Am I eating breakfast too late?

Everyone says you shouldn't skip or over-skimp on breakfast, but how late can you eat and still get the benefits of eating breakfast? I eat breakfast 2 1/2 hours after I get up. I can't look at food first thing so I drink plenty of coffee, have a shower, have a cup of tea, and THEN eat.

I eat something substantial - around 400-500 calories, but am I delaying too long?

I wait about 2 hours or more after i get up to eat breakfast I always wake up have a cup of green tea with no sugar drink a large glass of cold water then I do my aerobics exercise for 1 to 2 hours everymorning then shower then eat I like to do my exercise first and get it out of the way so I know its done.It hasnt affected my weight loss Ive lost 80 pounds so far and still losing so I dont think it matters what time you eat breakfast as long as you eat and get enough calories.

I think it matters more when you get up, when you eat lunch, how late you eat dinner and then go to sleep.  If you get up at 9 then eat a breakfast of 400-500 calories at 11:30, and then an hour or two later eat lunch, maybe you are over stretching your stomach with too many calories in a short period?  If eating breakfast late makes you eat dinner late, and then go to sleep an hour or two after diner, you have little time to digest or 'work off' that diner.

Breakfast is a challenge for me, oddly the only time I eat it is when I'm on a diet.  I have coffee right away, and an hour or so later I force myself to eat something small.  I'm just not hungry in the morning.  But If I dont eat something, then I over eat the rest of the day.

Today, for the first time since I started my diet over three months ago, I actually had breakfast about 8 AM.  I usually don't eat until at least 10 or 10:30, then lunch about 1:30--2:00, a snack about 4:00, then dinner between 6-7 PM.  My calories last me longer that way.  Because I ate so early today, I was hungrier all day for some reason, have already exceeded my calorie allotment, and haven't even had dinner, yet.  Tomorrow, I go back to my old regimen.  What works for one doesn't necessarily work for all. 

When you have your coffee, can you maybe squeeze in a half a piece of fruit or maybe a couple of crackers to give you stomach something to gnaw on while you get hungry for real food?  It's not much and it might help with you getting hungry at little eariler too :)

I have always been on a different schedule than most people. I don't eat "breakfast" at times other people do. I get up at 4:00 in the afternoon and eat dinner at 7. (Actually breakfast)

I have a snack (actually lunch at 9:00 pm)

And for dinner I have something light around midnight. ( Blueberries or a piece of fish left over)

It doesnt matter at all what time you eat breakfast.

Stay away from Crackers or anything else fat or carbs.   If anything, pop some Blueberries with your Coffee.

Or better yet, do what I do and have coffee with the sugar free/fat free French Vanilla creamer.

Don't force yourself to eat anything. Eat when you are hungry.

Actually, I get up around noon. But breakfast, for me, is the first meal of the day, whenever. I like to have breakfasty foods, nearly always starting with oatmeal porridge.

Original Post by littlelovemuffin:

Stay away from Crackers or anything else fat or carbs.  

Why on earth would you say that? You cannot have a balanced diet without fat and carbohydrates. Neither are the devil. Are you supposed to exist on protein alone? You would likely end up with medical problems from even attempting that, not to mention the lack of fiber doing a number on your digestive system.

You need carbohydrates for energy, fiber, and the nutrients that fruit and vegetables (yes, carbs) provide.

Fat is a vital part of a healthy diet. It provides essential fatty acids for growth, healthy hair, skin and nails, vitamin absorption and body regulation. Fat in food gives you satiety so despite its energy concentration, more fat in your diet does not necessarily mean you will eat more overall . Fat gives food flavour and texture, and fat also helps prevent constipation...

In addition, there have been studies which have shown low-fat diets do not help prevent disease. Very low-fat diets can also cause tri-glycerides (fat) to be released into the bloodstream. This causes an increase in bad cholesterol, a decrease in good cholesterol and can contribute to heart disease in already obese individuals... There is little evidence that restricting fats will get you healthy.

I aim for around 20-30% fat, 50% carbohydrates and 20-30% protein in my diet and I lost weight (and am now maintaining) just fine.

To the OP: I think if what you're doing suits you, stick with that. I think the idea is to eat something before lunch time so that you don't overeat later in the day, but so long as you are having breakfast at any time you should reap the benefits.

