Breakfast

I've never been a fan of eating before lunch - however, recently I've noticed that when i have a small cup of oatmeal in the morning (about 200 calories), I survive until lunch much easier, and I get full faster. When I skipped breakfast, I'd be starving around 11am, and then craved snacks all up until dinner, when I'd once again be starving. So for me personally*, i think it has helped satiate my cravings. I'm able to have a lunch under 500 calories, and a few fruits between lunch and dinner.

It all depends on how your body responds. I've gained a lot of weight in the last 2 years because of my afternoon snacking (i never ate breakfast), and I dont feel the craving as much now that I've started eating oatmeal.

Like the others said, there is little to no evidence that meal timing and frequencies have any impact on weight management. It is all about how many calories you eat and how many you expend. I personally am a big breakfast eater. I’ll sometimes take in half my daily calories and then not eat until supper time.

But that is me; it works for me, helps me avoid cravings and suits my lifestyle. IMHO a big issue in this area is someone finds what works for them and then tries to tell everyone that it is the absolute best for absolutely everyone; to which I say absolute BS.

Everyone has different needs, wants and lifestyles so it logically follows that everyone needs to find what works best for them and stick to it, whatever it is.

Packerjohn wrote: »

From the CDC: "Eat breakfast every day. Eating breakfast is a common trait among people who have lost weight and kept it off. Eating a healthful breakfast may help you avoid getting "over-hungry" and then overeating later in the day."

https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/losing_weight/keepingitoff.html

Here is the abstract of that article. You have to click on research findings then look for the link.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11836452?dopt=Abstract

Long-term weight loss and breakfast in subjects in the National Weight Control Registry.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:
To examine breakfast consumption in subjects maintaining a weight loss in the National Weight Control Registry (NWCR).
RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES:
A cross-sectional study in which 2959 subjects in the NWCR completed demographic and weight history questionnaires as well as questions about their current breakfast consumption. All subjects had maintained a weight loss of at least 13.6 kg (30 lb) for at least 1 year; on average these subjects had lost 32 kg and kept it off for 6 years.
RESULTS:
A large proportion of NWCR subjects (2313 or 78%) reported regularly eating breakfast every day of the week. Only 114 subjects (4%) reported never eating breakfast. There was no difference in reported energy intake between breakfast eaters and non-eaters, but breakfast eaters reported slightly more physical activity than non-breakfast eaters (p = 0.05).
DISCUSSION:
Eating breakfast is a characteristic common to successful weight loss maintainers and may be a factor in their success.


My comments:


The number of participants was good, almost 3,000 but these were self-selected they were picked from people that voluntarily identified themselves in the NWCR. We can assume that anyone participating in this registry is already motivated to lose weight and be concerned with their diet.

There is no indication that there was any correspondence between amount of weight lost and breakfast eating, It deals with people who had lost 30 lbs or more and kept it off for over a year. Nothing to indicate any correlation between the breakfast eating behaviours while they were losing weight.

The study was also a recall study, people were not observed at their behaviors but were asked what they did. A common hazard in these studies is participants will tell the researcher what they think the researcher will approve of. Since these are diet aware people and the researchers are also knowledgeable in the diet area, it could also be used as proof that 78% of people who self-identified as interested in participating in a study and lost weight have fallen into the myth that eating breakfast is important.

I’ve never been much of a breakfast eater. I prefer an iced coffee when I wake up, and then lunch around 11.

The whole 'breakfast is the most important meal of the day' thing was created and pushed by advertisers in the 40s anyhow, and the whole idea of three square meals a day is entirely a social invention to begin with.

If you're not hungry, don't eat. Look at it as being able to eat a more filling and satisfying meal later when your body is desiring food.

e: beaten by ContraryMary. That's what I get for skimming the second page.