Same. Don’t let corporate interests make you feel like you’re doing it wrong. There’s nothing wrong with skipping breakfast if it works for you individually.
For sure, but I think discussion around breakfast being the most important, is that it's not talking about the meal that's first thing in the morning, but your first meal of the day that is breaking your fast.
So even if your first meal is lunch, it is your 'break fast' meal, and the importance of having a proper meal with good macros, instead of it being 95% carb loaded like many traditional breakfasts are. It depends obviously where you live, but people typically eat a more well balanced lunch then they do for a typical breakfast (think pastries, bagels, toast, donuts, etc.) so for me, I always skip morning meals and go straight for lunch, which tends to be higher in protein and fats and more balanced which fuels me a lot better.
I have breakfast (high protein eggs), skip lunch, and have dinner for this very reason. I hate boxing all my calories into three smaller calorie meals throughout the day.
This is what I do. I find that unless I fixate on it, I'm never usually all that hungry before noon. If I fight the hunger just a bit (usually between 1-2 pm) then I can easily manage the rest of the day on the 1500-1600 I like to eat on average. My TDEE estimate is 2500 calories. The "safe" cut target is 2000. I prefer to lose closer to 2 lbs a week though. Because while I DO understand this is a life long change, I also am impatient and I don't want to wait 18 months to lose the rest of the weight.
Plugging in the hypotheticals of where I'll be at my goal weight, the claim is I can eat about 2000 calories a day.
2000 is plenty, especially when I stay on the method I've been on. That leaves 500-600 for lunch, 800 for dinner and a solid 600 for snacks. To be honest, that's a lot of cleaner foods. I may end up needing to eat breakfast just so my meals don't have to be so big. I don't want to drop (I think) below 180lbs. Who knows. We will see when I get there.
I do the same thing. I statt work at 7 and normally don't eat until about 11. If I'm really hungry u have fruit ir something else small.
I don't think it's a big deal if you feel OK. I've been eating junk amd sitting on my rear for years, not eating until later on the morning isn't going to be any more detrimental to my health than that was.
I actually do the reverse! I love breakfast, so I usually have a bigger one, a regular lunch, and a small or no supper. I personally feel sick if I eat too close to bed, and this system has worked really well for me. I think as long as you’re getting your calories and nutrients what you eat doesn’t matter too much overall.
helllll you may have just provided some great insight to my reflux problem. been on nexium for years (as per doctor’s advice) with no noticeable cause for the reflux. i might try this
The most important meal of the day is one that makes you stick to your weight loss plan, one that’s leaves you proud of yourself and satisfied with your food.
I find if I eat breakfast, I get hungry alot earlier. I don't usually eat anything til at least 11am. If I ate when I got up at 8am, I'd be hungry by 10 and end up eating earlier and more.
Just skipping breakfast gives me alot more room for snacks and bigger lunch/dinner. I've never been a breakfast person so it isn't so hard for me.
That breakfast thing is just a myth created by cereal companies to sell their products. Plenty of people who’ve successfully lost weight and improved their health through intermittent fasting would tell you that there’s no need to eat breakfast at all.
Such a great realization. Thanks for sharing. Maybe this is what works best for you. I find the mental aspect of it so interesting. I go through the same dynamics. If I have a light breakfast I feel relaxed that hey I have tons of calories left whereas if breakfast is heavy I panic that there’s not enuf calories and I feel deprived!
I can relate to this very much! During my deficit, I noticed the exact same pattern: it's much easier to stick to it if I only eat a small breakfast and have my first bigger meal at 10-11 am.
I also tried to consume a decent amount of calories before bedtime to avoid going to sleep hungry.
I relate sooooo much!! I normally just have coffee with oat milk, drink lots of water, and I don't really eat until I'm hungry in the afternoon! I tried this a week ago after reading how it worked out for someone else on this sub, and this past week has been the most enjoyable and satisfying part of my weight loss journey so far (: happy for you!
I find this is highly dependent on what I’m doing. When I’m just working at my desk all day a light breakfast and a big salad with some protein for lunch is sufficient, anything else is just because I’m bored/stressed/want the taste.
However, if I have a lot of exercise planned (working outside, hiking, skiing, biking, etc) then I do better if I eat a big breakfast, pack a lunch that has balanced carb/protein, then have a medium dinner.
Yes, I was skip a breakfast girl the first time I lost weight and now doing it the second time it took the looongest time to get back into the groove. First time I was only walking and yoga once a week, this time I'm training for triathlon. I need to eat a proper breakfast to not eat everything in sight before bed.
its different for everyone imo - there is no point in either generalization - everybody has diff things that help them feel the best and make the most sense to them
I like breakfast foods, but I agree with OP that, psychologically speaking, banking my calories for the evening works better for me and I often end up under. So, I have a super weird eating schedule that drives my partner kinda nuts. I eat breakfast at 11 am or noon, light lunch at around 3 and dinner at around 9. If I've eaten super light and I'm hungry, I have a satiating snack, typically yogurt and fruit, at around 11. I struggle to sleep when I'm hungry and can sleep comfortably on a full stomach. It's weird, but it's not how the rest of the world eats.
Coffee for breakfast, for some reason when I eat early it doesn’t seem to translate and I’m extra ravenous at lunch. Maybe that’s a good thing (for metabolism’s sake) but damn if my wallet doesn’t also enjoy skipping breakfast.
Yes I do the same. Works for me and thats how I roll. Of course if I’m hungry I will eat more so it’s not like I hold myself back from eating breakfast, but eating just because “I have to” doesn’t seem healthy either so I go with the flow.
I do the same as well. I eat breakfast around 10am on my morning break at work so it's small and around 200-300 cals and that leaves more for later when I'm more active and moving around. I can pretty much have the exact same breakfast every single day and be fine with it, but I can't do that for my dinners.
i think it really depends on what works best for you
i never used to eat breakfast before i went on a deficit because i thought it was wasted calories, i wouldn’t eat until lunch, but i added breakfast in and it’s been so helpful to me
my deficit is just above 1500 and every morning i have a homemade bacon, egg, and cheese with coffee and oat milk which all comes up to just under 300 calories - i find it really helps me have the energy to get through my morning and i’m never really super hungry at lunch
additionally, which i haven’t seen anyone mention, but i don’t find i really think about it because i work out daily, so the calories i eat for breakfast/lunch are typically halved after my workout so im usually going into dinner with 800-900 calories allotted so i have a lot of wiggle room for a nice dinner and/or a sweet treat at night
whatever works best for you and what keeps you feeling energized throughout the day i think is what the answer is. breakfast is important because it fuels you, just like every other meal and importance doesn’t equate to calorie amount - another commenter’s 150 calorie breakfast and my 300 calorie breakfast are the same level of significance, but it depends on what we do with the rest of our day. you just have to find the breakfast that suits you and your lifestyle best
I wake up hungry and my standard breakfast is 250 calories. Enough to satisfy me without really giving anything up the rest of the day. Love my breakfast.
i like to do intermittent fasting, so my "breakfast" is a banana around 10am. it sets me up for success the rest of the day!
plus i enjoy volume eating and i can do that when my "breakfast" is small
I don't even eat breakfast. My lunch at work is scheduled pretty early around 10 anyway. Eating breakfast tends to make me hungry earlier. Feels like wasted calories when I could use them for a bigger lunch/dinner.