Original Post by robin9395:

Today, for the first time since I started my diet over three months ago, I actually had breakfast about 8 AM.  I usually don't eat until at least 10 or 10:30, then lunch about 1:30--2:00, a snack about 4:00, then dinner between 6-7 PM.  My calories last me longer that way.  Because I ate so early today, I was hungrier all day for some reason, have already exceeded my calorie allotment, and haven't even had dinner, yet.  Tomorrow, I go back to my old regimen.  What works for one doesn't necessarily work for all. 

 Thats why I don't eat breakfast either...makes me ravenous all day!

The reason you are ravenous all day is because you are firing up your metabolism.   When you eat more,  your body will burn more.   I used to never eat breakfast,   I skipped it completely because I really was never hungry.   When I started seeing a personal trainer,  he gave me some very specific rules to follow.   One of them was to eat breakfast at least 30 minutes after waking up.   Even though I'm still not so hungry in the mornings,  I eat a big balanced breakfast that is usually high in carbs and protein, and this really gets me going in the mornings now.  

As far as eating carbs and fat go,  like Merylwhite1 said,  you need carbs and fat.  They are essential to your diet.   I eat my highest carb load with breakfast and lunch and try to eat very little to no carbs at dinner.  

Original Post by downdeep:

The reason you are ravenous all day is because you are firing up your metabolism.   When you eat more,  your body will burn more.   

 I'm seeing this philosophy popping up all over the place: you eat more, you burn more. On that basis, a person that consumes 500 calories over their maintenance should have a metabolism 500 calories faster than before. Then no one would put on weight: our burn meters would climb with our calorie consumption. But we know this does not happen - why are we fooling ourselves? There is zero, squat, no evidence that eating breakfast speeds up your metabolism. It helps some people moderate their calorie intake through the day, and thats great for them. Unfortunately, I am not one of them, and if I eat 0 calories for breakfast or 400 calories for breakfast I am still going to want my 700 calories at night. Show me the proof that my metabolism is worse off because of the time at which consume my calories and I will eat my hat for breakfast.

Original Post by vejitarian:

Original Post by downdeep:

The reason you are ravenous all day is because you are firing up your metabolism.   When you eat more,  your body will burn more.   

 There is zero, squat, no evidence that eating breakfast speeds up your metabolism.

Not True, see:

1. Wyatt HR, et al. Long-term weight loss and breakfast in subjects in the National Weight Control Registry. Obesity Research. 2002;10:78.

2. Purslow LR, et al. Energy intake at breakfast and weight change: Prospective study of 6,764 middle-aged men and women. American Journal of Epidemiology. 2008;167:188.

3. Greenwood JL, et al. Preventing or improving obesity by addressing specific eating patterns. Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine. 2008;21:135.

4. Kant AK, et al Association of breakfast energy density with diet quality and body mass index in American adults: National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, 1999-2004. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2008;88:1396.

Original Post by vejitarian:

Original Post by downdeep:

The reason you are ravenous all day is because you are firing up your metabolism.   When you eat more,  your body will burn more.   

 I'm seeing this philosophy popping up all over the place: you eat more, you burn more. On that basis, a person that consumes 500 calories over their maintenance should have a metabolism 500 calories faster than before. Then no one would put on weight: our burn meters would climb with our calorie consumption. But we know this does not happen - why are we fooling ourselves? There is zero, squat, no evidence that eating breakfast speeds up your metabolism. It helps some people moderate their calorie intake through the day, and thats great for them. Unfortunately, I am not one of them, and if I eat 0 calories for breakfast or 400 calories for breakfast I am still going to want my 700 calories at night. Show me the proof that my metabolism is worse off because of the time at which consume my calories and I will eat my hat for breakfast.

Speeding up your metabolism has nothing to do with overeating.   If you overeat your maintenance level of calories, your body will store  those calories as fat.  Plain and simple.  This has nothing to do with metabolism.

