Do I really need to eat breakfast?

[bbcessex]

Hello all.

I’m finally trying to lose weight by tracking calories and being mindful of what i consume (radical, I know!!).

I am never hungry when i wake up, ever, but i Eat breakfast routinely. I could definitely get to 11-12ish without feeling hungry.

I’m from the ‘must Have breakfast to kick-start metabolism’ era.

Is that still a valid school of thought or could I skip it and save the calories?

[recklessgran]

@bbc no, I don't think you need to eat breakfast. Personally I think it's roughly speaking calories in versus calories expended. So if you don't want breakfast don't have it and save those calories for later. I am currently doing quite well at losing weight eating one meal a day - not for everyone, I know, but I have an under active thyroid, am older [63] and not very active due to desk job, arthritis and laziness! Good luck!

[GodolphianArabian]

No reason you have to eat breakfast at all.i think the message that breakfast is essential was spread by cereal companies. I've stopped eating it and have a piece of fruit late morning.

[RandomMess]

I don't eat breakfast can't face it. I easily lose weight if I use my fitness pal and stick to the calorie limit it recommends.

[mooncuplanding]

Breakfast as ‘the most important meal of the day’ was invented by Kellogg’s to stop young men masturbating and flog their sugar products

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/nov/28/breakfast-health-america-kellog-food-lifestyle

Of course you shouldn’t eat breakfast if you aren’t hungry

[bbcessex]

Thanks all... good to have my hopes confirmed !!! 250 Cals for later then - excellent news, thanks all!!

[BIWI]

This is a really interesting read, that supports the idea that breakfast is not essential

[DulcieRay]

I have it if I'm hungry so that I don't make up for it later, but if I'm not hungry I don't. I think the biggest thing we need to do is listen to our bodies. There are days I eat lots of fruit, others I eat none. Days I want meat, others I want veg. Days I want a big dinner, and days I'm happy to have something small.

[SuperNoodly]

I don’t eat breakfast during the week. I don’t feel like breakfast before work. I prefer coffee and lots of water until lunch at 12.30

At weekends I have whatever I fancy for breakfast.

[vinegarqueen]

According to ”Conquering Fat Logic” book, calories are calories and it really doesn't matter when you eat them, and the breakfast thing is a myth that's peddled so often that it has just sort of wheedled itself into ”truth”. Probably better overall to not force yourself to eat when you aren't hungry and save the calories for later.

[mooncuplanding]

Calories are not calories

If you eat 5000 calories of sugar vs 5000 calories of fat you’d have very different outcomes

And fat doesn’t make you fat!

[RussellSprout]

No, there is evidence now that a long overnight fast can help with weight loss.

I try not to eat until 11 am at least

[woodcutbirds]

Trusting your own hunger is such an important part of eating healthily long term. If you don't want breakfast, don't have it.

[vinegarqueen]

@mooncuplanding (great username btw) but fat can make you fat. Eg if you eat 5000 calories per day in butter, disgusting as that is, you would probably get fat. Agree that sugar isn't great because of the weird addictive behaviours it causes, and fat is better for making you feel sated so somewhat better as a diet food. But the point that she makes is that if you only ate, say, 500 cal per day in high fat ribeye, versus only 500 cal in sugarpuff cereal, you would lose weight either way as you just need a calorie deficit.


(You'd probably feel much worse on the cereal, though)

[MoreSlidingDoors]

But the point that she makes is that if you only ate, say, 500 cal per day in high fat ribeye, versus only 500 cal in sugarpuff cereal, you would lose weight either way as you just need a calorie deficit.

But long term the cereal version would risk metabolic damage whilst the steak would provide your metabolism with protective protein.

[vinegarqueen]

I agree. BUT I'm not saying the Sugarpuff diet is a good diet. I'm just saying you would lose weight if you only ate 500 cals of it a day for a while as there is a calorie deficit, and thus the argument that one would never ever lose weight on sugar/carbs isn't true. FWIW the author of that book recommends a balanced diet with lots of protein if you are to lose weight healthily, and I personally would rather eat broken glass than go on a diet of Sugarpuffs because if you are going to eat crappy cereal it's surely Crunchy Nut Cornflakes all the way, yes?

[mooncuplanding]

Vinegar.

There have been experiments where they’ve compared what would happen if you are 5000 cals of fat and 5000 cals of carbs

A few things happen:

It’s really easy to eat 5000 cals of carbs
It’s really really hard / impossible to eat 5000 cals of fat

But people have done it, and you put on more weight if you eat the same cals on carbs

Eating is a hormonal issue. How do you think you know when you are full? A hormone is released.
How do you know when you are hungry? A hormone is released.

The different food groups react with our hormones in different ways

If you think that’s rubbish....just think about how your appetite changes when you are pre-menstrual. Is that a change in your willpower all of a sudden, or are the hormonal changes stimulating something in your appetite? Hormones aren’t just oestrogen or progesterone by the way, they are just the sex hormones. insulin is a hormone and is why sugar / carbs are so Important in weight loss because you eat carbs, your pancreas produces insulin.

Insulin stops your body using stored fat energy, that’s it’s job. If you’ve ever wondered how an obese person could be hungry given they’ve got all that fat to use.....insulin

[Nandocushion]

I don't eat breakfast unless I'm hungry for it. In any case I'd prefer to save the 300-odd calories for a meal later that I like better. The "kick-start" metabolism nonsense does my head in. You can't kick-start your metabolism. It doesn't turn off overnight, or even slow down.

[bbcessex]

Thanks for the views everyone, and the book link.

No matter how hungry I am when I go to bed, I wake up with no appetite. Always feel cheated at an a hotel breakfast!

Am going to try leaving eating until I want it - how novel!

[MagentaRocks]

I have a nutritionist helping me get over years of disordered eating and he doesn’t think you need breakfast to ‘kick start’ your metabolism. I am learning to eat when hungry and eat the right food to give me fuel to train. I have so much more energy doing this and my coach has noticed a massive difference in my energy levels. I do eat breakfast if I have a mid morning training session but if I don’t and I am not hungry I will wait until I am.