Skipping Breakfast & Lunch
I am aware that conventional wisdom has it that eating a balanced breakfast is the holy grail of healthy living. However, it has been my experience that eating breakfast tends to interfere with the rest of my day. I realize that this may sound a little ridiculous, but once I have had breakfast, I tend to fixate on food for the rest of the day, thereby hampering my attempts to do other activities. So, my question is, so long as I compensate for my calories later in the day, is it fine if I do without breakfast? The same goes for lunch. I mean, if I know that I am going somewhere early in the afternoon, then I usually have fruit or yogurt beforehand. Nevertheless, if I simply intend to stay at the house, then I find that my day goes much more smoothly if I have a yogurt around 3, dinner, and so on and so fourth. Not consuming enough calories is definitely not a problem of mine, as not only do I love eating, but moreover, it seems as though I never experience fullness anyway. (I can easily take in 1000 calories in a single sitting...and still have room for more.)
Every single thing I have read and been told by every health professional and nutritionist I know is that if a person only ate one meal a day, it should be breakfast. But none of them recommend only eating one meal a day--but they do all recommend eating a really good breakfast. But since you already have been told or read this, I doubt that it is anything new. In any case, I don't think it is fine to do without a good breakfast; but, having stated that, I will confess that generally for most of my 37 full-time working years, I DID NOT eat breakfast or would just eat pastries and drink coffee.
Original Post by pilgrimdude:
Every single thing I have read and been told by every health professional and nutritionist I know is that if a person only ate one meal a day, it should be breakfast. But none of them recommend only eating one meal a day--but they do all recommend eating a really good breakfast. But since you already have been told or read this, I doubt that it is anything new. In any case, I don't think it is fine to do without a good breakfast; but, having stated that, I will confess that generally for most of my 37 full-time working years, I DID NOT eat breakfast or would just eat pastries and drink coffee.
While I do enjoy a few cups of coffee every morning, pastries are not on my menu. I might drink some liquids prior to the afternoon, but consuming any solid food before then inevitably leads to obsessive thinking, and in turn, unnecessary eating.
Well, I only was making a confession...certainly I don't think what I did was healthy. I now eat a very complete, high protein breakfast most mornings, and a good breakfast all mornings. Maybe you have a unique situation that may work for you. I hope some other members weigh-in with some thoughts about your situation.
Original Post by pilgrimdude:
Well, I only was making a confession...certainly I don't think what I did was healthy. I now eat a very complete, high protein breakfast most mornings, and a good breakfast all mornings. Maybe you have a unique situation that may work for you. I hope some other members weigh-in with some thoughts about your situation.
I hope so too. I mean, I don't want to be unhealthy, but at the same time, I cannot afford to go through life unable to accomplish things as a consequence of some frustrating food obsession.
If you have a food obsession, you need to work on that. Focus on eating at normal times and distracting yourself from food. Changing your life to fit around your abnormal thought processes is not a wise idea.
I would recommend you see a counselor.
Original Post by vincent_louis:
While I do enjoy a few cups of coffee every morning, pastries are not on my menu. I might drink some liquids prior to the afternoon, but consuming any solid food before then inevitably leads to obsessive thinking, and in turn, unnecessary eating.
What actually happens is this...... If you avoid food first thing in the morning your body stays in its fasting state from having been asleep. Your metabolism runs more slowly because there's no energy to burn. Skip lunch and the metabolism slows even further. A slow metabolism results in suppressed hunger signals.... no point telling the body to eat if there's no food, is there? This pattern of eating is very unhealthy and often (ironically) leads to excessive weight-gains because people who routinely skip meals often 'never experience fullness' and find they will gorge themselves all night long in an attempt to catch up
Most activity is done during daylight hours so it makes a lot more sense to fill the fuel tank at the start of the day. When you eat breakfast your body 'wakes up' and starts burning energy... this is normal. Burning energy then means you have an appetite.... this is normal.... and that you'll be looking forward to the next snack or meal. If this natural anticipation makes you fearful and obsessive, that's the problem to address - not starve yourself.
I think you simply don't eat enough. All the time you're suppressing your appetite by not eating you feel in control. When you eat regularly (more normally) you interpret the natural hunger pangs as something abnormal and undesirable. 'Unnecessary eating' in your case is probably very necessary eating.... to make up the shortfall of the deprivation you're creating
Do get some help because you seem to find 'normality' a major struggle.
