Do you eat breakfast? Only eating 1 meal a day…

[Luanaa]

Really struggling with breakfast ideas. In fact, I haven’t eaten breakfast for months because I never fancy porridge, cereal, eggs (I only eat them a few times a year) or anything breakfast-y.

By 10am I get pretty hangry so end up usually eating some sort of muffin/pastry which isn’t great, obviously.

That usually sees me through until 12/1ish, where I can’t see the point of having lunch when dinner is ‘round the corner’ so end up munching on some biscuits, waiting it out and having one meal a day, that being dinner, around 4pm.

By evening I’m quite hungry again so snack on bloody crisps, dip, biscuits…. Which is obviously just quite shit.

I need to change it desperately but struggling to think of breakfast ideas). I also think I need to establish some sort of plan so that I am getting 3 meals a day in.

The last breakfast I ate (probably around 3m ago) was carrot sticks, bread sticks, cucumber, olives and hummus but I can’t have the same thing on repeat without getting bored of it quickly. Any picky/snacky type breakfast ideas?! Any general advice on healthy eating?!

Breakfast doesn't have to be 'breakfast food'. Make a list of all the foods/meals you like that are broadly healthy and then pick one/a selection for breakfast. If it's fish pie or bolognese then so be it! Batch cook some so you're not trying to cook first thing.

Eat lunch and have dinner at a normal time.

I’m not a breakfast person but I have a milky drink to wake my stomach up at about 10am (up at 6 but mooching the first hour watching telly).

Can I ask why your dinner is so early? I feel like that might be more of the issue.

You could try a meal at 10 if you need to keep dinner at 4. Also breakfast doesn’t need to be what people say is breakfast food. Protein is a good option over carb but the main thing is it’s something you like if you’re hungry.

I'm not a big breakfast person - I'm generally not that hungry especially when I first wake up. I usually have something around 9am - yogurt and berries with a few nuts, or banana and peanut butter on toast. Sometimes eggs or porridge.

Breakfast can be anything you want though.
It literally means to break your fast so you can have curry or sausage and mash or omelette if you want to
Personally I've never eaten breakfast as it makes me feel sick so I only eat once a day in the evening.. Very low appetite, lack of interest.
its now called intuitive eating but I've always done this. Don't just eat by the time on the clock.

@NuffSaidSam yes that is very true, in fact you’ve just taken me way back in time by your response……. Apparently when I was a toddler I would wake up asking for dinner and fully expecting spaghetti/shepherds pie, my grandma would have me a lot and used to give me whatever I asked for and if truth be told once my hunger levels peak at around 10 am each morning, I’m often thinking of dinner! So you are right, maybe I just need to have dinner.. for breakfast.

@MiddleClassProblem I will try pushing it back, 4pm is too early because by 7/8pm I’m really quite hungry again. Only reason why it’s so early is because it’s often my first meal of the day and I can’t wait it out any longer!

What about any of these:
Yoghurt with fruit
Avocado
Beans on toast, the classic 😄
Cheese on toast
Cheese and tuna on toast
Crackers, crispbread
Croissants with either jam or cheese and ham
Make overnight oats - people often order it even when they don't like porridge, especially with yoghurt or soya milk and apple
Smoothie

If you won’t eat lunch at a normal lunch time because dinner is just round the corner - have dinner at a normal dinner time!

I’m always starving when I wake up, normally have porridge. DH isn’t and given the choice has ‘brunch’ instead. Both of us then tend to graze through the day until dinner. I’m trying to stick to fruit and nuts for grazing as they’re much healthier! I agree with pp though- listen to your body don’t eat by the clock

If you don’t want anything breakfast-y then have something dinner-y (leftovers) or light lunch-y (soup, chapattis and Dahl, quesadillas, falafel) or supper-y (Welsh rarebit, mushrooms on toast)

I can’t eat first thing in the morning, the thought of it just doesn’t appeal at all, I don’t want any kind of solid food till at least 2 hours after waking up.

What I’ve been doing is having a protein shake, I get a latte flavoured one, mix it with a load of ice and stick it in a thermal mug thing so it stays cold and sip on it over an hour or so. The ice makes it taste better to me, it makes it more like a Frappuccino and gets rid of that powdery/chalky/strangely viscous texture some protein shakes have.

i do think you need to aim to have lunch though, skipping that pushes you into an early dinner which means you are snacking mid evening too, if you can get to the point where you’re having lunch at 12, dinner at 5.30/6 then it will put you in a better routine.

I'm 56 and haven't eaten breakfast since I was in primary school.

I just don't wake up hungry, so wait until lunch at 12.

But it’s only your first meal because you decided lunch was too close to it. If lunch was at 1 then 6 or later is not too close at all. It’s 5 hours minimum.

It sounds like you’re anticipating what’s next too much. And defo have dinner meal whenever you want. I feel like it was someone like Des O’Connor who had one meal a day at lunch?

I think in actuality people are different and need different things according to their bodies but were told this that are just made up by society and feel we need to conform just like with many other things.

I’m the other way I’m not bothered about lunch - so I eat a decent amount at around 11am and then again around 7pm .

at 11am my go to

greek yoghurt and berries and banana
Longley farm cottage cheese on crispbread

hard boiled eggs with cottage cheese and a few tomatoes

M&S. Spanish omelette

wolfy porridge pots with a banana

croissant with cheese and ham

Very very rarely eat breakfast and never ‘breakfast’ stuff like cereal or porridge. I have lunch around 1330 and dinner around 1945. If I was eating dinner at 1600 I’d be raiding the kitchen for snacks before bed.

when I do have breakfast it’s a late breakfast at weekends. Flourless muffins with chorizo, fake McDonalds sausage muffin, noodles, leftovers, crispy bacon and mushrooms. Sometimes the charcuterie stuff comes out and we just skip lunch.

In this weather I’m eating yogurt with raw oats and fruit, mainly raspberries from the garden. Often banana instead. I add a splash of milk if it’s too thick.

I don't eat breakfast because I intermittent fast so have two meals a day....lunch and dinner. But you could consider changing your timings a bit so you have brunch and then a dinner later on. Eat at 10am and 5pm or something like that.

Or consider a protein shake in the morning if you do want some calories and nutrition but don't want to eat? I sometimes have the Vieve protein water which is a clear juice because I don't like milkshake but it has 20g of protein per bottle.

I rarely eat breakfast either - just don't fancy it except on holiday!
I eat a largish 'brunch' around 11, omelette and salad, soup and cheese on toast, takeaway or last nights dinner leftovers. Then a snack of fruit with some nuts mid afternoon and dinner about 6.

I have a small bowl of strawberries at the moment, take them out of the fridge the night before and they're perfect.

Every morning a smoothie and a Skyr yoghurt

I have one meal a day and it's dinner, usually about 7pm

Same.

I have never eaten breakfast (maybe as a small child!), certainly not since I was about 8.
I eat a proper lunch at 1pm and then dinner around 8pm.
You’re constantly snacking a lot on rubbish with no nutritional value!!