Good morning!

I understand that we need breakfast for a variety of reasons, I'm just wondering how many calories we need, or more accuratly, how FEW calories we can get away with.

I'm asking because I am NOT a breakfast person and haven't really eaten breakfast for the past decade. I KNOW that I have probably done a number on my metabolism, so I need to eat in the a.m. , however, I have ZERO appetite in the morning, so I just canNOT eat a large meal. So far I've been choking down a yougurt and a piece of whole grain toast. That's only 240 calories, though. I also drink my morning coffee with a little sugar. Is that enough to start with? I want to slowly increase the amount I eat, but I want to make that a GRADUAL increase so I don't get sick.

Is 240 enough to jump start my day? TIA for your insight!

ETA (in case it's relevent)that I usually eat breakfast around 8:30 am , an early lunch at around 11:30, an afternoon snack around 3:30 and dinner at 6:00 (also an occassional snack around 8:30 pm if hungry, but usually something 100cal or less)

My typical breakfasts are anywhere between 200 and 300 calories. I rotate on the following:
1 cup egg whites + 1 Morning Star Farm Sausage 160
1 cup egg whites + 1 Morning Star Farm Sausage + ½ grapefruit 200
1 cup egg whites + 1 Morning Star Farm Sausage + ½ cup berries 200
1 cup oatmeal + ¼ cup raisins 230
Breakfast Burrito (whole wheat tortilla, ¼ cup egg whites, ½ serving of Morning Star Farms Crumbles, 2 T salsa, 2 T low fat cheese) 260
1 cup Raisin Bran + ½ cup skim milk 230

I try to fit in 2 or 3 100-150 calorie snacks during the day

Lunch is 300-400 calories.

Dinner is around 400-500 calories.

I'm pretty sure there's no guideline as to the number of calories you need for breakfast--everyone is different. As long as you're giving your body SOME sort of fuel to start the day, I think you're good to do. Some people just have some fruit, which could be just 100 or so calories, and that's still fine, I think, because it is something, ya know?

I like to make my own smoothies for breakfats (I add protein powder, so it comes up to about 320 calories). When I was really on the go in the mornings, I used to just have a Carnation instant breakfast drink, which was a total of less than 200 calories.

I don't eat breakfast, and I know I'm not the only one here.

If you're not hungry and you're eating healthy, why force food on yourself? For me, part of eating healthy is paying attention to hunger, to eating when I'm hungry rather than for emotional reasons or amusement.

People try to eat breakfast because study after study has shown that those who do eat breakfast not only are able to lose weight more easily (since they do not go too long without eating and then get extremely hungry and end up overeating, coupled with the fact that eating breakfast basically gets your internal motor running for the day, so you start burning calories more efficiently all day long), but are also more likely to be able to maintain that loss. It's certainly not a matter of emotion or "amusement" to want to start your day off right. There are always exceptions to every rule, and I'm not trying to say that 100% of the world should eat breakfast, but in general, it is helpful and advantageous to do so.

I know some people don't eat breakfast, and that's fine, but I certainly wouldn't dissuade someone who realizes its importance and is willing to try it.

Great tip I read on here, which might work for you, is to not eat in the evening. You might start to feel hungry in the morning.

Routine also helps (in & out of bed at the same hours).

Might also be that your body is not awake yet. The natural way has your body starting to wake up way before you do. By the time you get out of bed it has warmed up and is ready to go (and eat). But if the only reason you wake up is because of the alarm clock, your body has no time to "get going" before you do.

I have started to set my alarm clock 20 minutes before I need to get up. I wake up, turn the heaters up downstairs, go back to bed and set the alarm at the time I need to wake up. Result: I've started to be more hungry in the morning (not a breakfast person myself either )

200-250 seems to be my sweet point. Just some fiber cereal with skimmed milk (88 cal.) has me hungry too soon after. 300 and over is a luxury breakfast with most probably not the "right stuff" at all

I normally dont eat breakfast but my NY resolution is to eat something every morning....so for this past month I had a bowl of oatmeal (180-200cal) every morning...I usually eat AFTER I get the kids off to school..about 1/2 hour after I get up

I eat breakfast, but not first thing in the morning. I'm an early riser - sometimes 6, sometimes a little earlier, sometimes a little later. I eat breakfast at about 9:30. Should I be eating earlier? Who knows. My breakfast is about 200 caloires. High fiber cereal with skim milk. I then have a lite snack at about 11:30

Robin, I'm with you. I get up at about 4:30 and I don't eat breakfast until 7:00. Until then, I drink about 24-32 ounces of water and 2 cups of coffee. Of course then I have many, many trips to the potty!!

