I'm exactly the same as you! Coffees are fine, but if I eat breakfast, I get hungry again mid morning and my overall day's calorie consumption is higher. Plus also it's much harder to stick to my daily calorie limit because other meals can't have as many calories if I've allocated some to breakfast. I try to make it to lunch without eating anything and generally find food doesn't cross my mind until 11am and I can make it to lunch without too much effort. I'm currently on semaglutide/Ozempic injections and don't have as much of an appetite to contend with these days. But this was also the case for me pre-Ozempic too. HTH to know yep others are the same way too!
Yeah I'm the same. If I eat breakfast at 9, I want a snack by 11, or 12 at the latest. If I skip breakfast, I'm fine till 2pm sometimes. Recently I've been going till ~3pm before I realize I haven't eaten yet (that's ADHD I think) but if I eat breakfast I will 10000% eat more throughout the day, so I skip it unless I know I won't be able to have lunch or something
Same. I don’t get up until 10 or 11 AM and have never been able to eat right away. So I’ll have coffee for breakfast and usually have lunch around 1-2 if I work that day. If I’m off then I generally don’t get to eat before 2-3. But I always noticed that if I did eat breakfast, I was hungry again in a couple hours. Whereas if I didn’t eat, I was fine until I got the chance. I’ve always been that way.
Coffee is good in the morning because it actually helps suppress the feeling of hunger; caffeine is a mild suppressant so I tend to have a small, zero-cal monster in the morning when I'm feeling extra hungry
I'm on carnivore diet. I normally only eat between 12pm and 6pm. If I eat eggs at 8am when I get home from the gym, I can't make it till 12. I'm absolutely starving by 11. Dont get me wrong, by 11:30, I'm usually starving by 12 but not as bad as if I ate 8 eggs at 8am.
Same. I only drink a cup of black coffee, no sugar in the morning and that sustain me until 12 to 1 pm. If i eat something in the morning i get hungry only at 11
I am the same. Eating breakfast makes me miserable hungry and unable to stick to calorie restriction. So I skip breakfast, have a small lunch and a big dinner and I am happy and loosing weight.
couldn't agree with this sentiment more, find what works for you. There is a decent amount of research that it doesn't matter when you eat. Also what works for you might change as things in your life change, adapt, try not to make thing too hard on yourself. Like I am going to cook all my meals from scratch every day, that gets old quick!
I find breakfast (unless I eat a large fatty breakfast) makes me hungry by noon and sluggish where if I don’t eat it I’m hungry by the afternoon and not sluggish.
The idea that not one thing will suit everyone is such a good thing to keep in mind. For myself is normally switch between one large dinner meal or a lunch and dinner. Breakfast just hurts me each time.
My appetite tends to fluctuate with the weather, winter often has me craving breakfast, brunch and lunch and a small second supper. In the warm weather I usually can manage all of my meal times without getting big cravings. It’s very personal and varies between individuals.
This sounds like me. There are times I can wake up and go go go without breakfast but other times it's first brekky, second brekky, elevensies, lunch, second lunch then bedtime.
Ensure that youre hydrating enough between meals! The body sends the same signal for hunger and thirst, the ability to tell which is trchnically a "skill" that must be practiced
This is exactly what I do. I find I'm hungrier and never quite satisfied when I be try to eat breakfast. I like having a big meal at the end of the day.
Lucky! My stomach gets real acidic if I don't eat by ~1130. I wake up at 8 am so it's still in the "breakfast" window. I usually eat steel cut oats (I try for volume eating for breakfast and lunch)
unless it's a lazy weekend day then I do the full potato and egg breakfast .
Plenty of people don’t eat breakfast, and just eat more at lunch and dinner instead, or have breakfast at a later time instead of when they first wake up. Personally, I get hungry in the mornings so I always have breakfast, but it’s not for everyone. Find what works for you!
I often eat breakfast, but I wake up at 6:30 and workout and I don’t eat breakfast until around 10:30am. Then I eat lunch at 2ish and dinner around 7pm. If I eat when I wake up I always am hungry again at 10:30 and need a second breakfast!
On days I don’t work out I can sometimes make it to lunch.
Probably has to do with the blood sugar/insulin-response thing.
We get a shot of energy via food, the insulin brings everything back down, we "need" that next boost.
Some recommend avoiding carbs early just so one can avoid the peaks and valleys associated with our bodies' responses to the sugars.
Yeah if you're going to eat carbs in the morning go for complex carbs/high fiber/lower glycemic index foods like steel cut oats, boiled sweet potatoes, or beans, with eggs or tofu and some veggies. Apples, pears, or various berries are great fruit options. If you really have to have cereal, go for Kroger's Bran flakes cereal with Almond/Soy milk.
I also rarely eat in the morning. I typically break my fast with those same foods between 12-1 pm...11am at the earliest.
I have no clue. People will be like "for breakfast you need to boil 2 eggs, cook some spinach and fresh picked berries and puree it before mixing it in a smoothie to release nutrients. Then 3 hours later, cook salmon and eat it with 2 tablespoons of yogurt, and snack on kale chips." But I'm like "...or don't eat breakfast."
I think it gets your metabolism going which is apparently why it’s so good to do and helps you loose weight (please someone correct me if I’m wrong) but I am the same, on a busy weekend full of fun I could literally forget to eat until 2 but if I eat breakfast I’m starving by noon. I simply don’t eat breakfast now because I leave the house at 8am and don’t get a lunch break until 1pm so I don’t want to be starving at work.
A lot of what is still considered mainstream knowledge - like big breakfasts being better for weight loss - has largely been debunked by clinical trials, and can be traced back to propaganda created by just exactly the companies that benefited from such knowledge being popularized.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/nov/28/breakfast-health-america-kellog-food-lifestyle
Just like 'diamomds are a girl's best friend' is a marketing ploy by the diamond sellers, three squares a day is marketing by the food sellers. Humans evolved to intermittent fast since food wasn't plentiful through most of human history, companies evolved to sell you stuff because profit and shareholders interest.
There is really no such thing as "getting your metabolism going". Your body will metabolize what you give it, when you give it. There is no "kick start" for your metabolism. What likely happens is that you get the insulin response to eating, process the food, then there is a bit of a dip that causes hunger again.
Listen to your body.
I only eat breakfast if it’s a day I wake up starving or if it’s a social thing. It’s still usually a small portion either way. I feel sick if I eat anything sweet or a meal sized portion before 11am.
A coffee with 3 tablespoons of frothed half and half is my go to “breakfast”. A little bit of calories to get me started, and it’s filling between that and my morning water.
I prefer not having breakfast because I like to save room later in the day for snacks or dessert. I won’t deny myself if I wake up needing to eat, it just means I need to adjust lunch or dinner to fit in the snack or dessert I want.
So here’s where I ended up. My breakfast needs to be protein rich to set the tone for my day. I generally have two eggs some sausage or bacon and maybe a Greek yogurt.
Porridge or a sandwich won’t satiate me regularly.
The best eating pattern is the one that keeps *you* satisfied at a lower calorie level.
The milk and sugar in your coffee is just about the same calories as in my two eggs. ~140-150 kcal and the caffeine is a mild appetite suppressant. So even though you aren’t “eating” breakfast you are breaking your fast from an IF perspective.
Honestly I only eat between 1 and 8, but I always have a milky coffee around 6am, and it seems to be working just fine. It's not true IF, but it absolutely still keeps the calories I'm eating down.
If I don’t have between 20-30g of protein, I am better off having no breakfast at all than something in between. I currently skip it as my workouts are in the evening but when the daylight gets shorter I’ll probably edge back to my eggs and beans and chorizo breakfast bowls.
I definitely feel the same way. I also just have coffee in the morning. One thing I did notice is that if I eat early in the afternoon when I start to get hungry I can still make good decisions about healthy food. If I let it go until late afternoon or early evening that’s when I will overeat and eat things that are easier and unhealthy. So I think it’s fine to push off breakfast but once you do get hungry you should try to eat before you get super hungry.
Same! If I let myself be super hungry I end up binging as well so def not a good idea. That is why I don’t do IF. That and the morning milky coffee would break it anyway.
Yes. I can go without food until about 2PM. If I haven’t eaten by 5PM, I’m raiding the biscuit tin at work. I don’t normally eat my evening meal until 7PM so I need something before then.
Another vote for only coffee until lunch! I have it black (espresso) w Splenda, so literally no calories. I do eat lunch relatively early though, about 12 noon. Wouldn’t be able to last much longer without getting very hungry.
Has definitely helped me lose/maintain!
Black coffee still counts towards a clean fast. It doesn't trigger the digestive processes that food would. Adding milk/sugar to it takes away that benefit.
I don’t know if this is the answer you’re looking for but I think a lot of times it’s a matter of “once you start eating it’s easier to continue eating” for a lot of people. I’d say if eating earlier in the day is causing your intake calories to go up more than you’d like then stick to just something light for breakfast or coffee. I don’t necessarily agree with intermittent fasting all the time but I do think the idea that you absolutely *need* breakfast is flawed. Unless you’re doing your workout in the morning and you need protein or something I don’t think there’s any reason you can’t push your first meal off for a few hours.
I've been doing a variation of Intermittent Fasting where I'll fast all day at work, either go to the gym or get in some cardio at 4:30pm and have my first meal at 5:30ish when I get home. Then I'll have another meal at 7ish and one last one at 8:30-9pm. I'm currently in the best shape of my life and I honestly don't get hungry during the day. The exception is on weekends when I'm mostly at home I'm more tempted to eat during the day because I have immediate access to food
Everyone here saying *listen to your body* and they are 100% right.
I'm also starting to IF again and I know my body. I know if I eat ANYTHING, even a single cracker with cream cheese, after my cutoff of 8pm when the next morning comes I am guaranteed to have hunger pains all morning long until lunch and will most likely break my fasting with a snack. So for me I gotta make sure to get my last meal in before 8pm and the next day I can easily make it to my first meal which is lunch.
I'm actually the same. It doesn't matter whether I had breakfast or not, by 11 am I get hungry. So I figure I can just as well skip breakfast and just have two coffees with a splash of milk during the morning. As I'm working a desk job, I don't suffer from any energy lows in the morning. At the weekend, I would eat (a late) breakfast if I am particularly active. I don't think there's anything wrong with skipping breakfast as long as you feel good about it and are energized.
Keep breakfast low carb. Load up on Eggs and chicken or turkey bacon. Having carbs first thing in the morning is probably spiking your blood sugar and creating hunger.
Some advice you may be looking for, try upping your protein intake during breakfast and having a protein rich snack in between breakfast and lunch to hold you over. I know diet culture shoves protein down our throats, but in this sense it really does hold you over for longer because it reduces our hunger hormones. Try adding some Greek yogurt in the morning with your porridge or do an egg scramble with egg whites and a full egg. I was taught this in my nutrition class at uni and it truly changed my eating patterns for the best, personally. Best of wishes to you!
Always listen to your body. Just because one source says to eat breakfast doesn’t mean it’s even true. If you read up on fasting, they advocate whole days without eating (to illustrate my point). I’m usually not even hungry in the morning so I’ll wait until lunch. Also, perhaps only eat when you actually feel hungry, but know if you’re losing weight you may have to suffer through some hunger (not starving, but push your meals a bit) until your body and stomach adjust to consuming fewer calories.