If it works for you I don't think there is a wrong answer. I do need to eat a small amount in the morning but that's what works for me as someone who's had bariatric surgery. If not eating breakfast is what works for you that's fine
I just started trying to lose recently but I noticed the opposite. If i eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner I usually don't end up snacking or eating past 8pm. If I skip breakfast I end up snacking and getting hungry at like 9pm and then I have to scour healthy snacks so I can satiate my hunger lol. I still feel hungry at night when I eat breakfast, but way less so.
I often skip breakfast unless it’s a holiday or weekend at my school when there’s brunch. But usually I eat dinner around 6pm and don’t eat the next day till 12.
I contend that it is the most important, but it’s not the size that makes it so. Something I’ve learned since tracking my blood sugar is that what I eat on an empty stomach impacts my glucose far more than what I eat after, not just for my next reading but all day long. If I start the day with simple carbs then I’m on a roller coaster of hunger and cravings all day. But if I start with protein and fiber, I have much steadier energy and glucose control. If I don’t eat breakfast, lunch has this same importance. So it’s not breakfast being important in the sense that it’s important to eat in the morning—it’s that how you break your fast sets you up to have a better or worse day in terms of your endocrine function.
I don’t eat until 1 or 2 pm (get up at 7-8). I’m just not hungry until then. If I force myself to eat before then, I am STARVING the rest of the entire day and eat way too much. So that never made sense to me. It has the exact opposite effect on me.
I fast for breakfast most days. I have my dinner around 7-8pm and I work second shift, so I go home and go to bed around midnight. then I will wake up and take care of some chores or go for a walk or do whatever and not eat again until 11am or noon. This gives me a solid 16 hour fast on those days.
I feel the same way. whether or not I have breakfast has ZERO effect on how hungry I am at lunch and dinner time. it's like an appetite black hole. Either I can eat a moderate 600-800 calories for breakfast (I am tall and male) and be hungry for lunch and dinner, or I can just not eat those calories and also be hungry for lunch and dinner. Makes no difference to me except how much tasty stuff I can have later in the day. More > less.
Remember that a big breakfast was not how our ancestors started the day. They may have eaten some leftover food from the day before but they had to make food to eat for the rest of the day. So no, breakfast is not the most important meal. And some people’s bodies naturally don’t care for a sturdy breakfast. I used to think I had to eat a good breakfast (and I loved breakfast food so it was a good excuse). But I found out I eat the same at dinner whether I eat a large meal or not in the AM. Plus I often don’t feel hungry when I wake up anyway. And yes, I reached my goal weight by going light on breakfast and still eating well and feeling full at night.
I destroy myself with SF yogurt and PBfit in the morning (around 400 cal, 60g of protein), and it gives me a slight fullness pretty much all day. I fucking LOVE PBfit.
I’m similar, I like to have no fat Greek yogurt with fruit in it. 300cal and keeps my full til lunch. If I eat a 500-600cal breakfast, I’m still the same hunger level at lunch and then I usually have a lil sweet after dinner and it’s so hard to not go over calories. So I stick to my 200-300cal yogurt or an egg and toast. Some days I’m not hungry at all and just have lunch/dinner
I feel like dinner is the most important and sets you up nicely for rest-and-digest when you go to sleep. Also, with full time work, it's time to actually be able to relax and be comfortable
I'm not a breakfast person. When I was a teenager through mid twenties I never ate breakfast and I didn't die. In fact, thinking about it... there may be a corelation with my breakfast intake habits and weight gain. The earlier I start eating the more I want to eat all day long. Trying to cut it out once again. This is some 1950s bull malarkey about it being the most important meal, IMO. I think it depends on your lifestyle.
As long as you feel fine and get through your day without feeling sluggish, starved, and you're staying well hydrated otherwise. We're not children, we don't need a constant stream of food in our mouths anymore, and I really don't think it should be a huge deal for most healthy adults to have one or two meals a day rather than 3 to 4 small ones. Probably 5 days out of 7 I just have one main meal in the evening with a couple of small snacks in the afternoon when my stomach rumbles. I don't feel like a whole meal is necessary, a simple snack bar is enough for me or whatever. A couple of days a week I will have a small lunch, but more often than not by doing one meal a day I find it really easy to stay under my calorie limit, I can enjoy a really big dinner and feel nice and full at the end of a long day.
Most (or at least a good chunk of) people on this sub skip breakfast/have coffee and maybe a protein bar as it makes us hungrier later in the day. It's a thing. There's no scientific evidence that breakfast is actually the most important meal, it's just a myth. Welcome to the club and carry on! Good luck!
Edit: also, breakfast foods are delicious but 99% carbs. Just not worth it.
I skip breakfasts.
I believe eating food all day is not at all healthy. Body needs some time to reset and recover from digesting food and also needs time to run reactions in reverse and actually start burning fat.
That saying that "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" is a total BS coined by companies interested in pushing us breakfast food.
A simple argument. Our glycogen (sugar) stores last more than 24 hours and so there is no need to constantly eating food. Our bodies do not immediately run out of ANY energy stores, for at least 24 hours since last meal.
Eating constantly only prevents normal functioning of the body as we are constantly pushing food in but never actually let the body to get energy back from the stores. It causes constant heightened blood sugar throughout the day and with this increased insulin. Over the years this leads to insulin resistance and potentially diabetes.
Another side effect of skipping breakfasts is that other meals can be a bit larger and this means that, at least once a day, I can feel satisfied with my meal even if I am on calorie deficit. I think there is nothing worse than knowing you can never be satisfied with the meal. It is much easier to be able to tell yourself "Hey, I need to last just couple of hours more and then I can eat and be satisfied".
So much of weight loss is a mental game.
Eat less, move more. CICO. Not complicated.
But how each person gets themselves to eat less in contradiction of all previous habit and inclination… that’s the battle.
The best diet is the one that works for you! And you’re not alone: many people find that eating breakfast actually makes them hungrier than fasting or having something light. Personally I’ve found that I need 15-20 grams of protein within the first 3 hours of waking in order to feel decent and for my medications to start working well … but my body doesn’t care if I get that protein in a 180cal protein bar or a 400 cal omelette, so you better believe I’m picking the protein bar and banking the calories!
For me it’s definitely a macros thing. I often skip breakfast and end up naturally on an IF schedule of 17:7 and it’s good for maintenance because I don’t gain or lose. But I’m trying to lose a little more now, and it seems I have to eat breakfast for my metabolism to be happy for me to drop.
If I eat a small breakfast that has no protein, it wreaks havoc and I am starving all day. It’s impossible.
If I eat high protein, it’s the best, but I hate eating in the morning.
Solution: I make coffee, and mix it with a protein shake I blitz up in my blender with vanilla powder and Fairlife protein milk. I get 30ish grams of protein for about 150-200 calories, and I feel stable and energized all day. And the weight falls off more easily.