Your metabolism has everything to do with how you burn those calories.  If you are skipping meals, your metabolism will slow down and not process those calories as quickly.   Eat often, to keep your metabolism fired up.  Think of it as a fire, keep the fire fueled and it will burn.   Starve the fire,  and it won't burn as brightly.   A lot of overweight people tend to skip meals, and then eat a much much larger meal when they do eat.  In doing this,  they're metabolism slows down.

sixb, do you have links to those articles? I googled the first paper quoted and got a link to the Mayo Clinic :S

But to save me time, do any of those articles demonstrate that eating breakfast is the cause of an elevated rmr/bmr in people who ate breakfast as opposed to those who don't? Thats really what I'm looking for: the proof that eating within half an hour of waking up magically increases the rate at which your body metabolises energy. I'm not interested in any research that concludes that people who ate breakfast ate less throughout the day, or have more energy by midmorning. I want hard statistical evidence that subjects in group A who ate, for example, 1200 calories as follows: 400 within half an hour of waking up, 400 at lunch and 400 at dinner had a higher metabolic rate than identical subjects in group B who consumed 1200 calories by having 0 calories at breakfast, 600 at lunch and 600 at dinner. If there is a significant difference in burn rates than surely all bmr/rmr calculators should take eating breakfast into account when calculating these rates?

Do any of the studies cited demostrate this, and if so I would appreciate a link to the article.

Thanks.

I drive a school bus and can't eat breakfast until after 9am.  Since I get up around 3:45am, that seems like along time to wait, but I'm healthy so I guess it's OK.  I have always been a breakfast eater and wish my schedule allowed me to eat in about 2 hours after awaking, but it just doesn't.  I go back to a 2 hour schedule on weekends, holidays, etc. 

Original Post by vejitarian:

sixb, do you have links to those articles? I googled the first paper quoted and got a link to the Mayo Clinic :S

But to save me time, do any of those articles demonstrate that eating breakfast is the cause of an elevated rmr/bmr in people who ate breakfast as opposed to those who don't? Thats really what I'm looking for: the proof that eating within half an hour of waking up magically increases the rate at which your body metabolises energy. I'm not interested in any research that concludes that people who ate breakfast ate less throughout the day, or have more energy by midmorning. I want hard statistical evidence that subjects in group A who ate, for example, 1200 calories as follows: 400 within half an hour of waking up, 400 at lunch and 400 at dinner had a higher metabolic rate than identical subjects in group B who consumed 1200 calories by having 0 calories at breakfast, 600 at lunch and 600 at dinner. If there is a significant difference in burn rates than surely all bmr/rmr calculators should take eating breakfast into account when calculating these rates?

Do any of the studies cited demostrate this, and if so I would appreciate a link to the article.

Thanks.

You originally stated "There is zero, squat, no evidence that eating breakfast speeds up your metabolism". Perhaps its just a case of regulating your metabolism, or not about metabolism at all, regardless the Mayo clinic is one respected source, http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/food-and-nut rition/AN01119, edited by professionals, that reports the importance of eating breakfast and weight loss, there is indeed evidence, and those are the four sources they listed. Of course I have no idea what your credentials are, and you're not providing any research to back up a zero evidence theory, so I must assume the Mayo Clinic has interpreted the studies correctly, and that neither you nor I have the credentials to interpret it to the contrary, even if one of us felt like looking for the data. I can say though, from my experience, eating breakfast helps me loose weight, and that the later I eat breakfast, the less likely I am to fit in three proper meals.

Original Post by sixb:

You originally stated "There is zero, squat, no evidence that eating breakfast speeds up your metabolism". Perhaps its just a case of regulating your metabolism, or not about metabolism at all, regardless the Mayo clinic is one respected source, http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/food-and-nut rition/AN01119, edited by professionals, that reports the importance of eating breakfast and weight loss, there is indeed evidence, and those are the four sources they listed. Of course I have no idea what your credentials are, and you're not providing any research to back up a zero evidence theory, so I must assume the Mayo Clinic has interpreted the studies correctly, and that neither you nor I have the credentials to interpret it to the contrary, even if one of us felt like looking for the data. I can say though, from my experience, eating breakfast helps me loose weight, and that the later I eat breakfast, the less likely I am to fit in three proper meals.

Nowhere in that link is it said breakfast speeds up your metabolism. I never denied that it can help weightloss for the reasons cited, being:

1.Eating breakfast reduces your hunger later in the day, making it easier to avoid overeating.

2. Eating breakfast gets you on track to make healthy choices all day. (An adjunct to point one)

3. Eating breakfast gives you energy, increasing your physical activity during the day.

But where eating breakfast does not have the aforesaid effect, or has the opposit effect, it is not going to assist in weight loss. Eating breakfast increases my hunger throughout the day, and I don't need the energy from breakfast at mid-morning because I am office bound and not physically active at this time. My energy for my evening workout is supplied by lunch.