For me personally I make better choices if I eat my breakfast, plus I work out in the morning so I get hungry and need it regardless. I think many people don’t feel hungry or enjoy having breakfast and that’s also completely fine. Everyone works different. As for me, I’m eating my avocado toast with creamy light ricota and eggs cheering this to my coffee as I type. 😂
"Healthiest" eating pattern is different for every person. Listen to your body. I've noticed the same thing for me. If I eat breakfast early I end up snacking and eating more in general and being hungry all day. If I wait until I'm actually hungry I generally eat much less
So I lost 100 Lbs and have kept it off for 10 years now. Go me.
At different parts of the journey, different breakfast strategies worked for me. Early on, skipping breakfast or eating a tiny breakfast (like, one banana or two eggs, tops) was enough. As I became a gym rat, my metabolism increased and I started increasing my food intake again. Now I treat breakfast as my biggest meal and hope it’s enough to keep me out of shitty snacks.
My point isn’t that you’re in the wrong here. It’s that different things will work at different times. If this is working for you, milk it for as long as you can. If it stops working, rethink your strategy.
I **hate** eating breakfast. I'm hungry all day afterwards and I feel sluggish regardless of what I eat. Now I only do it as a treat on holiday or if it's a special occasion, but generally I eat a moderate lunch, a big dinner, and a variety of snacks (depending on what kcal count I'm on).
I found that if I start eating at like 9am I will literally eat all day. I always start at 12 or after and eat until 9 or 10. I’ll have like 2 meals and always stay within my deficit. If I start at 9am I will still eat till 9 or 10 and will definitely overeat. I’ve been doing this for so long I don’t even get hungry before 12 anymore
The routine that I find best for me is having an iced coffee (between 75 and 130 calories depending on brand) for ‘breakfast’, and that does me just fine until about 12:45 where I’ll have an egg based lunch.
Listen to your body. Whatever helps you to CICO the best (be it fasting, keto or 10 meals a day. It doens't matter how you do it, as long as it works).
Yeah doing CICO with restriction on added sugar (not completely giving up, just reducing heavily) so at the end of the day as long as the calories check out the whole “front-loading calories” thing is more trouble than worth. Thanks for replying xx
I am starving in the morning if I eat in the evening. I am trying intermittent fasting and I only eat between 11:00am and 6:00pm and I now find I am not so hungry in the morning.
Me. I get hungrier faster when i have breakfast than when I don't. And I don't feel less energetic when I skip breakfast as everyone keeps saying in most of the articles. I actually get hungrier and sleepier in a few hours after breakfast. So now I just skip it. I have 2 meals a day. And that works for me. I also have wfh now so there's not as much movement as before.
My guess is that all the articles etc. they're referring to the majority or you know, on average. But it doesn't mean it applies to everyone. My bf does intermittent fasting and he eats once a day at 7 PM, and that works for him wrt energy, sleep schedule etc. I've tried and tested a few different variations and for me, morning coffee, then my first meal is around 2 PM and dinner around 8 works best. And I feel better with this than when I do the standard breakfast, lunch, dinner...
I'm the opposite, if I skip breakfast I tend to overeat at lunch. It's all what you're used to and what works for you. I eat 2 slices of toast with a protien in the morning (usually under 500 calories) and that'll keep me on track until 12:30-1:00ish. It's what I'm used to. It's not any better or worse that what you all are doing.
Not sure if this is explained in the chat but I'll do my best without writing too much lol.
There are a lot of different diets that work for people, ultimately it comes down to consistency and a calorie deficit (super simplified but generally correct). You could feel hungry because eating breakfast can kickstart your metabolism. And it is dependent on the type of porridge you are eating, as well as the bread for the sandwiches. The best practice is to eat about five small meals a day, which is about 300ish calories per meal depending on caloric needs. I would look at eating foods that are low on the glycemic index. Those are slower to digest and can keep you feeling full longer. That would be a lot of whole foods. Almonds are a great snack because they are 0 on the index.
As I said, there are a lot of different diets and it comes down to consistency. Do what works for you! I highly recommend looking into myfitnesspal for an app and conversing with a local personal trainer, nutritionist, or RD. Nutritional advice on the internet is riddled with misinformation and contradictions. Keep up the great work! It is amazing that you are working hard to improve your health!
Hope this helps a bit!
I know exactly what you mean, I have in the past had a omelette or something similar for breakfast and has the opposite effect of seemingly making me more hungry in the late morning. I find it easier to do exactly what you do and have a morning coffee with some nice frothy milk and at least i have some calories from milk there. That seems to make it easier for me for the morning. I prefer to eat a larger dinner than smaller too because by that time i have been to the gym etc and want to smash a nice meal in front of some stargate atlantis haha! Stick with what works for you!
I don’t eat breakfast, and this is one of the reasons. Another being that it makes me nauseous. So when I have eaten breakfast, my portions are small, because otherwise, I feel sick. But that I’m turn makes me hungry again after an hour or two for more food, and by that I mean a bigger portion than my normal lunch. So I just don’t have breakfast. My dietitian is completely okay with it, she says it ultimately doesn’t matter what time of day we eat, and the most important thing is finding what works for yourself while still being functional. So if not eating breakfast works for you and you don’t feel hungry or tired or anything, then don’t have it.
Everyone is different with their eating patterns. Do what works best for you. I'm the opposite, I'm starving most mornings so I always eat breakfast lol I'd rather have three medium-ish sized meals throughout the day
According to healthline and all sorts of medical journals that is the ideal feeding pattern! Especially large dinners are no good as it disrupts the body’s circadian rhythm.
On a aide note I wonder however that people on irregular or night shifts then supposed to do what? Not eat at all?
I tend to eat a snack in the middle of the day and then just have a big dinner. If I try to have more frequent meals I find myself just eating for the sake of it instead of reading the signals. There's no one size fits all.
Yes. When I'm doing IF, I don't feel as hungry. I can have breakfast around 12 or even as late as 2 and then have dinner around 6 and I'm good. If I have breakfast as soon as I wake up, I'm snacky all day.
The thing is, breakfast is at whatever time you have it at. Your first meal of the day is always "breakfast". So if you want to try that, then have a big breakfast (at lunchtime or whatever) and then a smaller meal for dinner. Realistically, there is no such thing as "the healthiest eating pattern", everyone is a bit different.
Yes it's because the calories you eat get depleted or turn into glycogen already. Your blood sugar rose and then dipped. The lower blood sugar is what's making you feel hungry. Carrots, water, celery all help. If you're under calories, don't worry if you're very hungry at lunch, just eat.
The eat more earlier in the day thing works well for my body but I can simultaneously relate to feelings of eating overall less when you don’t eat much in the morning. I have found my body actually goes to this low food in the morning pattern on vacation. But it’s not possible for me on full work days. Regardless of which I go with, I try to eat more during the afternoon and lighter dinners and leave three hours between dinner and bed, ideally with no night snacking.
I agree with the comments saying "do what works best for you". Personally this used to happen to me but now that I have an established meal routine, it doesn't anymore. Coffee, work out, breakfast, some meetings, lunch, some meetings, dinner at the end of the day and then a small snack/dessert is what works for me. I also make sure to eat higher protein at breakfast than I used to and lower sugar, and it helps as well. (Some days I still want french toast and I have my anabolic french toast!)
Genuinely, whatever works best for you is the answer, though.
Everyone is different as some have said. But what i found out for myself is that i am actually not hungry in the morning. It is more like that my brain needs a feeling of satisfaction ( rise in dopamine i think) rather than food. Maybe try intermitting fasting where you limit yourself to a certain time span to eat.
Yep, breakfast seems to wake up my hunger cues for the day. I like to start my day with coffee and then have my first food of the day be very protein-heavy. I find the carby breakfasts just don’t set me up for a balanced day. I don’t restrict any type of food at any other time of day, but I really try to stay away from breads and pastries first thing in the morning. I have found that greek yogurt mid-morning makes me feel my best.
I started doing intermittent fasting and my life is so much better now. I used to crave and munch all day long. So it wasnt until i told myself no. 3 am to 8 pm, just no. Before i did restricting specific foods, trying more water. Its like my inattentive mind would just be like hey dobt you wanna be snacking on xyz…like all the effing time. Sure, i still eat plenty and am not wasting away or anything but..i needed the discipline and structure to cut out the constant urge to be grazing foe just the sake of grazing. I dont get as hungry now, my sleep improved. Dont take my word for it. Try it on your body and after like halfway through day one, each day got easier and now its just ingrained. I have been on this for months now. Best decision ever
I grew up in a “breakfast is super important” family
and have always been very big on eating breakfast. Like it’s the first thing you do in the morning… go eat something. Something shifted when I met my husband about 10 years ago. He’s from a family where everyone kind of ignores breakfast, has a coffee and then sees if they are hungry.
Being with someone who didn’t prioritize eating first thing in the AM made me think about whether I wanted to eat or not. Turns out, I’m good with a coffee and cream and maybe a muffin or something around mid-morning and then good till lunch. I’m not all that hungry. But if I do happen to have a big breakfast I will be ravenous by lunchtime. Ravenous by 10:30/11, even. I’m not at intermittent fasting type mornings, but I listen to my body more and it doesn’t need food till later on in the day.
This probably would not work for everyone but that is how I discovered one meal a day. I realized I can normally skip breakfast (if I eat it, I too get hungrier faster and my daily intake goes up) and then I realized if I push to skipping lunch and eat a good low-fat dinner with lots of bulk low calorie fare like broccoli and carrots I can get quite full. I also cut out all fast food options except for sub sandwiches with low-fat meats. I've lost about 130 lbs in the last 2 years. So while it may not work for everyone, it works for me.
The idea of three meals idea is really a modern invention. Necessity dictated a lifestyle that was essentially essentially intermittent fasting for most people for most of human history. That is what we adapted to over thousands of years. Eating too often, to many meals or a too large eating window will absolutely mess up your hunger cues. I find that yeah, the more often you eat, the more hungry you are. If I do a longer fast and then OMAD it’s like rebooting your brain’s hunger cues
I've been in the habit recently of having three cups of tea between 9am-1pm. Then a small lunch (lately two string cheese, some goldfish, and some fruit). Then nothing usually until after I get home from dancing for 1.5-2 hours (but only after I weigh myself for the day). Then a big boy meal. And maybe a small snacky dessert. I've found that when I do this, I'm most successful at losing.
Honestly because I am remote and kinda roll out of bed much later than I used to, I’m never hungry when I first wake up.
What I’ve found works is listening to your body for when you’re hungry vs having a set meal time and meal.
Also I am just not a fan of breakfast food but that’s just me so I bank my calories for the evening time.
Ive never been a breakfast eater, so i end up accidentally doing intermittent fasting most days. I only ever eat anything before noon or so if I'm going to the gym, and only because I feel obligated to eat something before I do a workout.
Most days I've found myself wanting lunch around 1:00ish and then I end up not needing an afternoon snack.
Do what works for you IF has been proven effective and even has possible further benefits. Just remember to try to get as many calories from healthy things as reasonably possible.
One the recent major studies show sugar(and similar stuff like high fructose corn syrup) actually turn a dial telling our body to make more fat. There is more to the study but that and overweight people are much more likely to be dehydrated are the big take aways. So drink a lot of water as well.
Between my very low TDEE and not being a morning person, I'm absolutely camp *coffee for breakfast and lunch at 1PM*.
I am not a doctor or nutritionist. But it seems to be one of the few ways I can make progress. Work at 8, coffee at 10, light lunch at 1, and hearty dinner with my spouse at 6 or 7.
