Breakfast. To eat.... Or not to eat?

takechances
takechances Posts: 65
in Food and Nutrition
Here's the deal. I have read many articles about how "You have to eat breakfast to rev up your metabolism!!" but I have recently read that nothing will "rev up" your metabolism.
I don't usually eat breakfast, as I am not very hungry in the mornings. I prefer to eat around 2pm. My boyfriend is telling me that I'm screwing myself over and cutting calories won't work if I don't eat breakfast. My weight loss is going quite well without it.. So I'm not sure that I should start eating breakfast.

Why do you support/refute eating breakfast?
«13

Replies

  • Rory_123
    Rory_123 Posts: 68 Member
    I don't like breakfast. I eat my first meal around noon-2pm, but I do drink coffee in the morning. If I eat breakfast I am starving an hour later and then all day. I don't buy the "revving up your metabolism" line either. Where are the scientific studies that provide evidence of this?!?!?

    Unless you are binge eating later in the day, it doesn't matter whether you get your calories from 7am-7pm or from 2pm-9pm or any other time frame. The concern about skipping breakfast is that many people will then overeat at lunch/dinner, and go over their calorie allotment for the day.
  • takechances
    takechances Posts: 65
    I feel the same way! This also allows me to not be worried about going hungry if I don't have enough calories for dinner.
  • ERMBSN
    ERMBSN Posts: 32 Member
    I eat breakfast beacuse I don't like to workout on an empty stomach. As for should or shouldn't. I think thats up to the individual. Try tracking your weight loss without eating breakfast for a few weeks. Then track your weight loss with eating a small breakfast. This should give you a better idea if breakfast is right for you.
  • ChaoticMiNd
    ChaoticMiNd Posts: 247 Member
    I don't like breakfast. I eat my first meal around noon-2pm, but I do drink coffee in the morning. If I eat breakfast I am starving an hour later and then all day. I don't buy the "revving up your metabolism" line either. Where are the scientific studies that provide evidence of this?!?!?

    Unless you are binge eating later in the day, it doesn't matter whether you get your calories from 7am-7pm or from 2pm-9pm or any other time frame. The concern about skipping breakfast is that many people will then overeat at lunch/dinner, and go over their calorie allotment for the day.
    This is me to the letter. I'm never hungry in the morning and if I do eat I'm pigging out all day.
  • 33neenaj
    33neenaj Posts: 306
    Listen to your belly....if it growls at you EAT, if it doesn't DONT!
  • VeganZombie13
    VeganZombie13 Posts: 297
    http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/lose-weight-eat-breakfast
  • peachyxoxoxo
    peachyxoxoxo Posts: 1,178 Member
    If you feel hungry eat breakfast, if not, don't. But might I suggest eating more than 100 calories for lunch if you already don't eat breakfast.
  • Pooks1n1Schmoops
    Pooks1n1Schmoops Posts: 199 Member
    Eat!
  • Pooks1n1Schmoops
    Pooks1n1Schmoops Posts: 199 Member
    There's like 6 calories in a cup of fresh spinach. If I start running low on calories, I eat a big ole salad.
    I feel the same way! This also allows me to not be worried about going hungry if I don't have enough calories for dinner.
  • sunshine_gem
    sunshine_gem Posts: 390 Member
    I'm currently doing intermittent fasting and I don't eat breakfast. The idea of it is that you have a 16 hour fasting period and then an 8 hour eating window. I hired a personal trainer who got me started on it and I love it. It teaches you how to recognise when your body is actually hungry over when you think you should eat. I find I actually eat less doing this. If you're just looking for general weight loss and all around toning breakfast isn't necessary. Check out this article. It tells you all about it in a lot more detail.

    http://www.romanfitnesssystems.com/blog/intermittent-fasting-101/

    Also, all the people telling you to eat less more often are talking crap. It doesn't matter whether you eat 6 small meals or 2 big ones, your body will metabolise it all the same.

