To think it quite normal to skip breakfast

[McHappyPants2012]

Settle an argument for me.

My dh thinks it is not normal for people to skip breakfast, he thinks I am weird because I have never had breakfast.

Surely eating when you are not hungry is more likely to make you fat than waiting till you actually need food to eat it?

I very rarely eat breakfast and don't get hungry till about 11 am so usually only have 2 meals a day.

I just think everybody's metabolism is different. I eat breakfast at about 6.30 even though I am not hungry because not eating it makes me feel under the weather. I don't feel the need to eat agin until lunchtime at 12.00 and then go through to about 6.30 for my evening meal. I tend not to snack between meals because it kills off my appetite. Although if it is someone's birthday at work I will indulge in a bit of cake.

This sounds a bit smug, but since I have got older my metabolism has slowed down and so has my appetite.

I have rarely eaten breakfast in my life until recently when I went on a diet. It has actually helped with losing the weight! I find it really hard to stomach any food first thing in the morning. I do think it's important for children to have something before they go to school though - to the extent that I now get up 1/2 an hour earlier to cook breakfast everyday (and can't eat any of it myself ) as my kids won't eat cereal (unless it's chocolate flavoured!!)

I have this argument with my MIL all the time. She needs breakfast immediately upon waking up, even if that's 4am. I need at least an hour or two to get hungry when I wake up, and usually have "breakfast" in work at about 10-ish. This, to my MIL, means that I "don't eat breakfast", although I don't believe there's any law about when breakfast has to be eaten - surely it's just the first meal of the day?

I'm not a morning person at all and generally spend the first hour after waking up feeling miserable and wishing I could go back to bed. I don't see any merit to stuffing something in that my body doesn't want.

Normal, or at least common, definitely. Not healthy though.

I often end up skipping breakfast because with two small DC, while they eat is a brilliant time for me to load the washing machine / call the bank etc... which means half the time (or more) I don't get any breakfast myself.

The reason you eat breakfast even when you're not hungry is to stop your blood sugar levels plummeting like a stone off a cliff mid morning and making you want to eat whatever is nearest.

If a small breakfast makes you hungry by 10am, eat something at 10am as well! A lot of fat burning diets consist of eating small frequent meals rather than starving yourself then having one big meal later. Small and frequent makes the metabolism work harder.

And what about the people like myself who are in work at 10 am and not entitled to a break until 12 at the earliest and can't get something to eat?

"And what about the people like myself who are in work at 10 am and not entitled to a break until 12 at the earliest and can't get something to eat?"

Can you really not face anything before 10 am?

Very rarely.

I was answering YouOldSlag who asked why, if after eating breakfast and one felt hungry at ten, did one not eat as well- not everyone has access to food/drink when they feel hungry.

Secret- I was answering a previous thread where a poster said if she eats breakfast she is hungry again by ten. I wasn't telling everyone in Britain they must eat at 10 regardless of shift patterns.

My point is that a lot of people say they are not hungry when they get up. I think you should a little something anyway to balance out your blood sugar and stop it plummeting. Even when un-hungry, a banana/cereal bar/yoghurt etc can't hurt. This way people don't feel that suddenly raveneous/light headed feeling mid morning

I couldn't/wouldn't eat if I'm not hungry.

I get up about 7.30am and eat at around 11.30am as a rule.

For those saying that "kick starting metabolism" is a bit woo, and a bit nonsense, you have to think of your body like an engine (which it sort of is). Food is fuel, and regularly putting fuel into a car keeps it ticking over nicely and keeps the engine running.

When you wake up in the morning after hours and hours and hours of inactivity, you need an injection of fuel to get your body functioning at an optimal level. If you don't give your body fuel, it's like trying to run an empty car on a cold day - difficult, heavy, cumbersome and spluttery.

It's been proven scientifically for a number of years now that the longer your body goes without food, the less like it is to expect food, and it turns over into "starvation mode" - so, the next time you feed it, instead of burning the calories it gets, it stores them as fat in order to get through the next period of "starvation" when it comes. When your body gets fed regularly, it never needs to cling to the calories as it always knows more are coming.

Also, eating breakfast and then wanting something else mid-morning is not a bad thing!! It's a sign that your body is working effectively. Mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks are very good for you unless the snacks comprise 3 Flakes and a slice of cheesecake

I haven't eaten breakfast for years. But then when you're up at 4:30 and it's a 100 mile drive to work and it's breakfast or London traffic there's only one winner!

But then i'm a weirdo i suppose. I'll quite happily be tucking into a chill or a roast at 10 am!

I'm not a morning person at all and generally spend the first hour after waking up feeling miserable and wishing I could go back to bed. I don't see any merit to stuffing something in that my body doesn't want.

Maybe the reason you feel miserable and wanting to go back to bed is because your body hasnt any food after been starved all night? Food can kick start your metabolism, wake you up and brighten your mood.

I can't cope without breakfast. No way.

Nor lunch, nor supper. Nor the occasional snack in between.

Hmmm, I feel postively anti-food, akin to travel sickness, which can change into properly feeling sick on bad mornings. It's hard to eat when feeling like that. Am considering trying tiny amounts of fruit to see how I go, though.

Ms Weatherwax- try a smoothie and a digestive. Just a little something to tell your starving bod there's more on the way.

I just looked up the weight/breakfast association. There was a review done in 2010 of 16 studies of adolecence and children collective number of 57,481 participants.

13 of the studies concluded that eating breakfast had a protective effect from weight gain. ie those that ate breakfast were less likely to get over weight.
almost all of the data in the review were gathered from observational studies, thus, causality should not be assumed based on these findings.

The results of this analysis suggest that eating breakfast is associated with a reduced risk of becoming overweight or obese and a reduction in the BMI in children and adolescents in Europe.

tralalala problem is as we've seen from this thread - the parents who are most involved in their children and their health are those who are insisting on breakfast. Controlling for that on an observational study is extremely difficult.

Avoiding low blood sugar and compensatory binge is likely a key thing - and in children that is much harder if they don't have breakfast as they are generally not free to eat when they choose (have to wait to school lunch etc.) whereas adults can and do wait until 10 or 11 to have their first meal during work or at home.

tralalala problem is as we've seen from this thread - the parents who are most involved in their children and their health are those who are insisting on breakfast

How did you get that from this thread?

Most (if not all?) people are talking about themselves missing breakfast...not their kids.

Yes, the people who are missing it are talking about themselves, but so many people are saying how important breakfast is - and I bet those parents are insisting that their child eats.

That's one of the most ridiculous assumptions I've ever read on here

And would you not 'bet' that just because an adult can't eat breakfast, they wouldn't make sure their child does?

Sorry but I just don't get the 'link'.

My kids have always eaten breakfast and as long as they're under this roof, I'll always make sure they don't go to school on an empty belly.

I mean, I'm sure yes that the people eating breakfast themselves also give it to their children. As do the ones that dont, because that's what parents do isn't it.

A lot of people have found Intermittent Fasting(IF) very useful to wean themselves off breakfast,and feel fine on it.

It's not for everybody, but if fuelled properly the day before,breakfast is not necessary until later in the day.

I love my breakfast but don't need it , have had many busy days skipping breakfast and even lunch and felt light and energised. The worst energy crashes I used to have were after having either a cereal or fruit breakfast, sent my blood sugar haywire. Now it's protein or nothing, and I feel great.