To eat or not to eat breakfast, that is the question

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  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
    I find it easiest to maintain a calorie deficit if I skip breakfast. I'm not a strict IFer, I just "skip breakfast" most of the time.
  • Penthesilea514
    Penthesilea514 Posts: 1,189 Member
    I feel the same way as a lot of the posters- I don't eat much in the morning because it only made my total daily consumption more as somehow I would get hungrier. I have recently changed this a little due to my workout schedule and routine shifting to lifting weights in the afternoon and I had a huge increase in hunger when I started lifting. I now eat a little something around 10am. Lunch is at noon. Afternoon snack at 2pm and protein shake usually around 3-3:15 on lifting days (about an hour before I start). Dinner around 5:45-6. I guess it is pretty close to IF 16:8 but I don't really hold myself to it. It just kind of naturally flows that way for me, and that is what I am most interested in- having it naturally work into my schedule.
  • everher
    everher Posts: 909 Member
    You'll have to experiment and find what works for you.

    I skipped breakfast 90% of my life (even as a child I wouldn't eat breakfast). It wasn't until I started losing the weight this go around that I realized that not eating breakfast makes me ravenous by lunch and then it's like I can never eat enough to fill that void.

    I've found though big or small breakfast doesn't matter. As long as I eat something to tide me over to lunch I'm fine. So breakfast is usually my smallest meal of the day calorie wise.
  • iamhylian
    iamhylian Posts: 13 Member
    It doesn't matter when you eat. Watch your calories.
  • mygrl4meee
    mygrl4meee Posts: 943 Member
    i recently stopped eating breakfast but was doing a protein shake but recently started just eating one of my fiber bars and coffee.. i feel like i dont get hungry until noon..before it was at 10 am. i dont track calories much to know how it balances out.
  • dragon_girl26
    dragon_girl26 Posts: 2,187 Member
    Breakfast is definitely a personal choice. I get hangry within an hour or two of waking up if I try to skip breakfast, so that wouldn't work for me. If you don't want it, though, no need to eat it.
  • Froggyh
    Froggyh Posts: 81 Member
    I eat breakfast because I'm always hungry, if not *when* I wake up, then soon after. And I don't mean just a bit of a rumbling in my stomach, but the whole nine yards - muscle weakness, lightheadeness, it's even a migraine trigger for me. It's to the point where if I'm meeting someone *for* breakfast, I'll have a light breakfast before I head out so I don't get hangry before I get there.

    I always ate breakfast growing up (my mom was very big on the "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" thing), so I suspect that might be part of it; my body is just used to getting food first thing.

    You do you. If you feel better eating later in the day, go for it.
  • BarneyRubbleMD
    BarneyRubbleMD Posts: 1,092 Member
    I'm a type2 insulin-dependent diabetic that has to eat meals on a 3-hour-between-meals schedule. So, my meals are at 9am, noon, 3pm & 6pm (Note: I'm a "morning" person & wake up around 7am). My meals are about the same "size" to keep my blood sugar more stable but my noon & 3pm meals are typically a bit larger than my 9am & 6pm meals since I just don't have much of an appetite at 9am or 6pm so it's easier for those meals to be a bit smaller. If I skip my 9am meal (breakfast), I feel like I'm dragging until noon & then "starving" & can eat too much which really mucks up my blood sugar control & my cravings go into "overdrive". I rarely eat anything after 8pm unless my blood sugar gets too low since having food in my stomach while trying to sleep (11pm) messes with my quality of sleep.
  • BarneyRubbleMD
    BarneyRubbleMD Posts: 1,092 Member
    everher wrote: »
    You'll have to experiment and find what works for you.

    I skipped breakfast 90% of my life (even as a child I wouldn't eat breakfast). It wasn't until I started losing the weight this go around that I realized that not eating breakfast makes me ravenous by lunch and then it's like I can never eat enough to fill that void.

    I've found though big or small breakfast doesn't matter. As long as I eat something to tide me over to lunch I'm fine. So breakfast is usually my smallest meal of the day calorie wise.

    same here!
  • Glistel
    Glistel Posts: 3 Member
    Personally I find breakfast works for me and my goals. But the catch is not to eat too much.
    I wake up, have a full glass of water or sometimes even my full water bottle which holds 24 oz then either have something smaller that is high in protein or a gnc lean protien shake (So far Swiss chocolate is my fave).
    Every time I eat it's less than 300 calories so that leaves more than enough room to snack every couple of hours or splurge a little on lunch or dinner.
  • lucyee
    lucyee Posts: 32 Member
    edited June 2017
    I love breakfast! Definitely my favourite meal of the day. I never limit my breakfast calories, and usually have around 500-700 calories, and then make the rest of the day fit in with it. (Goal of 1500ish + c.300-400 exercise most days) I'm not a big dinner person though, so it isn't too hard. If I know I'm going out for a large dinner, I still have breakfast and then skip lunch...
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    I almost never eat breakfast, and it's never made a difference in my weight loss or gain.
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