How essential is Breakfast?

[Texan_in_Fla]

This is just my 2nd day on the Atkins diet and I wanted to throw out this question. As surprising as it may seem, since I need to lose 90 lbs, I have never been a big breakfast eater. I am not a bacon & eggs guy and I usually do my damage with a sizeable lunch and dinner. My plan is to have an early lunch (around 11am) and to eat dinner right when I get off work (around 6:30pm). Maybe an Atkins approved snack in there somewhere if I need it. Am I messing up my metabolism or some other element of body chemistry by not eating breakfast?

[Laurenfra]

I in general eat like you. I always ate a big brunck at 11 and dinner 5. When I first began Atkins I continued to eat like this.
Dr. Atkins suggests eat every 3 hours. I just could not imagine eating all that food. When I went on OWl I changed it up trying to eat more often. I found I ate less overall and lost quicker. Its worth a try. It doesnt have to be a meal.
Many here never eat bacon and eggs for breakfast. Try a piece of lunch meat, left over dinner or a piece of cheese.

Welcome to Atkins and ADBB

[not2late]

Well, let's see. Part of losing weight on Atkins depends on keeping your blood sugar level. That's why Dr. Atkins says not to go more than 6 waking hours without eating something.

While you sleep, you generally aren't eating. So if you sleep 7 hours then you don't eat for another 5, you'll be "fasting" for 12 hours--that could wreck havoc with your blood sugar and you might end up over-eating to compensate for your low(ish) blood sugar. If you over-eat, two things happen: 1. you cause your blood sugar to spike and 2. you can quite possibly eat more calories than your body requires. But wait, you say, we don't count calories on Atkins. That's true we don't count calories because Dr. Atkins relied on us following our natural hunger-satiety cues so we self-limit caloric intake, but calories do matter and if you over-eat your Atkins you won't lose weight.

Breakfast doesn't have to be "bacon and eggs". It can be whatever food (Atkins legal food) you want it to be. Think outside of the "box". We have one ADBB member whose favorite breakfast is taco salad! It can be a hard-boiled egg or a slice of grilled chicken breast. It doesn't have to be a "big" breakfast either, but make sure you bring along a snack in case you become hungry between your breakfast and lunch.

[BikerGoddess]

I've found that I lose better when I have breakfast. The trick, if you will, to getting Atkins to work for you is maintaining steady blood glucose/insulin levels and letting your body know that it will continue to get fuel, so it doesn't go into starvation mode.

Our bodies have developed to be able to withstand feast and famine cycles. We do that by storing up body fat during times of plenty, then judiciously using those stores during lean times. Since no one's sure when a famine would end, the longer you could go without food the better.

However, this physiology came about before McDonalds, and there are no lean times anymore. Takes awhile for the body to evolve, though, and we're stuck with it not knowing when it'll get its next meal. When you go more than about 6 hours without food, your body starts to assume there's a famine and actually slows your metabolism down. Sleeping already puts you at 8 hours or more, and when you skip breakfast, you're going over half the day without food.

There are a lot of options for breakfast that don't involve bacon and eggs. This morning I had sausage (2 minutes, and that was because I couldn't figure out how to open the package). I've had deviled eggs, cheese, celery and cream cheese, deli meat rollups, pepperoni sticks, and leftovers. There was a cafeteria where I used to work, and I'd get omlettes nearly every morning. Lots o' variety there.

You're never restricted to 'breakfast' foods in the morning. Do a search for some more ideas.

Laura

[Moochiecat]

I used to gag when it came to eating in the morning, so having breakfast was a real challenge to me.
I started out small, having just a boiled egg, or some leftover meat, or some deli meat wrapped around a piece of cheese. After a time I began to wake up hungry!

Breakfast kick starts your metabolism...you don't need a full sit-down meal, you just need a few mouthfulls. Think of it as putting gas in the tank to get the motor running for the day.

As you read in the book (Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution, version 2002, DANDR for short) the goal of Atkins is to keep your blood sugars on an even keel. Eating the smaller meals/snacks at least every six hours accomplishes this. The other benefit of this is that you just feel better, calmer and more satisfied.

Are you messing things up by having only two meals a day? Well, I think you are compromising your odds of success on Atkins if you are doing things contrary to what the book suggests. Why mess with a tried and true formula by doing it your way?

Why not try it as the book suggests for a week or two and see how you feel.

[yemenitegreen]

I agree with the sound advice in the answers given - I tend to eat less when I eat more often (sounds silly but isn't). And the regular eating keeps the blood sugar levels even. But still, Atkins says not to eat when you are not hungry, and so I skip breakfeast when I don't feel the need to eat something, and eat a snack as soon as I feel hungry.

You shouldn't skip your water (oder morning beverage), though. I found that a quick snack like a hard boiled egg with a little bit of mayo, or some cold chicken leftovers, do the trick for me, doesn't have to be a 'full scale' breakfast.

yemenitegreen

[SugarFreeSheila]

You'll never see me eat plain eggs for breakfast, so I know where you're coming from! I do, however, feel it's vital to eat something soon after rising because doing so gets your system revved for the day! That said, you don't need to feel stuck having breakfast-style foods for your first meal of the day - who says you absolutely MUST have cereal, oatmeal, bacon, etc.? If it's something sweet or nothing, you can easily make low-carb pancakes, shakes, waffles, a flan, etc., using all Induction-safe ingredients ... or you can have leftovers from the night before. (I LOVE cold, seasoned pork ribs in the morning.) Just let your imagination run wild!

[2big4mysize]

looks like you have gotten great answers already. SO just have some of your veggies, some source of fat and some source of protein and have a meal after you wake up. you could workout first and then eat if you want but eating not only stabilizes your blood sugar it actually increases your metabolism to handle the influx of calories you are getting. Yep we are genetically programed to up the metobol;ic rate as we are starting to eat cause food is coming.

Happy low carbing