How important is Breakfast?

[Richard260]

Good morning all ,

How important is breakfast ? I read the slogan “ Breakfast is the most important meal of the day !” was created by a cereal breakfast company to Sell their product .

I know people who do the 5/2 diet have a cup of coffee on a morning and eat inbetween 12pm and 8 pm .

Plus you get the late risers who grab a coffee from a drive through to perk themselves up .

I had a bowl of porridge with a teaspoon of cocoa powder this morning to see me through to lunchtime.

Have a good day .

Richard

[lucigret]

Good morning Richard,

Many people here choose not to eat breakfast. If your hungry when you wake up have it, if not, don't bother

[gc74cat]

Hi Richard!

Brekkie is definitely the most important meal of the day for me! I am on a calories counting diet, 1200 max per day (as advised for women), and usually they are split with a 250 calories breakfast and the rest for lunch and dinner, but I really could not function like that! I am super hungry in the morning, but not so much at lunch, so I have swapped and have a healthy filling breakfast in the morning (porridge, berries, tsp peanut butter....), with a lighter lunch of steamed veggies and a cooked dinner...seems to work for me

[Subtle_badger in reply to gc74cat]

Who is advising women to eat 1200/day? To me, that's the top end of a VLCD, and unless you are short, I don't think it's sustainable.

[gc74cat in reply to Subtle_badger]

1200 to 1400 calories according to my NHS plan, and yes, I am very very short.

seems to be more than sustainable for me

[Progressoverperfect Restart June 2024 in reply to gc74cat]

Morning, I am also doing the NHS Plan and thought 1400 calories was my limit,however, I was advised to check my calorie allowance using the NHS BMI Checker, I discovered that I can have a range between approx 1700 and 2200 which is a huge difference to what I was initially having! Those extra calories allow me to eat well, lose weight and not be hungry,therefore not running the risk of it being unsustainable. However, I'm 5'8" so that may make a difference.

If you have already checked then I apologise for the long post, if you haven't, please do so, you may be pleasantly surprised 😊

Ps. Im currently on 1800 and find this is manageable for my weight loss x

[Subtle_badger in reply to gc74cat]

That's great, if you are very short. But please don't say "advised for women" if you mean "advised for me".

[lucigret in reply to gc74cat]

Hi gc74cat, I am not sure where you have found the 1200 max calories for women, but that is terribly low. NHS generic number is 1400. I would advise that you use the NHS BMI calculator to calculate your own personal calorie range and start at the high end. Eating so few calories will leave you hungry and it is not a sustainable way of losing weight. What happens when your weight loss stalls, do you really want to drop down lower than the 1200? By adding some good fats to your meal plans, you will find the food far more filling and you won't wake up feeling 'super hungry'.

I don't want to sound as though I am 'dictating' what you should be doing, but really don't want to see you fail and end up yo yo dieting. You might find this an interesting read

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

[Hidden]

The answer is, it depends. There has evidence that children who do not eat breakfast do worse at school as they are unable to concentrate. Children and teenagers need to eat more frequently than adults as they are still growing. Also if a sensible breakfast- and by that I do not mean a pile of sugary cereal or cake (which commercial bakeries call ‘morning goods’ - stop you from eating a rubbishy snack mid morning, then it’s a good idea. Many people find that when they cut back on carbohydrate their appetite is greatly reduced and they do not need to eat breakfast any more. It’s great that porridge can see you through to lunchtime. When I used to eat carbs, I always ate breakfast (no sugar muesli, fruit & yoghurt) the minute I got up, because I was hungry, but could not make it through to lunchtime without carbs. Now I have given up carbs, my body has learned to be much more efficient at using its energy & if I eat breakfast I can go through til 2pm at the earliest without needing to eat.

[Richard260 Restart June 2024 in reply to Hidden]

Tomorrow I’m going to talk about carbs and a Low carb diet ! I’m now eating less and less carbs to try and lose weight .

Funny I don’t seem to get hungry a lot since cutting them .

[Hidden in reply to Richard260]

all very logical! Your body is more able to hear the voice of your appetite control hormone leptin since you stopped producing so much insulin...

[Subtle_badger]

Yup. Coined by John Harvey Kellogg, who invented cornflakes to (this is true) prevent masturbation by not exciting the senses in any manner. So forgive me for not taking his advice on anything.

Fun fact: he was opposed to adding sugar, because that would lead to enfeeblement and masturbation, so cornflakes are not just a Victorian nonsense food, they are a bowlderised Victorian nonsense food.

No one would eat them without the sugar.

[Eleanorba Maintainer]

Hi Richard. A lot of people on this site who are restricting the time in which they eat don't eat breakfast and that seems to really work for them. I also know a lot of people who say they 'can't eat breakfast' and are very overweight, whereas all my slim friends eat breakfast. Personally it's absolutely crucial for me. If I don't eat it, or eat something just bread-based, then I end up eating rubbish all day. I eat poached, boiled and scrambled eggs on various things, sometimes with mushrooms or wilted spinach or even kale! Then sometimes oats with yogurt and fruit. That keeps me going til lunch time no problem. I get why the eggs work but I'm puzzled by the oats - they're the only cereal that seem to work, other cereals (cornflakes etc) just sent me up wanting carbs all day but oats work great.

[Subtle_badger in reply to Eleanorba]

This is what I love: n=1. You have worked out what works for you. I noticed when I was cycle commuting, if I had breakfast I would be very hungry about 11am, and need a mid morning snack. If I left home without eating, I wasn't hungry when I got to work. I would often get snacky at about the same time as when I did eat, but not always. If I did, I had the same foods I would have had for breakfast. Lunch and dinner wouldn't change, so delaying breakfast had no adverse affects, and removed a snack from my day, and sometimes a snack and a meal.

Oatmeal is a traditional food that we have been eating for thousands of years. Cornflakes is a Victorian nonsense food with (and this is the important part) added sugar.

[N-o-r-d-i Maintainer 64kg]

Hello, Richard. There’s a lot talk about breakfast... I personally found that if I eat breakfast, I’m then hungry at 11 am and all I can think about is food. And I have looked into it , I really have. I experimented with having carbs, protein, fruit, light breakfast, heavy breakfast - anything that is advised according to various schools of thoughts. With the same outcome: I would be hungry at 11am therefore either snack or eat more for lunch and it still didn’t solve my problem of overeating in the evening. But it’s me - I skip meals. I skip breakfast when I get up too late, I skip lunch when it’s too much work. A lot of diets advise sticking to routine and planning meals and eating at the same time. Whenever I tried to follow that I would fail and inevitably feel bad about myself. My current setting however, seems to work for me. May not be ideal but it is sustainable for me. I mostly don’t eat breakfast, but sometimes do. I mostly eat lunch but sometimes don’t. Sometimes snack through the day, sometimes don’t. I still tend to eat more in the evening. But my every day stays within 1450 kcal and I make a lot of healthy choices. I decided not to beat myself up about the routine and regularity at this point. It will be my next step - to make things more consistent when I can. It’s important to find what works best for you personally. Good luck!