But anyway, thank you for conceding there is no evidence that breakfast 'speeds up your metabolism'. I don't need to prove that it doesn't because you cannot prove a negative.

Just a few links for you to read. 

http://healthmad.com/weight-loss/five-ways-to -speed-up-your-metabolism-and-lose-weight/

http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition _articles.asp?id=273

http://exercise.about.com/cs/weightloss/a/met abolism.htm

http://consumeraffairs.com/nutrition/metab_sp eed.html

http://www.myhomepersonaltrainer.com/articles /Speed-up-your-metabolism.html

http://www.caloriesperhour.com/tutorial_metab olism.php

http://balancing-meals.suite101.com/article.c fm/benefits_of_eating_a_healthy_breakfast

http://www.providence.org/oregon/health_resou rce_centers/weight_management/aae-metabolism- and-weight-loss-0709.htm

I could literally go on and on and paste nearly every link to every article written on the subject, but that is pointless.   There is plenty of evidence out there that explains the reasons why eating breakfast speeds up your metabolism.  Whether you choose to agree with it or not is entirely up to you.  There is far more evidence to suggest that it does, you just choose not to agree with it because it doesn't fit into your lifestyle. 

I asked for scientific studies backing up the claim, you gave me....well

The first link was written by Tommy Fassbender. His qualifications are "I was born in Kingston, Jamaica in the year 1985 and from long as I can remember I have always enjoyed writing. I enjoy writing so much because it allows me to express myself as well as to share my knowledge with others."

The next one is by Elizabeth Evans Fryer
"Elizabeth is a freelance writer specializing in fitness topics. Through her writing, she hopes to move others to be as excited as she is about staying healthy."

Then: Paige Waehner is a certified personal trainer through the American Council on Exercise and a freelance writer with more than 13 years of exercise experience. She trains clients in-home in the Chicago suburbs. She is originally from Nashville, TN and misses the nice, warm weather there.

Next: Laurie Hedlund, L.P.N. I thought we were getting there with the letters after the name, but alas, a licensed practical nurse is not exactly at the forefront of scientific research are they?

Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss," "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!" and "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of" all available at (Fitness-ebooks.com).

Peter Christensen, founder of Calories per hour"My career experience has been as a technical writer and my goal has been to gather good information and present it in a format that is easily understood and of practical value. I hope you enjoy my website and find it helpful in reaching your goals. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome."

The next link was written by Jennifer Murray whose passion for fitness and nutrition began when she started weight training in 1998. She is a Certified Lifestyle and Weight Management Specialist. She writes recipes and she has a home-based transcription business. But at least her article had a link to a hopefully more credible resorce, being the American Dietetic Association, who has the following to say on the importance of eating breakfast: ttp://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada/hs.xsl/home _12754_ENU_HTML.htm

You will note that nowhere do they claim that eating breakfast 'speeds up your metabolism" as parroted by legions of free-lance writers, personal trainers and practical nurses.

The final link states "There has long been speculation that eating breakfast increases metabolism, but studies to date have given inconsistent results."

I'm not trying to trick anyone, or convince anyone not to eat breakfast if that is working for them. If eating breakfast helps you lose weight because of what seem to be sensible consequences for the vast majority of the population (ie decreased as opposed to increased hunger), thats GREAT, HAPPY FOR YOU! But there are some of us for whom eating breakfast increases calorie intake throughout the day and promotes weight gain. I don't want to jeapourdise my metabolism, if I have to eat breakfast to avoid this, I will. But if I am being lied to and everyone is just parroting a fallacy passed down to through the generations, I think us non-breakfast eaters should be allowed to know the truth. No one has been able to adduce any scientific evidence that metabolism speeds up through eating breakfast (or conversely slows down if you don't).  I am tired of being chastised like rebellious child simply because I want to ascertain wether there is scientific fact behind the cliche.

In conclusion: Everyone should try eating breakfast as part of a weightloss strategy. Eating breakfast has many health benefits, but increasing your metabolic rate (the rate at which your body burns calories to stay alive) is not one of them. If you are one of the rare people who find eating breakfast leads you to consume more calories throughout the day than you usually would, you can stop eating breakfast without fear that you will 'break' your metabolism.