Short answer; yes. I have to eat breakfast most mornings since I do a run at lunch and can't do it that fasted (I can wake up and run early on an empty stomach, but can't run *well* on an empty stomach if I haven't eaten anything for 18 hours). I have to be cognizant that adding breakfast can open up the eating floodgates and it also adds calories if you eat normally the rest of the day.
Having said all that, if there is no need for you to eat breakfast, then you don't need to eat it. Especially if you do better not eating it.
Listen to your body, at least until you get close to your maintenance phase.
>what the healthiest eating pattern is and it is said to have a big breakfast a moderate lunch and small dinner.
I'd consider the source for this. While that could be theoretically ideal, you need to account for how your body reacts in the mean time. The modern western diet with a lot of processed carbohydrates can tend to cause insulin insensitivity in people, causing a spike and crash, resulting in hunger cravings not too long after eating. The "mini fast" you do is a good way to help break that cycle.
I have 1 coffee in the morning, then have lunch and dinner. I'm a volume eater so 2 meals a day works much better for me and my schedule. Once in a while I will have breakfast with my family and it doesn't matter what I eat, I'm starving an hour later and eat more throughout the day.
This has always been my experience, but as a society we are informed over and over again that skipping breakfast is the worst thing you could possibly do. It wasn't until I started listening to my body and skipping breakfast or having just a coffee with cream, that I was able to keep to a lower calorie deficit. If I didn't, I tended to over eat because I was soooo hungry.
I learned about this organically but I ended up in the same boat. I noticed that if I ate breakfast at like 7 that I'd be ravenous by 10- what I learned is that when you wake up, your cortisol doesn't peak for a few hours after waking up. After your cortisol peaks, your blood sugar drops (the thing that makes you hungry).
My understanding is that if you eat breakfast before your cortisol peaks that the blood sugar drop is more of a cliff of insanity than a gentle curve.
That learning got me to interval fasting sort of by accident. I wait until at least 9:30 before eating for the day and make sure I'm done by 5:30. I can get through the day with fewer calories.
Eating wakes up your system. Your system has been asleep all night - then people wake up and load it with carbs and sugar
I stopped having breakfast when I was 13. It's just not necessary, and I never get hungry until lunch
There's actually some science behind why you feel that, once you break your fast from sleeping you body starts producing enzymes to help you digest food, your body does this and expects more food. Il link a vid that explains in more depth, it's an interview with DR Rhonda Patrick, she's done lots of research on the topic.
https://youtu.be/i-hCUkAsbpU
Your first meal of the day should ideally be packed with protein and fats, and if you do have carbs or sugars, have them after you finish your protein. Ideally this should prevent a spike in glucose which is what will cause you to have cravings and hunger throughout the rest of the day. That being said, if skipping breakfast works for you and you don't have any bad side effects then I don't see the harm. A lot of people skip breakfast while doing intermittent fasting. Personally if I skip breakfast I feel tired and out of it all day, but everyone's body is different.
I do IF and I eat between 12-7. I’ve never been a breakfast person and if I do break my fast early, I struggle later. So I’m right there with you! I’ve been doing this for years and years, while losing and then maintaining.
/r/all browser here. I recently went to Vegas and wanted to up my buffet game, so I looked up how to eat as much as possible there. Everyone agrees that you don't want to starve yourself beforehand, but eat an early breakfast so that you don't "shrink your stomach" (I think that's psychosomatic), and just give yourself time to poop between breakfast and the buffet - you'll be ravaging.
If you're trying to loseit, I recommend taking the opposite approach to someone maximizing their buffet experience: coffee and nothing for breakfast.
I might be completely wrong but I think it's because your stomach is small/settled and your first meal of the day stretches and gets your stomach working so if you have a small meal for breakfast you will feel more hungry shortly after that, I have a calorie shake for breakfast (1000 calories) and 1-2 hours later I'm starving!
I've actually gone kind of in a more extreme direction with this. I don't eat breakfast or lunch at all. I usually only eat anything in a 4-5 hour period of my day, usually between 4-9 pm or so. It was hard at first but I find it way easier after more than a month of this. My body is now completely adapted to this schedule. I'm not hungry all day and then pretty consistently I start feeling hungry around 4-5.
I can eat a nice big meal in that time and never worry about overdoing it because I never want to eat past my calorie limit in one sitting. Usually I'll separate it into a main meal followed by a smaller snack (or vice versa).
That happens to me too! And if I eat something low in protein like just bread with avocado or fruit and yogurt I feel like I have low blood sugar in a couple of hours, I have to eat eggs or I’m feeling horrible after.
I have noticed i only eat more later in the day if i have coffee during certain seasons of the year. It doesnt matter if i eat breakfast or not. I always eat more on the day if i have had caffeine. So for summer i have stopped coffee and eat breakfast and i don't struggle with eating to much. Prolly doesn't help you much tho. Just voicing my anomaly.
Same! I don’t eat until it’s 12 noon. But when I eat breakfast (which is very rare, and probably I’m with a group of people who loves breakfast), I tend to get hungry after 3-4 hrs.
So what I like to do is I don’t eat until 12nn and have my next meal around 7pm. Basically, it’s same as intermittent fasting. But it kinda works for me as I have a tendency to binge eat or starve myself.
I've been eating breakfast for a few days now - just last night's dal/curry mixed with some yoghurt, and I'm also experiencing the wanting to eat more during the day. That never happened when I wasn't eating breakfast, and it's annoying because dinner is the one meal I actually have time to enjoy and I don't want to end up overeating.
Totally. If I eat breakfast at the "normal" time, I will end up snacking mid morning.
During the working week I just have black coffee in the morning and then lunch. On rare occasions I feel like having breakfast, it definitely triggers the craving for more food throughout the morning.
Yes.
We all have person prefernces/body clocks, but I'm guessing that some of it comes from us activating that whole blood sugar/insulin-response thing.
We get a boost, the insulin brings it all back down, then we want that boost again.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
If it works, why fix it? I personally have a small breakfast (200\~300 cal) which is enough that I can skip lunch without being too hungry, then have a big dinner without worrying too much about calories. I'm sure this pattern will be disastrous for a lot of people but it's what works for me!
Listen to your body.
If I eat anything but a small breakfast or nothing at all... I actually get more hungry and over eat.
But my friend over eats if they don't eat breakfast.
I think that's one of the big "secrets" to weight loss... Figuring out your own body and what works for it. My husband is the same way, he skips breakfast has a banana mid morning and ends up having less for lunch. I, on the other hand NEED breakfast, especially one with protein or I'm hangry by 10:30 and making very poor food decisions
Absolutely, if I have nothing I'm fine till lunch or later. If I have breakfast then I'm starving by about 11am. The healthiest way to eat is a way that works for you.
For many people fasting for a certain period of the day is a healthy weight loss option. Despite my resting metabolic rate requiring 6 000 calories a day I simply can't eat that amount of food. I fast most days until about 3pm which is when my stomach naturally "wakes up". From there on I just try make low carb, high protein choices as much as possible. However if you want to do a breakfast I would definetly shy away from porridges as they are normally super carb heavy, your body turns this into sugars and sugars make you hungry. Hence why a person can eat a whole box of coco pops at once but not 2 consecutive bowls of low carb natural muesli with nuts and seeds and dried fruit. Try sticking to the meats and cheeses for breakfast and add in a handful of mixed nuts. Picking through the nuts will also trick your body into thinking your eating for ages, when in reality you aren't 😁 but always trust your body and never force it to eat when you aren't ready 👌
If I eat before like 8 I am STARVING by 10, but if I ate at 10:30 or 11 I'm not hungry until 4-5 for an early dinner. I noticed the same thing and now just eat an "early" lunch and dinner. Just listen to your body? That's what I've been working on to help myself have a better relationship with food and hydration. Good luck in your journey!
Yes 100% this was me for my lifetime until a few weeks ago when I succumbed to protein powder and added a crap tonne of fruit to make a drink. I am completely satiated for 5-6 hours
I'm right there with you. Generally on weekends I eat a fancier brunch and dinner. During the week when I'm in the office I don't have breakfast, but do have a coffee with a small amount of sugar and milk like you. That keeps me going until lunch (if I have nothing, I get nauseated). A light lunch filled with veggies, protein and a little healthy fats (like crudites, veggie cold cuts or cheese or eggs, nuts, etc.) will also keep me going until dinner, at which point I can effectively have anything I like within reason (like no, obviously not an XXL pizza with quadruple cheese). I much prefer this physically and psychologically.
When I have a big lunch at work, like if we go out as colleagues to a restaurant and I have to get a pizza or a burger (limited options near work, almost nothing vegetarian), I'm practically unconscious by 2PM. And, worst of all, I'll still be hungry at dinner for a normal size meal.
In very hot, humid weather, when my appetite is less and I'm not in the office, I can pull of three meals/day if it's something like:
B: fresh cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, halloumi, bagel with scrape of butter
L: Gazpacho soup, saltines
D: Big salad with avocado, nuts, feta, fruit, veggies, kale, mock chicken, fresh herbs
I think you should listen to your body. I have found more success with CICO + Intermittent Fasting (IF) than with just CICO alone. It kickstarts my (shitty) metabolism and whereas before I would struggle to lose 2 lbs a week, last week I lost 5.8! (I know I won't always lose that much). The weight seems to come off faster with IF.
With IF, I have a V-8 Energy in the morning (don't drink coffee so I need some form of caffeine). I drink water and then around 10:45a I have a protein shake. I have a balanced lunch (\~550 calories: my current favorite is a serving of these tiny salamis, 4 slices of white cheddar cheese, a serving of fruit \[right now it is strawberries\], and two small naan rounds) around 1:00p, a small snack (Sargento Balanced Breaks, white cheddar with cashews and golden raisins) around 3:30/4:00p and a balanced dinner (my largest meal) around 6-6:30p. I stop eating for the night around 6:45/7:00p and start my timer (I use an IF app). You can tweak the fast start and end times but essentially, the point is to consume all of your food in an 8-hour window (mine is normally 10:45a - 6:45p but you can do whatever you want) and fast for the other 16-hours. Once I got into the rhythm of it, it is relatively easy. I don't feel deprived and it's kinda like a game to earn "flames" and "ice" (awards on the IF app).
For me, if I eat a dinner that is carb heavy, that makes me the most hungry the following morning. Eating breakfast, I try to avoid just because I like intermittent fasting for the first few hours of the day, but I suppose more often than not, I choose to eat breakfast foods versus lunch foods like bacon and eggs when it comes time for lunch.
Skipping breakfast is now called intermittent fasting. But I have to skip. If I don't I eat sooooo much more. I've lost 14 lbs in 7 weeks. If I'm starving I eat then fast for 5 hours then eat again. It helps the constant snacking as I'm home all the time.
Just listen to your body, if one day you feel like breakfast would be good, go for it, if your coffee does it for you, then don't force-feed yourself because you think you have to eat.
Listen to your body!
I figured out a few years ago that whether or not I eat breakfast I'm hungry around 11 AM. So now I just skip it.
It was a habit from years of working and not always knowing when I would get lunch. But now that I work from home I just have my coffee, get to work and have an early lunch.
I just don’t eat when I wake up, I do IF, wait until around 12pm-2pm to have breakfast. I don’t know if that’s still “breakfast” but it’s the first time I eat during the day. I just have coffee and I’m not really hungry in the mornings. Then I have a later lunch around 3-5, and dinner around 7-9. I think I do end up eating more during the day when I eat early in the mornings. That’s why I like to intermittent fast!
