Skipping meals?

[Chloe9]

To think that lots of adults skip meals?

@gettingabitdesparatenow

Me too! I don’t necessarily get light headed, but I certainly have to eat every meal time. I wake up at 6.30, already hungry. I dint actually have breakfast until around 8.30 though, when I’m at work.

I’m hungry again by 11.30, & so missing lunch is a massive no-no.

This happens however much I eat. I can have a full English breakfast & still want lunch 3 hours later.

I’m not overweight, in face I’ve recently lost 1.5 stone. Never reduced how much I ate, just what.

I hate to do this and I usually try not to, but I advanced searched you, OP, as you haven’t stated why you asked the question and that would really affect my answer. Based on your thread in July, it looks like you’ve been going through a truly horrible time.

If you’re asking if it’s normal for an adult to skip meals occasionally, sure. Some adults often don’t eat breakfast, but they do eat a normal amount of calories over their other meals. If, as I’m concerned, you’re asking because you’re not eating due to depression and trauma and people have said something to you, then you may be skipping too many meals. Without you telling us your eating schedule and amounts, it’s just impossible to say.

If you need support or tips on how to try to get calories in when eating is absolutely the last thing you want to do (believe me, I’ve been through that - due to either physical pain or emotional pain), I’m happy to provide some tips, and I’m sure lots of other posters can as well.

Good luck, OP You are worth good, nourishing food - we all are

(If I’m way off base, OP, please let me know and I’ll have my comment deleted).

I can only dream of the opportunity to skip an actual meal at the moment! I'm 2 weeks in to a 4 month liquid diet of mostly (vile tasting) high calorie build up drinks. On the plus side, I can eat as much ice-cream as I want, since the aim is to put on weight so I'm fit for surgery!

I am really grouchy if I skip a meal and actually end up eating more.

why are these threads helpful.especially the longer they go on the more toxic.jealous wridden.combative and competivie they become

I never did and was a bit horrified by the thought TBH.

But I’ve now realised it’s not impossible, not a bad thing and lots of people do it.

I've lived around disordered eating (my own and other people's) so long I don't know what's normal anymore. I'm trying to have a more "normal" eating pattern but am not always hungry at meal times. It's not really something people talk about IRL so I didn't know if I was weird for thinking that a lot of people skip the odd meal (not hungry) or regularly skip a meal such as breakfast because they are busy etc.

I have pretty much always over eaten, under eaten or been on a diet or eating plan of some kind (for weight loss or for health reasons). I'm happy to be told that I'm wrong and skipping meals is not normal. It's difficult to try and sort out your own eating and set a better example for the next generation when your baseline is completely off beat. I have been trying to use tools like MyFitnessPal to see my average calories over like a week or whatever but think this is just unhelpful in triggering that weight loss mindset when really I need to be concentrating on trying to make positive changes.

That said I'm not sure I'll ever be a "breakfast person" and not sure whether it's worth pushing myself to eat a meal that (in my mind at least) "lots" of people skip IYSWIM.

I guess if you are normal weight to is OK to skip meals- but not if you are underweight or have an eating disorder

I need to eat three meals and two snacks a day or I'll faint!

I don't - my blood sugar drops every 4 hours or so. I'd start to feel nauseous without dinner.

I'm pregnant at the moment so do try not to skip meals or if I do, have a massive dinner to make up for it. When not growing human beings, I'm a two meal a day kind of person. Neither under nor overweight.

I do frequently - I’m not over or underweight, I just eat when I’m hungry and don’t when I’m not.
Usually 2 meals a day and one or 2 snacks (fruit or crisps). I’m not a health and fitness fanatic but exercise 3 times a week predominantly for my mental health.
Breakfast is the meal I usually skip but eat it at the weekends. Saturday and Sunday I have a very late breakfast and scrap lunch.

@CakeNinja

That's roughly the eating pattern I seem to fall into. I don't know whether to just accept that I don't eat breakfast, eat a late brunch/early lunch, bigger evening meal and a snack or two if I'm hungry.

Never have breakfast
Rarely have lunch in working week. Maybe 2 days out of 5.

@BetsyBigNose what happened to you? Jealous of the ice cream

My eating had been chaotic at times and better at others.

Think better to stick to a routine eg eat something light rather than skipping a meal. Then your body learns a regular habit and it starts to feel weird if you skip a meal. I've observed most people are quite dull in their routines day in and day out eg cereal & milk for breakfast and soup/salad/sandwich for lunch etc etc. So I guess that's one version of "normal"

Also think that eating irregularly can make me feel even more edgy when I'm stressed.

I never eat breakfast, usually have some fruit around 2pm then Dinner around 8pm. I do need to lose weight so am doing intermittent fasting.
Can you prioritise eating healthy, nutritious foods when you are hungry rather than worrying about when to eat

I tend to eat lunch and dinner. I'm usually too busy for breakfast. Unless I'm on my period, then the weetabix comes out!

Re having breakfast & lunch vs brunch, does it matter if that's your routine and your weight is ok over time? But if you are underweight then maybe not enough?

@fancytiles Gastric ulcers, leading to cyclical vomiting and malnutrition. I currently weigh less than my 10 year old DD - I look horrific. They're trying to get me up to about 8.5 stone so I can have part/all of my stomach removed as the ulceration won't heal and my duodenum is too swollen for anything other than liquid to get through... Sorry, probably TMI, but you did ask!

I can't face food until I've been awake and up for several hours, so no breakfast, a light lunch (skipping breakfast doesn't make me face-stuffingly ravenous at lunch), a good evening meal, eating as much as I want (though it's never dreadfully unhealthy), and then a bit of chocolate later. I rarely snack.

I'm fit and healthy and I'm happy eating the way that suits me, my life and my metabolism.

@BetsyBigNose ouch that sounds so painful. I hope you get better soon!

Most thin women I know do.

@fancytiles Thank you!

@BetsyBigNose

Sorry to hear that, hope you can have the surgery and feel better soon.