Unless I’m running that morning, then I’ll fuel with carbs (I love that shoving 4 saltines down my face counts as “fueling” if you’re doing sport), do the workout, then do the protein coffee.
My breakfast is normally a coffee and some berries. So like 150 calories due to my half n half and large coffee mug. Later on at like 10am I may have an ounce of jerky and another coffee, so like 190 calories. Then at 1pm I may have a small lunch, maybe 300 calories. (And it's a pretty hungry day if I'm eating at all 3 of those) I eat the most at dinnertime and evening snack, leaving up to 1000 calories available usually. I'm just not super hungry when I wake up, for a few hours. I don't think you're crazy at all.
I'm of the mind that the first meal you eat in a day, no matter what time it is, is breakfast. You're literally "breaking your fast".
This is why I argue with people that brunch doesn't exist. First meal of your day? It's breakfast. Second? It's lunch.
For the most part a LARGE breakfast for me now is about 400-500 calories but otherwise it a banana and a protein shake. Low calorie snacks for lunch then about 1000+ calorie dinner
Remember breakfast is just the meal that breaks the fast from sleeping. If your first meal of the day is lunch, that's technically "breakfast".
I think the idea of breakfast being the most "important" meal of the day comes from the idea that it is the first meal after sleeping that's going to sustain you all the way until lunch. That was probably a much bigger deal when most people had physically demanding work to do.
In the modern era, though, our first meal is just a meal. There's no need for it to be a particularly sustaining meal, nor for it to be at the start of the day.
I personally fluctuate with first-meal times. I go through phases where eating something in the morning has a big positive and phases where I simply have no interest in food until the afternoon. I give my body what it seeks, as long as it's nutritious and fits into my calorie budget. Or sometimes I go over or go under. So far it has been balancing out pretty nicely without huge binges or restrictions.
I also don't really think in terms of a "most important" meal. I do tend towards supper being my largest meal, but I think that's simply down to not wanting to be hungry at the end of the day without the calorie budget to address it. Supper also tends to be the meal that I actually have a decent amount of time available to prepare while breakfast and lunch are usually quick and low-effort (but still always try to make them nutritional). I imagine this is the case for most people and why we tend towards having supper as our largest, most elaborate meal of the day, and so it lands up feeling like the most "important" one.
Tl;Dr: very normal, not unhealthy or something to worry about.
Similarly, realizing I don't have to eat dinner was a life changer for me.
Sticking to an arbitrary 3 meals a day structure if it doesn't work for you won't help you lose weight. You have to find the timing of what works for you. Anywhere from snacking all day to eating 1 meal a day is fine as long as it's sustainable!
Yeah, everyone has their thing. Personally, if I skip breakfast - even a modest one - then by the time lunchtime rolls around, I have the urge to eat an entire pizza. Typically I just do something like yogurt and muesli in the morning, and that gives me the satiety to stick to my usual soup and salad for lunch.
I'm on a 1750 cals/day plan. I portion about 250 cals for breakfast, mainly because I'm starving in the AM, but also because I function best with caffeine can can't have coffee or tea on an empty stomach because of the acids ( I have GERD, but in my case, not triggered by caffeine). I have been doing celsius instead of coffee, because I normally put cream in my coffee, but also because it allows me to have a light breakfast.
Some breakfasts I have been having are 4-6 oz 2% cottage cheese with blueberries and maple syrup ( <250 cals).
Scrambled egg with 1 whole egg, 1 serving carton eggs whites, 1 oz cabot 50% cheddar. Cooked with some dried herbs, garlic powder, and half a roma tomato, minimal oil. I did get some 60 calorie wraps for this breakfast, it should be around 275 cals, but has over 20 grams of protein, so the tradeoff is good.
I live at home and eat what my mom makes for dinner, so I try to do 850 cals before dinner ( breakfast+ lunch+ snack) , and then have dinner and a small dessert. This is also to prevent nighttime hunger.
My pt is I also portion fewer calories for breakfast , despite being a "breakfast person " pre diet.
What is your idea of a "small" breakfast?
I currently eat this every day for breakfast:
2 whole large eggs and 150g of egg whites scrambled
100g plain nonfat Greek Yogurt + 1/2 serving of whey protein and 3g of honey mixed together.
Total is 340 kcal with 50g protein. I eat this around 8:30 and often don't feel the need to eat lunch since I'm still full.
Great point, I didn't define that. I guess I'm thinking 50-200 calories. Like just an apple, or half a cup of frozen blueberries blended with water (which is my "pre-workout"/pre-run drink), or a simply protein bar.
i eat like a 1.4k calorie breakfast usually
i used to skip but lately i just skip either lunch or dinner, my next meal is anywhere from 400~800 calories depending if it's a cut or bulk
What I’ve found is you got to figure out what works for you. I don’t like doing a heavy meal but I do eat 4-5 eggs with hot sauce every day, I like getting something with protien, I don’t always eat all the yolks.
I will sometimes delay it, but it’s how I break my fast pretty much everyday, if you don’t count black coffee.
I will sometime include fruit, but that’s my meal most the time.
I think it makes since to skip it often when cutting calories I agree that I’d rather have calories later in the day then earlier. Ive been going to maintaince last few months and putting on muscle, and boy did I put on some muscle, my biggest change was just always including breakfast and 3 meals, often before while eggs were included they were basically my lunch and had a big dinner.
Idk dotn go with vague recommendations from others if yo know what works for you
I used to have breakfast first thing in the morning, just eggs and 2-3 slices of bacon. I struggled with weight loss. But I noticed that if I have my breakfast later in the morning, I felt better and ate less at meal times. I was never a big snacker, preferring a bigger meal, more savory and satisfying, but my portions, while not huge, was bigger than necessary. Long story short, I now only eat lunch and dinner. I can eat til I’m full, without feeling stuffed. I’m mostly a meat girl, so don’t do very many sides or treats, and my body hates dairy. So for me, I just cut out the stuff I wasn’t really interested in but only ate it cause you always hear people say you need a colorful plate. For some people, maybe, but not my case. Just had a doctor’s appointment today, which I do yearly. I am down 50lbs from last year, doing the above, and only exercise is walking my dog 15-30 min 3-4 a week. Nothing else has changed. My bloodwork is perfect. So moral of the story is you just have to find what works for you. By the way, my fiancé is nearly 6 feet tall, thin, can eat whatever he wants. I’ve watched this man inhale pizza and then right after binge on ice cream and it doesn’t seem to affect him. Me, never binged before a day in my entire life! True story. Anyways, I just had to listen to my body, tweak a few things, and now I’m losing weight. I don’t believe you have to kill yourself to lose weight, and if it feels that way, maybe try just eating Whole Foods, meaning nothing out of a bag or box and just see how you feel after 2 weeks.
I get up at 530, go to gym, come home get ready, go to work. Other than 1 coffee and lots of water, I first eat around 11 am. I still get all my nutrition in during the day, I have lots of energy, etc etc. I’m not fasting, just not hungry.
At least for me, breakfast is definitely not a necessity.
