I am never hungry when I wake up in the morning. Should I eat breakfast before I go to work anyway, or wait until I feel hungry? I am getting mixed signals from this old body! I have heard that you should eat breakfast right away to get your metabolism started, but I am also trying to listen to what my body is telling me and only eat when I am truly hungry.

Hi,
I know it is important to eat breakfast, because if you skip it, you will be hungrier , and prone to binge in the afternoon/night. I don't eat right away when I wake up, I eat after I exercise at 9 am. If you are not hungry when you wake up, maybe you can take something to work and eat it your desk?
cheryl

Personally, I think one should eat almost immediately after getting up. But that doesn't mean you have to have a full on breakfast.

For example (and I AM hungry in the mornings) I get up around 5am and I leave the house at 6:30. I have at the very least a cappuccino with one full serving of skim milk OR I make a smoothie with buttermilk and a frozen banana. This way I'm not eating too much too early. My train is at 7am, I eat an apple as we pull out of the station. About 40 minutes later I eat a sandwich (with whole wheat bread, maybe some alfalfa and cucumbers, some chicken lunchmeat). At this point I've covered all my bases and I'm not starving when I arrive at work (which is good, there are too many temptations where I work!!).

I know that it's also very important to eat WHEN you feel hungry and stop WHEN you feel full, but unless you have a pretty decent intuition/feeling about this AND you are fully prepared WHEN you get hungry in the morning, I would personally break your fast right away.

No one says it HAS to be a full meal. You can always split it up

The sooner you eat, the sooner your metabolism kicks it up! But I always eat as early as I can so that its settled by the time I exercise.

You do need something to get you metabolism going first thing in the morning, however my favorite WW leader suggested if you are not going to eat right away at least drink a glass of very cold water. That will kick the metabolism in gear. I personally like haveing something before I work out, usually oatmeal and then a piece of fruit or something as a mid morning snack as soon as I get to work.

I have my Chai tea and a bowl of Kashi Go Lean with soy milk. It gives me the energy I need to workout and it last until lunch, which is around noon. The other day I skipped eating before working out and I suffered for it.

Yes, definitely eat something. Even just a little something will kickstart you. Personally, I don't trust my body since I've screwed it up so badly for the past, well, a lot of years. So I eat on a schedule of every three hours even if I'm not that hungry.

This is interesting.

I cannot face food till I've been up for at least an hour - I feel physically ill at the sight or smell of it, so I tend to potter about for an hour before getting myself breakfast. It's obviously not ideal, but I figure it's better to actually eat a healthy breakfast then than to look at it and think "yuck", then get something unhealthy when I get to work or at morning tea, and blow the calories for the day before I start...

I guess it's about what works best for you...

The 'experts' (I forget which ones specifically) say that you should eat within an hour of waking up, so you're probably okay. I don't eat until an hour and a half after waking up either, though I usually have hot tea or water first thing in the morning, depending on whether I'm going to the gym in the morning or in the afternoon. I have the same problem with eating too early, though in recent years the nauseous feeling has gone away, thankfully. In high school it was horrible and I couldn't eat until at least 10 am. My metabolism is just a mess from all those years of no breakfast.

I always eat breakfast. But it's nowhere near first thing when I wake up in the morning. I am a very early riser. Most often before 6:00. I used to eat at about 9:00. But I wasn't really that hungry then. I now hold off til about 10:00. For me, once I start eating, that's it - I keep on going. I like to delay it. I like to drink about 3 glasses of water before breakfast. This is working out quite nicely for me.

Many people don't eat right away when they get up. Think of all the people who run and walk and exercise first thing in the morning. All perfectly healthy and perfectly fit.

I'm just wondering though, how many hours are there between when you rise and when you get to work? If it's a short span, I'd just as soon wait til I get to work, provided you're not hungry and it won't cause you to eat everything in sight when you get there. You need to figure out what works best for YOU.

I do think breakfast is a very important meal. I think waiting til lunch time to eat is an invitation to overeat. I think it's also important to keep our sugar levels steady and provide us with energy. The timing of that said breakfast, I think it all depends on when we wake up and what we feel like.

I know exactly what you mean. I've never been hungry in the morning. My first meal of the day for the longest time was lunch/brunch. I would eat twice a day: at about 10AM and then at about 6PM.

Now, I make sure to eat right when I get up. I've re-trained my body. I wake up hungry now! It's just like any other habit. You have to force yourself for a week or two, then it's second nature. Plus the grumbly tummy helps to remind me.

I also get up at 6 am, and do not eat my breakfast until about 9. I drink some water and get my exercise in first. I don't think it matters as long as you get it in.

I eat breakfast at work. The only time I don't is when I have an early morning meeting. I will eat at home on those days. When I have a program first thing in the morning I eat a small snack and breakfast later when I got to my desk. You have to do what works for you.

I eat about an hour or an hour and half after I get up.

I am told by my health coach that I'm supposed to eat within a half an hour of getting up!! Yuck!!! But I do it, and it really seems to work! My metabolism seems to be in high gear now!