Of course we’re all built differently. And all have different needs. But think about these general statements.
unless you’re snacking at night - which can lead to weight gain and a need for this thread - your body has gone several hours - perhaps up to 12 hours of the day without food when your feet hit the floor in the morning.
we have free breakfast at schools for what reason? Optimal brain growth and development.
saving more calories for later in the day leads to less hours to use and burn those calories up - resulting in an increased likelihood of weight gain.
There are many good reasons of course.
Maybe you’re not active in the morning and don’t feel you need the calories. Maybe you should get active in the morning to jumpstart your metabolism for healthy calorie burn through the day.
Maybe you don’t have a need for your brain to be engaged and ready to handle brain strenuous work tasks.
Most brain AND physical activity are going to require - or allow you to function and perform best - with a decent intake of calories - protein, good carbs. Why wouldn’t you want that?
Again, always exceptions. But it’s my opinion - which can be supported in many places - that good food intake in the morning will have a positive effect on your morning, your daily food intake and calorie burn and functionality.
I have never been a breakfast eater. Just never liked it. So I use it to my advantage- I take my meds that make me nauseous and that have to be taken on an empty stomach in the morning. I need to take them at some point during the day, why not in the morning when I’m not going to eat anyway?
I am ravenous when I wake up in the morning. Skipping breakfast is simply not an option and even if the research warned me in the sternest possible language that I should stop eating my morning meal at once, I’d probably have to sigh and ignore the advice. I try to make it healthy and enjoyable. And a nice frothy homemade cappuccino (3 points) is a must. I dare anyone to lecture me on my morning caffeine treat! :))
We really are all differently built and differently wired. If something works for you, by all means stick with it. If it doesn’t and you are looking for a different approach. by all means give something new a try. Either way, I am interested to hear how others manage. Good question @ams5796!
I eat breakfast. I go in phases currently I’m eating 2 hard boiled eggs for breakfast minus the yolk. I’ve also periods where I’ll have oatmeal everyday. Every morning first thing is several cups of black coffee with no sweetener.
My H is a extremely fit athlete, he isn’t a breakfast person. He forces himself to eat about 1/2 cup of plain yogurt with goji berries or granola on top. It’s a very small amount of food. He drinks green tea most mornings but will have coffee on the weekends. He plays 2-3 hours of competitive 2 man beach volleyball most days. He also is a excellent singles tennis player. After vb he will eat a small lunch, leftovers in a tortilla or a peanut butter tortilla. Sometimes he will add a piece of fruit but that is rare. He says he is stuffed. He gets the majority of his calories at dinner time. He will have cheese or hummus with vegetables and crackers before dinner and eat a decent sized dinner. It works for him. I on the other hand need to eat lunch. If I don’t by 3 pm I’m starved and at that point I don’t make good food decisions.
Weighed in at 263 tonight. Forgot to weigh this morning when I woke up.
I’m going to spend some time with a family member who is going through a crisis. No scale there but I usually eat healthier when I’m there, plus I will be taking care of an 8 month old so I’ll get plenty of exercise
I like to have a small bit of protein at breakfast. I think it fills me up and keeps me from being ravenous later.
If you don’t like breakfast foods then I think it’s ok to eat what you think is good. I do not have breakfast eaters at my house. My H likes to have a protein bar in the morning, it stays with him and keeps him from crashing. My D will have a protein shake and later a piece of fruit and yogurt if hungry.
I’m not the right person to ask about breakfast though I think. I’m really a 3 meal a day person myself. But I try not to snack
When I was growing up I would eat thinks like a leftover hamburger or spaghetti for breakfast- whatever I wanted. My mother would fix it for me. Yes, I was spoiled. We weren’t forced into breakfast foods at all, though.
Sorry if I came on a bit strong last night re: the breakfast topic. I’ll admit it’s a topic that quite irks me…so my apologies to @ams5796. Also my all caps wasn’t meant to be shouting but emphasis.
I’ll admit that is was this sentence that set me off… “Or, is it a good way to save calories?” (to not eat breakfast)
I just don’t think that restricting yourself from having a meal is a good path. Your body has gone without food for several hours. Food IS important for brain function and energy release. If you have lived your life without breakfast, maybe it works for you. BUT (emphasis!) if you have been a breakfast eater and are trying to lose weight, I would spend time examining what your are eating for breakfast (quality and quantity) as opposed to looking at cutting it out.
Now it’s 8:30 and I have a soft poached egg and whole milk plain yogurt/fresh peach-blackberries/granola mixture waiting for me!
Absolutely! Same for me. Something about eating breakfast first thing in the morning triggers my body to expect a regular flow of calories the rest of the day, and a couple of hours later I am starving! It contradicts the so called evidence that people that don’t eat breakfast will overeat later in the day.