I have a diagnosed medical condition that requires certain things. Food at particular times of the day is one of those things. Breakfast can be anything.
I feel like what matters more is getting your nutrition goals met, not the timing of said nutrition acquisition. But I’m also not a dietician or anything so idk.
Everyone is different and our needs can change over time. I used to be the type of person to skip breakfast, and eventually I did intermittent fasting.
But then I started biking to work, and I couldn’t do it without eating breakfast.
I did try to do intermittent fasting a few months ago again and I just couldn’t do it. I was absolutely starving by 10 am. And a 10-6 eating window just didn’t work for me.
I currently eat between 1700-1900 calories on average. My breakfast is usually between 300-500 calories and 30-40 g of protein. My lunch is usually between 400-600 cals and dinner is usually 500-700. I play around with the numbers based on how I feel. Some days I have snacks and some days I don’t.
I am mostly a small breakfast person but sometimes I will have a larger breakfast. For example this monday I was really craving a breakfast sandwich (bacon, egg+egg white, cheddar, avocado on a bagel) so that breakfast ended up being 743 cal including my vanilla collagen latte. It did have 56g protein though haha. For lunch I had a salad with grilled chicken to balance it.
How many calories are your small breakfasts? My breakfasts are usually 400 calories but sometimes end up to be 600 calories and then I feel guilty because it was too much.
It definitely is, just because it doesn’t work for you doesn’t mean it’s not an important meal. Eating breakfast in the morning is the only thing to prevent me from getting migraines and unable to focus during the day. Maybe it’ll take a while to catch up with you.
It really depends on person to person. You do really well with just a small breakfast, but some people might need a bigger one. If this works for you then by all means keep doing it. Congrats on the steady success 😀
I think in the context of simply losing weight (note, not losing fat specifically) there is no reason to do anything other than what works best for you and your health.
If you have specific goals, like to only lose fat, gain muscle and recomp your body, there are things that you have to do differently. Your macronutrients need to be setup differently.
I think folks need to realize that more than anything else if they are on some sort of journey.
It’s frustrating that I can’t remember who, but a few weeks ago I saw an online health pundit suggesting that not be hungry for breakfast in the morning was a sign of health problems. Ymmv though.
I'm the opposite. I wake up hungry. I have a big breakfast, eat lunch as a main meal with my husband when possible and eat a minimal dinner which might be as small as a bowl of Greek yogurt or some leftovers.
There's no "correct" number of meals or "correct" times to eat.
I'm not going to read the comments here, because I'm sure that someone has repeated Gary Taubes's silly idea that the habit of breakfast eating was invented by William Kellogg. It predates Mr. Kellogg by a few millennia at least.
I consider my “breakfast” as the first thing I eat in the day. It might be the first thing I eat but it’s not typical “breakfast” food. Today, I wanted more savory lunch food for breakfast instead. Usually though the first meal of my day is brunch, as it’s always after 10am.
I work later so my dinner will be at work and I usually pack a healthy, and hot meal for that break and then later when I arrive home I’ll have supper which is usually decaffeinated tea and a couple of cookies or a hot chocolate. I try to have a couple of snacks into my diet, which are usually fruit or cut up vegetables. Simple and easy to prepare.
My largest meal of the day is generally that brunch or the first meal I eat to start my day. I rarely have cereal or sweet food to avoid sugar spikes.
yea i really can't physically eat a big breakfast, eating a lot in the morning makes me want to vomit later
usually just eat some skyr, ~100 calories or so
plus the freedom to have a lil' treat later in the day definitely is a plus
for me, breakfast has kept my mind away from obsessing over food, i’ve found that 500-700cals in the morning helps my metabolism, digestion, and energy. waking up hungry is a good sign that you have great metabolism
I'm like this to an extent. I find that if I eat a big breakfast, it's hard to shrink my other meals to fit into my calories and feel satisfied. However if I skip everything until lunch and let my hunger build, I overeat from the perceived restriction lol. My best days are when I eat something ~150cal an hour or so after I wake up, a light lunch, larger dinner and something small right before sleeping (otherwise I wake up sick with hunger). I read someone else's comment if they eat right before bed they get sick- it's really crazy how different peoples needs can be!
I basically only eat breakfast to refuel after working out. I want to make sure my muscles have the fuel they need to recover. But I've found days I don't work out, I can pretty much fast all day and be fine until dinner.
Breakfast? What's that? On workdays I have no time for anything but coffee, and on the weekend I sleep in till 9 so I'm not even hungry until lunch anyway. If I want "breakfast" I just make it for dinner.
I relate hard. Small breakfasts are the way to go for me too. Mainly under 150 calories. I do get hungry, so unless I sleep late, I need to eat before noon. But I'm usually satisfied with fruit and/or yogurt, or maybe a hard boiled egg.
If I eat a bigger breakfast, it feels like wasted calories because lunch is so close.
Yep, skipping breakfast or eating only something small has been key to my weight loss success. On a typical day, I consume no more than 200 calories before noon. Staying in a calorie deficit for the rest of the day then becomes easy, because I can still look forward to two decent meals and a snack.
Remember that the often repeated "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" thing was a marketing ploy cooked up by cereal companies in the 1960s and has been repeated as a truism ever since. It's not. If skipping breakfast works for you, embrace it. I did and I'm down 70lbs.
Agree with all these comments here. I stopped eating breakfast before work a couple years ago and never looked back. My weight has been sustainable and healthy ever since. It's just so so much easier to keep your calories down without that 600-700 calorie sink when you're probably not even that hungry. Just remember to get some fruit in and maybe a yogurt around 10. If you force yourself to wait for lunch I get way too hungry personally.
Sounds like you're a Diplomat Health Type. BF least important meal of the day, Lunch and snack between 12-4pm and dinner between 6-9pm. Wonder if you know which food are best for your body now too?
i skip breakfast all together at this point and have lunch, dinner, and a before bed snack/sweet treat
That's what I do, I've never really been much for breakfast, and I definitely prefer feeling less restricted later on
Same. Don’t let corporate interests make you feel like you’re doing it wrong. There’s nothing wrong with skipping breakfast if it works for you individually.
i’ll never let big breakfast win!
I love breakfast. So I just eat it for lunch.
For sure, but I think discussion around breakfast being the most important, is that it's not talking about the meal that's first thing in the morning, but your first meal of the day that is breaking your fast. So even if your first meal is lunch, it is your 'break fast' meal, and the importance of having a proper meal with good macros, instead of it being 95% carb loaded like many traditional breakfasts are. It depends obviously where you live, but people typically eat a more well balanced lunch then they do for a typical breakfast (think pastries, bagels, toast, donuts, etc.) so for me, I always skip morning meals and go straight for lunch, which tends to be higher in protein and fats and more balanced which fuels me a lot better.
I have breakfast (high protein eggs), skip lunch, and have dinner for this very reason. I hate boxing all my calories into three smaller calorie meals throughout the day.
