Is eating breakfast a key to successful weight control?
Posted on 3 March 2008
Published March 3, 2008 . Filed under: Children's Health, Healthy Eating, Unhealthy Eating!, Weight Loss
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I’m not so sure about breakfast… like you say, it depends on what breakfast-skippers eat later. What about Interval Fasting and Fast-5 when done low-carb? I’ve been doing a low-carb version of Fast-5 (19 hours overnight fasting/5 hours eating window) for the last three weeks and am losing weight consistently, plus have much more energy than before.
March 3, 2008 @ 6:34 pm
Jenny
I’m open to this sort of approach, but have no experience of it, particularly in the long term. Do you have a sense for what the long-term results generally are?
March 3, 2008 @ 7:06 pm
Dear Dr Briffa, re: the long term…..
Cliff Richard says he has been doing this for most of his adult life i.e. just eating in the evenings, as a response to being called ‘podgy’ ( or somesuch) after appearing on Coronation Street in his twenties!
Prima facie, it seems to have worked well.
March 4, 2008 @ 3:28 pm
[...] Dr Biffa has put forward the case and I accept all his points. Namely: [...]
March 5, 2008 @ 10:51 am
Hi Dr. Briffa,
I have to admit, I’ve been using your Bircher muesli recipe (“Hunter” version) for a few weeks now, and found I am less prone to snacking in between meals and after evening meals lately.
Thanks.
March 7, 2008 @ 1:20 pm
Hello Dr Briffa
What would you suggest a recently diagnosed coeliac had for breakfast?
Thank-you
Violet
March 8, 2008 @ 10:15 am
I have not heard of Bircher muesli. After looking it up, it looks like something I’d enjoy. Must be a European thing. Thanks.
March 9, 2008 @ 3:44 am
As a nutritional therapist and sceptic of the low-fat/high-carb dogma, I usually recommend an egg-based breakfast such as a 2-egg omelette with a generous amount of organic butter and one slice of wholegrain toast: The high fat + protein content tend to keep you going for around 4 hours, plus you get plenty of nutrients from the eggs, vitamins A and E from the butter and a little fibre thrown in from the toast.
March 9, 2008 @ 6:32 pm
As I also teach children as well as being a nutritioinst,I am very concerned about what they eat. Nearly always coco pops or something similar . Some have choc spread sandwiches for lunch with sugary drinks. It could break your heartSorry about typos., but parents have no idea that it affects the brain. Sometimes I feel I am on another planet from everyone else. Sometimes I think I am mad and the odd one out so it is nice to know that there are others who think like me. Any moral support out there?
March 10, 2008 @ 11:24 pm
Hi Dr. Briffa! Regular reader, haven’t posted much though. Really enjoy your blog.
I rarely eat breakfast. In fact, I eat my first meal at around 2-3pm, most days, then have dinner several hours later. My diet is concentrated around meat and fat, mainly, with some veg and dairy. Throughout the day I’ll have several cups of decaf tea with coconut milk or heavy cream.
This started out as me experimenting with IF (varying schedules) but now I just eat when I’m hungry. It finally got my weight loss going again, and I am now at my lowest adult weight ever. BTW, I don’t restrict calories, nor am I eating a low-cal diet.
I don’t go hungry, or snack. My meals are no larger than they were when I ate three meals a day. And I am finally free of compulsive eating issues!
From my personal experience eating a high carb/low fat diet, starches don’t satisfy my appetite. I could (and did) eat all day, and missing a meal left me insanely hungry and irritable. HFLC doesn’t leave me hungry at all, or irritable…there’s no difference in my alertness or functioning when I am “fasted” as opposed to fed. I’ve even completed several strength training sessions in a fasted state, with no ill effects.
My sense is these breakfast studies involve people eating a SAD/high carb diet.
Violet, I’m celiac as well – it can take a while to get out of the “breakfast food” mentality and start eating regular foods for brekkie, I know! Bacon and eggs are great, and keep you nice and full. Muffins and other bread-type foods can be made with nut flours, and flax meal makes a nice, albeit slightly gummy, hot cereal. A really, really delicious “danish” can be made in the microwave with 4 T cream cheese, 1 egg and the flavourings of your choice – vanilla, sweetener, cinnamon and butter is a personal fave, though you can use jam, or savory ingredients as well! The recipe section at http://www.lowcarb.org has wonderful, gluten-free breakfast ideas.
March 15, 2008 @ 1:51 pm
After years of yo yo dieting – losing up to 20kg’s at a time thro starving mostly and then piling them back on after a few months – I decided to try something different! Instead of “dieting ” persay, I have commited to a “lifestyle change”. Starting the day with a wholesome breakfast was a first for me, especially one as delicious as a bowl of Bircher Muesli, some grated apple with tsp. honey! I have added 60 minutes of cardio and strengthening sessions 3 x a week and this breakfast is brilliant for energy. To think back to the days of an apple and a cup of black coffee! Raw & natural is the way to go for me, with sensible choices throughout the day – 14kg’s down (in about 6 months, so no overnight fix!) with another 15 to go! Let’s face it, the faster it comes off, the faster it comes back!
April 8, 2008 @ 8:53 am
having been on/off ‘diets’ for many years,now at the age of 70
I wonder if I will ever get to grips with weight loss! Have I left it too late? I know exercise plays an important aid to weight loss but this does not come so easy at a mature age!
August 26, 2008 @ 10:00 pm