What's your opinion on eating breakfast?
 

As conventional diet wisdom goes, you should eat breakfast every day. It's "the most important meal of the day" and so on. According to some research, people who don't eat breakfast eat more calories later in the day, more than negating the calories that they didn't eat at breakfast. Many who have successfully lost a significant amount of weight and kept it off eat breakfast. Some people also suggest that breakfast "jump-starts" your metabolism (although personally, I don't believe this.)

That said, I've never been much of a breakfast eater. I find that I generally eat more total calories on days that I eat breakfast; it doesn't seem to have the hunger-dampening effects for me. Who decided that we need to eat exactly 3 meals per day, anyway? It is worth noting, however, that typically I don't go more than or 4-5 hours without eating after waking up or eat after 8-9 pm (as I understand, late night snacking seems to make up a significant amount of the calorie difference for non-breakfast eaters.)
All and all, I chalk it up to individual differences.
What do you think?

When you do eat breakfast, what do you eat? I've never liked cereal (which makes sense since finding out that I have a wheat allergy), and I quickly grow tired of eating oatmeal and eggs more than twice a week. A piece of fruit and/or some greek yogurt is more my style, or perhaps some leftovers from the day before.

I never eat anything till around 4:30 pm, sometimes later, and I've lost great eating this way. I also snack less at night and tend not to even think about food at night. You'd think I'd be starved at dinner time, but I feel much more in control of my appetite this way. I never overeat unless I slip up and eat earlier in the day. I usually come in at between 900 and 1300 calories per day even though I am not trying to limit cals. I eat until I'm satisfied.

[sarcasm]
You should listen to me about this, because I am absolutely right and I know what I'm talking about. :D
[/sarcasm]

That particuarly wisdom was based on a study commissed by breakfast food companies. (Unbiased, much?) I can't look up sources right now, but the last thing I read indicated that time of day eating (including breakfast and at night) were not correlated to health or weight loss.

This advice is for everyone, even those who didn't ask:

If breakfast works for you and helps you overall follow your plan, then you should definitely have breakfast. If you don't like breakfast and you prefer not to eat it, you should definitely not eat breakfast. If you are inconsistent and prefer to sometimes eat breakfast and sometimes not, you should definitely be inconsistent based on what works best for you.

Sarcasm aside, I personally eat breakfast and include both carbs and proteins. I function best that way. DH hardly ever eats anything at all for breakfast. I don't know that he functions best that way, but he doesn't like to make time for it in the morning.

For breakfast, I eat Puffins cereal with milk, fruit, and a side of turkey sausage, or this week, leftover breakfast casserole with fruit, or eggs (sometimes fried, sometimes scrambled) with toast and fruit, or a frozen breakfast entree.

I really truly don't think there are any universal answers to weight loss and weight control beyond that there isn't a universal answer--we're all different and can respond to the same thing differently.

Do what works for you. If it turns out to stop working or not work as well as you want, then re-assess and try something else.

I have to eat breakfast somewhat regularly. I am always very hungry upon waking and if I skip breakfast it makes me irritable and my day drags AND I have a higher tendency to binge. My breakfasts are 2 eggs, or a Greek yogurt, or a banana. It doesn't have to be anything big, I only have to eat something.

Now, lunch or dinner are meals I can do without. Usually just forget to eat lunch (Like today). I'm trying to make myself snack at specific times so I remember to eat something while I'm at work. On Friday nights my fiance isn't home and I CONSTANTLY forget to eat dinner on Friday. I just get so busy doing my own thing that it doesn't occur to me to eat.

If eating breakfast doesn't come naturally to you, I say don't eat it! The metabolic benefits are likely minuscule (and I share your doubts about whether they exist at all).

I eat breakfast every day because I wake up hungry and ready to eat, and breakfast foods are my favourites. My go-to breakfast is two slices of buttered whole-grain toast and a fried egg. I sometimes have Greek yogurt instead of the egg, and occasionally have either either a large bowl of granola, a large carrot or bran muffin, or fruit-topped pancakes for breakfast.

I would find it much easier to skip supper than breakfast.

Freelance

I see no value in eating breakfast unless I am hungry. I personally believe that advice to dieters to always eat breakfast is bogus. It makes no difference, it is total calories consumed that really matters, at least to me.

Some weeks I will eat it every morning because I am hungry. Other weeks, I won't even eat until 4:00pm because that is when I start getting hungry. It really depends. I will never force myself to eat just because its "breakfast time".

