I think some of us just aren’t hungry in the morning and have our own internal clocks. Dieting or not, I’ve never been much of a breakfast person. A bagel or toast and a couple cups of coffee is all I was ever in the mood for in the morning. On FD it easy for me to wait until noon to eat. Like you, I’m less hungry at lunch if I don’t eat breakfast.

I am in agreement. If your body isn’t hungry first thing in the morning then why eat a meal? I used to eat breakfast because I believed it was the right things to do. It dies increase your metabolism a bit, but for me it also kick starts my appetite/cravings and I tend to feel like snacking all morning. I tried the advice about having a protein breakfast instead and supposedly avoiding the cravings. It didn’t work for me as I think for me it’s a mental trigger about long standing food behaviours rather than a metabolic response to certain macro nutrients.

I initially gave up breakfast on FDs and when I realised my appetite was more controllable without breakfast I stopped eating breakfast on most NFD as well. The only exception is if I actually feel hungry then I’ll eat in the morning – that happens a couple of time a month.

I don’t think this works for everyone (anymore than, “you should all eat breakfast” did). Some people have their strongest appetite in the morning and it wanes through the day and they probably do need breakfast. I think it’s wise to get in touch with your body’s hunger signals and try to only eat in response to genuine hunger. I found that harder than it sounds as I ate for many reasons, but rarely hunger. I ate because it was a meal time, because others were, because I was cold, bored, lonely, upset, happy, celebrating…

A few months into 5:2 I realised just how little my eating had to do with hunger and I found it hard to tell the difference between cravings and hunger. I did a week long experiment where I committed to only eating when I felt hungry. I learned that genuine hunger for me isn’t a thought about wanting to eat it’s also a physical sensation in my stomach. If I just have the thought about needing to eat then it’s just a craving (usually for something full of sugar, fat or salt). Learning the difference actually helped me manage my eating better. I still stop and ask myself sometimes, “am a really hungry”?

Much good perspective here on this forum. I do ADF (only water, coffee, tea on fast days) and initially tried to push eating on eat days to after noon (thinking I would get additional benefits from a longer fast), but found that I was just way too hungry when I finally did start eating. Now I fast 36 hours and have breakfast on my eat days, and it has made all of the difference in my mood and my ability to do this WOE.

However, I think what one eats at breakfast certainly has an effect on hunger. I don’t eat any carbs at breakfast (other than incidental). Toast or fruit or something carb-y at breakfast would make me extremely hungry. I couldn’t do that. I have 2 eggs scrambled in olive oil, three slices of uncured bacon and heavy cream in my coffee. It’s yummy and the fat and protein ensure that I’m not hungry again until lunchtime. I still can’t get over the fact that after all those years of skipping breakfast and then eating junk the rest of the day, I’m now eating bacon and eggs and a full-fat latte for breakfast and losing weight. 🙂 I think we all have to tinker with our diet and figure out what works best for our particular lifestyle and preferences.

I do agree that nutritionists dig themselves into holes when they say “Never do this,” or “Always do that.” I think there are many different avenues from Point A to Point B.

I have always loved breakfast- when I have more time it’s my favourite meal of the day and a reason to enjoy weekend mornings particularly. However as soon as I planned to have a FD I knew straight away that I would skip it for the reasons noted here about controlling appetite. I’ve only been on the 5:2 for 3 weeks but I’ve decided to experiment with skipping breakfast every weekday to help keep kilojoules down on my NFD too. It does feel like a total departure from all that I ever thought about breakfast being really important but I think it’s going to work for me.

One thing to keep in mind is that carbs and sugar often have a sneaky appetite-increasing effect that a high fat, low-carb meal usually doesn’t. Recipes vary, but homemade Chocolate Porridge probably contains around 40 grams of carbohydrates, which might cause a blood sugar/insulin spike. That would definitely get my hunger revved up. 🙂 It probably also has 20 grams or so of protein, which as you know, our bodies will happily convert to carbs if we’re taking in more protein than we need.

The reasons I eat breakfast on NFDs:

1) I have complete control of the nutrition. It is often the only meal of the day I have complete control.

2) My breakfast doesn’t include refined sugar or refined grains (like toast) so it is really filling.

3) I enjoy it!

Hi everyone,

I’ve been away for a few days and am just catching up. I’ve read through all the posts on this thread and there are numerous interesting and thought provoking points.

If there’s one thing I’ve learnt while trying to lose weight it is not to eat unless I’m hungry. As I’m rarely hungry before midday, I wait until then to eat something. I think it varies from person to person but in my experience the people I know who are the hungriest first thing in the morning are those that eat a diet rich in processed carbs and sugar. I have also come to the conclusion that it is age dependent. All children should eat breakfast as their growing bodies need it but the older we get the less likely we are to need to eat three meals per day especially as so many of us do nothing after dinner (which in my opinion is often eaten too late) to burn off the calories we’ve consumed before we go to bed.

It has definitely helped me to control my eating as once I start I don’t want to stop so it makes good sense to wait until I’m properly hungry.

Ayervedic,
Thyroid disease is not caused by skipping breakfast. If it was, half of the world would be suffering from it and it wouldn’t be so difficult to treat.

