Question about tweaking the 3 meals a day component

cricket · Post by **cricket** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 12:40 am

I know I should eat breakfast, but I am NOT a breakfast eater. Even when I go to bed a bit hungry at night, I don't wake up hungry and usually can go for 3-4 hours before eating. The only thing I like in the morning is my coffee. I usually drink about two cups (appx 15 ounces) with a couple spoonfuls of my favorite creamer (Coffee Mate French Vanilla--and no sugar).

I have been doing No-S for a couple weeks and have found that my 3 meals a day just happen at a later time: coffee in the morning, lunch at 12, small meal at 4 or 5pm, and another small meal at 8 or 9pm.

Usually lunch is my biggest meal, then I have two smaller meals later that day---which still sticks to the 3 meals a day. I don't snack at all, and the only thing I have between meals if I get super hungry is tea with a bit of milk.

So--what do you guys think? I guess I could force myself to eat breakfast, but with my current schedule (I'm a high school teacher), I'm racing out the door at 7 am and really not stopping till lunch at 12.

Anyone with a similar conundrum?

NoelFigart · Post by **NoelFigart** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 12:48 am

Way to go out on that limb there-- three meals a day... LOL.

Do it that way, if that's what works for you. Why change it?

I'm majorly in love with breakfast, myself, but that doesn't say other people have to be!

Sienna · Post by **Sienna** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 1:09 am

I'm not generally hungry right when I get up either. BUT while many diets may debate the merits of low fat vs low carb vs calories-in-calories-out or lots of small meals vs a few larger ones, one pretty consistent message that I've seen is "don't skip breakfast".

I've read somewhere that nearly 50% of obese people skip breakfast versus approximately 25% of normal weight people*. While correlation doesn't necessarily equal causation, it was enough to make me add in breakfast as part of my NoS lifestyle. I don't generally have a large breakfast, except maybe on the weekends. Usually something like a yogurt or a small bowl of oatmeal or if I'm in a huge hurry, a spoonful of peanut butter as I run out the door (I'm horrible, I know, but it does a surprisingly good job of staving off hunger and it's really quick and easy).

I've noticed that on days that I eat breakfast (true breakfast, in the morning within an hour of waking, not a third meal I tuck in later in the day because I skipped true breakfast - because I used to do that too

), I eat a lot less overall than on days I skip breakfast. And it's not just that I eat the same overall but split into 3 meals instead of 2 or something. Even including what I eat at breakfast, my total food intake is less on days I eat breakfast. Plus I have more energy and I'm usually less grumpy...

Now, we are all different, so it's worth it to figure out what works for you, but I might suggest that you take a week or two and *try* the breakfast thing and see how it works out for you.

*note: I'm fairly sure I have these percentages right, I remember it being not quite double but I don't actually have the source in front of me now, sorry

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 1:49 am

I think the importance of breakfast is highly overrated. I LOVE breakfast food, just not in the morning. Some people do well with it; others do well without it. Do what works for you.

cricket · Post by **cricket** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 3:55 am

Ok thanks everyone. I figured it would be alright---there are just so many "sources" that claim eating late at night is so bad for you, how dare you not eat a hearty breakfast by 8:00am every day, etc., etc.....

If it works for me, I'll stick to it.

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 8:51 am

I don't think 8 or 9 is "late" at night. There are many places around the world where the last meal of the day is consumed at that time and where breakfast is the least important meal of the day. Unless you have some digestive issues, it really doesn't matter.

yoozer · Post by **yoozer** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 8:56 am

I think the "don't skip breakfast " thing is supposed to be interpreted as "don't make yourself excessively hungry" (and possibly also tied into the completely bogus "kickstart your metabolism" idea). But if you're not hungry until, say, five hours after you get up, I see absolutely no point in making yourself eat for the sake of it. In my view, that's just wasting food that you could eat later when you'll appreciate it more.

Nicest of the Damned · Post by **Nicest of the Damned** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 2:51 pm

wosnes wrote:I don't think 8 or 9 is "late" at night. There are many places around the world where the last meal of the day is consumed at that time and where breakfast is the least important meal of the day. Unless you have some digestive issues, it really doesn't matter.

I don't, either.

When I went to Italy on my honeymoon, it seemed a lot of the restaurants in Florence opened for dinner at 9:00. Nicest Husband and I went to one at 9:00 for dinner, and we were the only ones in the restaurant. It was like being one of those old people who eat dinner at 4pm here, like my grandparents used to do.

The obesity rate in Italy was 8.5% as of 2005, compared to 30.6% for the US. I'd say eating late at night isn't making them fat.

If you have problems with acid reflux, eating late at night might hurt you. For people with that, lying down soon after eating is not a good idea, since gravity isn't helping to keep the acid down the way it is when you're sitting or standing up.