    Hope this helps!
  • honeysprinkles
    honeysprinkles Posts: 1,757 Member
    You don't have to eat it, you'll be fine if you don't! I like breakfast, but not everyone likes eating in the morning. As long as you still have a calorie deficit, you'll lose! It doesn't matter when those calories are eaten or what they are.
  • friend2cptsolo
    friend2cptsolo Posts: 29 Member
    EAT at breakfast..... SOMETHING if you are not hungry start out shooting for a simple 150- 200 Cal. breakfast.
    I make a breakfast smoothy almost everyday and a cup of fruit.
  • jesusHchris
    jesusHchris Posts: 1,405 Member
    I hear a lot of things and don't necessarily agree with them all. For instance - meal timing. I keep hearing that this had been debunked. I definitely notice a difference in my training performance if I do not eat before hand. Consuming all my calories in one fell swoop would not work for me. Perhaps the debunking was unrelated to this and more around weight gain / loss. However, I also tend to agree with those that say macros (such as protein) need to be spread throughout the day for your body to properly metabolize and put to use.

    I am no scientist, though, I just know how I feel when modifying my own diet.

    Working out in a fasted state in the morning may assist with some fat burning. I have heard arguments on both sides here but the one I am currently leaning towards is that a moderate exercise in the morning (no sprinting, etc) in a fasted state MAY be helpful with fat loss.

    I personally feel much better if I do eat breakfast, but I can knock out an hour jog before doing so. I would definitely not strength train without eating.
  • takechances
    takechances Posts: 65
    I like to eat a small lunch, then about two hours later have some fruit and nuts, around 6 have a very filling dinner (500 cals) and have a small snack at 8.
    I get my 1200 in, and if not, I'm about 100 away by the end of the night.

    I don't go hungry. I eat when I'm hungry.
  • moonspells
    moonspells Posts: 126 Member
    The prevailing wisdom on here is that it makes no difference when in the day you consume your calories so do what works for you. I personally find that if I miss breakfast or don't eat enough in the morning, I get very snacky/munchy later in the day, so I make sure I eat brekkie.
    Listen to YOUR body and go with it...YOU know better than anyone what works for you!

    Best of luck! :o)
  • dward2011
    dward2011 Posts: 416 Member
    Some days I eat it... some days I'm not hungry. It's not an issue for me. I find that listening to my body's needs each day works best. Today for example, I wasn't hungry so I only had my coffee. I am now at 12:30pm feeling a bit hungry so I plan to eat lunch in the next half hour or so. I do prefer to run after eating, so there are a few times where I eat a small breakfast just because I am going for a run.

    Edit to add: There are some mornings that I wake up hungry, so I eat a big breakfast. As I stated above, I listen to my body.
  • kaseysospacey
    kaseysospacey Posts: 499 Member
    I feel the same way. I usually feel like I'm going to be sick in the morning, I'm just not a morning person. Also, I have to wait a while to eat after taking my thyroid meds anyway. I usually eat between 12-2 for the first time, but I'm a night owl so I'll usually eat more meals at night. Like last night, I had a salad at like 7 and soup at like 11.
  • takechances
    takechances Posts: 65
    EAT at breakfast..... SOMETHING if you are not hungry start out shooting for a simple 150- 200 Cal. breakfast.
    I make a breakfast smoothy almost everyday and a cup of fruit.
    Why would I eat if I'm not hungry? Nothing is appetizing to me when I'm not hungry. That doesn't make sense to me.
  • stargazer008
    stargazer008 Posts: 531
    Just when you want. Your metabolism won't shut down if you skip breakfast, it only shuts down if you're dead.
  • pink_butterfly
    pink_butterfly Posts: 83
    I have a bottle of ensure every morning. I find that on a day I decide to have oatmeal instead that I don't have as much energy.. I only have oatmeal in the morning maybe once every two weeks. I love having Ensure for breakfast.. it also allows me to keep my 1200 calorie each day.
  • davidr730
    davidr730 Posts: 126 Member
    It is extremely important to eat breakfast. After the 8 hour fast (sleeping) you body needs to know that it should not go into starvation mode. Ideally it should be your largest meal of the day with dinner being the smallest but that's not written in stone.
  • Sasssy69
    Sasssy69 Posts: 547 Member

    I don't go hungry. I eat when I'm hungry.