Normally it is midday or even lunch before I am interested in eating so I follow my body cues. I probably stopped eating breakfast after elementary school and my brain has managed just fine without it, in school and at work.
When I was obese I didn’t eat breakfast. I snacked after dinner a lot too. Once I started this new eating plan, it’s not like I’m ravenous in the morning, but I started eating throughout the day and I really needed the energy. I eat, then exercise about 30 minutes to an hour later. I can’t give it my all if I haven’t eaten, I’ve tried. After I work out I usually need a small snack about an hour afterwards. I eat about 1500 calories a day. What works for me - B - 300, L - 400, D - 500, then 3 snacks at about 100. I don’t count everything now, but I know what fits those numbers and works for me. What works for me is going more into lean protein, fats like olive oil, avocado, coconut oil, whole grains like steel cut oats and brown rice, veggies out the wazoo and usually a fruit at lunch. My snacks consist of yogurt, pistachios, cheese, cottage cheese and for dessert at night I’ll do dark chocolate.
Except of course when I don’t, then all bets are off, but I try not to do that more than once a week if that. And yes, my indian dinner was certainly off plan.
From what I’ve read about intermittent fasting, the idea is not that skipping breakfast will aid in calorie restriction, it’s that the extra long fasting period will reduce the hours that insulin is spiking and aid in the body using it’s designed source of energy, body fat. You are still supposed to get in your caloric allotment, just during a reduced feeding period.
Let’s not forget that it’s only the last tip of humanity where food sources were so readily available that we could eat even 3 meals daily, much less the oft recommended “six small meals a day.” Our body is designed to endure periods of fasting quite well by using our stored body fat. When we eat constantly during the day, our body has no incentive to dip into fat stores.
People do quite well with breakfast, others need it. As with all this stuff, it’s not a one size fits all.
And therein lies my problem in a nutshell. No doubt my body is designed to endure periods of fasting but my brain sure isn’t and its modern wiring signals me constantly to EAT MORE. I think of myself as an Amy Schumer type: I’m not one of those girls who says, oh no! I forgot to eat lunch! I’m more one who says oh no! I ate two lunches! This, my friends, is my constant battle. Sure, I always eat healthy but healthy or not, at a certain age, ya just can’t eat more. Period.
For me, at this point in life, I know what I have to do to lose weight. It’s * doing it * and * maintaining it * that’s the struggle. I benefit from information and welcome it but mostly I need to hear the sympathy and support and encouragement.
It’s a struggle for most everybody, unless you are really lucky. I struggle constantly, but I haven’t been able to fully commit, at least for more than a week, it just seems so hard for me. I don’t need to hear sympathy and encouragement that it’s fine that I ate poorly again, because I deserve it (trust me, I don’t). I want to hear from people who are still fighting the battles but have won the war, those who have had lasting success.
There are so many things that I do that are keeping me treading water, stuck in the same place. There have got to be ways that I can improve, while not suffering too much (I hope), and I’d like to hear them. If people are offended by advice from people who have been successful, I don’t think they are serious in any way. And ams5796 actually ASKED the question about breakfast, and got offended by someone answering. I think people can be open minded and avoid unpleasantness, even if they disagree or don’t want to hear things.
“For me, at this point in life, I know what I have to do to lose weight. It’s doing it and maintaining it that’s the struggle. I benefit from information and welcome it but mostly I need to hear the sympathy and support and encouragement.”
Me too. I want to hear what other people are doing to make it work for them. When I read through this thread I see that a lot of us are looking for that same thing.
@3girls3cats, I completely understand the maintenance struggle. You can call me a professional dieter. I did manage to lose over 100 pounds by calorie restriction and vigorous exercise. But, I didn’t really have a plan to maintain and frankly, I don’t want to eat 1200 calories a day and run for hours just to maintain a healthy weight. I’ve done better than usual with maintenance but am now in a coaching program that’s designed to help me develop healthy eating habits for life. One of the things they have me doing is focusing on slowing down my meals, actually using a timer to extend my meal times with the theory being it takes 20 minutes before we recognize we’re full. Also, eating without distraction - no reading, no texting, no television - just concentrating on the meal and my enjoyment of the meal. Hopefully this might be helpful to someone.
Interesting, @sabaray. Gosh, I don’t even know if I’m capable of not reading while I’m eating! Maybe I wouldn’t have eaten all the bacon, eggs and hashbrowns I just did while reading and texting… if I timed it and had to just eat. And now I’m overly full.
^^That is the “Okinawa diet” which is not a diet at all but a way of meal management. The main idea is to stop at the first feeling of fullness, but to have a meaningful result, one needs to eat slowly, as sabaray said.
