Hi all! I have read and read some more about how important breakfast is to weight loss. I get it. I really do. But I have read that you should eat breakfast within 30-60 minutes upon waking. My problem is, on the days I try to follow this it makes me physically ill and I feel like I am forcing myself to eat. I have never been an early morning eater. When I was a kid I would never eat breakfast before school (my parents made it, I just wasn't hungry) and my first meal was always my lunch. This continued throughout my childhood and even now. I usually can eat breakfast at around 10:30 (wake up around 7) and have a bowl of oatmeal or some scrambled eggs or on crazy days a smartones breakfast sandwich.
So, do I try and force myself to eat when I wake up or wait until I actually don't feel sick when I eat? Does it really make a big difference in my weight loss if the calories are the same at the end of the day?
No, it does not make a difference as long as the calories are the same at the end of the day. I would not force yourself to do it if you are not hungry.
I am a believer in doing what works for you. Over the years, I have learned to eat breakfast, but like you, prefer not to eat the moment I get up. On days that I work early, I bring something to eat for breakfast and lunch and eat it when I feel like eating.
ive never liked to eat breakfast either and neither of my boys like to eat in the mornings too...i dont believe you should force yourself to eat if you're not hungry and i've also never made my kids eat breakfast either if they're not hungry
as long as your calories are fine at the end of the day, then don't worry about it...ive managed to lose weight without hardly ever eating breakfast...i'm up for a good 2 hours at least before i eat anything and half the time i don't even eat til after noon anyhow, making that about 6-7 hours that i'm up before i eat
I don't make myself eat breakfast if I'm not hungry! I don't think it's a healthy habit to force yourself into unless you're way under on total calories.
I think Breakfast sets you up for the day and will help over-eating later on, but who says you can't have breakfast at 10.00am or whenever you like! That's why they invented the All Day Breakfast right?
It is not necessary for weight loss, but breakfast within an hour of waking is needed because you haven't eaten anything for over 5+ hours (depending on how long you sleep) and food after waking gives your body a jumpstart in your metabolism, which like Nzgirl says, sets you up for the rest of the day. And there have been studies all the time that breakfast eaters have higher metabolisms than those who don't eat breakfast. So, it does really help, but it is not necessary.
I've never been a big fan of breakfast my whole life (both now as an obese, and before as a normal weight). I LOVE spending more calories for dinner, and it allows me to be more flexible going out with friends, etc. I generally eat an orange around 10-10:30AM each morning and then eat lunch around noon.
I've heard mixed reviews on how it affects metabolism, so I'm not sure what the "right" thing is.
I think if you're not hungry and it's making you physically ill, then you shouldn't eat breakfast. I think forcing yourself to eat when not hungry is an unhealthy habit!
As long as your calories are straight for the day I think your first meal should be whenever you feel hungry. I personally never eat breakfast. In fact, I practice intermittent fasting and many days don't begin eating until 4-5pm.
You've got to do what works for you, not what "they" say works. Good luck!
I'll let you know. I'm going to try to scale it back big time. I've dropped dinner entirely. Breakfast was one of those I thought I could not do without. But let's see...
Thanks for all the opinions! It is sometimes nice to hear that others agree with your thinking. I have just always heard that eating shortly after waking helps your metabolism and many dieticians recommend it, but I just can't do it! Today was Muffins with Mom at my kids school and the thought of eating a muffin at 7:00 am made me sick to my stomach, as that was even after being awake and moving around for an hour. I am just not a morning person, in more ways then just eating! I am going to stick with what I have been doing (eating breakfast at about 10:30, lunch about 1:30-2, dinner at 7-7:30) since that works for me :-)
I recently started eating breakfast by 7am-8am consistently. As much as I like eating it now (I love my oatmeal!), it really does start the eating clock for the day. So now I am ready for lunch at 10:30-11am, whereas before I started eating breakfast I wouldn't have anything to eat (lunch or otherwise) till after noon or sometimes 1pm. I think if your schedule works for you, keep doing what you are doing! You've had great weightloss and are pretty much at your goal so I would go with what your body wants.
I don't have time to stop for breakfast when I wake, so what I do is have a banana on the go then stop for breakfast about 10am.
As elvislover said, I find that it starts my meals clock for the day, so that my body's ready for lunch at about 12:30. Timing my meals more carefully means that I'm never too hungry and so never feel tempted to binge.
That's what works for me, though. If your body doesn't want to eat breakfast then you're right not to force it.
Hi all! I have read and read some more about how important breakfast is to weight loss. I get it. I really do. But I have read that you should eat breakfast within 30-60 minutes upon waking. My problem is, on the days I try to follow this it makes me physically ill and I feel like I am forcing myself to eat. I have never been an early morning eater. When I was a kid I would never eat breakfast before school (my parents made it, I just wasn't hungry) and my first meal was always my lunch. This continued throughout my childhood and even now. I usually can eat breakfast at around 10:30 (wake up around 7) and have a bowl of oatmeal or some scrambled eggs or on crazy days a smartones breakfast sandwich.
So, do I try and force myself to eat when I wake up or wait until I actually don't feel sick when I eat? Does it really make a big difference in my weight loss if the calories are the same at the end of the day?
If you're not too hungry , simply eat less during breakfast but NEVER under any circumstance skip a meal especially not the first meal of the day . First of all your metabolism doesn't start until you do eat , so if you skip breakfast you will burn less calories than you normally would , also if you skip breakfast you'll tend to get hungry much quicker and end up overeating during your other meals or indulging in foods that aren't very healthy for you . I usually eat unsweetened oatmeal which is packed with fibre every morning and just add a different fruit to it (adding more fibre) each day to make it more interesting and that usually keeps me full until lunch time.