Stop eating breakfast. Here's why.

Interesting. What comes to mind for me is my husband and a lot of other farmers he knows. They are often under intense pressure to work long, crazy hours to get as much done as possible at certain seasons of the year. Some guys save time by skipping meals and eating a huge meal at the end of a long stretch of hours. My husband, if he has ever tried to skip a meal, literally gets light-headed and has even fainted from it. So, intermittent fasting would probably simply never work for him. Of course, he has never had a weight problem, either, so there may be some link there. I think our bodies are vastly complicated, and everyone is so different...if the "expert" can't agree, I don't think all of us will, either.

Oh, and my husband also eats cereal any time of the day or night. I know, it's insane.

To all non breakfast eaters/IFers:

Most people here believe in the typical BS myths of having to eat breakfast, having to eat 6 small meals a day, not eating before bed....etc.

They aren't interested in science or reading leangains.com.

Convincing them there is another possible way to be successful is basically impossible.

IF is an awesome way to eat. Let these people continue to be ignorant.

Completely true.

Sorry, but it isn't ignorance if someone does something and realizes it works or doesn't work for them. Regardless of what science may or may not say.

If eating breakfast and eating every few hours works for me - I AM NOT IGNORANT. Actually, I'm quite intelligent about MY OWN BODY (which really? is all I care about!). I know that not eating regularly makes my blood sugar wonky and makes me more likely to binge eat. When I'm eating regularly, I don't have the desire to down an entire box of donuts. It works for me. Am I ignorant because it may not be what other people do? NO. I'm doing what is best for me and honestly? I couldn't care less what science says I should do. I do what is best for me and my body. End of story. There isn't a right nor a wrong answer to this topic. There really isn't.

I'm going to continue eating my breakfast, making sure I eat every couple hours and I'm going to even eat before bed. And I'm pretty certain it is working for me just fine.

It always amazes me when people decide that THEY know what works for everyone else and are more than happy to be obnoxious about informing people about how they are ignorant and don't know what they're doing and it is wrong.

first of all, i believe in calories in-calories out. eat 30 meals for all i care. you will lose if you are a calorie deficit. i never once claimed not eating breakfast is for everyone. but, most people jumped all over the OP spewing the typical myths that are believed. so yeah, it is IGNORANT to think you cant lose weight if you dont eat breakfast. it is IGNORANT to say that fasting for 16 hours puts your body into starvation mode and you cant lose weight.

once again, until people read leangains.com, you should not even comment.

I love breakfast. I just usually don't feel like eating it until 2 pm.

I actually do just the opposite... my biggest meal of the day is breakfast and basically I taper my food intake from there. I never miss a meal (I eat 4 meals per day on average). I used to be a competitive bodybuilder and followed the same taper method and was easily able to lose 20 to 30lbs when needed. I think dinner should consist of a small amount of food and definitely don't eat 2 hours before sleep. And, I can't say this enough, drink lots and lots of water whether you are thirsty or not.

That's what works for me!

Sorry...never giving up breakfast! It is my favorite meal of the day!!

lol me too! I love breakfast and the fact that lots of other dieticiens and experts says its good for you is just icing on my breakfast!!!!

See, this I have no problem with what-so-ever. If you're reason for eating breakfast is because you like it, and you feel that it sets you up for success, then thats a GREAT thing!

The problem is that there are lots of people eating breakfast only because they've been told that they "should". THIS is what I have a huge problem with.

It's obvious from the posts here that some people find that a healthy breakfast helps them follow their diet, while others find that skipping breakfast helps them follow their diet. As far as I'm concerned, if it helps you follow your diet and eat healthy, than it's a good thing.

Also I need to add... Dietitians telling you to eat breakfast? Im almost half way through my 3rd year as a dietetics major and they DO NOT teach you anything that says breakfast is mandatory. We learn how the body works and how metabolism works in detail.

The reason you see so many dietitians and such telling you to eat breakfast is becuase they look out for public health. Its because the majority of breakfast skippers eat higher than their TDEE, has nothing to do with the magic breakfast time. Its just correlation not the cause. The cause is EATING ABOVE YOUR CALORIES. Breakfast does not boost the metabolism.

But, But, But...............Kelloggs and General Mills says it does.

But, as the other poster stated: Don't tell other people what they're doing for THEM is wrong.

I think this is the issue most of the dissenters in this thread have really had. It wasn't posted as an option. It was a statement, "Stop eating breakfast", and that just doesn't work for everyone.

A lot of the disagreement has also not been posted as suggestions or options though, either- they are stating 3-6 meals a day and the necessity of breakfast as fact. People can do whatever works for them, but this isn't a matter of only one side (IF) not playing nice and everyone else going "But breakfast works for ME." They're also saying, "But breakfast is necessary for YOU."

Probably the best way to sum the actual arguments up is: "Breakfast is not necessary for me and others. I perform better without breakfast. Perhaps you would too." vs. "Breakfast is something that I like or need, so this is interesting to think about, but not something I will do."