Oh, it's all so individual isn't it? I'm like Freelance in that I wake up hungry. Part of this is a result of trying my best to stop eating by 7:30 p.m. whenever possible. Also, I often work out or run on an empty stomach in the very early morning so it's imperative that I eat something for breakfast or I feel like I could gnaw my own arm off if I don't! I'm a big fan of breakfast foods as well so much so that I'll eat breakfast for dinner pretty often.

You're getting a lot of good feedback but in the end, do what your body needs it to do to keep it healthy and sane :hug:

For me, breakfast is not as much a matter of opinion as it is a necessity. I wake up hungry and unless I have a brakfast within an hour or so, my blood sugar drops and I get a terrible headache. I don't understand how anyone can live without breakfast, I could easily skip dinner if I had to, but breakfast - never!

That said, I've been realizing that much of my weight issues have been related to insulin resistance and generally unstable level of blood sugar. Once I get it balanced (which for me means skipping all sorts of grains and sugar), I have much more energy, I don't need to be fed so often and most important, I have very little cravings. I'm sure not everyone is like that, but this is certainly the reason why breakfast is a must for me.

Even though I love breakfast foods, I rarely eat breakfast any more. I find that for me -- and I do believe that every person has their own eating requirements -- if I eat breakfast I actually eat more during the day. I count calories and my hunger time naturally occurs after noon. But if I eat breakfast, then I want lunch and supper and a snack and before I know it I'm way over on calories and still hungry. So breakfast is reserved now as a special occasion which usually means it become brunch.

How can we argue with such sound advice??? :D

I don't eat on a schedule, I eat when I'm hungry. I also don't always eat conventional breakfast items. If I want a turkey sandwich for breakfast I'm having a yummy turkey sandwich (which actually sounds good right now!).

Sometimes on weekends I'll have a breakfast sandwich or something around noon. During the work week I tend to not eat solid food until after 1 PM. Never was a natural breakfast eater.

I can't eat breakfast. I'm hardly ever hungry when I first wake up. If I wake up hungry,I know it's going to be a bad day, plan-wise. I love breakfast food though, so we have breakfast for dinner regularly. Just last night I made homemade sausage egg and cheese McMuffins.

Thank you for bringing this up! I've been wondering about skipping breakfast myself, specifically if regularly skipping meals could mess with insulin production/health in the long-term. I don't have any answers, but I have been skipping either b-fast or lunch on most days. It makes it so much simpler to limit myself to 1500 cals, and I'm usually rushing around getting kids prepared in the morning...so the time saved is a bonus. Glad that others have had success doing this!

Hmm sometimes I eat breakfast, sometimes nope, not at all. But I always get my lite latte every morning. So that could count as my bfast.

Keep it small. Keep it healthy.

Skip dinner instead! That's what I do.

I use to eat pretty heavy breakfast few months ago - omelet sandwich or French toast and side of potatoes or an egg burrito at times in the office cafeteria. However now that I am dieting I have switched to healthier options such as green smoothies. I drink around 12 ounces for breakfast and it really fills me up till the lunch time. They are healthy and packed with nutrients. I have been following this breakfast routine for past few months and it works well for me. There are lot of recipes out there it’s worth giving a try. I can share few recipes if u like :)

Like Leslie Knope or Ron Swanson, I couldn't live in a world without breakfast. I love it, I need it! I could eat breakfast foods any time, any where, & twice in the morning. (Sorry, talking about breakfast makes me think of Ron & Leslie from Parks & Recreation who love breakfast as much as I do.)

Seriously, though, breakfast is necessary for me. I get uber-b*tchy if I don't eat & then I'm highly likely to overeat, particularly the bad foods. If I have time to make breakfast, I go with steel cut oats & pb or fruit, & maybe sliced almonds or flaxseed meal. I can go for 4-5 hours without even thinking about food after that. On mornings I have less time, I go with the healthiest cereal/granola option I can & have a mid-morning snack (or 2nd breakfast if you're a hobbit) of greek yogurt and/or fruit.

According to the National Weight Control Registry, 78% of respondents who have lost weight and kept if off eat breakfast.

SO, eating breakfast is STRONGLY CORRELATED with weight loss. However, that is not necessarily saying there is a casual relationship (since I know John is going to jump all over my a$$ if I don't add that).

I never ate breakfast at 344 pounds. I eat breakfast now (150 calories) at 116.

Jen

I think it could only be good for you to eat less often, in terms of regulating blood sugar and insulin. I work really hard on my blood sugar, being a type I, and I can tell you that my body responds a million times better to food and insulin now than when I used to eat a bunch of small meals. And our bodies are generally more resistant to insulin first thing in the morning.

