[sweetnlow28]

I have been noticing lately that I haven't been hungry in the morning. My breakfast is usually small (toast with Pb and a cup of tea). I have been forcing myself to eat this even though I am not really hungry until 11 am. I am also at a weight loss plateau and I am looking for ways to cut back a bit on calories. Would it be horrible if I skip breakfast, eat lunch around 11 and save the majority of my calories for dinner and a bed time snack. I really enjoy my food later in the day. Of course, I will eat breakfast if I find I am actually hungry Does anyone else have a similar schedule and how will skipping breakfast effect my weight loss?

[Mikkijoe]

From my personal experience, this is what I know about my body and breakfast.....I never eat it and have ALWAYS struggled with losing weight. When I do eat 3 meals and a snack the pounds fly off. Also when I eat at least 2000 cals I lose weight, if I eat 1200 cals I dont!

A great book is Jillian Micheals Master Your Metabolism! There is so much truth to waking your system up, and feeding it to burn calories!

Last year I stepped on the scale at 331, I was scared to death. And I dropped 37 pounds by eating 3 meals a day, and tracking everything. When I had plateaus for more that 2 weeks I shifted my calorie intake, because often what had happened is that I was going down....to 1400-1500 and I needed to get back up to 1800-2100. I also switch up my days (when I lose weight that is) I plan my meals and have a 2000 cal day, then a 1800 cal day or two....that gives me options to eat out, or have that higher calorie dinner now and then, and still be on plan.

Now you will see I am at 298 pounds......my problem is sticking to it! I know how, yet I just dont stick to it long enough to get anywhere close to goal....but we are tackling it yet again!

[mthrgoos68]

For me personally, I don't eat breakfast. I find that if I eat breakfast, I'm hungry all day, but if I want until 11 to eat, I do fine.

However, it's also not good to eat the majority of your calories at the end of the day, shortly before you go to bed.

Everybody is different, and you will have to play with it to see what works for you. If you are currently eating the majority of your calories at the end of the day, and you're stuck on a plateau, it might be good for you to switch them to the beginning of the day and eat less at night, but, again, it's about finding what works for you.

[ddc]

I do not eat breakfast. I have never been a breakfast eater, until I believed that you "had" to eat breakfast--and then I started steadily gaining weight.

I don't think you should ever eat unless you're hungry.
But, everyone's different.

My most recent weight loss was following the Fast-5 approach.
I only eat between noon and 6 pm (I stretch it to 6 hours instead of 5).

[Vladadog]

In general it's a good idea to eat breakfast - it gets your metabolism going and gives you energy for the day. But even among breakfast eaters there are folks who swear by their cold cereal and those who need their high protein scrambles.

Everybody is different.

If you aren't keen on breakfast and generally aren't hungry till 11am then I say give it a try. Stick with your current calorie goals and exercise schedule and see if mixing up when you eat works for you, both weight loss-wise but also hunger/energy/motivation-wise. Give it a good few weeks to see how it feels and if it seems to be helping. Either way you'll learn something that will help you be more successful with both your weight loss and the rest of your life.

[PapayaMule]

If most of your food is consumed at the end of the day, then no wonder you wake up with no appetite.

The key to a speedy metabolism is to eat little and often. I have gained a fast metabolism thanks to eating 3 main meals a day, interspersed with fruit for snacks and this allows me to have a little bit of chocolate as a treat at some point during the day.

Generally my days look something like:

Breakfast: muesli

snack: fruit (as much as I want)

Lunch: Large Salad

Snack: Different kind of fruit and/or some dark chocolate

Dinner: Chicken/fish with rice and lots of vegetables (this varies)

It works for me because my metabolism is constantly having to work to digest my last meal and then it gets fired up again as soon as I eat the next thing. If you eat most of you food late in the day it'll get lazy. You don't need to eat loads in the morning but if you're looking to cut calories I definitely would rethink cutting out breakfast.

Just my opinion of course