Agreed?

Original Post by vejitarian:

But anyway, thank you for conceding there is no evidence that breakfast 'speeds up your metabolism'. I don't need to prove that it doesn't because you cannot prove a negative.

That's actually not true, the moon is NOT made of cheese (a negative) and you can proove that easily these days by prooving it is made of something else (rock). No one is ready to do that with breakfast and metabolism yet. All of which is beside the point that this thread, and the question asked, is not about how breakfast effects metabolism, but about the importance of breakfast, when to eat it and why.

On the other hand there is proof that things like green tea do speed up your metabolism, and if you drink green tea with breakfast, then your breakfast is certainly going to help pick up your metabolism.

There is also proof that not eating slows down your metabolism.  Is it hard to conceed that not eating breakfast is not helping your metabolism?

Original Post by vejitarian:

I asked for scientific studies backing up the claim, you gave me....well

The first link was written by Tommy Fassbender. His qualifications are "I was born in Kingston, Jamaica in the year 1985 and from long as I can remember I have always enjoyed writing. I enjoy writing so much because it allows me to express myself as well as to share my knowledge with others."

The next one is by Elizabeth Evans Fryer
"Elizabeth is a freelance writer specializing in fitness topics. Through her writing, she hopes to move others to be as excited as she is about staying healthy."

Then: Paige Waehner is a certified personal trainer through the American Council on Exercise and a freelance writer with more than 13 years of exercise experience. She trains clients in-home in the Chicago suburbs. She is originally from Nashville, TN and misses the nice, warm weather there.

Next: Laurie Hedlund, L.P.N. I thought we were getting there with the letters after the name, but alas, a licensed practical nurse is not exactly at the forefront of scientific research are they?

Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss," "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!" and "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of" all available at (Fitness-ebooks.com).

Peter Christensen, founder of Calories per hour"My career experience has been as a technical writer and my goal has been to gather good information and present it in a format that is easily understood and of practical value. I hope you enjoy my website and find it helpful in reaching your goals. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome."

The next link was written by Jennifer Murray whose passion for fitness and nutrition began when she started weight training in 1998. She is a Certified Lifestyle and Weight Management Specialist. She writes recipes and she has a home-based transcription business. But at least her article had a link to a hopefully more credible resorce, being the American Dietetic Association, who has the following to say on the importance of eating breakfast: ttp://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada/hs.xsl/home _12754_ENU_HTML.htm

You will note that nowhere do they claim that eating breakfast 'speeds up your metabolism" as parroted by legions of free-lance writers, personal trainers and practical nurses.

The final link states "There has long been speculation that eating breakfast increases metabolism, but studies to date have given inconsistent results."

I'm not trying to trick anyone, or convince anyone not to eat breakfast if that is working for them. If eating breakfast helps you lose weight because of what seem to be sensible consequences for the vast majority of the population (ie decreased as opposed to increased hunger), thats GREAT, HAPPY FOR YOU! But there are some of us for whom eating breakfast increases calorie intake throughout the day and promotes weight gain. I don't want to jeapourdise my metabolism, if I have to eat breakfast to avoid this, I will. But if I am being lied to and everyone is just parroting a fallacy passed down to through the generations, I think us non-breakfast eaters should be allowed to know the truth. No one has been able to adduce any scientific evidence that metabolism speeds up through eating breakfast (or conversely slows down if you don't).  I am tired of being chastised like rebellious child simply because I want to ascertain wether there is scientific fact behind the cliche.

In conclusion: Everyone should try eating breakfast as part of a weightloss strategy. Eating breakfast has many health benefits, but increasing your metabolic rate (the rate at which your body burns calories to stay alive) is not one of them. If you are one of the rare people who find eating breakfast leads you to consume more calories throughout the day than you usually would, you can stop eating breakfast without fear that you will 'break' your metabolism.

Agreed?

 You are actually correct. There is a difference between "correlation" and "causality"... There is a strong "correlation" between people who maintain a healthy weight and people who consistently eat breakfast. That DOES NOT, however, mean that eating breakfast "causes" you to lose weight faster and/or "causes" your body to actually burn more energy at rest.  All of the many papers and/or articles (mostly opinion peices and not actual research) that others have sighted are just more examples of how eating breakfast is "correlated" to healthy weight people.