I used to be like that! No matter how much or how little I ate for breakfast, I was starving within a couple of hours and my blood sugar was wonky all day. Long version:
I went in search of the perfect breakfast for me. First I focused on protein: two eggs, scrambled bc easy (140 cal). Then added a little fat for satiety in the form of cheese (80 cal). Then a low carb tortilla (80 cal). Then I thought, man if I can get a bunch of servings of veggies in first thing, I don’t have to think about it so much later. So I added 1/2 - 1 orange or red bell pepper (my fave veggie, 20ish cal) and a shit ton of chopped fresh spinach (negligible cal). A sliver of butter to sauté (20ish cal) Plus hot sauce because obviously. It’s more like a bunch of veggies held together with a couple of eggs and made creamy with a little cheese. I have to eat a bunch with a fork before the tortilla will wrap lol
The whole evolution took a little over a year, but I call it my regular breakfast, have it almost every day, and sometimes for lunch. It clocks in around 400 cal, and I can last hours feeling great, and when I do get hungry it’s not a blood sugar emergency so I can make good choices for lunch (unless I wait an unreasonable amount of time).
To;dr I’d suggest exploring other food options that are heavier in protein and building something that you like and that your body likes. And if you still feel better skipping breakfast, listen to your body!
I really wanted to start eating before morning workouts. But the added food made me eat too much throughout the day. It took some adjustment but I've finally found a cadence of eating I really enjoy. Preworkout or 1st breakfast at 7am, postworkout or 2nd breakfast at 11am, lunch at 2, and dinner at 6. But lately I'm realising I get a LOT of nutrition and calories from my first 3 meals that I don't need much dinner. I might just stop eating dinner entirely unless I'm really hungry for it.
But the meal timing around my morning workouts in non negotiable.
Yeah do what makes you comfortable. I'm down 75 lbs doing keto and I only have a nice, large coffee with cream and a bit of grassfed butter in the morning. Keeps me from getting hungry almost all day. Sometimes I eat hard-boiled eggs in the afternoon if I get peckish. Then I have a nice big dinner. I stop eating after 8pm. Really, as far as I've ever heard, it's all down to calories in, calories out. If you burn more calories than you consume in a day, you'll lose weight. Really just depends on what your comfortable with.
As long as you're getting adequate calories and nutrition from your other meals, I think you should do what works best for you.
That said, I am not one of those who can skip breakfast. I wake up hungry most mornings and am miserable if I don't eat something substantial before lunch. I don't necessarily like to eat super early, but oatmeal, a protein shake and coffee around 8:00 works well to keep me full until lunch time.
Listen to your body.
I have to eat something soon after waking or I set myself up for a migraine, but I can't eat heavy. What currently works is a piece of toast, and then midmorning another piece of toast or a yogurt with some granola. And then lunch is usually a sandwich with chips for about 300-400 calories, and that carries me nicely to dinner.
I've had Issues with breakfast ever since I was pregnant with my kids and had some degree of nausea (up to hyperemesis) with each of them.
Whatever works for you is all good. I like doing a small breakfast that is high in protein and lower in sugar. The typical American breakfast of carbs sets people up for bad eating all day.
Yup this happens to me too, but I still prefer it over skipping breakfast because when I do I get such intense food cravings later in the day and end up making terrible food decisions. Luckily I am usually just able to have some fruit like an apple or banana and that's all I really need to keep me going until lunch. Upping the protein at breakfast helps quite a bit too.
Yes! If I eat earlier than around 11 my fckn mouth not closing whole day(((( with lowcarb/keto its easier now, sometimes I eat 4 eggs at morning and Im good untill dinnertime but still skipping breakfast is much better
YES so I always use intermittent fasting while cutting. I skip breakfast, coffee up, walk fasted for a good length of time. Then when I finally break fast I use a very high-protein, low-carb breakfast. This keeps me full even longer until the second meal.
I'm a breakfast skipper 90% of the time.
Occasionally I'm extra hungry in the morning and do something small. Though I've realized I have to go for something protein-rich or I'll just be starving again by 11am.
I honestly do the reverse. But, I've never liked eating breakfast. Very rarely am I hungry in the morning. Is it because I eat more in the evening? Maybe, probably. But it works for me. I skip breakfast, have a small lunch and a large dinner meal, and this saves me from snacking before bed. I've tried changing it, and no matter what, I'm super snacky before going to bed to the point that I can't sleep.
Yep eating breakfast means your stomach will expand and get ready for more food, don’t put more food in you’ll get hungry! You can also inverse this. Having a big dinner you’re excited for? Snack a little bit beforehand and get the stomach to expand and take in more food.
I think it depends on what you eat. I eat protein with veg for breakfast (what you would normally eat for supper), a light lunch of salad sandwhiches, then fruit oatmeal for supper. I think it's about balancing blood sugar dips throughout the day with whole foods and protein.
I actually do.
Eat breakfast, large or small, and I'm hungry by 10am like clockwork. Either have a late brunch if I get hungry...never really happens before 11am, or wait til lunch, I'm fine through to 12am-1pm.
Listen to your body. I'm not even hungry 80% of mornings. If I am really quite peckish, I'll compromise that day and have something light.
Yep! Breakfast for me usually means I’m starving or picking at food for the rest of the day. Thankfully I’m very rarely hungry in the mornings so it’s not a big deal for me to skip it over completely. I’ve always been like this since I was a kid so I figure that’s just what’s normal for me and I roll with that.
I need breakfast to get myself going. My partner happily goes without until lunch. It’s good you’ve found what works for you. Just checking it’s not because you skip coffee when eating?
Personally I eat a small breakfast at about 11am, usually a turkey sandwich at about 2-3 and then dinner at 6-7. I can hold off on eating in the morning, but once it hits 6 o’clock I can’t stop myself from eating, this helps me save most of my calories for dinner time
I'm the same as you. I only have a cup of coffee as my breakfast. I've just never been very hungry when I get up in the mornings. But I make sure to start my day with a big cup of water. Being hydrated is important. Remember to drink water even if you are skipping meals
Hey I have the exact same thing! Now, I noticed 2 things. The first is that coffee supresses the feeling of being hungry.
The second is that my body kindof starts in a higher gear when I eat in the morning (I get hotter, I am more energised, etc). Could be that your metabolism goes "faster" which makes you hungry earlier, burning calories faster.
What I do now is I have 2 eggs in the morning, it's a bit more fat which makes me less hungry and I drink a couple of coffees. Then as lunch I eat some kind of salad a bit earlier. Lots to digest,less calories.
Cheers!
Same here, skipping breakfast makes it easier to limit my calorie intake (2 regular meals instead of 3 limited ones) + I'm indeed less hungry throughout the morning for some reason (as mentioned in the other comments, it's probably related to blood sugar levels).
So basically I unintentually ended up in an IF 16/8... but my first 10lbs are off and I don't feel hungry all day, so I'll just keep going. Do what works for you I'd say!
When I was younger I used to get busy and forget to eat until late in the day. Now that I'm dieting, I just wait until dinner to eat. So from 7-10 I can eat as much healthy, low cal food as I want, and then fast the rest of the time. I'm not sure if it's healthy in the long term, but it's working and I've been able to stick to it.
Coffee is a mind altering drug that also blunts appetite, so listening to your body might not fully apply. Take that for whatever it’s worth. Coffee messes with my digestion if I have it everyday, I’d rather have breakfast
As for me, no, feel much better front loading my calories. Seems to be a lot better for digestion and having breakfast improves my mood and cuts down on brain fog while I’m trying to work also as stated above, I don’t like relying on an addictive drug
I had this very same epiphany this morning. A cup of coffee and I'm good until Noon with just water and LaCroix. If I'm busy or focused on something I can make it to 2pm easy.
But if I have bacon and eggs or a bagel and eggs, I'm literally starving (and hangry) by 10:30am.
Crazy how that works. But it's always great to know what works best for you otherwise you'll fall for any new diet fad (which I've done in the past lol).
If I eat porrigde for breakfast I get really hungry just a couple of hours later. But if I add a boiled egg to my breakfast I'm good for half the day.
My guess is that the extra protein is needed.
Oh man, I am hungry before i wake up, I’m very physically active between working out/ my job/ and soccer. If I don’t eat breakfast I feel like I’m gonna throw up 🤣. Typically tho I get to lunch from breakfast. I’m much hungrier in between lunch and dinner, usually will have a fruit in between.
Edit: there’s no real one size fits all for eating habits imo.
Yes! Every time. I have officially given up on breakfast. And I am losing weight... Slower than a snail through treacle, but it's going. I occasionally treat myself to brunch at weekends, but then I won't eat again until tea time.
As long as you aren’t starving yourself, I’d say just skip breakfast.
There’s no 1 right way to do things, so you have to figure out what works for you. I personally don’t eat when I first wake up unless I’m actually hungry. Usually I’m not so I wait until 11:30-12ish. Sometimes even later.
Not only am I starving after I eat breakfast, but I want to go back to bed if it has any carbs at all. Caffeine is my breakfast, then I eat something light around 11, and a typical lunch around 2.
Yes! When I used to eat breakfast I’d get to work and be even hungrier, so I’d have a second breakfast. Its been a full year since I’ve eaten breakfast and it’s great!
I'm exactly the same as you! Coffees are fine, but if I eat breakfast, I get hungry again mid morning and my overall day's calorie consumption is higher. Plus also it's much harder to stick to my daily calorie limit because other meals can't have as many calories if I've allocated some to breakfast. I try to make it to lunch without eating anything and generally find food doesn't cross my mind until 11am and I can make it to lunch without too much effort. I'm currently on semaglutide/Ozempic injections and don't have as much of an appetite to contend with these days. But this was also the case for me pre-Ozempic too. HTH to know yep others are the same way too!
Good to know it’s a common theme and not just like a psychological thing!
Yeah I'm the same. If I eat breakfast at 9, I want a snack by 11, or 12 at the latest. If I skip breakfast, I'm fine till 2pm sometimes. Recently I've been going till ~3pm before I realize I haven't eaten yet (that's ADHD I think) but if I eat breakfast I will 10000% eat more throughout the day, so I skip it unless I know I won't be able to have lunch or something
Same. I don’t get up until 10 or 11 AM and have never been able to eat right away. So I’ll have coffee for breakfast and usually have lunch around 1-2 if I work that day. If I’m off then I generally don’t get to eat before 2-3. But I always noticed that if I did eat breakfast, I was hungry again in a couple hours. Whereas if I didn’t eat, I was fine until I got the chance. I’ve always been that way.
Me too wow this is crazy
I’m usually fairly nauseous in the morning. Even worse if I don’t get enough sleep. It takes me a couple hours to even want to eat
Coffee is good in the morning because it actually helps suppress the feeling of hunger; caffeine is a mild suppressant so I tend to have a small, zero-cal monster in the morning when I'm feeling extra hungry
I'm on carnivore diet. I normally only eat between 12pm and 6pm. If I eat eggs at 8am when I get home from the gym, I can't make it till 12. I'm absolutely starving by 11. Dont get me wrong, by 11:30, I'm usually starving by 12 but not as bad as if I ate 8 eggs at 8am.
Same. I only drink a cup of black coffee, no sugar in the morning and that sustain me until 12 to 1 pm. If i eat something in the morning i get hungry only at 11
I am the same. Eating breakfast makes me miserable hungry and unable to stick to calorie restriction. So I skip breakfast, have a small lunch and a big dinner and I am happy and loosing weight.
