I know, you know, everybody knows that breakfast is the most important meal of the day! After all, it will kick-start your metabolism in the morning and has potential to keep you fueled for a long time, thus avoiding big hunger attacks later in the day.
We’ve all heard it over and over, – I even did a post on it! Breakfast – 3 Reasons Why It Is An Essential Part Of A Healthy Diet
But I have to honestly tell you now that I am not so sure about this whole “eating breakfast to lose weight” any more. And I can tell you exactly why.
Over the last few weeks I have really given it a good go. I ate my porridge or muesli with fruit in the morning, just to make sure I wouldn’t get hungry again early, and to get my metabolism up to speed. I mean, I want my metabolism to burn off my fat stores 24/7! And the porridge and muesli were supposed to carry me over to lunch time, as they are also low GI and keep you going for longer.
Now Iam not a person to feel hungry in the morning, and I also don’t have a big appetite (in the morning, that is!). So here I was at 8 in the morning scoffing down my bowl full of healthy food, trying to feel good about it because it was going to help me lose weight.
I've got an appetite!
But then I noticed a funny thing happening: contrary to what I had been told and believed to be true, I actually started feeling peckish and developed a bit of an appetite during late morning every time I had had breakfast – even though I was supposed to be “satisfied” for longer. Weird! So I kept watching myself, and noticed that whenever I ate breakfast in the morning, my thoughts for the rest of the day would quite often center around food and what I wanted to eat next. Breakfast actually “wetted” my appetite!
And true to form, I put on a bit of weight (2 kg). Man, was I disappointed!! Eating breakfast to lose weight was clearly not working for me! So I started thinking (dangerous! – Blonde thinking 
)
If I so absolutely didn’t feel like eating in the morning, I had no appetite, I wasn’t hungry, I felt fine – why should I force myself to eat if my body clearly didn’t need anything? Because that’s how I “read” the signals my body gives me in the mornings. Why should you eat if you are not hungry, don’t crave anything and are happy and content at the time? Doesn’t make sense to me. And I am actually quite sure that many of you will agree with me because I had a chat to my friends – a lot of them say it’s the same for them, they are just not hungry in the morning.
So I started to “experiment”. I did NOT eat my breakfast any more (don’t tell!). Instead, I started to listen to my body. And sure enough, most days I go through to mid-morning without eating, and then I really feel like a piece of fruit, so I eat an apple, or a banana. And what surprises me the most is that I seem to have a lot less appetite THE WHOLE DAY, so I find it a lot easier to control my eating. How about that?
I also started to eat a healthy salad lunch (which is a lot easier now because I can resist temptation a lot better without this horrible appetite!), and guess what happened? I lost the previously gained 2 kgs again within no time and with NO EFFORT!
So – in my opinion eating breakfast to lose weight might actually be a little overrated. Whilst I do believe that it can have its benefits on your metabolism and diet, I think everybody has to judge for themselves whether they need it in the morning or not. If you are hungry when you wake up, by all means – go for it! But make sure you eat healty. But if you are like me (and probably many others) and don’t like the thought of food much in the mornings – don’t force yourself, go with the flow and try to listen what your body tells you.
Makes sense, doesn’t it?
I would love to hear your comments on this.
I am the same way.If i get used to eating in the morning when I getup I get ravenous & all I want to do is eat more!!!
I also have noticed that skinny people I know personally don’t even eat very much food at all. I love eating it’s fun & exciting to try exotic or unusual foods.
I am a little overweight but I eat! My boyfriend smokes & eats probably less than half the amount I do & is super skinny! He skips breakfast & lunch most of the time.
Doreen – I am glad somebody else thinks like me! What I want everybody to understand though is that not eating breakfast does not mean not eating till 3 or 4 pm, it simply means I don’t sit down and eat at 8 am in the morning (or whenever) because I don’t feel hungry. I will eat something when I actually start feeling hungry, which is usually between 10 and 11 am. What you have to make sure then though is that you start with the right things – not bacon and eggs, but rather choose cut up fruit and yoghurt, or some oats if you feel like it. I really find that helps me with controlling my appetite throughout the day.
Hi,
What I think is that everybody has a point. The post is without a doubt an observation that a lot of people would agree with. I would have agreed completely some years ago when eating in the morning was a struggle. Like force-feeding.
I have now been eating breakfast for several years and my weight became more stable. In fact I weigh less too by about 8 pounds.
