[packofneurons]

Hey everyone!

I'm trying to find something that will help me reach my daily calorie consumption with ease. That being said, I try to maintain a 1200-1400cals/day diet. I find it easier if I don't eat breakfast and eat my first meal at about noon. Do any of you do this and find it's detrimental to your metabolism? I know there are many people who say that not getting a breakfast is bad. But I like eating a lot when I'm done with work.

Sometimes I'll have an occasional piece of fruit for breakfast, but even that doesn't matter much do me.

How do you guys spread your calories? I think I definitely eat 3/4ths of my calories from 5pm and onwards. Do you have advice or criticism for this way of eating?

Thanks!

[jayohwhy]

i don't know about my metabolism, but i do eat breakfast a)because i'm a teacher and need more energy, and b) i take a multivitamin that has caffeine which makes me have to eat breakfast before i can eat it.

i eat 1300 a day, and i usually eat 500 calories including lunch, leaving 800 give or take for the afternoon and for dinner. having breakfast usual keeps my bm's regular, which i appreciate, even though its annoying because i weigh in in the morning but am lighter in the afternoon after having a bm.

i would say, try eating breakfast and see if it gives you more energy! it definitely depends on whether you have to do things in the morning or not.

[whatupton]

I am kind of the same as you. I like eating my first meal around noon. But honestly, the only time I do this is when I sleep in and dont have to get up annd go somewhere right away. If its a school day or one of my shifts is early I do eat breakfast because I need the energy and my stomach hurtsssss when it growls early in the morning. But when I wake up at 10 am or after that I wait until noon and have lunch.

[sontaikle]

like jayohwhy, I'm a teacher and I really do need something in the morning to keep me going. If I skip it I'm very cranky.

I'm eating in the same calorie range you and I generally keep my breakfast and lunch very small (between 200-350 calories each) and a larger dinner that generally finishes me off for the day. I don't snack unless I split my lunch up, which as a teacher happens sometimes because we really don't get the time to sit down and eat lunch.

You might want to look into Intermittent Fasting. You get a scheduled time of when you're allowed to eat (i.e. 12-8pm) and many of those people don't have breakfast and report great success. I know personally that it wouldn't work for me because of my schedule, but perhaps you will find success there

Good luck!

[indiblue]

You can absolutely do it!

It's not detrimental to your metabolism. The "breakfast is the most important meal of the day"/"6 mini meals > 3 meals a day"/"you gotta keep eating all day to stoke your metabolism" are all claims that have no scientific backing.

Intermittent Fasting is essentially what you're doing. Google it and find more info. There's some great, highly technical websites on it, and some more laymans articles in New York Times and other sites with more info.

Hunger is just what happens when our body EXPECTS food, not when we need it. Even for those folks who are hungry in the morning, that doesn't mean you HAVE to eat breakfast. Eating later and later and training your body to not expect food until noon is possible, and for some of us, extremely helpful. There are all sorts of studies that IF renders benefits for the heart, blood sugar control, and hunger management.

so keep doing what your body tells you it wants to do good luck!

[kateleestar]

I do the same thing, sometimes not having my first meal until I get home around 4. I have a salad, and then I eat dinner with my DH at 5 or 6. I have tea, water and coffee throughout the day, so I'm not really hungry.. I'm too busy at work to stop and eat and I get up so early, that I'm not hungry then either. It works for me.

[d130]

I'm calorie counting and do something similar. I rarely eat breakfast - I'm not really a morning person, and I tend to be half awake until 9:30-10am anyways, so if I do have breakfast, it's small like boiled eggs or cereal.

I tend to have a medium size lunch (~400-500 calories) which refreshes me after I walked into work and keeps me going until I get home.

I normally save most of my calories for dinner, as that's the meal I like to indulge in the most and means I can have (what I feel is) a slightly more satisfying portion of whatever's for dinner.

I don't know if it's damaged my metabolism, but I've been steadily losing weight since May, with just a few blips from where I was eating out too much.

[packofneurons]

Thank you guys for your responses! It's so nice to read about what everybody does differently in their weight loss journey