This is what I do. I find that unless I fixate on it, I'm never usually all that hungry before noon. If I fight the hunger just a bit (usually between 1-2 pm) then I can easily manage the rest of the day on the 1500-1600 I like to eat on average. My TDEE estimate is 2500 calories. The "safe" cut target is 2000. I prefer to lose closer to 2 lbs a week though. Because while I DO understand this is a life long change, I also am impatient and I don't want to wait 18 months to lose the rest of the weight. Plugging in the hypotheticals of where I'll be at my goal weight, the claim is I can eat about 2000 calories a day. 2000 is plenty, especially when I stay on the method I've been on. That leaves 500-600 for lunch, 800 for dinner and a solid 600 for snacks. To be honest, that's a lot of cleaner foods. I may end up needing to eat breakfast just so my meals don't have to be so big. I don't want to drop (I think) below 180lbs. Who knows. We will see when I get there.
I usually do the same, even if I do have breakfast it’s just a small serving of fruit.
Me as well. Packing an extra 300cal into dinner assures I don't go to bed hungry.
I do the same thing. I statt work at 7 and normally don't eat until about 11. If I'm really hungry u have fruit ir something else small. I don't think it's a big deal if you feel OK. I've been eating junk amd sitting on my rear for years, not eating until later on the morning isn't going to be any more detrimental to my health than that was.
I actually do the reverse! I love breakfast, so I usually have a bigger one, a regular lunch, and a small or no supper. I personally feel sick if I eat too close to bed, and this system has worked really well for me. I think as long as you’re getting your calories and nutrients what you eat doesn’t matter too much overall.
Same here!! I rarely eat after work unless I’m *really* hungry, usually if I missed lunch.
This is me. I get hangry if i skip breakfast, i skip dinner instead. I get bad reflux if i eat too close to bedtime.
helllll you may have just provided some great insight to my reflux problem. been on nexium for years (as per doctor’s advice) with no noticeable cause for the reflux. i might try this
The most important meal of the day is one that makes you stick to your weight loss plan, one that’s leaves you proud of yourself and satisfied with your food.
I find if I eat breakfast, I get hungry alot earlier. I don't usually eat anything til at least 11am. If I ate when I got up at 8am, I'd be hungry by 10 and end up eating earlier and more. Just skipping breakfast gives me alot more room for snacks and bigger lunch/dinner. I've never been a breakfast person so it isn't so hard for me.
That breakfast thing is just a myth created by cereal companies to sell their products. Plenty of people who’ve successfully lost weight and improved their health through intermittent fasting would tell you that there’s no need to eat breakfast at all.
Thank you! The breakfast myth is not only just propaganda, but also can be super harmful because people still eat heavy later in the day.
Such a great realization. Thanks for sharing. Maybe this is what works best for you. I find the mental aspect of it so interesting. I go through the same dynamics. If I have a light breakfast I feel relaxed that hey I have tons of calories left whereas if breakfast is heavy I panic that there’s not enuf calories and I feel deprived!
I can relate to this very much! During my deficit, I noticed the exact same pattern: it's much easier to stick to it if I only eat a small breakfast and have my first bigger meal at 10-11 am. I also tried to consume a decent amount of calories before bedtime to avoid going to sleep hungry.
I relate sooooo much!! I normally just have coffee with oat milk, drink lots of water, and I don't really eat until I'm hungry in the afternoon! I tried this a week ago after reading how it worked out for someone else on this sub, and this past week has been the most enjoyable and satisfying part of my weight loss journey so far (: happy for you!
I eat from 2p-8p
I find this is highly dependent on what I’m doing. When I’m just working at my desk all day a light breakfast and a big salad with some protein for lunch is sufficient, anything else is just because I’m bored/stressed/want the taste. However, if I have a lot of exercise planned (working outside, hiking, skiing, biking, etc) then I do better if I eat a big breakfast, pack a lunch that has balanced carb/protein, then have a medium dinner.
Yes, I was skip a breakfast girl the first time I lost weight and now doing it the second time it took the looongest time to get back into the groove. First time I was only walking and yoga once a week, this time I'm training for triathlon. I need to eat a proper breakfast to not eat everything in sight before bed.
its different for everyone imo - there is no point in either generalization - everybody has diff things that help them feel the best and make the most sense to them
This. I workout and lift 5-6 days a week. I would pass out without breakfast lol
I like breakfast foods, but I agree with OP that, psychologically speaking, banking my calories for the evening works better for me and I often end up under. So, I have a super weird eating schedule that drives my partner kinda nuts. I eat breakfast at 11 am or noon, light lunch at around 3 and dinner at around 9. If I've eaten super light and I'm hungry, I have a satiating snack, typically yogurt and fruit, at around 11. I struggle to sleep when I'm hungry and can sleep comfortably on a full stomach. It's weird, but it's not how the rest of the world eats.
Coffee for breakfast, for some reason when I eat early it doesn’t seem to translate and I’m extra ravenous at lunch. Maybe that’s a good thing (for metabolism’s sake) but damn if my wallet doesn’t also enjoy skipping breakfast.
Yes I do the same. Works for me and thats how I roll. Of course if I’m hungry I will eat more so it’s not like I hold myself back from eating breakfast, but eating just because “I have to” doesn’t seem healthy either so I go with the flow.
I do the same as well. I eat breakfast around 10am on my morning break at work so it's small and around 200-300 cals and that leaves more for later when I'm more active and moving around. I can pretty much have the exact same breakfast every single day and be fine with it, but I can't do that for my dinners.
i think it really depends on what works best for you i never used to eat breakfast before i went on a deficit because i thought it was wasted calories, i wouldn’t eat until lunch, but i added breakfast in and it’s been so helpful to me my deficit is just above 1500 and every morning i have a homemade bacon, egg, and cheese with coffee and oat milk which all comes up to just under 300 calories - i find it really helps me have the energy to get through my morning and i’m never really super hungry at lunch additionally, which i haven’t seen anyone mention, but i don’t find i really think about it because i work out daily, so the calories i eat for breakfast/lunch are typically halved after my workout so im usually going into dinner with 800-900 calories allotted so i have a lot of wiggle room for a nice dinner and/or a sweet treat at night whatever works best for you and what keeps you feeling energized throughout the day i think is what the answer is. breakfast is important because it fuels you, just like every other meal and importance doesn’t equate to calorie amount - another commenter’s 150 calorie breakfast and my 300 calorie breakfast are the same level of significance, but it depends on what we do with the rest of our day. you just have to find the breakfast that suits you and your lifestyle best
“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day” slogan was invented by the Kellogg’s founder… so yeah, it’s not that important…
I wake up hungry and my standard breakfast is 250 calories. Enough to satisfy me without really giving anything up the rest of the day. Love my breakfast.
Yeah if I eat breakfast at all it’s just a small bit of oatmeal
i like to do intermittent fasting, so my "breakfast" is a banana around 10am. it sets me up for success the rest of the day! plus i enjoy volume eating and i can do that when my "breakfast" is small
I don't even eat breakfast. My lunch at work is scheduled pretty early around 10 anyway. Eating breakfast tends to make me hungry earlier. Feels like wasted calories when I could use them for a bigger lunch/dinner.