Refined sugar is a carb but not all carbs act like refined sugar. I dare anyone here to cook 100g of oatmeal (just rolled oats, nothing else) and add 100g of blueberries and eat that for breakfast. That isn’t even 500 kcals and it is really unlikely after eating that much oatmeal you’ll even want lunch. That is a breakfast of mostly carbs, but it isn’t the type of carbs that are going cause a large blood glucose spike. The problem isn’t carbs, the problem is most people just eat too much refined sugars for breakfast.

A typical breakfast pushed by many food processing companies is nothing more than refined grains and sugar. Of coarse that type of breakfast is going to leave on eating more later in the morning.

I also don’t buy the don’t eat if you aren’t hungry argument. One has to apply some common sense. I’m almost never hungry after 36+ hours of fasting. If I choose not to eat because I wasn’t hungry I would likely end up fasting for multiple days. Another way to look at it, how many times when one is one a trip do you use a nice bathroom just because it is handy and you don’t know when you see another one? It isn’t always because of immediate need, it is more of a taking control of your near future. The hunger we feel is a learned response. There isn’t anything wrong with actively managing our food intake.

The real problem with delaying eating too long is one ends up eating more late in the day and not doing anything to aid in the digestion of food. Most people are less insulin sensitive the longer they have been awake. From that perspective it is better to eat more earlier in the day and must less later in the day. If you do that, then you should be mindful of the impact, you are making it more likely to develop metabolic issues. Not a problem if it is managed, but most people just stuff themselves and then become coach potatoes.

Now if you absolutely can’t stop eating after you start eating, maybe that is actually an eating disorder? Granted mindless eating is a pretty common eating disorder that many people have. We just need to be mindful about our eating. The flip side of there isn’t any problem with not eating when one isn’t hungry is there isn’t anything wrong with not eating when we feel hungry. That is kind of what fast days are all about. We all have brains, we just need to manage or eating and not let our brainless eating manage us.

Dykask,

I’ve done a few long fasts and haven’t been hungry when I ended them but I have a long history of once I start eating I don’t want to stop which is how I got to be obese. It isn’t an eating disorder and has nothing to do with hunger, rather pure greed. Like most lifetime bad habits it takes time to break and replace with a good one and for me the best way forward on a daily basis, long fasts excepted, is not to eat unless I’m hungry and there is rarely an occasion when that doesn’t happen at some point during the day.

That’s the thing about IF, it leads each of us on an individual journey and what is good for one doesn’t always work for someone else. I like the fact that there are so may different viewpoints on this forum as the newcomer doesn’t take long to realise that armed with the good advice on offer, they can find a way that suits them and those of us who have lost our way can try something else and adapt it to suit ourselves.

As for the breakfast discussion, in Michaels first book he discusses the fact that women do better if they work out in a fasted state which is another reason for me not to eat until lunchtime as I go to the gym in the morning.

16:8 works well for many and there are proven benefits. There are also proven benefits for eating a healthy meal first thing. The choice is ours 🙂

Please excuse my typos above.

sw600,

I’m with you. Dinner only on FDs in order to have a satisfying meal and a good nights sleep as I don’t go to bed hungry.

Dg,

As for everyone having an eating disorder, the sad truth is that the majority of us have been hoodwinked by the food industry into thinking if we don’t eat every couple of hours we’ll fade away. In order to ensure their profit margin is good, they manufacture foods that make sugar addicts out of all of us. They’ve been telling us for years that fat is the devil when in fact sugar is the problem. And when they take the fat out of dairy products such as yoghurt they need to add stabilisers, to keep it fresh and something to replace the flavour fat gives so they use sugar or the equally awful artificial sweeteners.

I don’t do reduced fat dairy as it means I’m not getting essential fat soluble vitamins. I have full fat natural unsweetened yoghurt and find it sweet enough to eat on it’s own or with fresh fruit/seeds or nuts.

I never buy processed carbs such as cakes, bread, biscuits etc from the supermarket, nor do I buy ready meals and takeaways. I would rather make time to cook from scratch so I know exactly what has gone into the food on my plate. No preservatives, colourings, stabilisers or unnecessary added sugar of any description.

We all need to jettison our views which have been formed by advertising and what is on the shelf in the supermarket and learn about real food, what it tastes like, what is good for us and most of all, how little we need to sustain our bodies and keep them healthy.

IMO the most joy I get out of meeting up with friends is their company not what we eat or drink. I have no problem going into a cafe and having a coffee even if others around me are all eating, and the truth is that these days the majority of cakes and pastries available are too sweet and cloying for my taste so it is easy to say no thanks.
Don’t get me wrong, I love a decent slice of well made cake from a good bakery or patisserie but since I’ve been following 5:2 my sweet tooth has diminished considerably.

I also have to say that most of my friends are not overweight and while they all enjoy the occasional treat the majority of the time they only eat if they are hungry and not because they can or because someone else is doing so.

I wouldn’t take a biscuit as they are usually too sweet and not worth the calories. I stopped buying them over 20 years ago.

Cakes are another matter and if I have some it has to be really good as it will be designated lunch!