before bed too! :)
  • Jazzykatt
    Jazzykatt Posts: 38 Member
    I never eat breakfast during the week. If I eat something in the morning, I won't stop eating all day. I practice a form of intermittent fasting. I usually start eating when I get home around 4;30. It can be hard but I'm not as hungry as if I were to eat breakfast.
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