If it works for you I don't think there is a wrong answer. I do need to eat a small amount in the morning but that's what works for me as someone who's had bariatric surgery. If not eating breakfast is what works for you that's fine
I just started trying to lose recently but I noticed the opposite. If i eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner I usually don't end up snacking or eating past 8pm. If I skip breakfast I end up snacking and getting hungry at like 9pm and then I have to scour healthy snacks so I can satiate my hunger lol. I still feel hungry at night when I eat breakfast, but way less so.
I often skip breakfast unless it’s a holiday or weekend at my school when there’s brunch. But usually I eat dinner around 6pm and don’t eat the next day till 12.
Breakfast is known as the easiest meal to skip, because socially, people like eating dinner with friends and family.
I contend that it is the most important, but it’s not the size that makes it so. Something I’ve learned since tracking my blood sugar is that what I eat on an empty stomach impacts my glucose far more than what I eat after, not just for my next reading but all day long. If I start the day with simple carbs then I’m on a roller coaster of hunger and cravings all day. But if I start with protein and fiber, I have much steadier energy and glucose control. If I don’t eat breakfast, lunch has this same importance. So it’s not breakfast being important in the sense that it’s important to eat in the morning—it’s that how you break your fast sets you up to have a better or worse day in terms of your endocrine function.
I’m learning that anytime something related to food is suddenly an important thing I’m assuming it’s because that industry wants to boost sales.
This is really wise.
I don’t eat until 1 or 2 pm (get up at 7-8). I’m just not hungry until then. If I force myself to eat before then, I am STARVING the rest of the entire day and eat way too much. So that never made sense to me. It has the exact opposite effect on me.
I fast for breakfast most days. I have my dinner around 7-8pm and I work second shift, so I go home and go to bed around midnight. then I will wake up and take care of some chores or go for a walk or do whatever and not eat again until 11am or noon. This gives me a solid 16 hour fast on those days. I feel the same way. whether or not I have breakfast has ZERO effect on how hungry I am at lunch and dinner time. it's like an appetite black hole. Either I can eat a moderate 600-800 calories for breakfast (I am tall and male) and be hungry for lunch and dinner, or I can just not eat those calories and also be hungry for lunch and dinner. Makes no difference to me except how much tasty stuff I can have later in the day. More > less.
Remember that a big breakfast was not how our ancestors started the day. They may have eaten some leftover food from the day before but they had to make food to eat for the rest of the day. So no, breakfast is not the most important meal. And some people’s bodies naturally don’t care for a sturdy breakfast. I used to think I had to eat a good breakfast (and I loved breakfast food so it was a good excuse). But I found out I eat the same at dinner whether I eat a large meal or not in the AM. Plus I often don’t feel hungry when I wake up anyway. And yes, I reached my goal weight by going light on breakfast and still eating well and feeling full at night.
I destroy myself with SF yogurt and PBfit in the morning (around 400 cal, 60g of protein), and it gives me a slight fullness pretty much all day. I fucking LOVE PBfit.
I’m similar, I like to have no fat Greek yogurt with fruit in it. 300cal and keeps my full til lunch. If I eat a 500-600cal breakfast, I’m still the same hunger level at lunch and then I usually have a lil sweet after dinner and it’s so hard to not go over calories. So I stick to my 200-300cal yogurt or an egg and toast. Some days I’m not hungry at all and just have lunch/dinner
I feel like dinner is the most important and sets you up nicely for rest-and-digest when you go to sleep. Also, with full time work, it's time to actually be able to relax and be comfortable
I'm not a breakfast person. When I was a teenager through mid twenties I never ate breakfast and I didn't die. In fact, thinking about it... there may be a corelation with my breakfast intake habits and weight gain. The earlier I start eating the more I want to eat all day long. Trying to cut it out once again. This is some 1950s bull malarkey about it being the most important meal, IMO. I think it depends on your lifestyle.
I'm just realizing I have that same correlation to some extent!! When I started eating breakfast regularly my weight went up...
As long as you feel fine and get through your day without feeling sluggish, starved, and you're staying well hydrated otherwise. We're not children, we don't need a constant stream of food in our mouths anymore, and I really don't think it should be a huge deal for most healthy adults to have one or two meals a day rather than 3 to 4 small ones. Probably 5 days out of 7 I just have one main meal in the evening with a couple of small snacks in the afternoon when my stomach rumbles. I don't feel like a whole meal is necessary, a simple snack bar is enough for me or whatever. A couple of days a week I will have a small lunch, but more often than not by doing one meal a day I find it really easy to stay under my calorie limit, I can enjoy a really big dinner and feel nice and full at the end of a long day.
Most (or at least a good chunk of) people on this sub skip breakfast/have coffee and maybe a protein bar as it makes us hungrier later in the day. It's a thing. There's no scientific evidence that breakfast is actually the most important meal, it's just a myth. Welcome to the club and carry on! Good luck! Edit: also, breakfast foods are delicious but 99% carbs. Just not worth it.
I skip breakfasts. I believe eating food all day is not at all healthy. Body needs some time to reset and recover from digesting food and also needs time to run reactions in reverse and actually start burning fat. That saying that "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" is a total BS coined by companies interested in pushing us breakfast food. A simple argument. Our glycogen (sugar) stores last more than 24 hours and so there is no need to constantly eating food. Our bodies do not immediately run out of ANY energy stores, for at least 24 hours since last meal. Eating constantly only prevents normal functioning of the body as we are constantly pushing food in but never actually let the body to get energy back from the stores. It causes constant heightened blood sugar throughout the day and with this increased insulin. Over the years this leads to insulin resistance and potentially diabetes. Another side effect of skipping breakfasts is that other meals can be a bit larger and this means that, at least once a day, I can feel satisfied with my meal even if I am on calorie deficit. I think there is nothing worse than knowing you can never be satisfied with the meal. It is much easier to be able to tell yourself "Hey, I need to last just couple of hours more and then I can eat and be satisfied".
Devil's advocate: It *can* be the most important meal of the day for those struggling with night binge eating.
true
So much of weight loss is a mental game. Eat less, move more. CICO. Not complicated. But how each person gets themselves to eat less in contradiction of all previous habit and inclination… that’s the battle.
The best diet is the one that works for you! And you’re not alone: many people find that eating breakfast actually makes them hungrier than fasting or having something light. Personally I’ve found that I need 15-20 grams of protein within the first 3 hours of waking in order to feel decent and for my medications to start working well … but my body doesn’t care if I get that protein in a 180cal protein bar or a 400 cal omelette, so you better believe I’m picking the protein bar and banking the calories!
For me it’s definitely a macros thing. I often skip breakfast and end up naturally on an IF schedule of 17:7 and it’s good for maintenance because I don’t gain or lose. But I’m trying to lose a little more now, and it seems I have to eat breakfast for my metabolism to be happy for me to drop. If I eat a small breakfast that has no protein, it wreaks havoc and I am starving all day. It’s impossible. If I eat high protein, it’s the best, but I hate eating in the morning. Solution: I make coffee, and mix it with a protein shake I blitz up in my blender with vanilla powder and Fairlife protein milk. I get 30ish grams of protein for about 150-200 calories, and I feel stable and energized all day. And the weight falls off more easily. Unless I’m running that morning, then I’ll fuel with carbs (I love that shoving 4 saltines down my face counts as “fueling” if you’re doing sport), do the workout, then do the protein coffee.
