Will skipping breakfast make me lose weight?

Hi Rosemary,

In short, no. Breakfast is the first meal we eat in the morning, after several hours of not eating while we were asleep. When we don't eat, our metabolism, the rate at which all of the chemical reactions in our bodies that keep us alive, slows down to conserve energy. This was very helpful when our ancestors were still hunting and gathering for food. During times where there wasn't a lot of food available, our bodies were able to conserve the energy we had stored on our bodies to prevent us from starving.

If you skip breakfast, you're going a significant amount of time without eating, making your body think that it's in a period of starvation; after all, evolution hasn't caught up with our lifestyles that include readily available food. Your metabolism slows, therefor, the rate at which you burn calories slows down, preventing you from losing weight.

The best way to lose weight is to eat regular meals, including breakfast, and make healthy food choices when you do eat. Combine a healthy diet with regular exercise. Current guidelines recommend at least 150 min./week of brisk walking or other moderate intensity activity. And be patient. It is recommended that people only lose 0.5-2 lbs./week.

I hope this was helpful!

None of what Lauren Korshak asserted about breakfast has any basis in scientific fact. Your body doesn't "slow down" your metabolism, it switches to ketogenesis about 4 hours after falling asleep -- meaning it starts to burn body fat.

"Starvation mode" takes days, sometimes weeks, to kick in. Skipping breakfast won't do that.

On the contrary: eating more frequent meals makes your body more efficient at storing calories. This is a trick farmers have been using for thousands of years to fatten up their livestock -- they increase their animals' meal frequency and add more carbohydrates to each meal.

You'll often hear that breakfast should be eaten, especially a high-carb one, because that's when insulin sensitivity is at its greatest. That's basically the best reason why you SHOULDN'T eat breakfast -- not unless you've done some kind of resistance training beforehand.

Insulin allows glucose to enter cells. Having higher insulin sensitivity means cells are more receptive to glucose. So unless you have previously depleted all of the glycogen in your muscles, any excess carbs you eat at breakfast are going straight to fat -- and over time, your body will become more and more efficient at doing so.

Eating food first thing in the morning furthermore shuts off the ketogenic state you were in when you fell asleep. So if you delay eating for a few hours, you'll be burning body fat all morning.

Breakfast is definitely the best meal of the day... to SKIP.

Hi Rosemary,

I'm afraid Naomi hasn't been keeping up with recent research on the effects of eating more calories at breakfast. Several recent studies have clearly indicated that simply by eating more calories at breakfast (but eating the exact same amount of calories throughout the day), results in greater weight loss. These effects are even more dramatic when the breakfast is high in protein.

Skipping breakfast has also been shown to increase insulin secretion. Higher levels of less effective insulin as found in this study decreases or stops fat oxidation, activates fat storage and leads to premature hunger. Skipping breakfast was also shown to increase levels of bad cholesterol significantly (and thus heart disease risk).

Another study from the journal Obesity Research looked at the eating habits of about 3000 rare individuals that have lost over 30 pounds and kept it off for an average of six years. According to the study, 78 percent of these remarkable people eat breakfast every day. Only four percent never ate breakfast.

I could go on and on, but skipping breakfast is one of the best ways to foil your weight loss success.

Hi there I agree with Mark, breakfast is important I've lost weight in the past from eating more reg and having breaky, I then stopped eating reg anbd regained the weight, so reg meals defo makes a big diffrence. I'm yet again trying to get fit, but don't plan to yo yo anymore. Best of luck Rochelle Xx

Only Naomi has half a brain in this conversation. Skipping breakfast is intermittent fasting and it's been proven time and time again to lose fat (not just weight in the form of muscle as Rochelle was likely doing) and increase muscle. Get the facts, folks.
http://www.leangains.com/2010/10/top-ten-fasting-myths-debunked.html

Hi Andi,

Perhaps you'd like to enlighten us with the research on intermittent fasting, as my review of the research shows that it is weak as compared to a moderate carb, high protein, high vegetable, low-starch diet...the link you site to support fasting only has writings and opinions of an author who seems to have no academic credentials in Nutrition or any other related field??

Ermm I'm going to go with the guy who knows what he's talking about (Mark)... and also backs up what he says with scientific studies all of which he can provide... I'd rather go with science than a blog on the internet with no references and information, most of which, me with my limited knowledge can shove HUGE holes in!!
Also with the stuff Naomi is saying... maybe some studies to back up what you're saying...??
PLUS!! I've made ridiculous gains in muscle and fat loss thanks to Marks advice so I would STRONGLY suggest you (Rosemary) go with his answer. That's just my advice though.

Old question but makes me sick to see nutritionists spreading such mis-information. If you're looking for "academic credentials" to find the truth on fitness, that's your first mistake. The health and fitness field is filled with thousands of professionals who are completely clueless. But regardless, there's also plenty of individuals with credentials that will give you the facts, as well.. if that really is what you need.

Intermittent fasting is proven, folks. It's not a theory and Mark Gilbert's advice above about is completely mis-guided and wrong, relative to skipping breakfast foiling your weight loss. I won't hound Peter, as he admits to being a blind sheep and just following the guy with the stamp on his paper. That's common.. and unfortunate. Always question what people are telling you when it comes to your health!
Start with this one.. and if you need a few hundred more links, I'll be glad to provide:
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/meal-frequency-and-energy-balance-research-review.html

Having breakfast is healthier!

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20926520

Ralph, at least have the intelligence to present an argument. I could throw peer reviewed studies back at you all day. Learn the facts and quit being a sheep.
MF doesn't affect body composition: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19943985

Steve Hartman, thank you for amusing me and making me laugh… lol if you were smart enough to read between the lines you would have easily understood my obvious argument and wouldn’t have posted such a stupid comment with an irrelevant pubmed link that has nothing to do with skipping breakfast!

Again.. have an intelligent response or don't bother. You could actually benefit from a little breakfast skipping.. would help you get that body fat down under 14%.

Steve Hartman, the fact that you willingly keep on ridiculing your own intelligence in public by posting such irrelevant nonsense says it all. Your evident inferiority complex is hilarious lol

I used to have a fat percentage of 6.2, with eating breakfast as usually my biggest meal of the day. Unfortunately, I was injured and training stopped for a while; but breakfast in my opinion is HIGHLY recommended!

All my clients I've trained have been told to eat breakfast. what you're suggesting Steve is no better than taking a trip down to weight watchers... Sure you'll lose weight; but I'm not too sure on how much muscle will be depleted as a fuel source to supply the body with energy, or in fact how strong you'll feel mentally or physically!

Starving yourself in the morning after a 7-10 hour fast seems very extreme to me, having a high protein and complex carb breakfast isnt going to make you fat! This is just my opinion and what all my clients get advised on doing.