As for the national registry and the 78%, I wonder how that compares to people who haven't lost weight. I wouldn't be surprised if it was about the same. Also, it could mean that for about three quarters of us, breakfast is just the right thing to do, but for the others not so much.

Maybe once or twice a week for as long as I can remember. Depends if I'm hungry or not, usually not.

I've never been much of a breakfast person. It makes me sick, actually. Some mornings I stomach some healthy, whole grain cereal and almond milk. Recently though, I've just been grabbing a meal replacement shake like Ensure or Boost. Just tried the Butter Pecan Ensure today, and I absolutely love the taste.

Interesting study. I wonder whether they did the same study on those who have never gain weight but remained slim throughout their lives. Would there also be a correlation there?

It's good that you added this. :D

Strictily speaking - this really isn't a matter of opinion. In the context of losing weight there is no reason to eat breakfast, given that all other factors remain the same.

In my opinion, having looked at a lot of data on this, the primary reason breakfast eaters are less likely to be obese is that breakfast eaters tend to have better dietary habits than those who don't eat breakfast regularly. In the end - we're creatures of habit.

This doesn't mean you can't have great dietary habits and not eat breakfast.

I'm the opposite. I ate breakfast at 300 lbs and now I've maintained my loss for 2.5 years while skipping breakfast.

The reason we're both maintaining though is not because of eating breakfast or not but because we've both created dietary habits which keep our intake in check.

re:
 

I have to eat something in the morning or I get light headed. Just a yogurt is perfectly fine.

There's an old adage for weight control though that I think I first heard here, and it really works well for me:

Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper

My theory is that I need calories to function through the day (breakfast) and not to sleep (dinner), so my largest calorie meal of the day is breakfast and my smallest is dinner. Plus, I'm hungry in the morning and if I don't eat a proper breakfast I feel like crap within a few hours and it can pretty much throw me off plan for the whole day. I can skip dinner (and frequently do) but I must always eat breakfast.

Different strokes for different folks. I wake up hungry. So I eat breakfast every day unless I've got some kind of fasting medical thing going on. Oh boy, is that rough for me! I'm not only grouchy when I don't eat in the morning I also end up with the sweaty shakes.

On the other hand, my husband is not at all hungry in the morning. He generally doesn't have his first meal until between 11:00 am and noon.

That's a nice theory but that's not how our bodies work. :D

Do you need more calories during the day than when you're sleeping? Of couse.

That said, most of your body is perfectly capable of running off of fat and the parts that aren't get what they need from gylocgen.

During my 42 years of dieting, and 47 years of eating, I've experimented with many different meal times, number of meals (including zero - eating nothing for days at a time) size of meals and types of food - and even combination diets that required certain foods be eaten or avoided at certain times. I lost weight well on every one of them when I kept calories low enough, and I gained on every one when my calorie intake was too high.

At an early age I developed an aversion to breakfast and breakfast foods, because I can't eat carb-only or carb-and-fat-only breakfasts without getting nausea and abdominal cramps. Donuts and coffee cake are about the worst, and even as a gradeschooler when my parents occasionally bought donuts after church for breakfast, I would drink my milk but save mine for later in the day.

I try to spread my calories throughout the day, as I will need them. Most days my activity level is higher in the late afternoon and evening, so I don't usually need a substantial or early breakfast unless my schedule demands it. I can't go to the gym (mostly to swim or walk) on an empty stomache or on fewer than 300 calories.

I've tried intermittant fasting (skipping meals and limiting eating to a small window of time) with mixed results. In a nutshell, it works best on low-to-moderate activity days that don't fall near TOM week, and so long as the meal(s) I do eat are fairly low in starch and sugar (nonfiber carbs- I can eat quite a lot of nonstarchy, low-sugar fruits).

Ultimately, the only way to determine whether breakfast - or any other meal or way of eating works better for you physically or emotionally, is to experiment.

Sign me up for the I-get-sick-if-I-don't-eat-breakfast camp. Sometimes I can hold off for an hour or so after getting up (like if I'm waiting to meet a friend for brunch), but I pretty much always wake up hungry.

I think it's totally up to what works for you.

I do eat a very high protein/whole grain breakfast during the week. I have a very physically demanding job, my body needs fuel to make it from 7:30 start time to 12:30 ish, give or take what's going on. We may or may not get a break, for a snack, depends.