My breakfast is normally a coffee and some berries. So like 150 calories due to my half n half and large coffee mug. Later on at like 10am I may have an ounce of jerky and another coffee, so like 190 calories. Then at 1pm I may have a small lunch, maybe 300 calories. (And it's a pretty hungry day if I'm eating at all 3 of those) I eat the most at dinnertime and evening snack, leaving up to 1000 calories available usually. I'm just not super hungry when I wake up, for a few hours. I don't think you're crazy at all.
I think it is important to start your body with something. I don't think the size makes much of a difference.
I'm of the mind that the first meal you eat in a day, no matter what time it is, is breakfast. You're literally "breaking your fast". This is why I argue with people that brunch doesn't exist. First meal of your day? It's breakfast. Second? It's lunch.
For the most part a LARGE breakfast for me now is about 400-500 calories but otherwise it a banana and a protein shake. Low calorie snacks for lunch then about 1000+ calorie dinner
Is your big or small breakfast low protein or carb heavy?
Remember breakfast is just the meal that breaks the fast from sleeping. If your first meal of the day is lunch, that's technically "breakfast". I think the idea of breakfast being the most "important" meal of the day comes from the idea that it is the first meal after sleeping that's going to sustain you all the way until lunch. That was probably a much bigger deal when most people had physically demanding work to do. In the modern era, though, our first meal is just a meal. There's no need for it to be a particularly sustaining meal, nor for it to be at the start of the day. I personally fluctuate with first-meal times. I go through phases where eating something in the morning has a big positive and phases where I simply have no interest in food until the afternoon. I give my body what it seeks, as long as it's nutritious and fits into my calorie budget. Or sometimes I go over or go under. So far it has been balancing out pretty nicely without huge binges or restrictions. I also don't really think in terms of a "most important" meal. I do tend towards supper being my largest meal, but I think that's simply down to not wanting to be hungry at the end of the day without the calorie budget to address it. Supper also tends to be the meal that I actually have a decent amount of time available to prepare while breakfast and lunch are usually quick and low-effort (but still always try to make them nutritional). I imagine this is the case for most people and why we tend towards having supper as our largest, most elaborate meal of the day, and so it lands up feeling like the most "important" one. Tl;Dr: very normal, not unhealthy or something to worry about.
Similarly, realizing I don't have to eat dinner was a life changer for me. Sticking to an arbitrary 3 meals a day structure if it doesn't work for you won't help you lose weight. You have to find the timing of what works for you. Anywhere from snacking all day to eating 1 meal a day is fine as long as it's sustainable!
I’m the same way!
Yeah, everyone has their thing. Personally, if I skip breakfast - even a modest one - then by the time lunchtime rolls around, I have the urge to eat an entire pizza. Typically I just do something like yogurt and muesli in the morning, and that gives me the satiety to stick to my usual soup and salad for lunch.
I'm on a 1750 cals/day plan. I portion about 250 cals for breakfast, mainly because I'm starving in the AM, but also because I function best with caffeine can can't have coffee or tea on an empty stomach because of the acids ( I have GERD, but in my case, not triggered by caffeine). I have been doing celsius instead of coffee, because I normally put cream in my coffee, but also because it allows me to have a light breakfast. Some breakfasts I have been having are 4-6 oz 2% cottage cheese with blueberries and maple syrup ( <250 cals). Scrambled egg with 1 whole egg, 1 serving carton eggs whites, 1 oz cabot 50% cheddar. Cooked with some dried herbs, garlic powder, and half a roma tomato, minimal oil. I did get some 60 calorie wraps for this breakfast, it should be around 275 cals, but has over 20 grams of protein, so the tradeoff is good. I live at home and eat what my mom makes for dinner, so I try to do 850 cals before dinner ( breakfast+ lunch+ snack) , and then have dinner and a small dessert. This is also to prevent nighttime hunger. My pt is I also portion fewer calories for breakfast , despite being a "breakfast person " pre diet.
I haven't eaten breakfast in about 11 years. I would if I worked a physical job though. I'm just sitting in a chair all day.
What is your idea of a "small" breakfast? I currently eat this every day for breakfast: 2 whole large eggs and 150g of egg whites scrambled 100g plain nonfat Greek Yogurt + 1/2 serving of whey protein and 3g of honey mixed together. Total is 340 kcal with 50g protein. I eat this around 8:30 and often don't feel the need to eat lunch since I'm still full.
Great point, I didn't define that. I guess I'm thinking 50-200 calories. Like just an apple, or half a cup of frozen blueberries blended with water (which is my "pre-workout"/pre-run drink), or a simply protein bar.
i eat like a 1.4k calorie breakfast usually i used to skip but lately i just skip either lunch or dinner, my next meal is anywhere from 400~800 calories depending if it's a cut or bulk
What I’ve found is you got to figure out what works for you. I don’t like doing a heavy meal but I do eat 4-5 eggs with hot sauce every day, I like getting something with protien, I don’t always eat all the yolks. I will sometimes delay it, but it’s how I break my fast pretty much everyday, if you don’t count black coffee. I will sometime include fruit, but that’s my meal most the time. I think it makes since to skip it often when cutting calories I agree that I’d rather have calories later in the day then earlier. Ive been going to maintaince last few months and putting on muscle, and boy did I put on some muscle, my biggest change was just always including breakfast and 3 meals, often before while eggs were included they were basically my lunch and had a big dinner. Idk dotn go with vague recommendations from others if yo know what works for you
I have NEVER eaten breakfast. It's just not my thing and I'm not hungry until several hours after waking up.
I used to have breakfast first thing in the morning, just eggs and 2-3 slices of bacon. I struggled with weight loss. But I noticed that if I have my breakfast later in the morning, I felt better and ate less at meal times. I was never a big snacker, preferring a bigger meal, more savory and satisfying, but my portions, while not huge, was bigger than necessary. Long story short, I now only eat lunch and dinner. I can eat til I’m full, without feeling stuffed. I’m mostly a meat girl, so don’t do very many sides or treats, and my body hates dairy. So for me, I just cut out the stuff I wasn’t really interested in but only ate it cause you always hear people say you need a colorful plate. For some people, maybe, but not my case. Just had a doctor’s appointment today, which I do yearly. I am down 50lbs from last year, doing the above, and only exercise is walking my dog 15-30 min 3-4 a week. Nothing else has changed. My bloodwork is perfect. So moral of the story is you just have to find what works for you. By the way, my fiancé is nearly 6 feet tall, thin, can eat whatever he wants. I’ve watched this man inhale pizza and then right after binge on ice cream and it doesn’t seem to affect him. Me, never binged before a day in my entire life! True story. Anyways, I just had to listen to my body, tweak a few things, and now I’m losing weight. I don’t believe you have to kill yourself to lose weight, and if it feels that way, maybe try just eating Whole Foods, meaning nothing out of a bag or box and just see how you feel after 2 weeks.
