Breakfast - a waste of calories?

Breakfast jump starts your metabolism...it should be your largest caloric meal of the day. You will maximize your body's own calorie/fat burning.

i think breakfast is a way to break your fast. You are actually fasting when you are sleep. most people fast from about say 10-7 or 8 in the am.. that is a long time. I love breakfast i tend to have it within an hour of waking up. just think of it as training your body to eat every few hours.

I've never, ever been a breakfast eater. But since starting MFP, I've begun to eat breakfast. Not a ton, but I find I don't need a morning snack and it gets me to lunch. So I feel like I'm saving calories in the long run. Plus, I just feel like I honestly have more energy. But I do extremely simple breakfasts with high protein, or good fats. Greek yogurt. Avocado toast. Boiled eggs. Cottage cheese. Takes no time to make and grab. I'm a very low maintenance breakfast eater. I couldn't do it otherwise. And my body has gotten used to being appropriately hungery about an hour after I get up. So it feels like my eating is falling into a more natural rhythm. Your mileage may vary, of course.

Breakfast isn't a necessity. Health 'experts' say that it's the most important meal, and there's the whole myth about breakfast skippers being fatter, but that's simply because most people that don't eat breakfast tend to pig out and eat more throughout the rest of the day.

I dont think it's a case of tending to pig out through the day, I think it's a case of skipping meals and therefore slowing your metabolism, making it much more difficult to lose weight.

As a recovering eating disorder sufferer, it blows my mind to see people on here encourage others to fast. I'm sorry, but no-one will ever be able to tell me fasting in any way, shape or form is good for them. That will never wash with me. As Morgan said, you cant run a car with no fuel, so how can you expect to run your body with no food?

For me personally, I workout on a morning so breakfast is very important even if Im not hungry. I cant workout without something in my system, I really lag badly. BUT if you don't want to eat it, it's a personal choice and so long as your cal intake is spot on throughout the day, all well and good x

I'm not encouraging others to fast. I'm telling her that it doesn't matter if you eat breakfast or not. If it makes you feel terrible, simple; don't eat it. You have your opinion on fasting, clearly strong from your past, and that's okay. I have my opinion, backed by science I've spent hours researching.

Among my research:
"Breakfast skipping is associated with higher body weights in the population. The explanation is similar to that of lower meal frequencies and higher body weights. Breakfast skippers have dysregulated eating habits and show a higher disregard for health. People who skip breakfast are also more likely to be dieting, thus by default they are also likely to be heavier than non-dieters. Keep in mind that most people who resort to breakfast skipping are not the type that sit around and read about nutrition. They are like most people dieting in a haphazard manner. The type to go on a 800 calorie-crash diet and then rebound, gaining all the weight (and then some) back.

Sometimes, an argument is made for eating breakfast as we are more insulin sensitive in the morning. This is true; you are always more insulin sensitive after an overnight fast. Or rather, you are always the most insulin sensitive during the first meal of the day. Insulin sensitivity is increased after glycogen depletion. If you haven't eaten in 8-10 hours, liver glycogen is modestly depleted. This is what increases insulin sensitivity - not some magical time period during the morning hours. Same thing with weight training. Insulin sensitivity is increased as long as muscle glycogen stores aren't full. It doesn't disappear if you omit carbs after your workout.

Origin of the myth:

First of all, we have the large scale epidemiological studies showing an association with breakfast skipping and higher body weights in the population. One researcher from that study, commenting on the association with breakfast skipping or food choices for breakfast, said:

"These groups appear to represent people 'on the run,' eating only candy or soda, or grabbing a glass of milk or a piece of cheese. Their higher BMI would appear to
support the notion that 'dysregulated' eating patterns are associated with obesity, instead of or in addition to total energy intake per se."

Kellogg's and clueless RDs love to cite them over and over again, so people are lead to believe that breakfast has unique metabolic and health-related benefits. In reality, these studies just show breakfast eaters maintain better dietary habits overall.

Other studies frequently cited claiming that breakfast is beneficial for insulin sensitivity are all marred with methodological flaws and largely uncontrolled in design.

In one widely cited study, subjects were entrusted to eat most meals in free-living conditions. The breakfast skipping group ate more and gained weight, which affected health parameters negatively.