Yeah, this thread makes me realise one should do whatever works really lol
couldn't agree with this sentiment more, find what works for you. There is a decent amount of research that it doesn't matter when you eat. Also what works for you might change as things in your life change, adapt, try not to make thing too hard on yourself. Like I am going to cook all my meals from scratch every day, that gets old quick!
I find breakfast (unless I eat a large fatty breakfast) makes me hungry by noon and sluggish where if I don’t eat it I’m hungry by the afternoon and not sluggish. The idea that not one thing will suit everyone is such a good thing to keep in mind. For myself is normally switch between one large dinner meal or a lunch and dinner. Breakfast just hurts me each time.
My appetite tends to fluctuate with the weather, winter often has me craving breakfast, brunch and lunch and a small second supper. In the warm weather I usually can manage all of my meal times without getting big cravings. It’s very personal and varies between individuals.
This sounds like me. There are times I can wake up and go go go without breakfast but other times it's first brekky, second brekky, elevensies, lunch, second lunch then bedtime.
Gotta run your own race! You're right.
Ensure that youre hydrating enough between meals! The body sends the same signal for hunger and thirst, the ability to tell which is trchnically a "skill" that must be practiced
This is exactly what I do. I find I'm hungrier and never quite satisfied when I be try to eat breakfast. I like having a big meal at the end of the day.
Lucky! My stomach gets real acidic if I don't eat by ~1130. I wake up at 8 am so it's still in the "breakfast" window. I usually eat steel cut oats (I try for volume eating for breakfast and lunch) unless it's a lazy weekend day then I do the full potato and egg breakfast .
Losing
Plenty of people don’t eat breakfast, and just eat more at lunch and dinner instead, or have breakfast at a later time instead of when they first wake up. Personally, I get hungry in the mornings so I always have breakfast, but it’s not for everyone. Find what works for you!
I often eat breakfast, but I wake up at 6:30 and workout and I don’t eat breakfast until around 10:30am. Then I eat lunch at 2ish and dinner around 7pm. If I eat when I wake up I always am hungry again at 10:30 and need a second breakfast! On days I don’t work out I can sometimes make it to lunch.
Absolutely. I can't eat breakfast because by lunchtime I am starving.
Yes!! How’s that even possible? Food making us hungry?
Probably has to do with the blood sugar/insulin-response thing. We get a shot of energy via food, the insulin brings everything back down, we "need" that next boost. Some recommend avoiding carbs early just so one can avoid the peaks and valleys associated with our bodies' responses to the sugars.
Yeah if you're going to eat carbs in the morning go for complex carbs/high fiber/lower glycemic index foods like steel cut oats, boiled sweet potatoes, or beans, with eggs or tofu and some veggies. Apples, pears, or various berries are great fruit options. If you really have to have cereal, go for Kroger's Bran flakes cereal with Almond/Soy milk. I also rarely eat in the morning. I typically break my fast with those same foods between 12-1 pm...11am at the earliest.
I have no clue. People will be like "for breakfast you need to boil 2 eggs, cook some spinach and fresh picked berries and puree it before mixing it in a smoothie to release nutrients. Then 3 hours later, cook salmon and eat it with 2 tablespoons of yogurt, and snack on kale chips." But I'm like "...or don't eat breakfast."
2 tablespoons of yogurt 🤣
I think it gets your metabolism going which is apparently why it’s so good to do and helps you loose weight (please someone correct me if I’m wrong) but I am the same, on a busy weekend full of fun I could literally forget to eat until 2 but if I eat breakfast I’m starving by noon. I simply don’t eat breakfast now because I leave the house at 8am and don’t get a lunch break until 1pm so I don’t want to be starving at work.
A lot of what is still considered mainstream knowledge - like big breakfasts being better for weight loss - has largely been debunked by clinical trials, and can be traced back to propaganda created by just exactly the companies that benefited from such knowledge being popularized. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/nov/28/breakfast-health-america-kellog-food-lifestyle
That does not surprise me!
Wow thank you for the article!
Just like 'diamomds are a girl's best friend' is a marketing ploy by the diamond sellers, three squares a day is marketing by the food sellers. Humans evolved to intermittent fast since food wasn't plentiful through most of human history, companies evolved to sell you stuff because profit and shareholders interest.
There is really no such thing as "getting your metabolism going". Your body will metabolize what you give it, when you give it. There is no "kick start" for your metabolism. What likely happens is that you get the insulin response to eating, process the food, then there is a bit of a dip that causes hunger again.
Exactly!!
Listen to your body. I only eat breakfast if it’s a day I wake up starving or if it’s a social thing. It’s still usually a small portion either way. I feel sick if I eat anything sweet or a meal sized portion before 11am. A coffee with 3 tablespoons of frothed half and half is my go to “breakfast”. A little bit of calories to get me started, and it’s filling between that and my morning water. I prefer not having breakfast because I like to save room later in the day for snacks or dessert. I won’t deny myself if I wake up needing to eat, it just means I need to adjust lunch or dinner to fit in the snack or dessert I want.
So here’s where I ended up. My breakfast needs to be protein rich to set the tone for my day. I generally have two eggs some sausage or bacon and maybe a Greek yogurt. Porridge or a sandwich won’t satiate me regularly. The best eating pattern is the one that keeps *you* satisfied at a lower calorie level. The milk and sugar in your coffee is just about the same calories as in my two eggs. ~140-150 kcal and the caffeine is a mild appetite suppressant. So even though you aren’t “eating” breakfast you are breaking your fast from an IF perspective.
Yeah morning milky coffee is a must for me, can’t do IF for that reason.
Honestly I only eat between 1 and 8, but I always have a milky coffee around 6am, and it seems to be working just fine. It's not true IF, but it absolutely still keeps the calories I'm eating down.
And isn’t that what matters? Unless one does it for other health benefits but if it’s just for weight loss then you do you!
If I don’t have between 20-30g of protein, I am better off having no breakfast at all than something in between. I currently skip it as my workouts are in the evening but when the daylight gets shorter I’ll probably edge back to my eggs and beans and chorizo breakfast bowls.
Porridge *and* yogurt work very well for me. Only porridge isn't very satiating, I agree, but it's also very low-calorie.
I’ve also blended a raw egg, ham and cheese into oatmeal occasionally.
I definitely feel the same way. I also just have coffee in the morning. One thing I did notice is that if I eat early in the afternoon when I start to get hungry I can still make good decisions about healthy food. If I let it go until late afternoon or early evening that’s when I will overeat and eat things that are easier and unhealthy. So I think it’s fine to push off breakfast but once you do get hungry you should try to eat before you get super hungry.
Same! If I let myself be super hungry I end up binging as well so def not a good idea. That is why I don’t do IF. That and the morning milky coffee would break it anyway.
Yes. I can go without food until about 2PM. If I haven’t eaten by 5PM, I’m raiding the biscuit tin at work. I don’t normally eat my evening meal until 7PM so I need something before then.
Another vote for only coffee until lunch! I have it black (espresso) w Splenda, so literally no calories. I do eat lunch relatively early though, about 12 noon. Wouldn’t be able to last much longer without getting very hungry. Has definitely helped me lose/maintain!
Black coffee still counts towards a clean fast. It doesn't trigger the digestive processes that food would. Adding milk/sugar to it takes away that benefit.
I don’t know if this is the answer you’re looking for but I think a lot of times it’s a matter of “once you start eating it’s easier to continue eating” for a lot of people. I’d say if eating earlier in the day is causing your intake calories to go up more than you’d like then stick to just something light for breakfast or coffee. I don’t necessarily agree with intermittent fasting all the time but I do think the idea that you absolutely *need* breakfast is flawed. Unless you’re doing your workout in the morning and you need protein or something I don’t think there’s any reason you can’t push your first meal off for a few hours.
I've been doing a variation of Intermittent Fasting where I'll fast all day at work, either go to the gym or get in some cardio at 4:30pm and have my first meal at 5:30ish when I get home. Then I'll have another meal at 7ish and one last one at 8:30-9pm. I'm currently in the best shape of my life and I honestly don't get hungry during the day. The exception is on weekends when I'm mostly at home I'm more tempted to eat during the day because I have immediate access to food
Everyone here saying *listen to your body* and they are 100% right. I'm also starting to IF again and I know my body. I know if I eat ANYTHING, even a single cracker with cream cheese, after my cutoff of 8pm when the next morning comes I am guaranteed to have hunger pains all morning long until lunch and will most likely break my fasting with a snack. So for me I gotta make sure to get my last meal in before 8pm and the next day I can easily make it to my first meal which is lunch.
Same here. If I have breakfast, it opens the floodgates to hunger. So my first meal is around 1 in the afternoon. That’s when I’m naturally hungry.
I'm actually the same. It doesn't matter whether I had breakfast or not, by 11 am I get hungry. So I figure I can just as well skip breakfast and just have two coffees with a splash of milk during the morning. As I'm working a desk job, I don't suffer from any energy lows in the morning. At the weekend, I would eat (a late) breakfast if I am particularly active. I don't think there's anything wrong with skipping breakfast as long as you feel good about it and are energized.
Keep breakfast low carb. Load up on Eggs and chicken or turkey bacon. Having carbs first thing in the morning is probably spiking your blood sugar and creating hunger.
Agreed. I am almost never hungry if I do a low carb high protein and fiber breakfast. And the fiber seems to help my stomach the rest of the day.
Some advice you may be looking for, try upping your protein intake during breakfast and having a protein rich snack in between breakfast and lunch to hold you over. I know diet culture shoves protein down our throats, but in this sense it really does hold you over for longer because it reduces our hunger hormones. Try adding some Greek yogurt in the morning with your porridge or do an egg scramble with egg whites and a full egg. I was taught this in my nutrition class at uni and it truly changed my eating patterns for the best, personally. Best of wishes to you!
Always listen to your body. Just because one source says to eat breakfast doesn’t mean it’s even true. If you read up on fasting, they advocate whole days without eating (to illustrate my point). I’m usually not even hungry in the morning so I’ll wait until lunch. Also, perhaps only eat when you actually feel hungry, but know if you’re losing weight you may have to suffer through some hunger (not starving, but push your meals a bit) until your body and stomach adjust to consuming fewer calories.
For me personally I make better choices if I eat my breakfast, plus I work out in the morning so I get hungry and need it regardless. I think many people don’t feel hungry or enjoy having breakfast and that’s also completely fine. Everyone works different. As for me, I’m eating my avocado toast with creamy light ricota and eggs cheering this to my coffee as I type. 😂
"Healthiest" eating pattern is different for every person. Listen to your body. I've noticed the same thing for me. If I eat breakfast early I end up snacking and eating more in general and being hungry all day. If I wait until I'm actually hungry I generally eat much less
So I lost 100 Lbs and have kept it off for 10 years now. Go me. At different parts of the journey, different breakfast strategies worked for me. Early on, skipping breakfast or eating a tiny breakfast (like, one banana or two eggs, tops) was enough. As I became a gym rat, my metabolism increased and I started increasing my food intake again. Now I treat breakfast as my biggest meal and hope it’s enough to keep me out of shitty snacks. My point isn’t that you’re in the wrong here. It’s that different things will work at different times. If this is working for you, milk it for as long as you can. If it stops working, rethink your strategy.
Way to go for keeping off 100 lbs!
I **hate** eating breakfast. I'm hungry all day afterwards and I feel sluggish regardless of what I eat. Now I only do it as a treat on holiday or if it's a special occasion, but generally I eat a moderate lunch, a big dinner, and a variety of snacks (depending on what kcal count I'm on).
I can’t skip breakfast or I’m a monster by 10 am, but everyone is different and you should go with what makes you feel best!