Can you link to some of these studies, please? I'm finding many summaries that talk about studies but no actual peer-reviewed studies with numbers.

I did find this, though, from obesityresearch.org, re the national weight loss registry: (Long-Term Weight Loss and Breakfast in Subjects in the National Weight Control Registry, online at http://www.obesityresearch.org/cgi/content/full/10/2/78)
Differences between Breakfast Eaters and Non-Eaters
We were interested in whether there were differences between breakfast eaters and non-eaters in terms of weight-loss maintenance or behaviors related to weight-loss maintenance. In this analysis, we defined breakfast eaters as those reporting eating breakfast four or more times per week and non-eaters as those eating breakfast three or fewer days per week. Using these criteria, we had 314 non-breakfast eaters and 2645 breakfast eaters. There was no difference between groups (non-breakfast eaters vs. breakfast eaters) in amount of weight lost (34 vs. 32 kg, p = 0.14) or in duration of weight-loss maintenance (7.7 vs. 7.9 years, p = 0.29). Furthermore, there was not a significant difference in self-reported energy intake between groups. Breakfast eaters reported an energy intake of 1394 kilocalories per day and non-breakfast eaters reported an intake of 1366 kilocalories (p = 0.50). Breakfast eaters did report engaging in slightly more physical activity than non-breakfast eaters (2657 vs. 2391 kcal/wk, p = 0.05)

MariaMaria--from the same article to which you linked, there was also this paragraph:
"These results may be useful for individuals attempting to lose weight. Such individuals may be tempted to skip breakfast as a means of reducing total energy intake. However, our data suggest that skipping breakfast is a very uncommon behavior among individuals successful at long-term weight-loss maintenance, and results of several other studies have also suggested that eating a regular breakfast can have a positive impact on general nutrition indices. Thus, individuals attempting to lose weight may benefit from including regular, balanced breakfasts in their dieting regimens."

From http://www.fda.gov/Fdac/features/2002/102_fat.html :
"Tucked away in the registry's database is information about the weight-control behaviors of more than 3,000 American adults who have lost an average of 60 pounds and have kept it off for an average of six years. How do they do it?
These successful weight losers report four common behaviors, says Wing. They eat a low-calorie, low-fat diet, they monitor themselves by weighing in frequently, they are very physically active, and they eat breakfast. Eating breakfast every day is contrary to the typical pattern for the average overweight person who is trying to diet, says Wing. "They get up in the morning and say 'I'm going to start my diet today,' and they eat little or no breakfast and a light lunch. Then they get hungry and consume most of their calories late in the day. Successful weight losers have managed to change this pattern."

There are also a handful of study abstracts at http://www.adajournal.org/search/quick (The Journal of the American Dietetic Association) that correlate eating breakfast with a lower BMI in women and female children (though the correlation is not there for males--aren't we lucky to be able to improve our health with such an easy habit? ).

For those (like me) who like to read normal articles instead of abstracts discussing variations and deviations and whatnot (man, I hated my college Statistics classes ), here are some additional resources:
http://www.webmd.com/content/article/116/112300.htm
http://onhealth.webmd.com/script/mai...ticlekey=55994

I don't have time for more searching right now, but I'll be sure to post anything else I might find later.

Wow, thanks for all the responses!

Good, now I can kick the guilty feeling I have each morning that I didn't eat enough. *WHEW*

Personally, I think the theory of skipping meals and a lowered metabolism bears some truth. Not only have I skipped breakfast for years, I've also only eaten lunch on the weekend.So, 5 days a week, I only ate supper. Now, even my biggest suppers don't have more than about 15oo calories (and that's having seconds of my my beef and cheese enchiladas!), yet I've gained FIFTY pounds in the past few years. While I'm trying to lose weight now, I've made my #1 priority over the next few months to re-wire my metabolism. That's why breakfast is now such a sticking point with me.

Start slowly too. I wasnt always a breakfast eater, then I was a small breakfast eater, now I eat a fairly large breakfast (eggbeater omelet AND oatmeal). I do seem to be more successful now, but it is just one of many many changes I have made.

On days I just cant stomach that volume of food I eat ezekiel toast with Almond butter. The nut butter makes it caloric and I seem to stick with my plan better that way.