Skipping Breakfast

I know that it's a bad idea to skip breakfast, but I have found that it actually reduces my hunger throughout the day.

I think that when I eat breakfast, my stomach grumbles before lunch time because it is digesting what I ate for breakfast.  When there's nothing in there, there's no rumbling or intense hunger. 

Has anyone else experienced this?

And, I do add some of the missing breakfast calories back into my day when I skip breakfast, but I find that I can save close to 100/day by doing this. 

Cass,

I get that way too, but the bad thing is I get more hungry at night when I haven't eaten much in the beginning of the day. I also do not have the energy to sustain all the physical exercise I do... so maybe that's why I really need breakfast. Try eating smaller meals throughout the day. I like to eat 200-250 cals every 2 hours starting at 6:45am w/ breakfast and all the way up to dinner at 8:45pm.

Hope that helps.

-Mel

If I did not get enough sleep the previous night (less than seven and a half hours), I will skip breakfast due to the lack of appetite. I only start eating if I feel hungry.

However, you can start your day with something light to kickstart your metabolism. :D

Ditto. I can go longer without eating breakfast.

However, it depends on what I'm doing. I'd better eat something if I'm going to a desk job or sitting through classes. But if I wake up a little late and just clean or go shopping, I don't feel hungry at all.

And I rarely have the desire to "binge" on days when I haven't eaten a meal, as some people do.

However, I typically make up my calories in lunch and dinner when I do this. Especially lunch. I'll typically have a larger meal then I would if I had breakfast.

During first 2 years of high school I had PE first thing in the morning, so I couldn't really eat breakfast since we do a bit of vigorous running etc. Sure, I didn't get very hungry even till 1pm ish. But now I realize that eating breakfast is just important in so many ways. I eat breakfast every morning now.

But keep in mind breakfast help jump start your metabolism in the morning. If you don't eat breakfast, your body is still in somewhat of a rest mode(like when you are asleep, you don't really go hungry) which doesn't burn as much calories as if you did eat breakfast.  Even if you make up the calories later on , you still lost the time in the morning that your body COULD have been burning more calories.

personally, I rather eat breakfast, and have to suffer a little bit before lunch time, than making up calories later.

You're probably right robokitty.  I just found it really strange that I was less hungry when I skipped a meal.  It sounds like it's pretty normal though, thanks for the responses guys!

Eat breakfast!

I expieranced the same thing most of the time when I was in college, a time when I added about 80 lbs to my body. I'm no doctor, but I feel that most of this weight gain was caused by skipping out on breakfast pretty much everyday for 5 years.

The reason not to skip out on breakfast is because your body goes into starvation mode from which it skews your metabolism to preserve calories. Thus you think you are saving 100 calories, but you end up changing your daily burnrate from 2000 to 1700.

I've started to get the weight off of me now, but I make it a point to eat breakfast everyday. And eating breakfast has helped in my weight loss.

So even if you feel hungry at 10:30 because you ate breakfast, just eat an apple or something to feed the hunger untill lunch. No shame in eating 120 calorie snack at 10:30.

Thanks danomation, I know you're right.  It's just crazy how much hungrier I get!  I ate breakfast today and was about to eat my own arm by 11:00...can't go to lunch until 12:00.

When I don't eat breakfast, I'm barely even hungry by lunch time.  I'll take your advice though and eat my breakfast, but I refuse to add a snack to my intake :).  I guess I'll just drink more water. 

Like Mel, I found that, if I don't eat a little something in the morning, I actually end up hungrier in the *evening*.

I was one of those kids who never ate breakfast.  Last year, at the ripe old age of 30, I had to teach my self to eat in the morning. <roll eyes> I managed it by buying frozen Eggo waffles and toasting 1 or 2 of them when I got to work.  Lame...but a waffle and coffee is better than no breakfast at all.  Sometimes I grab a handful of wheat thins and a stick of string cheese....or a slice of toast and an apple.  I also tend to oversleep and there's no way that I've got time to cook up a big ham and eggs with oatmeal and a glass of orange juice or something. 