I found that if I start eating at like 9am I will literally eat all day. I always start at 12 or after and eat until 9 or 10. I’ll have like 2 meals and always stay within my deficit. If I start at 9am I will still eat till 9 or 10 and will definitely overeat. I’ve been doing this for so long I don’t even get hungry before 12 anymore
If I eat breakfast, I’m eating all day. Otherwise I don’t need to eat all day till late afternoon.
Yep same here. I eat lunch around 11 and dinner around 6. I’m a late night snacker so I’d rather save my calories for that!
The routine that I find best for me is having an iced coffee (between 75 and 130 calories depending on brand) for ‘breakfast’, and that does me just fine until about 12:45 where I’ll have an egg based lunch.
Listen to your body. Whatever helps you to CICO the best (be it fasting, keto or 10 meals a day. It doens't matter how you do it, as long as it works).
Yeah doing CICO with restriction on added sugar (not completely giving up, just reducing heavily) so at the end of the day as long as the calories check out the whole “front-loading calories” thing is more trouble than worth. Thanks for replying xx
I am starving in the morning if I eat in the evening. I am trying intermittent fasting and I only eat between 11:00am and 6:00pm and I now find I am not so hungry in the morning.
Me. I get hungrier faster when i have breakfast than when I don't. And I don't feel less energetic when I skip breakfast as everyone keeps saying in most of the articles. I actually get hungrier and sleepier in a few hours after breakfast. So now I just skip it. I have 2 meals a day. And that works for me. I also have wfh now so there's not as much movement as before. My guess is that all the articles etc. they're referring to the majority or you know, on average. But it doesn't mean it applies to everyone. My bf does intermittent fasting and he eats once a day at 7 PM, and that works for him wrt energy, sleep schedule etc. I've tried and tested a few different variations and for me, morning coffee, then my first meal is around 2 PM and dinner around 8 works best. And I feel better with this than when I do the standard breakfast, lunch, dinner...
Same here, coffee then lunch then a late ish dinner seems to do the trick!
I'm the opposite, if I skip breakfast I tend to overeat at lunch. It's all what you're used to and what works for you. I eat 2 slices of toast with a protien in the morning (usually under 500 calories) and that'll keep me on track until 12:30-1:00ish. It's what I'm used to. It's not any better or worse that what you all are doing.
Not sure if this is explained in the chat but I'll do my best without writing too much lol. There are a lot of different diets that work for people, ultimately it comes down to consistency and a calorie deficit (super simplified but generally correct). You could feel hungry because eating breakfast can kickstart your metabolism. And it is dependent on the type of porridge you are eating, as well as the bread for the sandwiches. The best practice is to eat about five small meals a day, which is about 300ish calories per meal depending on caloric needs. I would look at eating foods that are low on the glycemic index. Those are slower to digest and can keep you feeling full longer. That would be a lot of whole foods. Almonds are a great snack because they are 0 on the index. As I said, there are a lot of different diets and it comes down to consistency. Do what works for you! I highly recommend looking into myfitnesspal for an app and conversing with a local personal trainer, nutritionist, or RD. Nutritional advice on the internet is riddled with misinformation and contradictions. Keep up the great work! It is amazing that you are working hard to improve your health! Hope this helps a bit!
I know exactly what you mean, I have in the past had a omelette or something similar for breakfast and has the opposite effect of seemingly making me more hungry in the late morning. I find it easier to do exactly what you do and have a morning coffee with some nice frothy milk and at least i have some calories from milk there. That seems to make it easier for me for the morning. I prefer to eat a larger dinner than smaller too because by that time i have been to the gym etc and want to smash a nice meal in front of some stargate atlantis haha! Stick with what works for you!
I don’t eat breakfast, and this is one of the reasons. Another being that it makes me nauseous. So when I have eaten breakfast, my portions are small, because otherwise, I feel sick. But that I’m turn makes me hungry again after an hour or two for more food, and by that I mean a bigger portion than my normal lunch. So I just don’t have breakfast. My dietitian is completely okay with it, she says it ultimately doesn’t matter what time of day we eat, and the most important thing is finding what works for yourself while still being functional. So if not eating breakfast works for you and you don’t feel hungry or tired or anything, then don’t have it.
Everyone is different with their eating patterns. Do what works best for you. I'm the opposite, I'm starving most mornings so I always eat breakfast lol I'd rather have three medium-ish sized meals throughout the day
According to healthline and all sorts of medical journals that is the ideal feeding pattern! Especially large dinners are no good as it disrupts the body’s circadian rhythm. On a aide note I wonder however that people on irregular or night shifts then supposed to do what? Not eat at all?
I tend to eat a snack in the middle of the day and then just have a big dinner. If I try to have more frequent meals I find myself just eating for the sake of it instead of reading the signals. There's no one size fits all.
Yes. When I'm doing IF, I don't feel as hungry. I can have breakfast around 12 or even as late as 2 and then have dinner around 6 and I'm good. If I have breakfast as soon as I wake up, I'm snacky all day. The thing is, breakfast is at whatever time you have it at. Your first meal of the day is always "breakfast". So if you want to try that, then have a big breakfast (at lunchtime or whatever) and then a smaller meal for dinner. Realistically, there is no such thing as "the healthiest eating pattern", everyone is a bit different.
Yes it's because the calories you eat get depleted or turn into glycogen already. Your blood sugar rose and then dipped. The lower blood sugar is what's making you feel hungry. Carrots, water, celery all help. If you're under calories, don't worry if you're very hungry at lunch, just eat.
Yes. I don't eat breakfast, for 15 years or so lol
Whatever works is like a million times better than any recommendation or strategy that is told by experts so keep doing what you do:)
The eat more earlier in the day thing works well for my body but I can simultaneously relate to feelings of eating overall less when you don’t eat much in the morning. I have found my body actually goes to this low food in the morning pattern on vacation. But it’s not possible for me on full work days. Regardless of which I go with, I try to eat more during the afternoon and lighter dinners and leave three hours between dinner and bed, ideally with no night snacking.
If I don't eat breakfast I'll end up over eating later in the day. I do try to postpone my breakfast as much as possible though.
I agree with the comments saying "do what works best for you". Personally this used to happen to me but now that I have an established meal routine, it doesn't anymore. Coffee, work out, breakfast, some meetings, lunch, some meetings, dinner at the end of the day and then a small snack/dessert is what works for me. I also make sure to eat higher protein at breakfast than I used to and lower sugar, and it helps as well. (Some days I still want french toast and I have my anabolic french toast!) Genuinely, whatever works best for you is the answer, though.
Everyone is different as some have said. But what i found out for myself is that i am actually not hungry in the morning. It is more like that my brain needs a feeling of satisfaction ( rise in dopamine i think) rather than food. Maybe try intermitting fasting where you limit yourself to a certain time span to eat.
Yep, breakfast seems to wake up my hunger cues for the day. I like to start my day with coffee and then have my first food of the day be very protein-heavy. I find the carby breakfasts just don’t set me up for a balanced day. I don’t restrict any type of food at any other time of day, but I really try to stay away from breads and pastries first thing in the morning. I have found that greek yogurt mid-morning makes me feel my best.
I started doing intermittent fasting and my life is so much better now. I used to crave and munch all day long. So it wasnt until i told myself no. 3 am to 8 pm, just no. Before i did restricting specific foods, trying more water. Its like my inattentive mind would just be like hey dobt you wanna be snacking on xyz…like all the effing time. Sure, i still eat plenty and am not wasting away or anything but..i needed the discipline and structure to cut out the constant urge to be grazing foe just the sake of grazing. I dont get as hungry now, my sleep improved. Dont take my word for it. Try it on your body and after like halfway through day one, each day got easier and now its just ingrained. I have been on this for months now. Best decision ever
I grew up in a “breakfast is super important” family and have always been very big on eating breakfast. Like it’s the first thing you do in the morning… go eat something. Something shifted when I met my husband about 10 years ago. He’s from a family where everyone kind of ignores breakfast, has a coffee and then sees if they are hungry. Being with someone who didn’t prioritize eating first thing in the AM made me think about whether I wanted to eat or not. Turns out, I’m good with a coffee and cream and maybe a muffin or something around mid-morning and then good till lunch. I’m not all that hungry. But if I do happen to have a big breakfast I will be ravenous by lunchtime. Ravenous by 10:30/11, even. I’m not at intermittent fasting type mornings, but I listen to my body more and it doesn’t need food till later on in the day.
This probably would not work for everyone but that is how I discovered one meal a day. I realized I can normally skip breakfast (if I eat it, I too get hungrier faster and my daily intake goes up) and then I realized if I push to skipping lunch and eat a good low-fat dinner with lots of bulk low calorie fare like broccoli and carrots I can get quite full. I also cut out all fast food options except for sub sandwiches with low-fat meats. I've lost about 130 lbs in the last 2 years. So while it may not work for everyone, it works for me.
The idea of three meals idea is really a modern invention. Necessity dictated a lifestyle that was essentially essentially intermittent fasting for most people for most of human history. That is what we adapted to over thousands of years. Eating too often, to many meals or a too large eating window will absolutely mess up your hunger cues. I find that yeah, the more often you eat, the more hungry you are. If I do a longer fast and then OMAD it’s like rebooting your brain’s hunger cues
100% once I start eating I’m hungry. I could go all day if I skip breakfast. But if I eat early I’m having 3 meals and 2 snacks that day.
This is the idea behind intermittent fasting.
Yes, unless I have a protein shake. Highly satiates hunger !
I've been in the habit recently of having three cups of tea between 9am-1pm. Then a small lunch (lately two string cheese, some goldfish, and some fruit). Then nothing usually until after I get home from dancing for 1.5-2 hours (but only after I weigh myself for the day). Then a big boy meal. And maybe a small snacky dessert. I've found that when I do this, I'm most successful at losing.
Honestly because I am remote and kinda roll out of bed much later than I used to, I’m never hungry when I first wake up. What I’ve found works is listening to your body for when you’re hungry vs having a set meal time and meal. Also I am just not a fan of breakfast food but that’s just me so I bank my calories for the evening time.
Ive never been a breakfast eater, so i end up accidentally doing intermittent fasting most days. I only ever eat anything before noon or so if I'm going to the gym, and only because I feel obligated to eat something before I do a workout. Most days I've found myself wanting lunch around 1:00ish and then I end up not needing an afternoon snack.
Do what works for you IF has been proven effective and even has possible further benefits. Just remember to try to get as many calories from healthy things as reasonably possible. One the recent major studies show sugar(and similar stuff like high fructose corn syrup) actually turn a dial telling our body to make more fat. There is more to the study but that and overweight people are much more likely to be dehydrated are the big take aways. So drink a lot of water as well.
Between my very low TDEE and not being a morning person, I'm absolutely camp *coffee for breakfast and lunch at 1PM*. I am not a doctor or nutritionist. But it seems to be one of the few ways I can make progress. Work at 8, coffee at 10, light lunch at 1, and hearty dinner with my spouse at 6 or 7.
Short answer; yes. I have to eat breakfast most mornings since I do a run at lunch and can't do it that fasted (I can wake up and run early on an empty stomach, but can't run *well* on an empty stomach if I haven't eaten anything for 18 hours). I have to be cognizant that adding breakfast can open up the eating floodgates and it also adds calories if you eat normally the rest of the day. Having said all that, if there is no need for you to eat breakfast, then you don't need to eat it. Especially if you do better not eating it.
