To be uneasy/confused by what the weight loss coach said?

I might be more concerned that she thinks exercise contributes to weight loss, there's evidence it doesn't (though it's still good for you). Read Burn by Herman Pontzer.

I thought there is actually some evidence that the metabolism adapts to its expectation of the food environment.

I can't quickly find a source I 100% trust but this article is interesting and has some research references:

https://erindeckernutrition.com/the-truth-about-starvation-mode/

maybe you could ask your coach for some links to the research literature.

Hmm do you have an under active thyroid by any chance?

The reason fasting doesn't work with that is because your body holds on to any food if not eating regularly and stores it sort of like starvation mode.

I’m no expert but it may help your hormones regulate if you eat balanced meals at consistent times across the day. If you don’t eat until 5pm when you are starving you are more likely to eat a larger, more unhealthy meal and potentially binge.
Why not try what she is suggesting for a few weeks and see how it makes you feel.
If you aren’t happy with what she is suggesting, despite clearly needing to lose weight, withdraw from the programme so someone else can benefit.

I'd be inclined to feed back to the GP that the 'coach' is spreading dated and inaccurate information, and I'd ask about their qualifications/actual profession. They honestly sound like a dieting consultant from Slimming World or Weight Watchers.

As for breakfast, from what I've understood the only issue with not eating breakfast is if you're planning to exercise and are a woman. There is some evidence to suggest that fasted exercise is detrimental to women and can lead to hormone imbalances and the use of lean muscle as fuel. Beyond that, you'll find people who swear by eating breakfast and people who swear by fasting. I've kind of trained myself into eating breakfast and now my mind thinks I'm being tortured if I haven't eaten by 10am 😆

I mean sometimes I fancy having granola, high protein yogurt and fruit instead of a more brunchy egg on toast or something but I'll have it at 11am and then not need anything until 6-7pm, maybe a cup of tea or a banana in the afternoon sometimes.

I think it's rubbish. I was doing quite well losing weight just having brunch and dinner and I went to a healthy eating thing about menopause and they said menopausal women should be having 30g of protein at breakfast and you must have it before ten am.

Well, that just made me far hungrier all day and I put weight back on as I was eating too much. I'd say being a healthy weight in menopause is more important than eating breakfast!

Everyone is different, but generally it's not a good idea to eat when you aren't hungry.

Mine told me I need to exercise more, I run marathons 🤣

It definitely isn't detrimental. For some, it might be essential to eat breakfast depending on their lifestyle and blood sugar levels (ie their genetics and general health!) but in terms of general weight loss it definitely isn't.

Breakfast being so important was heavily perpetuated by companies wanting to sell 'breakfast foods'.

Case in point I am slim and toned and have never eaten it. Plenty of people I know are similar.

@QuestionableMouse if you’re a PCOS sufferer, then a low carb diet would work for you.

Bear in mind that GPs have very little training in nutrition. In one of the Bootcamps I ran, a few years ago, we had someone who was a GP sign up, and she said she’d only had a week’s worth of training/teaching about food/diet/nutrition.

FWIW I also think your ‘coach’ is talking bollocks!

There’s a Low Carb Bootcamp running right now, that just started this week, being run by @Just4June. That might help you.

How is skipping breakfast detrimental?

Nonsense.

I've always eaten breakfast in the morning and I've always been slim. It's been the same with my whole family and they've all been slim.

I still eat a good lunch and dinner. That's just the way I work.

It's purely up to individual preference when a person breaks their overnight 'fast'. I have to eat breakfast in the morning or I feel sick and hungry all morning.

Others can't face food in the morning. Neither way is wrong.

And bodies don't go into 'starvation mode' after a few hours of skipping food in the morning.

Isn't the current advice to eat through the day (eg eat 3 meals and non skip any) because when we're not hungry we can make better (less emotional) choices eg more protein/fruit/veg, fewer simple carbs and better portion control. It's why people advocate meal prepping salads in the fridge or overnight oats or whatever. And if we stay satiated we remove the food noise and we're less likely to crave and snack on sugary things?

Being generous, I wonder if that what's she's meaning by "starvation mode". More the psychology behind what we eat and why. Less about the metabolism which has been debunked

Exactly.
I do know someone who is obese who doesn’t eat all day until their evening meal, but they are so hungry by then that they have massive portions.

to be honest, it's individual.

People should learn to listen to their actual needs. SOME people are better off eating in the morning, and will have a light lunch and not be overly hungry later.

SOME people work better when they are on a an intermittent fasting plan and feel better keeping all food between a few hours, say 11am to 5pm.

Not everyone has the same activity either. If you are going for a 15k run, you probably should fuel up a bit before you leave!

Yeah, that advice doesn't seem up to date with current thinking.

I think eating regularly can help some people lose weight if that person is in a habit of restricting then binging or skipping a meal then eating lots of high calorie foods. My friend lost weight by eating 3 times a day proper full decent sized meals with no puddings and no snacking (eg scrambled egg and spinach on toast for breakfast). It was just what worked for her - it reassured her brain that another decent meal was coming soon. But it didn't work by correcting "starvation mode" in a physical way, regular meals just helped her brain to enable her stay in a calorie deficit.

Of course exercise is good for your overall health and wellbeing but there's quite a lot of evidence now that it's not very impactful on actual weight loss with that being very much tied to diet not exercise levels. As I understand it your body is generally clever enough to try and make up the burnt off calories with additional food/appetite so it's really about diet.

I hardly ever eat breakfast because it just makes me hungrier and I eat more later in the day. But everyone is different. The science suggests there is no right or wrong about it. https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/michael-mosley-the-truth-about-breakfast
I worked in healthcare . When people were unable to eat for medical reasons the weight fell off them rapidly. People in areas where food is scarce are underweight and malnourished. The idea of your body going into starvation mode when you are cutting calories is rubbish

It’s far better not to eat in the morning.

Only going off what the NHS dietician told my mum recently...

Absolutely agree. The truth is the less you eat, the more weight you will lose. And the longer you go between meals the better. Some might not consider it to be healthy but it’s the truth.

Skipping breakfast isn’t detrimental, it doesn’t exist. Whenever you eat you’re breaking a fast, aren’t you. You contradicted yourself - breakfast = breaking your fast, doesn’t matter if you do that in the morning or at lunchtime, doesn’t matter if you do that with cereal or a jacket potato.

She talks rubbish and I am shocked that she has a job she knows nothing about the subject of.

I agree. Show me a fat starving person!

I’ve actually heard the same “starvation mode” speech from two very well-known Slimming Club organisations, but am pretty sure it’s been debunked now.