The FastDay Forum

Just saw this in today's Guardian:

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/mar/21/is-it-bad-to-skip-breakfast

A lot of what is discussed in the article is stuff that regulars on here know already, but it's nice to see this topic explored in the national press - particularly as I know that for me, skipping breakfast is the aspect of 5:2 and 16:8 that I spend most time having to explain to other people!

Thanks for sharing! Some of this stuff is just so ingrained in us that it's hard to believe it might not be true. I've been doing 16:8 which means skipping breakfast, and I don't eat anymore later in the day than normal, actually I get full easier. I'm also not lethargic. I'm tired after eating, not when I'm not!

I usually rush to work and don't have much time to sit and eat. I'll probably grab a banana and a granola bar or something on the way. This is one of the other reasons why I mainly do calisthenics now instead of lifting weights. Quick high intensity training mixed with proper nutrition and then fasting (sometimes) gives very good results. At least it does for me.

As for whether or not it is good for you... it depends. I've heard doctors saying different things. Some say it's better to eat light in the morning and a full course meal at lunch, while others believe that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

I think the most important message in this article is "eat when you are hungry". (I know we don't do that on fast days, for good reason.)

An important reason for skipping breakfast is that you automatically avoid its insulin spike and the hungries that often arrive a couple hours later. This effectively extends your overnight fast (allowing your body to continue to burn even more fat) well into the lunch hour - a full 18 hour fast that cost you nothing.

Because our circadian hormones automatically raise our blood sugars a bit to prepare the body for waking up, most people aren't hungry in the morning anyway. So consider a cup of coffee or tea instead of breakfast and get on with your day.

I am converting on 2 of my 3 fast days a week (I do 4:3) a regime where i eat nothing till about 6pm and its only 50 calories on one of the days and 150 calories on the other. only thing i consume is coffee and water .

If you watch BBC Horizons original doco you will have seen Mosley do a 3 day fast. Totally unmarketable but actually very healthy. I cant do 3 days so i do 40 hours if i dont really count that 50 calorie miso soup on a Monday. And never feel hungry on Tuesday morning

No offense meant, but what doctors believe about breakfast or anything else nutrition-related is irrelevant. They disagree just as much as any other group. NO ONE, supposed expert or otherwise, has a corner on the truth. This is why you need to try different strategies to find what works best FOR YOU. This means not blindly following some arbitrary rules because common "wisdom" says so. I now regret nagging my son to eat early in the morning; he was not hungry and it created a constant negative interaction that was entirely unnecessary. And I used to not even consider if I was actually hungry in the morning, I'd been "told" breakfast was important, and I ate it. That didn't really change (other than "what" I ate) until I started 5.2. It's not that I never eat breakfast now, just that I consider other variables before doing so. For example, I go to a freeform dance on Saturday mornings. I began this well after starting 5.2, and since I hadn't been eating breakfast (just a cup of black coffee), I didn't at first. But dancing full out for 75+ minutes, I found myself getting a bit shaky mid-way. So now I do have a light snack; ideal seems to be a piece of wholegrain toast with almond or peanut butter (with my coffee!), optional a few berries on top (in lieu of jam). And since I do love me some cold cereal, some mornings I might have a bowl.

For those of you who just feel you "must" have something in the morning, you could try the food combining breakfast: (yes, plain coffee or tea is allowed)--Eat ONLY raw fresh fruit till noon. No other limits. It's very cleansing; in fact, even now if I feel I'm trying to come down with a cold, I'll do this. When I was doing this all the time, I just made a big bowl of fruit salad--yum!

Moved my reply here:

post239789.html#p239789

for wider distribution.