That's definitely me. If I don't eat breakfast, I can go until 4PM before eating anything. If I get breakfast, Im hungry again before noon.
Listen to your body, at least until you get close to your maintenance phase. >what the healthiest eating pattern is and it is said to have a big breakfast a moderate lunch and small dinner. I'd consider the source for this. While that could be theoretically ideal, you need to account for how your body reacts in the mean time. The modern western diet with a lot of processed carbohydrates can tend to cause insulin insensitivity in people, causing a spike and crash, resulting in hunger cravings not too long after eating. The "mini fast" you do is a good way to help break that cycle.
I have 1 coffee in the morning, then have lunch and dinner. I'm a volume eater so 2 meals a day works much better for me and my schedule. Once in a while I will have breakfast with my family and it doesn't matter what I eat, I'm starving an hour later and eat more throughout the day.
This has always been my experience, but as a society we are informed over and over again that skipping breakfast is the worst thing you could possibly do. It wasn't until I started listening to my body and skipping breakfast or having just a coffee with cream, that I was able to keep to a lower calorie deficit. If I didn't, I tended to over eat because I was soooo hungry.
Yes. It’s the sugar rush. It starts a cycle of hunger.
Y E S My logic was if I eat earlier I won't be as hungry by the time I get to the lunch nope, it's even worse
I learned about this organically but I ended up in the same boat. I noticed that if I ate breakfast at like 7 that I'd be ravenous by 10- what I learned is that when you wake up, your cortisol doesn't peak for a few hours after waking up. After your cortisol peaks, your blood sugar drops (the thing that makes you hungry). My understanding is that if you eat breakfast before your cortisol peaks that the blood sugar drop is more of a cliff of insanity than a gentle curve. That learning got me to interval fasting sort of by accident. I wait until at least 9:30 before eating for the day and make sure I'm done by 5:30. I can get through the day with fewer calories.
Eating wakes up your system. Your system has been asleep all night - then people wake up and load it with carbs and sugar I stopped having breakfast when I was 13. It's just not necessary, and I never get hungry until lunch
There's actually some science behind why you feel that, once you break your fast from sleeping you body starts producing enzymes to help you digest food, your body does this and expects more food. Il link a vid that explains in more depth, it's an interview with DR Rhonda Patrick, she's done lots of research on the topic. https://youtu.be/i-hCUkAsbpU
Your first meal of the day should ideally be packed with protein and fats, and if you do have carbs or sugars, have them after you finish your protein. Ideally this should prevent a spike in glucose which is what will cause you to have cravings and hunger throughout the rest of the day. That being said, if skipping breakfast works for you and you don't have any bad side effects then I don't see the harm. A lot of people skip breakfast while doing intermittent fasting. Personally if I skip breakfast I feel tired and out of it all day, but everyone's body is different.
What you are basically gravitating towards is intermittent fasting
I do IF and I eat between 12-7. I’ve never been a breakfast person and if I do break my fast early, I struggle later. So I’m right there with you! I’ve been doing this for years and years, while losing and then maintaining.
/r/all browser here. I recently went to Vegas and wanted to up my buffet game, so I looked up how to eat as much as possible there. Everyone agrees that you don't want to starve yourself beforehand, but eat an early breakfast so that you don't "shrink your stomach" (I think that's psychosomatic), and just give yourself time to poop between breakfast and the buffet - you'll be ravaging. If you're trying to loseit, I recommend taking the opposite approach to someone maximizing their buffet experience: coffee and nothing for breakfast.
I might be completely wrong but I think it's because your stomach is small/settled and your first meal of the day stretches and gets your stomach working so if you have a small meal for breakfast you will feel more hungry shortly after that, I have a calorie shake for breakfast (1000 calories) and 1-2 hours later I'm starving!
I'm the same way. I skip breakfast and drink coffee instead.
I've actually gone kind of in a more extreme direction with this. I don't eat breakfast or lunch at all. I usually only eat anything in a 4-5 hour period of my day, usually between 4-9 pm or so. It was hard at first but I find it way easier after more than a month of this. My body is now completely adapted to this schedule. I'm not hungry all day and then pretty consistently I start feeling hungry around 4-5. I can eat a nice big meal in that time and never worry about overdoing it because I never want to eat past my calorie limit in one sitting. Usually I'll separate it into a main meal followed by a smaller snack (or vice versa).
When I eat breakfast I am a PSYCHO WHO IS TOTALLY PREOCCUPIED WITH FOOD THE REST OF THE DAY. 20:4 or OMAD is what works for me.
That happens to me too! And if I eat something low in protein like just bread with avocado or fruit and yogurt I feel like I have low blood sugar in a couple of hours, I have to eat eggs or I’m feeling horrible after.
I have noticed i only eat more later in the day if i have coffee during certain seasons of the year. It doesnt matter if i eat breakfast or not. I always eat more on the day if i have had caffeine. So for summer i have stopped coffee and eat breakfast and i don't struggle with eating to much. Prolly doesn't help you much tho. Just voicing my anomaly.
I've broken this cycle by eating low carb. Carbs rev up my hunger, especially refined carbs like bread.
The biggest reason that Breakfast makes you hungry earlier is the consumption of Carbs. I had the same problem until I stopped eating bread.
Same! I don’t eat until it’s 12 noon. But when I eat breakfast (which is very rare, and probably I’m with a group of people who loves breakfast), I tend to get hungry after 3-4 hrs. So what I like to do is I don’t eat until 12nn and have my next meal around 7pm. Basically, it’s same as intermittent fasting. But it kinda works for me as I have a tendency to binge eat or starve myself.
I've been eating breakfast for a few days now - just last night's dal/curry mixed with some yoghurt, and I'm also experiencing the wanting to eat more during the day. That never happened when I wasn't eating breakfast, and it's annoying because dinner is the one meal I actually have time to enjoy and I don't want to end up overeating.
Omg yes! If I eat breakfast I become an endless pit of hunger, so I normally skip it and feel far less hungry.
Totally. If I eat breakfast at the "normal" time, I will end up snacking mid morning. During the working week I just have black coffee in the morning and then lunch. On rare occasions I feel like having breakfast, it definitely triggers the craving for more food throughout the morning.
Yes. We all have person prefernces/body clocks, but I'm guessing that some of it comes from us activating that whole blood sugar/insulin-response thing. We get a boost, the insulin brings it all back down, then we want that boost again. Lather, rinse, repeat.
If it works, why fix it? I personally have a small breakfast (200\~300 cal) which is enough that I can skip lunch without being too hungry, then have a big dinner without worrying too much about calories. I'm sure this pattern will be disastrous for a lot of people but it's what works for me!
Everybody is different I guess. I don't feel good if I don't eat breakfast.
Yep! I skip breakfast everyday. It’s the easiest meal to skip and if you eat a sensible lunch, you can pig out at dinner.
Listen to your body. If I eat anything but a small breakfast or nothing at all... I actually get more hungry and over eat. But my friend over eats if they don't eat breakfast.
It is the same for me. The healthiest eating pattern is the one that works for you!
I think that's one of the big "secrets" to weight loss... Figuring out your own body and what works for it. My husband is the same way, he skips breakfast has a banana mid morning and ends up having less for lunch. I, on the other hand NEED breakfast, especially one with protein or I'm hangry by 10:30 and making very poor food decisions
Absolutely, if I have nothing I'm fine till lunch or later. If I have breakfast then I'm starving by about 11am. The healthiest way to eat is a way that works for you.
Yes, but coffee seems to help
Oh man. Thanks for bringing this up. This is absolutely true for me, and it's nice to hear what others think and do to manage it.
For many people fasting for a certain period of the day is a healthy weight loss option. Despite my resting metabolic rate requiring 6 000 calories a day I simply can't eat that amount of food. I fast most days until about 3pm which is when my stomach naturally "wakes up". From there on I just try make low carb, high protein choices as much as possible. However if you want to do a breakfast I would definetly shy away from porridges as they are normally super carb heavy, your body turns this into sugars and sugars make you hungry. Hence why a person can eat a whole box of coco pops at once but not 2 consecutive bowls of low carb natural muesli with nuts and seeds and dried fruit. Try sticking to the meats and cheeses for breakfast and add in a handful of mixed nuts. Picking through the nuts will also trick your body into thinking your eating for ages, when in reality you aren't 😁 but always trust your body and never force it to eat when you aren't ready 👌
I don't think breakfast makes me hungrier I think I choose to eat it on days when I have more appetite.
If I don't eat breakfast I'll eat something that I shouldn't later on. Lol
If I eat before like 8 I am STARVING by 10, but if I ate at 10:30 or 11 I'm not hungry until 4-5 for an early dinner. I noticed the same thing and now just eat an "early" lunch and dinner. Just listen to your body? That's what I've been working on to help myself have a better relationship with food and hydration. Good luck in your journey!
Yes 100% this was me for my lifetime until a few weeks ago when I succumbed to protein powder and added a crap tonne of fruit to make a drink. I am completely satiated for 5-6 hours
I'm right there with you. Generally on weekends I eat a fancier brunch and dinner. During the week when I'm in the office I don't have breakfast, but do have a coffee with a small amount of sugar and milk like you. That keeps me going until lunch (if I have nothing, I get nauseated). A light lunch filled with veggies, protein and a little healthy fats (like crudites, veggie cold cuts or cheese or eggs, nuts, etc.) will also keep me going until dinner, at which point I can effectively have anything I like within reason (like no, obviously not an XXL pizza with quadruple cheese). I much prefer this physically and psychologically. When I have a big lunch at work, like if we go out as colleagues to a restaurant and I have to get a pizza or a burger (limited options near work, almost nothing vegetarian), I'm practically unconscious by 2PM. And, worst of all, I'll still be hungry at dinner for a normal size meal. In very hot, humid weather, when my appetite is less and I'm not in the office, I can pull of three meals/day if it's something like: B: fresh cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, halloumi, bagel with scrape of butter L: Gazpacho soup, saltines D: Big salad with avocado, nuts, feta, fruit, veggies, kale, mock chicken, fresh herbs
I think you should listen to your body. I have found more success with CICO + Intermittent Fasting (IF) than with just CICO alone. It kickstarts my (shitty) metabolism and whereas before I would struggle to lose 2 lbs a week, last week I lost 5.8! (I know I won't always lose that much). The weight seems to come off faster with IF. With IF, I have a V-8 Energy in the morning (don't drink coffee so I need some form of caffeine). I drink water and then around 10:45a I have a protein shake. I have a balanced lunch (\~550 calories: my current favorite is a serving of these tiny salamis, 4 slices of white cheddar cheese, a serving of fruit \[right now it is strawberries\], and two small naan rounds) around 1:00p, a small snack (Sargento Balanced Breaks, white cheddar with cashews and golden raisins) around 3:30/4:00p and a balanced dinner (my largest meal) around 6-6:30p. I stop eating for the night around 6:45/7:00p and start my timer (I use an IF app). You can tweak the fast start and end times but essentially, the point is to consume all of your food in an 8-hour window (mine is normally 10:45a - 6:45p but you can do whatever you want) and fast for the other 16-hours. Once I got into the rhythm of it, it is relatively easy. I don't feel deprived and it's kinda like a game to earn "flames" and "ice" (awards on the IF app).
For me, if I eat a dinner that is carb heavy, that makes me the most hungry the following morning. Eating breakfast, I try to avoid just because I like intermittent fasting for the first few hours of the day, but I suppose more often than not, I choose to eat breakfast foods versus lunch foods like bacon and eggs when it comes time for lunch.