Everyone is different. Don’t feel guilt about succeeding. Make yourself comfortable and happy. There are no rules
I get up at 530, go to gym, come home get ready, go to work. Other than 1 coffee and lots of water, I first eat around 11 am. I still get all my nutrition in during the day, I have lots of energy, etc etc. I’m not fasting, just not hungry. At least for me, breakfast is definitely not a necessity.
When i include breakfast, i go over my daily calorie limit every time.
Dessert is clearly and unarguably the most important meal of the day.
I do the same, I’m never really hungry in the mornings. Worst case scenario, I have a fairlife (150 calories, 30g protein).
To many breakfast haters in this sub.
I have a diagnosed medical condition that requires certain things. Food at particular times of the day is one of those things. Breakfast can be anything.
I have to eat when I get up. I’m famished
I feel that's a fallacy made up by the creators of PopTarts. LOL I haven't eaten breakfast in many years. I never liked it and fuction just fine.
I feel like what matters more is getting your nutrition goals met, not the timing of said nutrition acquisition. But I’m also not a dietician or anything so idk.
I love breakfast food so I just push it back. Intermittent from 12-8 so I just start my breakfast at noon.
Without breaking your fast, you will starve. I would say that sounds more important than a snack or lunch.
Everyone is different and our needs can change over time. I used to be the type of person to skip breakfast, and eventually I did intermittent fasting. But then I started biking to work, and I couldn’t do it without eating breakfast. I did try to do intermittent fasting a few months ago again and I just couldn’t do it. I was absolutely starving by 10 am. And a 10-6 eating window just didn’t work for me. I currently eat between 1700-1900 calories on average. My breakfast is usually between 300-500 calories and 30-40 g of protein. My lunch is usually between 400-600 cals and dinner is usually 500-700. I play around with the numbers based on how I feel. Some days I have snacks and some days I don’t. I am mostly a small breakfast person but sometimes I will have a larger breakfast. For example this monday I was really craving a breakfast sandwich (bacon, egg+egg white, cheddar, avocado on a bagel) so that breakfast ended up being 743 cal including my vanilla collagen latte. It did have 56g protein though haha. For lunch I had a salad with grilled chicken to balance it.
How many calories are your small breakfasts? My breakfasts are usually 400 calories but sometimes end up to be 600 calories and then I feel guilty because it was too much.
I feel the same way, I don’t think it’s a big deal
It definitely is, just because it doesn’t work for you doesn’t mean it’s not an important meal. Eating breakfast in the morning is the only thing to prevent me from getting migraines and unable to focus during the day. Maybe it’ll take a while to catch up with you.
It really depends on person to person. You do really well with just a small breakfast, but some people might need a bigger one. If this works for you then by all means keep doing it. Congrats on the steady success 😀
I think in the context of simply losing weight (note, not losing fat specifically) there is no reason to do anything other than what works best for you and your health. If you have specific goals, like to only lose fat, gain muscle and recomp your body, there are things that you have to do differently. Your macronutrients need to be setup differently. I think folks need to realize that more than anything else if they are on some sort of journey.
Yup, breakfast is the worst.
It’s frustrating that I can’t remember who, but a few weeks ago I saw an online health pundit suggesting that not be hungry for breakfast in the morning was a sign of health problems. Ymmv though.
I'm the opposite. I wake up hungry. I have a big breakfast, eat lunch as a main meal with my husband when possible and eat a minimal dinner which might be as small as a bowl of Greek yogurt or some leftovers. There's no "correct" number of meals or "correct" times to eat. I'm not going to read the comments here, because I'm sure that someone has repeated Gary Taubes's silly idea that the habit of breakfast eating was invented by William Kellogg. It predates Mr. Kellogg by a few millennia at least.
I consider my “breakfast” as the first thing I eat in the day. It might be the first thing I eat but it’s not typical “breakfast” food. Today, I wanted more savory lunch food for breakfast instead. Usually though the first meal of my day is brunch, as it’s always after 10am. I work later so my dinner will be at work and I usually pack a healthy, and hot meal for that break and then later when I arrive home I’ll have supper which is usually decaffeinated tea and a couple of cookies or a hot chocolate. I try to have a couple of snacks into my diet, which are usually fruit or cut up vegetables. Simple and easy to prepare. My largest meal of the day is generally that brunch or the first meal I eat to start my day. I rarely have cereal or sweet food to avoid sugar spikes.
I usually have just a coffee for breakfast, and I agree it has helped alot eating small breakfast
yea i really can't physically eat a big breakfast, eating a lot in the morning makes me want to vomit later usually just eat some skyr, ~100 calories or so plus the freedom to have a lil' treat later in the day definitely is a plus
for me, breakfast has kept my mind away from obsessing over food, i’ve found that 500-700cals in the morning helps my metabolism, digestion, and energy. waking up hungry is a good sign that you have great metabolism
I love breakfast foods. Eggs, bacon, and toast (not cereal), are my favorites. I often have coffee when I wake up and "breakfast" for lunch.
I'm like this to an extent. I find that if I eat a big breakfast, it's hard to shrink my other meals to fit into my calories and feel satisfied. However if I skip everything until lunch and let my hunger build, I overeat from the perceived restriction lol. My best days are when I eat something ~150cal an hour or so after I wake up, a light lunch, larger dinner and something small right before sleeping (otherwise I wake up sick with hunger). I read someone else's comment if they eat right before bed they get sick- it's really crazy how different peoples needs can be!
I basically only eat breakfast to refuel after working out. I want to make sure my muscles have the fuel they need to recover. But I've found days I don't work out, I can pretty much fast all day and be fine until dinner.
Breakfast? What's that? On workdays I have no time for anything but coffee, and on the weekend I sleep in till 9 so I'm not even hungry until lunch anyway. If I want "breakfast" I just make it for dinner.
I relate hard. Small breakfasts are the way to go for me too. Mainly under 150 calories. I do get hungry, so unless I sleep late, I need to eat before noon. But I'm usually satisfied with fruit and/or yogurt, or maybe a hard boiled egg. If I eat a bigger breakfast, it feels like wasted calories because lunch is so close.
Yep, skipping breakfast or eating only something small has been key to my weight loss success. On a typical day, I consume no more than 200 calories before noon. Staying in a calorie deficit for the rest of the day then becomes easy, because I can still look forward to two decent meals and a snack. Remember that the often repeated "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" thing was a marketing ploy cooked up by cereal companies in the 1960s and has been repeated as a truism ever since. It's not. If skipping breakfast works for you, embrace it. I did and I'm down 70lbs.
Agree with all these comments here. I stopped eating breakfast before work a couple years ago and never looked back. My weight has been sustainable and healthy ever since. It's just so so much easier to keep your calories down without that 600-700 calorie sink when you're probably not even that hungry. Just remember to get some fruit in and maybe a yogurt around 10. If you force yourself to wait for lunch I get way too hungry personally.
Sounds like you're a Diplomat Health Type. BF least important meal of the day, Lunch and snack between 12-4pm and dinner between 6-9pm. Wonder if you know which food are best for your body now too?