eating breakfast = hungrier?
 

My normal breakfast routine has traditionally been coffee and whatever I can grab and go: yogurt, granola bar, apple, banana. Really bad habit.

So I've been trying to make a healthy, substantial breakfast thinking it would help my energy throughout the day...not to mention nutrient balance. But I've found that instead it seems like I end up hungrier and want to eat more. I try to be careful, but inevitably I find by the end of the day that I've consumed more calories than the other way around.

On the positive side, the small or no breakfast routine causes me to eat one really big meal at the end of the day that is unhealthy because I'm so hungry/deprived.

Does anyone know why that happens? Is there a better breakfast suggestion?

Thanks!

I can't tell you why that's happening for you, but I experience the same thing and for me, it's a blood sugar issue.

I have type 2 and PCOS. If I don't eat breakfast, or just have a coffee with cream, I'm good till about 2 pm. But I can easily eat all my calories between 2 and 9 pm, plus a few more from the edginess of hunger.

If I eat breakfast that includes carbohydrates, the hunger right afterward is huge! I want to eat a lot all day. I don't exactly know why that happens to me, but from testing my blood sugar I see that it goes very high when I eat like that. It doesn't take much carbs to make that happen, so I've learned to keep carbs in the morning very low, like under 6 gm.

What works best for me is to have some vegetables with an egg or two in the morning. No toast or fruit or oatmeal. The protein helps to keep my blood sugar lower and the fat helps the food take longer to digest. I'm usually good for three to four hours. If I can't have lunch at that time, I'll grab a few raw almonds and that'll hold me till I can have a meal.

Just try it out for a few days and see how that feels. I resisted doing it for a long time and I still wish I could skip breakfast, but it just isn't wise for me.

Another thing might be the existence of h pylori in your intestines. Someone told me I might have this and to take grapefruit seed extract every morning before eating. Unfortunately I started doing this the same time as the new breakfast thing so I don't know if it worked or not, but I find that I'm not so hungry right after eating at any time of the day now.

Hm this happens to me as well :/
When I wake up I'm hardly ever hungry, usually I'd eat when Id get hungry maybe 3-4 hours but when I started to lose weight I wanted to get healthy habits and eat within 1 hour of waking up. But when I eat that soon I just get hungrier and hungrier throughout the day.

jerzygal and Misa66, you might want to look into Intermittent Fasting. Most of the people who do that have the same issue you two do, they aren't hungry in the morning and when they eat breakfast they are hungrier.

I know personally that I am hungry in the morning, so I eat :)

I definitely don't have this problem. If I don't eat about an hour or two after waking up, I get very cranky. DH on the other hand will sometimes go until dinner if he didn't eat breakfast and not even realize it. If he eats breakfast guard your fingers and spoons 'cause he'll eat everything! :lol:

I think if you can balance it so it works for you I wouldn't stress. So long as you're eating enough/not too much and mostly healthy options.

Some days I want breakfast, and I'll eat it and no matter how big it is, I feel ravenous. Its almost like a tease of food, even if its a big meal. Other days I eat it, I feel fine. I switch it up with IF (skipping breakfast) or sometimes I'll have it.

I will try protein breakfasts and see how that goes.

It's so helpful to hear that others have the same issues! I can also go until dinner without feeling hungry, like your husband, XLMuffnTop.

geoblewis, I have an irrational belief that I have diabetes all the time. It runs in my family and I'm always convinced it's starting early for me. Haha. I've been tested and my doctor thinks I'm crazy. But it's probable this is a blood sugar issue. Not sure about the bacteria. I'll check into it.

I keep reading about IF on this site, sontaikle. Maybe it's worth trying!

For now I'm gonna test out high protein, low carb breakfasts.

Appreciate the replies, everyone!!

You know, reading about it now, I think I've been IF inadvertently!

That's exactly how I went years eating almost too few calories. When I finally got help, the first thing I noticed was the hunger I had once I started eating breakfast. Now I love the fact that my body is "trained" to be hungry at exactly the times I eat my meals and snacks. It's so cool that we can adapt in different ways.

I used to eat a tiny protein breakfast. Now, I've been doing IF and I love it mainly because it has helped me to not binge at night. I would normally eat something late at night, but now I know that I don't eat from 8pm until noon the next day. Sometimes if I can't go till noon, I'll break fast at 11 or 11:30. I feel great and I'm able to workout. I do have a cup of coffee with a splash of nonfat milk. This is not for everyone, and certainly not something to start out with on a weightloss journey. Personally, I am frustrated at all the years I was told that breakfast is essential because one size doesn't fit all.

I came to that conclusion when I looked it up too. I also have this problem too. I won't feel hungry (but I can always eat) when I wake up, and could easily go through the day without eating until late afternoon or evening, but by then I'm ravenous, which is fine because I have over 1000 calories I can have, but if I eat early in the morning it's hard for me to stop, because it's like it triggers me.

Blood sugar thing for me, too - that and I'm just not hungry enough to bother eating most mornings! I eat Greek yogurt and a small lunch between 12-2 PM and have a bigger dinner, sometimes a snack in the middle since after work/before dinner is when I exercise.