OK so breakfast is the most important meal of the day, apparently. And I’ve heard about studies where people who ate breakfast were less likely to overeat during the day.
First off, I’m not normally hungry in the morning. Sometimes I am, and then I’ll eat. But sometimes I just don’t feel like eating, and sometimes I feel like if I eat something, I’ll be sick. I didn’t eat breakfast for most of high school. When I did, it was probably like Carnation Instant Breakfast or something.
But all these studies that said breakfast was so important, I started forcing myself to eat in the morning. Not a whole lot, like a yogurt or a granola bar or something. Well, recently I forgot to eat before I left the house, and something strange happened. I didn’t eat much for the rest of the day. I had a big dinner, and a snack, but that was it. So when I noticed that, I tried a bit of an experiment. I found that when I ate in the morning (when I wasn’t actually hungry) it set of a chain reaction of sorts, and I ate constantly for the rest of the day. When I didn’t eat, I ate much less.
Why is this happening? Should I eat breakfast or not?
I’ve seen all those studies too. Some also indicate that people who eat breakfast tend to live longer as well. I wonder if people who eat breakfast also just tend to take better care of themselves overall, like they eat regular meals with all the food groups and don’t snack, while people who don’t eat breakfast tend to eat more haphazardly. So it isn’t the eating breakfast in itself that produces the results but the more disciplined eating habits.
But this is all just a WAG. I think I’m rationalizing because I don’t like to eat breakfast either…
I’m with ya seaworthy. I don’t generally eat breakfast. If I do (a bowl of cereal, or maybe a granola bar or something is all I have time for) I find that I get terribly hungry by 10 a.m. or so. When I don’t eat, I don’t feel that hungry at all most of the day (I still always eat something for lunch, but usually nothing big–a slice of pizza or a sandwich, for example).
So if it comes to eating breakfast and being hungry and miserable all day or skipping it and feeling fine. . .I’ll go without, thank you.
HOWEVER, on weekends when I have time to make up (or go out and get) a big meal full of eggs, meat, biscuits, pancakes, or anything like that for breakfast. . .I’m usually not hungry at all until almost the next day.
I think that breakfast should be the biggest meal of the day. Why? Because when you eat a large breakfast, you then have all day to work it off. But if dinner is the largest meal of the day, you eat it and then sit around all afternoon, and sleep on it. You’re not burning off the calories ingested with dinner. This may explain why breakfast eaters are healthier.
I usually eat a good-sized breakfast, a moderate lunch, and then either a light dinner or no dinner. I think this is part of the reason why, even though I’ve been a professional cook for 20 years, I maintain my proper body weight.
I meant to add that the most obviously overweight people I know also happen to be people who usually skip breakfast. They gorge themselves at lunch and dinner.
Breakfast doesn’t have to be large. But to me it’s the essential meal.
I have whole wheat toast, Orange Juice and tea every morning. Occassionally on weekends I’ll treat myself to a brunch, which is a bigger meal and replaces both breakfast and lunch.
I think the biggest question is how you get up in the morning. I get up to exercise. I don’t lollygag in bed. I’m usually up and out of bed before the alarm goes off. (5:45 AM so it’s not late) I also do a daily spiritual reading. So I’m up and doing things before I eat.
Also pop that vitamin. Do it now. Later in life will be catching up. A centrum or the like every day.
Breakfast is well named as it is just that. A meal to break the fast of several hours of the night’s sleep. I always have cereal or something else. If I get up very early someitmes I feel i don’t have much appetite but I try to at least have a slice of toast or a banana. If you don’t eat you are effectvely fasting from the time you last ate the evening before till lunchtime the next day, and if you don’t eat something you will have no fuel to burn later in the day and your energy levels will dip as a result.
I have never been able to understand how people can skip breakfast. I can’t eat a lot first thing in the morning, but if I don’t at least get a bowl of cereal down, I am RAVENOUS (i.e., in “I MUST EAT NOW!!!” mode) after about 2-3 hours of being up. My blood sugar being as low as it is after 10+ hours of “fasting”, that first gulp of orange juice is like a drink of water in the desert to a man dying of thirst.
Without breakfast your brain cannot function at its best.
The brain needs fuel, which is supplied by the carbohydrates slowly released by your breakfast*. No fuel (blood sugar) and the brain cannot think properly. Studies show that children who miss out on a healthy breakfast do poorly at school.
*Assuming you eat a normal healthy breakfast comprising of cereal.
I realize that anecdotal evidence isn’t, but I did well in school and I almost never ate breakfast.
Still don’t, either. I’m just not hungry enough in the morning. Also, I find that if I do eat breakfast, I’m not hungry enough to eat lunch later in the day. However, my tendency to eat small snacks late in the evening may play a role in this. If I ate nothing after dinner, maybe I would be hungry enough to eat breakfast.
Most breakfast foods, like cereals, are high carb foods. After fasting through the night, your body needs an energy boost to get started. However, if those fast-acting carbs are the only thing you have for breakfast, you will feel hungry before lunch. They only take an hour or so to work their way through your system and then your body is looking for more energy.
That’s why all those cereal commercials bill themselves as “part of this healthy breakfast” which includes toast, fruit juice, milk, etc. Besides the carbs, you need some protein (eggs, meat, etc.) in order to have longer-lasting energy producers in your blood. Protein can take 4-6 hours to break down totally - right around lunch time.
A low GI breakfast, such an unrefined, wholegrain cereal, is the best for long lasting energy. This gives a sustained release of glucose through to lunch.
By a normal healthy breakfast, I am not talking about lollie breakfasts like coco pops or fruit loops or muslie bars - I mean stuff like porridge - anything that that lists whole wheat, oats, barley, or other grain first on the ingredient list.
But the problem is, why should I eat when I’m not hungry? I happen to believe that my body will tell me when it needs something (like a couple years ago, there was a week or 2 when I had this undeniable craving for corn. Corn? I couldn’t eat enough of it. I think I was lacking in some vitamin that was in corn. Also, I normally get a craving for a bloody steak around my period.) so IMO it’s bad to eat when I’m not hungry. Especially those times in the morning when the thought of food is nauseating. (Why should I force myself to eat that granola bar when I obviously do not want it?)
And I’ve found that liquid is usually enough to fill me up (I have a small stomach- can’t even finish a medium-sized meal at McDonald’s) so when I have some orange juice, I’m full.
Not that I never eat breakfast. And sometimes I am really hungry when I wake up (usually if I ate a big dinner the night before) and then I’ll eat. But when left to my own devices, I’d rather wait a few hours until I’m hungry, and then make myself a nice big lunch.
But the thing I noticed when I did my little experiment, was eating breakfast when I was not hungry opened the door for me to eat when I wasn’t hungry during the rest of the day. I found myself staring into the cabinets knowing full well I was not hungry, I just wanted to eat something that tasted good. When I waited until I was hungry to eat, I only ate when I was hungry for the rest of the day. It was odd.