From the abstract: "Reported energy intake was significantly lower in the EB period (P=0.001), and resting energy expenditure did not differ significantly between the 2 periods." EB = eating breakfast. In essence, people who ate breakfast could control their energy intake better for the rest of the day. They didn't gain any weight but the breakfast skipping group did. Fat gain always affects insulin sensitivity and other health parameters negatively. Thus what people took this to mean is that breakfast is healthy and improves insulin sensitivity. Which isn't at all what the study showed."

yes people stay to start your day with breakfast. But I like to start my day with fuel.

See I say fuel, because 3 times a week I wake up at 5.30am to do exercise. But I don't really like eating on an empty stomach. So I usually have a 100 cal meal. Like almonds or what not.
Then I exercise.
Then after I exercise, I have my breakfast.

See I love breakfast, so to me, it's not a waste of calories, but it does tend to be my 'biggest meal' of the day.

Eating at 5, 6, 7 or 8 AM doesn't jump start anyone's metabolism. Metabolism doesn't stop. And, if you choose to wait until noon for your first meal, assuming your last meal was 6, 7, 8 or 9 PM the previous evening, then your body isn't going to slow down in that period of time. It's more like a 72 hour period before metabolism starts to slow.

If you don't enjoy eating early in the morning, then there is no metabolic advantage to forcing yourself and you will not be stalling your weight loss efforts.

Thank you!

Edit: I often lift weights or run before eating, in the morning. I might not eat until 11am if I have a bit of a sleep-in then do a workout. I get through the workout, same as I normally would if I did it at 6pm that night. Some days I even get through it easier.

I mix a double protein shake most mornings & add in 1/2 my daily fruit. I enjoy it real thick & eat it slowly as it is the only meal I get to eat alone. I make up for all the usual breakfast foods I'm missing out on by having them @ dinner time - I make dinner omelets a couple of times each week. The shakes are satisfying & keep me going so I don't mind using 1/4 of my calories in the am.

I agree with others who have expressed that you have to figure out what works best for you so long as you are getting in enough calories each day & not overeating to compensate for skipping breakfast.

I am usually not hungry when I wake up. But have gotten into the habit of drinking my Shakeology first thing (6 am.).and have noticed I don't have that craving around 10-11 for snacks

I'm usually not hungry in the morning. When I am, I have breakfast. It is not the most important meal of the day. It is not going to affect your metabolism if you either have it or not. These are myths, as stated above. If you like breakfast, eat it. If not, don't.

I'm not hungry when I first wake up so I have breakfast about 1.5 hours later. I also eat something with about 10g of protein so I'm satisfied until lunch. It cuts down on my snacking. I still believe breakfast is the best way to jump start your blood sugar and keep your metabolism going.

I would say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but you've lost 72kg so keep doing what you're doing. It's obviously working for you.

I'm not a breakfast fan either so a friend suggested smoothies and it has worked well for me here's a recipie:


good base for smoothies is 1 cup of frozen sliced bananas (i buy them, and cut them up all at once and measure into containers), 1/2 cup of whatever other kind of fruit you like- frozen (i like blueberries or strawberries), 1/2 cup of plain yogurt,.(has alot less calories than the flavored ones), and 1 cup of milk (i use 1% but could probably even switch to fat free for this bc you wouldn't be able to taste the difference)
mix in the blender and enjoy at your own pace

By saying you think breakfast is 'a waste of calories', it demonstrates a lack of understanding of food and why we eat it. As has been said breakfast is the most important meal of the day for several reasons.

Your body been in a state of rest all night, meaning it needs a 'kick start' to have you functioning properly.

what exactly does this last sentence mean in terms of metabolic/physiological parameters?

As a recovering eating disorder sufferer, it blows my mind to see people on here encourage others to fast. I'm sorry, but no-one will ever be able to tell me fasting in any way, shape or form is good for them.

not encouraging anyone to do anything, but I have to notice - so many people around the world are doing occasional fasts for religious purposes. I understand it might sound incredibly extreme or harsh to people who didn't grow up in such environments, but I'm coming from one such country and I really don't see it as a big deal.

and, yeah, I always have breakfast (sometimes at 10am, sometimes at 1pm ).