So certainly it does take several months to a year for the body to completely adjust to eating breakfast. My theory is that the reason why most people aren’t hungry in the morning is that they eat a lot later in the day and way into late night. The body gets used to that and after the whole night of digestion and sometimes indigestion it needs a break.
The insulin yo-yo effect caused by prolonged periods of no food tends to result in binging once we eat. Skipping breakfast may not be that bad if we have an early lunch but I know of people who don’t really have a decent meal until 4 or 6 p.m.
Anyway, that’s my 5 cents worth of rant.
I’ve spent pretty much 22 years of my life skipping breakfast. Passed Highschool with a 3.0, pretty athletic, went to college for a few years and dropped(nothing to do with diet). I’ve been eating breakfast for the past 2 years because i’ve been weight training and trying to gain mass. I honestly do think breakfast is overrated. Ever since I started eating breakfast, I’ve been more dependent on food(even when i’m off of weigh training). I’ve always been a slim person and never been over weight or underweight.
Hi Chipp, I’m with you on this. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I do believe that we shouldn’t force ourselves to eat when we are supposed to, like at 7 or 8 in the morning – if we are not hungry. If you are hungry, no worries, go for it, but eat the healthy stuff, like porridge, fruit etc. But if you are NOT hungry, why not wait until you are? And if it’s 10 or 11 in the morning, so be it.
I loved the article – if you’re not hungry and don’t need the energy why should you force yourself to eat something. For the life of me I don’t see how that helps you lose weight. I think the bigger thing that the article touches on is everyone’s body is different and that it’s silly to come up with a blanket one size fits all mentality. It makes sense that each person should get to know their own body and eat accordingly.
Very great post! I agree with you that eating breakfast to lose weight might actually be a little overrated. All people are different. Many people can’t live without breakfast, and other (Me too) usually don’t feel hungry in the morning and can live and feel good without breakfast. It depends on everyone’s body. As you said, we should listen to our body and eat then we really want.
Okay … I’m sorry to disagree here but eating a little breakfast in the morning will help you to lose weight. Eating breakfast helps you to shed the pounds because eating first thing gives your metabolism a kick-start. And of course, your metabolism is the master key to sustained weight loss. Honestly, I know it sounds backwards but it’s true!
A couple of quick tips: Aim to eat 5-6 smaller meals each day and you’ll really kick your metabolism into action. Do this alongside a good strength training routine, gain a bit of lean muscle and your body will burn fat naturally much faster because lean muscle burns calories constantly – even while you sleep.
Use these tips along with a positive attitude for a couple of months and weight yourself in
Hope this helps
Linda
Linda@Slimming´s last blog ..How Stress Can Affect Your Weight
Might I just add that the jury is still out on the whole eating breakfast boosting metabolism thing. The co-author of my website actually disagrees with what I posted above!
There is no “solid” proof, but I honestly have heard many people claiming to have had excellent results with regards to boosting metabolism by eating breakfast. And at the end of the day, it’s healthy to eat breakfast anyway – it shouldn’t really be missed, your body needs fuel.
My main argument is this: When you deprive your body from food, it automatically reacts by trying to burn as little fuel as possible. And this slows down your metabolism. So surely doing the opposite will have the opposite effect. Make sense?
Linda
Linda@Slimming´s last blog ..The Slim Girl’s Box of Secrets Review
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We should listen to our body. If your body needs breakfast, it will let you know. I don’t eat breakfast because I am not hungry in the morning and it works well for me. I am not crazy about healthy breakfast food any way, cereal, muesli… so not eating breakfast allows me to eat more food I like later on in the day.
Will, I have just lately taken up to eat breakfast again but have to say I will stick with what I have said – when I eat breakfast, I eat more the whole day, and I start to put on weight again! So as of tomorrow again – no more brekky!
Yea, I too find that when I eat breakfast in the morning, I actually get hungry earlier in the day. If I skip breakfast, I usually don’t even notice when lunch time rolls around. However, I think the best advice is to eat 5 small meals a day, not just relying on breakfast, lunch, and dinner (or lunch and dinner in some of our cases)
i will definatly give it a try
This is exactly the same for me too. I wouldnt fell hungry in the mornings and would force myself to have a healthy breakfast but way before lunchtime I would be craving for more food! I do not eat breakfast at all now and have a much better balanced diet. I think it is very overrated, it works for some people but I think it doesnt work for the majority of people.
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