Thank you OP for the information! I think this may be exactly what I needed! I have never in my life had to "diet" or even work at losing weight until now so this concept is new to me and I'm just trying to figure out what works for me. A little back story on me, I've never in my life been a breakfast eater: I'm just simply not hungry in the mornings. In 8 years of "adulthood" my weight has maintained pretty much, fluctuating maybe 5-8 lbs, eating whatever I wanted (pure crap diet, I was definitely "skinny fat") and occasional exercise but an overall active lifestyle. I think the .5-1 lb weight gain over 8 years can easily be attributed to aging and slowing metabolism. So then I got pregnant! I started eating breakfast because I wanted to be as "healthy" as possible for my baby. I ate great during pregnancy, gave up sodas and caffiene, gained a healthy 30 lbs and worked hard to do everything "right." 6 weeks after having my baby I was 4 lbs over my prepregnancy weight. A year later I had gained 15 lbs!!! Maybe having a baby totally wrecked my metabolism?! But nothing else changed post baby except that I had a baby and now was eating breakfast everyday. Granted my food wasn't the best, but it was no different that what I've eaten my whole life. So a few months ago I changed my lifestyle, started eating clean, exercising, the works. The first 2 months I lost 13 lbs. Now for the past month and a half I've been stuck! The scale hasn't budged! I've upped calories, lowered calories, upped cardio, changed up the routine, everything and the scale is just not budging! I'm thinking I need to cut carbs. Coincidentally the bulk of my carbs are coming from my fruit and oatmeal breakfast. As a side note, my husband only eats dinner most days due to his hectic work schedule and his weight has maintained for years. He's 6' 180 lbs and eats whatever he wants. Anyways thanks for the different viewpoints. I never felt quite right force feeding myself every morning. On days I don't work I naturally don't eat "breakfast" until at least noon even though I wake up at 8 because I'm simply not hungry and just wait until I'm hungry to eat. Alright now I'm off to read leangains! Thanks again!

Nope. I like my Kashi cereal too much to let it go.

you can only eat cereal in the morning right after you wake up?

Reminds me of that cereal commercial where people travel across the world so it will be morning and they can eat their cereal. What advertising moron came up with that!? Wouldn't it make more business sense to tell people it's okay to eat cereal anytime? It was good enough for Sienfeld.

Self control is key in weight loss, which includes not eating when you feel hungry, or eating even if you are not, in order to make wise choices by keeping our metabolisms active and staying in calorie goals. So no, we don't always "listen to our bodies," we intelligently guide them.

I.E.- Eat breakfst even if not hungry.

WHY? Please, tell me, WHY do we need to eat breakfast if we aren't hungry? I look forward to hearing what you have to say, since you've spoken so definitively.

The WHY is the metabolism reference I gave. Simply put: Eating in the morning activates your metabolism, which is beneficial in weight loss. The later you eat the more hours of fully activated metabolism you miss out on. It's simply a weight loss strategy. If you don't want to do so that's fine, but you are missing out on easy help. Of course there is research to back up anything someone would want to validate, so even though I do work in the medical field, and have benefitted from this myself, and have had several patients in the past lose weight simply by adding a healthy breakfast to their routine... it's still up to everyone to decide on their own.

I am in the breakfast is unnecessary if you don't want it, meals are all arbitrary anyway camp. But then I have always been a browser. I eat when I am hungry, not because a clock tells me to. That's insane.

I DO eat breakfast, but I eat it at 11 am after the school run and exercise. I then often skip lunch and eat at 4pm, 6pm and 8pm.

I should add, I don't time those meals, those are just the times I am in the house most days. As I said, I just tend to eat when hungry.

I'm not going to read all 15 pages of this thread, as I simply don't have time, but some people do have success with this. There's no one-size-fits-all with weight loss. My father, who has struggled with weight for years, used to be the eat breakfast,lunch and dinner guy, and even was a recreational runner for a bit. He's lost more weight over the past year using the Fast-5 lifestyle than anything he tried in the past. So it does work for some, and isn't necessarily unhealthy or counterproductive---try telling that to the 60 pounds he's lost this past year without doing any exercise simply because he changed the way he was eating by using the Fast-5. Is it for everyone? Nope. But just because it's not for everyone doesn't mean that it's for no one.

Just pour the water on a 8x8 picture frame top it off and then drink it . There done LOL!!!

Thank God!!! There is no way I can drink 64 oz of water a day!! This site also says you should drink 8 x 8, well now I know!! :drinker:

"even though I do work in the medical field, and have benefitted from this myself, and have had several patients in the past lose weight simply by adding a healthy breakfast to their routine"

nice you manged to fit 2 types of logical fallacies into 1 statement, impressive

I'm trying figure them both out. I can see a post ergo propter hoc. What's the other? Sort of a reverse ad hominem?