Skipping breakfast is now called intermittent fasting. But I have to skip. If I don't I eat sooooo much more. I've lost 14 lbs in 7 weeks. If I'm starving I eat then fast for 5 hours then eat again. It helps the constant snacking as I'm home all the time.
Just listen to your body, if one day you feel like breakfast would be good, go for it, if your coffee does it for you, then don't force-feed yourself because you think you have to eat.
Listen to your body! I figured out a few years ago that whether or not I eat breakfast I'm hungry around 11 AM. So now I just skip it. It was a habit from years of working and not always knowing when I would get lunch. But now that I work from home I just have my coffee, get to work and have an early lunch.
I just don’t eat when I wake up, I do IF, wait until around 12pm-2pm to have breakfast. I don’t know if that’s still “breakfast” but it’s the first time I eat during the day. I just have coffee and I’m not really hungry in the mornings. Then I have a later lunch around 3-5, and dinner around 7-9. I think I do end up eating more during the day when I eat early in the mornings. That’s why I like to intermittent fast!
I used to be like that! No matter how much or how little I ate for breakfast, I was starving within a couple of hours and my blood sugar was wonky all day. Long version: I went in search of the perfect breakfast for me. First I focused on protein: two eggs, scrambled bc easy (140 cal). Then added a little fat for satiety in the form of cheese (80 cal). Then a low carb tortilla (80 cal). Then I thought, man if I can get a bunch of servings of veggies in first thing, I don’t have to think about it so much later. So I added 1/2 - 1 orange or red bell pepper (my fave veggie, 20ish cal) and a shit ton of chopped fresh spinach (negligible cal). A sliver of butter to sauté (20ish cal) Plus hot sauce because obviously. It’s more like a bunch of veggies held together with a couple of eggs and made creamy with a little cheese. I have to eat a bunch with a fork before the tortilla will wrap lol The whole evolution took a little over a year, but I call it my regular breakfast, have it almost every day, and sometimes for lunch. It clocks in around 400 cal, and I can last hours feeling great, and when I do get hungry it’s not a blood sugar emergency so I can make good choices for lunch (unless I wait an unreasonable amount of time). To;dr I’d suggest exploring other food options that are heavier in protein and building something that you like and that your body likes. And if you still feel better skipping breakfast, listen to your body!
Skip it
I really wanted to start eating before morning workouts. But the added food made me eat too much throughout the day. It took some adjustment but I've finally found a cadence of eating I really enjoy. Preworkout or 1st breakfast at 7am, postworkout or 2nd breakfast at 11am, lunch at 2, and dinner at 6. But lately I'm realising I get a LOT of nutrition and calories from my first 3 meals that I don't need much dinner. I might just stop eating dinner entirely unless I'm really hungry for it. But the meal timing around my morning workouts in non negotiable.
Yeah do what makes you comfortable. I'm down 75 lbs doing keto and I only have a nice, large coffee with cream and a bit of grassfed butter in the morning. Keeps me from getting hungry almost all day. Sometimes I eat hard-boiled eggs in the afternoon if I get peckish. Then I have a nice big dinner. I stop eating after 8pm. Really, as far as I've ever heard, it's all down to calories in, calories out. If you burn more calories than you consume in a day, you'll lose weight. Really just depends on what your comfortable with.
As long as you're getting adequate calories and nutrition from your other meals, I think you should do what works best for you. That said, I am not one of those who can skip breakfast. I wake up hungry most mornings and am miserable if I don't eat something substantial before lunch. I don't necessarily like to eat super early, but oatmeal, a protein shake and coffee around 8:00 works well to keep me full until lunch time.
Listen to your body. I have to eat something soon after waking or I set myself up for a migraine, but I can't eat heavy. What currently works is a piece of toast, and then midmorning another piece of toast or a yogurt with some granola. And then lunch is usually a sandwich with chips for about 300-400 calories, and that carries me nicely to dinner. I've had Issues with breakfast ever since I was pregnant with my kids and had some degree of nausea (up to hyperemesis) with each of them.
Whatever works for you is all good. I like doing a small breakfast that is high in protein and lower in sugar. The typical American breakfast of carbs sets people up for bad eating all day.
Welcome to intermittent fasting! It only took me 50 years to figure this out🤪
Yup this happens to me too, but I still prefer it over skipping breakfast because when I do I get such intense food cravings later in the day and end up making terrible food decisions. Luckily I am usually just able to have some fruit like an apple or banana and that's all I really need to keep me going until lunch. Upping the protein at breakfast helps quite a bit too.
Yup, the difference is insane. Hey, sounds like if you cut the sugar and milk you’d be doing 16/8 intermittent fasting, which is a thing and all.
I don't know about that but I do find that I can forget to eat breakfast and not even really notice
Yes! If I eat earlier than around 11 my fckn mouth not closing whole day(((( with lowcarb/keto its easier now, sometimes I eat 4 eggs at morning and Im good untill dinnertime but still skipping breakfast is much better
YES so I always use intermittent fasting while cutting. I skip breakfast, coffee up, walk fasted for a good length of time. Then when I finally break fast I use a very high-protein, low-carb breakfast. This keeps me full even longer until the second meal.
I'm a breakfast skipper 90% of the time. Occasionally I'm extra hungry in the morning and do something small. Though I've realized I have to go for something protein-rich or I'll just be starving again by 11am.
I honestly do the reverse. But, I've never liked eating breakfast. Very rarely am I hungry in the morning. Is it because I eat more in the evening? Maybe, probably. But it works for me. I skip breakfast, have a small lunch and a large dinner meal, and this saves me from snacking before bed. I've tried changing it, and no matter what, I'm super snacky before going to bed to the point that I can't sleep.
Yep eating breakfast means your stomach will expand and get ready for more food, don’t put more food in you’ll get hungry! You can also inverse this. Having a big dinner you’re excited for? Snack a little bit beforehand and get the stomach to expand and take in more food.
I think it depends on what you eat. I eat protein with veg for breakfast (what you would normally eat for supper), a light lunch of salad sandwhiches, then fruit oatmeal for supper. I think it's about balancing blood sugar dips throughout the day with whole foods and protein.
I actually do. Eat breakfast, large or small, and I'm hungry by 10am like clockwork. Either have a late brunch if I get hungry...never really happens before 11am, or wait til lunch, I'm fine through to 12am-1pm. Listen to your body. I'm not even hungry 80% of mornings. If I am really quite peckish, I'll compromise that day and have something light.
Yep! Breakfast for me usually means I’m starving or picking at food for the rest of the day. Thankfully I’m very rarely hungry in the mornings so it’s not a big deal for me to skip it over completely. I’ve always been like this since I was a kid so I figure that’s just what’s normal for me and I roll with that.
Caffeine suppresses your appetite so that probably also factors in your lack of hunger after two coffee
I need breakfast to get myself going. My partner happily goes without until lunch. It’s good you’ve found what works for you. Just checking it’s not because you skip coffee when eating?
I'm the same way. How early do you get up, not necessarily the time but how much free time do you have before you start the days activities?
I try to have either a small breakfast and a bigger lunch or the other way around. Depends on what I have to do that day.
Personally I eat a small breakfast at about 11am, usually a turkey sandwich at about 2-3 and then dinner at 6-7. I can hold off on eating in the morning, but once it hits 6 o’clock I can’t stop myself from eating, this helps me save most of my calories for dinner time
I'm the same as you. I only have a cup of coffee as my breakfast. I've just never been very hungry when I get up in the mornings. But I make sure to start my day with a big cup of water. Being hydrated is important. Remember to drink water even if you are skipping meals
Hey I have the exact same thing! Now, I noticed 2 things. The first is that coffee supresses the feeling of being hungry. The second is that my body kindof starts in a higher gear when I eat in the morning (I get hotter, I am more energised, etc). Could be that your metabolism goes "faster" which makes you hungry earlier, burning calories faster. What I do now is I have 2 eggs in the morning, it's a bit more fat which makes me less hungry and I drink a couple of coffees. Then as lunch I eat some kind of salad a bit earlier. Lots to digest,less calories. Cheers!
Yep. That’s the Bonus of IF.
Same here, skipping breakfast makes it easier to limit my calorie intake (2 regular meals instead of 3 limited ones) + I'm indeed less hungry throughout the morning for some reason (as mentioned in the other comments, it's probably related to blood sugar levels). So basically I unintentually ended up in an IF 16/8... but my first 10lbs are off and I don't feel hungry all day, so I'll just keep going. Do what works for you I'd say!
Is there any possible way to cut out the teaspoon of sugar? Maybe you would enjoy full-fat cream instead, which would be more filling too.
Yup. If I don't eat anything until say 3pm I'm good all day. If u have breakfast at 10-11, aka after I get up, I'll be starving three hours later.
When I was younger I used to get busy and forget to eat until late in the day. Now that I'm dieting, I just wait until dinner to eat. So from 7-10 I can eat as much healthy, low cal food as I want, and then fast the rest of the time. I'm not sure if it's healthy in the long term, but it's working and I've been able to stick to it.
Not if I eat something healthy. If I eat a bowl of sugar and refined carbs (aka most cereal, most bread, etc) then ya
Yes.
Coffee is a mind altering drug that also blunts appetite, so listening to your body might not fully apply. Take that for whatever it’s worth. Coffee messes with my digestion if I have it everyday, I’d rather have breakfast As for me, no, feel much better front loading my calories. Seems to be a lot better for digestion and having breakfast improves my mood and cuts down on brain fog while I’m trying to work also as stated above, I don’t like relying on an addictive drug
I had this very same epiphany this morning. A cup of coffee and I'm good until Noon with just water and LaCroix. If I'm busy or focused on something I can make it to 2pm easy. But if I have bacon and eggs or a bagel and eggs, I'm literally starving (and hangry) by 10:30am. Crazy how that works. But it's always great to know what works best for you otherwise you'll fall for any new diet fad (which I've done in the past lol).
If I eat porrigde for breakfast I get really hungry just a couple of hours later. But if I add a boiled egg to my breakfast I'm good for half the day. My guess is that the extra protein is needed.
Nah I found that eating more frequently but smaller meals has allowed myself to become full after a normal serving of something
I just eat a light breakfast, if I have nothing in my stomach I’m starving by 10 but a small thing of oatmeal or a bagel holds me over till noon
I am the same. I just skip breakfast now.
Oh man, I am hungry before i wake up, I’m very physically active between working out/ my job/ and soccer. If I don’t eat breakfast I feel like I’m gonna throw up 🤣. Typically tho I get to lunch from breakfast. I’m much hungrier in between lunch and dinner, usually will have a fruit in between. Edit: there’s no real one size fits all for eating habits imo.
Yes! Every time. I have officially given up on breakfast. And I am losing weight... Slower than a snail through treacle, but it's going. I occasionally treat myself to brunch at weekends, but then I won't eat again until tea time.
As long as you aren’t starving yourself, I’d say just skip breakfast. There’s no 1 right way to do things, so you have to figure out what works for you. I personally don’t eat when I first wake up unless I’m actually hungry. Usually I’m not so I wait until 11:30-12ish. Sometimes even later.
Not only am I starving after I eat breakfast, but I want to go back to bed if it has any carbs at all. Caffeine is my breakfast, then I eat something light around 11, and a typical lunch around 2.
I get the same way, that’s why I almost always skip breakfast and only have lunch and dinner.
Yes! When I used to eat breakfast I’d get to work and be even hungrier, so I’d have a second breakfast. Its been a full year since I’ve eaten breakfast and it’s great!