Is it really a problem to skip/wait on breakfast?

I am trying to cut back on the physical amount I eat every day because I overate so much over the summer that my appetite became enormous. I am doing well on this-- I guess my stomach has shrank already in the 4 days I've been doing this because now I can't finish the big portions I am used to piling on my plate. When I'm at work I don't get hungry until 10 or 11 (I start at 7:30) and so all I have before that is some juice or tea. Is it really a problem to wait this long to have breakfast? Is 100 calories worth of juice at the beginning of my day enough to get my metabolism going? I don't want to eat when I'm not hungry since my main problem is being hungry a lot of the time.

I'm thinkin no but I'm not a nutritionist and it would be better to say eat and orange vs oj, orange has fiber and probably less sugar, but either way a piece of actual fruit would be better.  Its good to start the day with fiber and or protein.

I know I'm not hungry at all in the morning, just thirsty. I would just dirnk water and tea but I am trying to get a little bit of calories to rev up my metabolism for the day.

here read through this...I work out in the morning and drink a protein shake right after.  but after just glancing through this thread it seems some think its exercises and some say it food in that gets ur metabolism goin....it looks like you aren't doing either.  but read through this it will probably answer your question better then I am.

http://caloriecount.about.com/metabolism-morn ing-ft94787

There are a lot of varying opinions on that thread but it was somewhat helpful in stimulating new ideas for me.

As far as working out in the morning, there is no way with my schedule that I could do that. However, my work is excercise. I am a teacher's assistant and I stand up a lot helping kinds and run all over the school all day running errands and making copies. I guess I will try to have a little something when I first get up. Maybe eventually I will get used to it if I have to.

Do you eat a lot at night? If I go to bed a little hungry (not full) by the time I wake up I am very hungry for breakfast!

Yes I eat about 70% of my calories for dinner, about an hour after my workout. I guess that could be it.

if you shift around your calories a little you'll probably find yourself hungrier in the morning but it's up to you - if you're losing weight as is then there's probably not much of a problem

Works for me. I've lost 40 pounds in just over 14 months by skipping breakfast 5 out of 7 days a week (I have to eat breakfast when at work 2 days). I sometimes eat lunch a bit earlier (11ish) and have dinner around 5.30 with a small snack inbetween. Dinner is usually around 800-900 cals ~ 60% of my daily allowance.

I don't exercise. Exercise (cardio) makes me hungrier (understandably) and eat more (often negating the hard work), so if I was exercising (I know, I should be!) I wouldn't recommend skipping meals as you are burning more energy up and will need those extra cals. Just opt for the high protein over the high carbs - i.e. an egg or shake is good! A boiled egg is only 60-70 cals and it's something light. If I wake up hungry that is what I go for!

I think most of the talk about slow vs fast metabolisms and that you have to eat regularly to speed it up is nonsense. Obviously it hasn't effected my weight loss! Most of the research out there on this is just not convincing enough IMO. I think you just need to eat full stop, when you eat is irrelevant unless you starve yourself and ignore hunger signals. This is when the metabolism really will slow down and use your fuel more efficiently and effectively for self preservation/survival reasons.

All I know is that if I eat more often, especially breakfast, I get hungrier and end up overeating. Know your body, and do what works for you I say.

I also used to not eat breakfast because I wake up not feeling hungry.  But, if I don't eat something in the morning, I find that I tend to make bad (i.e. high-calorie) choices at lunch, the net result is that I eat more calories if I don't eat breakfast.  Also, I sometimes crash late morning, or get a headache, or, if lunch is delayed for some reason, it is catastrophic for me.

The way I trained myself to eat a good breakfast is to get up, weigh, drink a big glass of water, do 15 minutes of calisthenics, shower, get dressed, get my crew started, and have breakfast aboutone and a half hours after I get up.  I am now hungry at that point, and I find I really enjoy my breakfast.  Smaller dinners and no evening snacking also made a difference in my morning appetite.

But, if you aren't having the problems I was, you may be fine to keep going with your current strategy.

If it ain't broke - don't fix it

Eating when you're not hungry is a great way to sabotage a diet. If your body wanted food earlier, it would let you know. A few hours isn't going to have a major impact on your metabolism anyway.

Thank you, I think you're probably right guys. I have been doing pretty well with not eating breakfast-- it hasn't made me hungrier during the day at all.

But just to see what would happen, I tried exercising first thing this morning by biking to work, and it was pretty much super hard and made me want to barf. But maybe it will boost my metabolism more, if that really works, and maybe it will make me hungry sooner. We'll see.

And anyway, I feel fine now and I just finished my bike ride 20 minutes ago, so I might start doing it from time to time. It's good for today especially because it's my no-gym day. It's like a sneaky extra workout.