Find a way to get something in for breakfast....a lot of this being hungry at certain times is just a matter of conditioning.  I used to eat at the lunch hour; but, now I eat lunch at 11am because that was when I had to take my lunch when I starting working at this office.  Now, I'm chewing the side of my desk by 12pm if I haven't eaten yet.  It's all a matter of conditioning your body to eat at the times you want it to be fed. :)

.....Kelly :)

Can you have a small midmorning snack?  That would help get you from breakfast to lunch.  Or maybe incorporate more fat/protein into breakfast as that takes longer to digest than a meal that's mostly carbs.  If I have absolutely no time for breakfast, I'll drink a glass of milk and grab a piece of fruit and either a protein bar or granola bar to eat once I get to work.  I find that milk does a remarkably good job of filling you up - considering that most drinks just don't.

I find that if I eat a decent breakfast, small midmorning snack, decent lunch and small midafternoon snack, I eat fewer total calories in the day than if I "save" calories before dinner because I'll eat more at/after dinner.  Plus, it keeps my metabolism burning steadily.

You NEED to eat breakfast.

Eating that meal first thing gives your body the "ooomph" it needs to get going... to get your metabolism going! The reason you're not very hungry when you don't eat breakfast is becuase your body is actually storing the fats to run off of. So... when your body keeps the fat and then you eay more later, guess what... your body is still storing the fat.

It's pretty simple. Eat breakfast, preferrably with protien (2 egg whites??). Don't worry if your breakfast hits 400-500 calories - you're body needs them to burn off throughout the day. then when you're snacking on fruits and vegetables and eat a sensible lunch and dinner, smaller in caloric intake than your breakfast, your body is getting a healthy balance of "energy boosting" when it needs it most and you'll be less likely to overeat in the evening and go over your caloric limit.

Original Post by cassrd05:

Thanks danomation, I know you're right.  It's just crazy how much hungrier I get!  I ate breakfast today and was about to eat my own arm by 11:00...can't go to lunch until 12:00.

When I don't eat breakfast, I'm barely even hungry by lunch time.  I'll take your advice though and eat my breakfast, but I refuse to add a snack to my intake :).  I guess I'll just drink more water. 

 Have a snack! It can be an apple with som peanut butter, a string cheese, a yogurt... snacks don't have to be unhealthy or calorie-laden. They are good for you - really! The more (healthy things) you eat, the more your body will burn.

Like everyone else has said, the reason you don't feel as hungry when you skip breakfast is that your metabolism is slower. I'd actually rather eat a bigger breakfast and feel my stomach growl because I know my body is burning off more of what I eat. When you think about it, even if you added a 100-200 cal snack, your body would still be burning more of that off than if you just skipped eating breakfast at all.

Breakfast is "breaking the fast"...your body has not had anything all night long, and it is in conservation mode. It tends to stay that way if you don't feed it soon after you wake up.

I very rarely eat breakfast, never really have.  Not sure if that's bad or not lol, but when I do, I normally have Bacon, or Pancakes, or Cinnamon Rolls.

because I need sleep more than anything else I literally only give myself 1/2 an hour to wake up before a quick 10 min shower and off to work I go; that being said I don't have time to cook a big ole' bfast either. Therefore I eat the same thing every day. I actually am still kinda asleep as I eat & drink and cruise online for 30 mins.

• Put 4 egg whites in a bowl & syran wrap em the night before ('nuke em for 5 mins the next AM stirring every 2 mins)
• Measure out 1/2c fiber one & put it in mini tupperware bowls
• Measure out 1/4c unsweetened silk soy milk & 1/4 tejava tea (don't ask... I like the bitterness) lol; makes for easy pouring in the am.
• Have a hot cup of tea
• 167 cals, and mega protein; low in carbs/high in fiber

No prep work needed, I don't have the chance to get hungry. 2 hours later I have really just settled into my office at 8:30 am and I have an espresso & small protein bar; and I just keep going (even have reminders in my outlook to eat every 2 hours). And yeah I pretty much eat perfectly. ;)

I skip breakfast! I love it, I don't over eat in the day, I don't get hungry the way I do when I do eat breakfast! I have a forum post about not eating breakfast as well

I used to skip breakfast in the AM from when I was in elementary school through college and then some.  I've always been active and healthy but wanted to push it back to closer when I was in sports in Highschool. 

I actually started to drop weight without increasing exercise (generally workout a couple days a week).  I'm not the type to make/cook/prepare a breakfast so I found a super easy alternatives that leave no excuses for skipping.   I've been mix'n up Carnation Instant breakfast's and gnc lean shakes.  The lean shakes keep me fuller longer since they have a higher protien content I noticed.

Definately eat breakfast, it gets your body's metabolism rolling.