Original Post by gi-jane:
Original Post by vincent_louis:
While I do enjoy a few cups of coffee every morning, pastries are not on my menu. I might drink some liquids prior to the afternoon, but consuming any solid food before then inevitably leads to obsessive thinking, and in turn, unnecessary eating.What actually happens is this...... If you avoid food first thing in the morning your body stays in its fasting state from having been asleep. Your metabolism runs more slowly because there's no energy to burn. Skip lunch and the metabolism slows even further. A slow metabolism results in suppressed hunger signals.... no point telling the body to eat if there's no food, is there? This pattern of eating is very unhealthy and often (ironically) leads to excessive weight-gains because people who routinely skip meals often 'never experience fullness' and find they will gorge themselves all night long in an attempt to catch up
Most activity is done during daylight hours so it makes a lot more sense to fill the fuel tank at the start of the day. When you eat breakfast your body 'wakes up' and starts burning energy... this is normal. Burning energy then means you have an appetite.... this is normal.... and that you'll be looking forward to the next snack or meal. If this natural anticipation makes you fearful and obsessive, that's the problem to address - not starve yourself.
I think you simply don't eat enough. All the time you're suppressing your appetite by not eating you feel in control. When you eat regularly (more normally) you interpret the natural hunger pangs as something abnormal and undesirable. 'Unnecessary eating' in your case is probably very necessary eating.... to make up the shortfall of the deprivation you're creating
Do get some help because you seem to find 'normality' a major struggle.
Regardless of whether I skip meals, I rarely feel full. I can eat all day and all night, if I so choose. As for not eating enough, that is really not a problem. I keep very close tabs on the numbers of calories I eat, which typically either meet or even slightly exceed my needs. I have always been able to eat a lot, even before having an eating disorder. My ability to eat too much on a regular basis actually stands out in my memory because my family and friends used to make fun of me for it. Hence, the eating disorder, of which I eventually managed to do away with the physical symptoms.
I don't really know what normal is. Everyone in my family runs on a different schedule. I try to do what I perceive as being normal, however, it is usually to no avail. If I create a schedule, I am never able to follow it because I feel as though I am being confined in some abstract way. If there is one thing I can say that I liked about comprehensive (traditional) high school, it was the structure, even if it was frequently inefficient in terms of meeting overarching academic goals.
Original Post by merylwhite1:
If you have a food obsession, you need to work on that. Focus on eating at normal times and distracting yourself from food. Changing your life to fit around your abnormal thought processes is not a wise idea.
I would recommend you see a counselor.
Agree. Please consider seeing a counselor.
gi-jane I have been looking everywhere for the science behind the statement that breakfast kick-starts your metabolism. Please will someone help me out here? I am starting to think this is a lie put out by cereal manufacturers!
I also find I consume far more calories if I have breakfast. Sure, by 10h30 I'm a little peckish, but an apple or two can usually tide me over till lunch at 13h00, and I am quite happy with a sandwich and some more fruit then.
It just doesn't make sense to me that you have to eat something for your body to come out of its fasting/sleeping state. I mean, your body knows its awake when you start moving around, engaging the eyeballs, perform rudimentary tasks like answering a phone and holding a coherent conversation. If my body needs fuel at that point why isn't it tugging on the gut rope saying 'feed me pleeeze?". In fact its doing the opposite and barely letting me get a cup of coffee down. How many problems are caused by eating when we are not hungry? Emotional eating, social eating, stockpiling - shouldn't we just listen to our bodies and eat when we have the biological urge to do so, even if that means skipping the holiest of holy meals?
I don't know if these are scientific enough, but if you Google/Search for articles about why eating a healthy breakfast is important, you will find hundreds of hits, some of which might qualify as scientific.
http://medheadlines.com/2008/06/18/high-carb- high-protein-breakfast-for-losing-weight/
Those two above concern dieters who are striving for healthy weight loss.
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These are articles about why eating a healthy breakfast is important.
http://balancing-meals.suite101.com/article.c fm/benefits_of_eating_a_healthy_breakfast
http://www.streetdirectory.com/food_editorial s/meals/breakfast_meals/good_breakfast.html
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/4983 51/how_to_eat_a_high_energy_breakfast.html?ca t=22
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