    This. Right here. Nutrition and exercise are key to health. But over-eating, eating when you are not hunger - No matter WHAT you are eating - is the reason people are over weight.

    Eat when you are hungry. Stop when you are full. I also don't eat breakfast. I still lose weight - the same as I did when I forced myself to eat breakfast. And I too was always starving all day when I ate breakfast. I definitely eat way more when I eat breakfast than when I don't.
  • backwoodsbama
    backwoodsbama Posts: 104 Member
    It is true that your metabolism will start up better if you have breakfast though not in a way that most say. Your body is usually in a small state of starvation when you first wake up which grinds your metabolism down. Eating something small will bring your metabolism back up to normal. There's nothing I've found that proves your metabolism spikes though.

    I have personally found however that drinking a glass a cold water as soon as you wake up with light a fire in your belly. Cold water does spike your metabolism because your body has to expend calories to warm up the water. While not as good as coffee, it still wakes me up pretty fast as well.

    Sometimes its the little things that can make a big difference. I never noticed how quickly calories, fat and sugar add up till I started using this site.
  • MFPBrandy
    MFPBrandy Posts: 564 Member
    There are people here that will swear up and down that their way is THE right way. I say try them both and see what works for you.
    I was never a breakfast person; I felt nauseous if I tried to eat too early. But when I started trying to lose weight, I realized my lack of energy had a lot to do with my lack of protein. I started doing protein shakes in the morning, and I noticed a HUGE difference in my energy levels. I tried doing them a few hours later, and I still had more energy than without the shakes, but I didn't feel as good as I did when I drank them first thing in the morning.
    So for me, I've tried it a few ways, and giving my body some good fuel to start the day with makes a huge difference. Give it a try for a week or two, and see how you feel. If you don't notice a difference, then there's your answer.
  • Pacileo4Evers
    Pacileo4Evers Posts: 129 Member
    I never eat breakfast, I normally eat around 12> if I eat breakfast I find my self with this unsatisfying hunger all day. Calories are calories as long as you are staying in your limits it doesn't really matter. I've lost over 50 lbs and I NEVER eat before 12.
  • kaylurzz
    kaylurzz Posts: 121 Member
    I use to not eat breakfast in high school, but that was because I would feel sick eating that early in the morning.
    But I eat it now in college and it really makes the difference with how I feel in the day. It doesn't even have to be something big.

    But I say do with whatever feels right for you.
  • RitaSantoss
    RitaSantoss Posts: 986 Member
    Of course you should eat breakfast! It's the most important meal of the day. It sets your energy for the rest of the morning.
  • koen612
    koen612 Posts: 83
    I eat 2 breakfasts in the morning one at 6 and one at 9, they are not huge just about the size of my palm and anytime you eat your body has to start working to digest that food, and by proxy it burns calories, I weight lift 6 days a week so i eat 3080 calories a day. If you choose to eat it or not its entirely up to you we are all different on here with different goals, and different diets. I eat my bmr and tdee daily also, but what ever you choose to do is up to you, just don't eat if your not hungry, if you are hungry eat. If your intentionally skipping your not helping your self lose weight by cutting 200-400 calories off your day , the body doesn't work like that.
  • Pacileo4Evers
    Pacileo4Evers Posts: 129 Member
    It is extremely important to eat breakfast. After the 8 hour fast (sleeping) you body needs to know that it should not go into starvation mode. Ideally it should be your largest meal of the day with dinner being the smallest but that's not written in stone.
    http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=35501
  • toriaenator
    toriaenator Posts: 423 Member
    doesnt matter when you eat, your body doesnt care if u eat 2000 cals in one meal or if you eat 76 small meals as long as you get in the calories within the 24 hour cycle :D so if u hate breakfast, dont eat it!

Categories