On the weekends, I may or may not eat breakfast, or I might eat early or late, just depends on what's up.

Just do what works for you. It's not like anyone is going to take away your birthday if you don't eat breakfast.;)

Excellent point, which typically gets overlooked when the 78% stat is bandied around.

F.

Another thing I wonder about the 78% statistic is what defines breakfast. How soon after waking are these breakfast eaters eating? When people ask me if eat breakfast, I say "sure - my first meal of the day is breakfast (a meal that breaks the fast) whether I eat it at 8:30 am or 4:00 pm."

Also, I know from experience in WW and other weight loss groups that some people define meals according to the food - or the clock time, so one person might say " I never eat breakfast, even though they have a meal within two hours of getting up, either because they didn't eat breakfast foods, or because their normal wake up time is close to noon (they see it as having slept through breakfast)

How the survey questions were written, and how participants interpreted the question could muddy the waters.

Even a simple question such as, "Do you eat breakfast?" is open to interpretation. Someone might consider a cup of coffee and a small piece of fruit as breakfast, even though said breakfast contains only 50 to 75 calories. Other folks (including me) wouldn't call or count that as breakfast.

Even taking the statistics at face value and assuming all participants had the same definition of breakfast, the non-breakfast groups success rate of 28% isn't too shabby. I would love to have a 28% shot at winning the lottery. More than 1 in 4 of participants didn't eat breakfast (or didn't call it breakfast), and succeeded anyway.

I also wonder what the breakfast eating numbers are for thin folks, still fat folks, and for the general population overall. If 78% of all groups eat breakfast, that would suggest that breakfast eating has absolutely no bearing on successful weight loss.

Orphan statistics are meaningless, without other statistics to compare them to, they mean absolutely nothing.

In the morning if I feel like I need something in my stomach, I eat fruit. Sometimes I drink fruit juice or a fruit mixed with veggie drink. Sometimes I just drink water.

I eat it now, right before my workout, I really need it. My husband, on the other hand, loves to eat at night and 'saves' his breakfast - he starts eating at noon, after waking at 5am. Both methods work great for us.

Bottom line, do what works for you, and whatever helps you achieve your deficit.

Once I found out that not eating within a few hours of waking has no effect whatsoever on metabolism, I stopped eating breakfast. My first meal is generally around 11:30 or later, even though I get up at 5am.

Ok, so I am even more confused than I was before!

So does it matter WHEN we eat during the day, or what types of foods we eat at certain times of the day? Orr does the only thing that matters the amount of calories we eat in a given 24 hour period?

Growing up, I was always told (by my mom of course) that it is important to eat breakfast... its the most important meal of the day... it gets your metabolism going, etc. I suppose this is the "conventional wisdom" that OP was referring to. I've also been told (by various diet regimens) not to eat later than a particular hour of the night, and not to eat certain things beyond a certain hour. I don't know what to believe!

It seems that most people are saying that breakfast is not necessarily important... that it can be skipped. Does this mean that it doesn't matter when you eat? If it doesn't matter when you eat, then what is the purpose of the intermittent fasting that some people do? After all, if I eat 1000 calories a day, why would changing up my daily caloric limit to eat 500 calories one day, and 1500 the next, etc. yield any different results than just eating 1000 calories per day? If it does, how?

Joefla70 - simple answer - it doesn't matter. Neither meal timing nor meal frequency make any difference.

Calorie cycling doesn't matter either except in specific circumstances that are applicable to athletes cutting weight that need to support training goals or bodybuilders getting extremely lean but for the average person it makes virtually no difference from a physiological perspective.

Compliance is another matter. Some people might find it easier to be compliant to a diet where one day they are eating very little so the next they can eat more but others might find it easier to keep calories about the same level. Regardless it is net calories that matter.

I eat breakfast every day during the week within a couple of hours of waking up. On weekends I can take it or leave it.

I think it's more important to eat when you're hungry and focus on that as opposed to having certain times that you have to eat.

I'm one of those people who likes big breakfasts, just not at the traditional breakfast time. I'm not generally hungry in the morning and not willing to sacrifice sleep to get up earlier just in case it happens to be one of the days I am. I might have some toast with butter for breakfast if I'm still hungry when I get into work (2.5 hours after I wake up) but if I'm not hungry when I get into work, I'll wait until lunchtime before I have anything. Skipping breakfast didn't do me any harm losing weight, but I've never been a big breakfast eater and a heavy breakfast in the morning tends to make me feel slightly nauseous, so I've never gotten into the habit of eating when I wake up.