To ask if you eat breakfast?

[stressedespresso]

Ever since I was a child I have never been one to eat breakfast. Food so early in the morning just does not appeal whatsoever and if I do try to force it in makes me feel physically sick. I don’t typically get hungry until around 11am - at which point I’ll have a small snack (eg: cereal bar, fruit, croissant etc) to tide me over until lunch.

Today a close friend (known to have disordered, heavily restricted eating) accused me of having an ED because of the lack of breakfast. Personally, I can’t see any issue here. I’m a healthy weight and this is simply the pattern in which I have always preferred to eat. Any calories that I’ve missed from not eating early in the morning are certainly made up for later in the day with lunch/dinner

Is she just being unreasonable? Is it really that odd to skip it?

Yes, pretty much every day, even if it’s just a banana.
it stops me getting a mid-morning slump and scoffing biscuits which I definitely do otherwise.

I haven't eaten breakfast since my Mum stopped forcing it down me when I was about 14. Ugh it makes me feel ill. I'm an ok weight and it's never done me any harm.

Not routinely, no. I eat when I’m hungry. If that’s 4am or 11am or 10pm, I eat. It’s never occurred to me to eat any other way. I think that people feeling they need to eat at “mealtimes” without actually establishing whether they’re hungry or not is partially why so many people struggle with their weight.

Well, according to this book, you’re doing the right thing!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Breakfast-Dangerous-Meal-Morning-Wellbeing-ebook/dp/B01D4WO272/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3ARNH6JKETRUO&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.IFCNorf1UAFBN230ZPvFvg.Lyp2H2WAhkd_zfSAY5i8Vyi00Kr934cZTRLoM7gM8dE&dib_tag=se&keywords=breakfast+is+the+m+ost+dangerous+meal&qid=1719434976&sprefix=breakfast+is+the+m+most+dangerous+meal+%2Caps%2C124&sr=8-1

I always have breakfast. Even if I'm not that hungry.

The important thing is making sure the first thing you eat when breaking the fast is healthy and I don't trust myself to do that later on!

Intermittent fasting is quite common so I’m sure there are plenty of people who don’t eat breakfast and break their overnight fast with lunch. There are many benefits and if you’re not hungry, you’re not hungry. It’s not like you’re actively avoiding eating breakfast. If it works for you, I wouldn’t worry about what she says!

I always have breakfast as I'm usually hungry. It's fruit and yoghurt 90% of the time.

As i have become older (50 now) I find my appetite is smaller and so I regularly miss breakfast. I used to always eat something- a slice of toast with honey as a child. But Now i just wait until lunch then eat something small and have a proper dinner.

before anyone accuses me of competitive undereating I am 5 foot 2 and weigh 12 stone so not a teeny weeny by any means.

I think I have just become more comfortable with not eating first thing. 2 cups of black coffee and I'm good. (Mind you, my lunch is usually at noon.).

I was doing intermittent fasting and did not eat breakfast. This was fine until I started exercising midmorning and found it just wasn't working (dizziness, fatigue). So I have started to eat breakfast, just moved my lunch time yoghurt to the morning instead.

I prefer no breakfast though and I will go back to that once I start working out in the evenings again.

No, once the dc have left for school and I've got dressed and walked the dogs. I usually do a bit of housework have a bath and have brunch.

I don’t bother with breakfast. Wasted calories. Always hungry again almost immediately - in fact more hungry when I eat breakfast than when I don’t. Makes me feel sluggish. I have a proper coffee with full fat milk though and that sees me through till lunch. Weirdly unlike pp I find if I have eaten before the gym it makes it harder for me. It’s probably psychological but that means I always go in the mornings.

I would be dizzy and nauseous if i didn't eat breakfast but then i have my dinner at about 5.30/6 and 99% of the time don't eat anything after that. I've well and truly had a days worth of food by then. So i think it's just a different eating pattern, presumably you eat lunch and then dinner a bit later.

Every day. Plenty of protein - usually two eggs plus a bit of veg or meat. I have PCOS so keeping stable blood sugar is key for managing the symptoms. If I skip breakfast the rest of the day is awful - a rollercoaster of hunger and energy crashes.

I always eat breakfast because I am always hungry when I get up but I don’t see that it’s a problem not to. Some people don’t want to eat first thing.

Yes - always at least a slice of toast with something on it.

Low blood sugar is a migraine trigger for me so I have to make sure I eat regularly.

I used to be a massive breakfast person, but then at some point in my 30s I just stopped wanting any and I now (50) rarely bother. I've always been slim so it's not made a difference to my weight. Like OP I just have something light whenever I get hungry, usually a piece of fruit at about 10am.

This is exactly how I feel. On the (few) days that I do eat breakfast I notice myself getting far more hungry than I normally would + at a significantly earlier time

I haven’t eaten breakfast (apart form when on holiday ) for 4 years as been following intermittent fasting. I’m not hungry in the morning and just have a black coffee. I exercise in a fasted state too. Everyone is different , if you’re not hungry I don’t see the point in eating!! Read up about the benefits of fasting

I eat breakfast and dinner, no lunch. I am starving when I wake up but can manage on tea and lots of water all day then have a proper dinner. I am super busy all day so it suits me.

I used to and thought I couldn’t manage without but now I don’t and start the day with a cup of fresh mint tea, which is lovely. I have a vegetable snack around 1030.

I almost never eat breakfast - I never really have. I drink tea with milk in the morning but I’m just not a morning person at all and tend not to have much appetite until later in the day. I love my food, believe me! Just not when I’ve only just woken up.

Provided you feel OK without it and you eat enough over the course of a day, it doesn’t matter what time you eat or how many meals you spread your food intake across.

The whole ‘breakfast is the most important meal of the day’ thing is a complete myth. Obviously if you’re keeling over with hunger by 10am or deliberately avoiding meals to lose weight, that’s not healthy, but from what you’ve said, you’re someone who just doesn’t fancy food at the crack of dawn, not someone with food issues.

I think your friend is probably projecting. Sometimes people with EDs can be overly-invested (and sometimes judgemental) about other people’s eating habits.

Yes absolutely, I have only missed breakfast about a handful of times in my life and anytime I did, I felt sick, weak and binged by lunchtime. I need to eat immediately when I wake up which is usually 7am. I saw a dietician before who recommended having a high protein breakfast which keeps you fuller for longer so you’re less likely to binge/ snack during the day. It works.

As a person recovering (ish) from an ED, we scrutinise other peoples habits much more closely than a ‘normal’ person. She may be projecting slightly. If you are a health weight and eating Intuitively than I wouldn’t worry about it.

my therapy drummed into me the rule of 3. Food every 3 hours (meal then a snack) and 3 food groups on the plate - protein, carbs and fruit/veg.

EDs often follow strict rules and lots of rights and wrongs.

I always eat breakfast. If I didn’t, I’d pass out, or at least feel sick and dizzy. Have lunch between 12-1pm and dally eaten the evening meal between 5-6.30pm. Lije pp says, won’t eat after that.

I usually wake up bloated so prefer not to have any breakfast, just coffee. Normally feel hungry at around 11 so will do eggs on toast to tide me over til dinner at 6ish