Idea: if you sleep in and miss breakfast, don't eat for the rest of the day

[Tasaio]

I make the terrible mistake of sleeping in, sometimes. If this happens, I'll typically wait until lunch or 2 PM to eat my dinner/lunch.

However, I always end up being hungry late at night (9 PM)...leaving my bedtime until 2 AM.

The solution, for me, was to fast for the rest of the day. If you miss your healthy breakfast, then you can't eat anything else. Make sure to drink lots of water, though.

This has the effect of making me tired very early in the evening. The first time I tried this, I got up at 6 AM the next morning!

However, I should point out that I do not know the health effects of fasting this often. At the moment, I'm fasting every other day. Hopefully I'll get through this soon.

[escapee]

I'm fasting every other day. Hopefully I'll get through this soon

I'm always concerned when ppl fast regularly as it's a big risk for various nutrients deficiency. If you are really serious about your plan , be sure to look for early sign of deficiency ( eg : finger nails, energy level and etc ) and act on it to save you from future medical trouble.

Stay healthy !

malnutrition: Definition and Much More from Answers.com

[moviestar]

I don't consider breakfasts healthy. It's an idea that it is propagated by cereal companies. I'm never hungry when I wake up. Check out the Warriors Diet. I feel extremely well while on it. There was a thread about it here on the forums.

[Dimitry]

Originally Posted by moviestar

I don't consider breakfasts healthy. It's an idea that it is propagated by cereal companies. I'm never hungry when I wake up. Check out the Warriors Diet. I feel extremely well while on it. There was a thread about it here on the forums.

While cereal companies definately try to push that cereal is the best thing to have for breakfast and with most cereals your assumption is most likely true, where did you get the notion that eating breakfast completely is a bad thing?

What about fruit or anything else? Is it also unhealthy to eat that in the morning too?

The way I see it (someone else pointed this out), your body is basically fasting for about 10 hours straight before breakfast on average (lets say 8hs sleep and the last time you eat anything is 2hs before breakfast both give or take). So after 10h of no food and about 8hs of no water, I'd bet that proper hydration and nutrition are very important first thing in the morning.

[ripcurly]

I am a raw vegan and not to be aggressive but no breakfast is total nonsense. I usually eat 3 meals of fruit before lunchtime, and 1 hour after my first meal it already feels like midday in terms of energy. midday i usually have a fat such as avocado, coconut, or nuts, and then i ween it off with vegetables in the noon. i drink water but not too much otherwise ill be peeing all night (since everything i eat is loaded with water)

check out rawfoodtalk.com. if you go with an open mind you will be possibly blown away by what you hear. it changed my life. maybe it will change yours

[moviestar]

Originally Posted by Dimitry

While cereal companies definately try to push that cereal is the best thing to have for breakfast and with most cereals your assumption is most likely true, where did you get the notion that eating breakfast completely is a bad thing?

What about fruit or anything else? Is it also unhealthy to eat that in the morning too?

The way I see it (someone else pointed this out), your body is basically fasting for about 10 hours straight before breakfast on average (lets say 8hs sleep and the last time you eat anything is 2hs before breakfast both give or take). So after 10h of no food and about 8hs of no water, I'd bet that proper hydration and nutrition are very important first thing in the morning.

I don't care about the "science" behind it. All dietary programs try to rationalize why this or that is good for you. However advanced our medical science is we simply do not know what is best for the organism. You say 10h with no food is bad. Why do you think that is true? Maybe it needs to clean up the system and it really needs 12h of no food.
The only way I "measure" a diet is my subjective feeling about it. When I wake up I'm never hungry. But I'm usually thirsty and drink a lot of water. I feel great like this and I am productive for a couple of hours until I get hungry and eat something. Thinking about it now, it's not subjective. I really do have more energy, because I do more work while being 'hungry".

[techgal]

Fasting will slow your metabolism to an extremely low level, which makes your body much less efficient at burning fat. Small, frequent meals speed up your metabolism and give you optimum energy.

[DarkSociologist]

Tasaio,

I am not sure what your reasoning is for fasting the rest of the day. Are you doing it simply for the sake of fasting or are you trying to wake up early the next morning so you can eat your breakfast?

If you are trying to wake up early and you have a suspicion that fasting helped your body to wake up, then perhaps you need to take a look at your diet. Do you drink caffeine or eat a lot of sugary or carbohydrate rich foods? These will cause you to have swings in energy levels and affect your sleep.

Try to figure out why it works so you can eliminate the root cause.

[starlet]

Breakfast is very good for you. I'm not saying cereal, but eating in the morning is the best thing to do for your body. I do not eat when I am hungry. I eat when I tell my body it is time to eat.

[shant121]

Originally Posted by escapee

I'm always concerned when ppl fast regularly as it's a big risk for various nutrients deficiency. If you are really serious about your plan , be sure to look for early sign of deficiency ( eg : finger nails, energy level and etc ) and act on it to save you from future medical trouble.

Stay healthy !

malnutrition: Definition and Much More from Answers.com

Fasting is detoxifying. And a break for the digestive system. It has to be done periodically, but every other day is too much.

[moviestar]

Originally Posted by starlet

Breakfast is very good for you. I'm not saying cereal, but eating in the morning is the best thing to do for your body.

Eating breakfast is good because it is good...

You're just typing that mindlessly. What is your reasoning for that?

[brandongilbert]

i agree that fasting everyday is pretty intense and probably is less than ideal for the long term.

also, usually when people wake up and feel hungry they are usually just really thirsty and dehydrated. try drinking water first thing in the morning and then see how hungry you are after that.

[Andrew Brunelle]

What? I can't fast every day! I usually skip lunch or have a light lunch and a large dinner around 7 PM. I usually wake up around 10-11 AM, so I don't know if that would qualify as "sleeping in," but the way some people are on this forum (5 a.m.), it would certainly qualify in their eyes.

I think we should eat every day unless you are planning a fast and have adjusted accordingly. To just fast because you woke up late may keep you starving later in the day. There could be some low blood sugar problems, too.

[funchy]

I'm not sure starving yourself all day is a good reaction to sleeping in, especially if the sleeping in happens more than once in awhile?

What might be happening is you're actually staying up till 2am that night because your whole sleep schedule is shifted, not because of eating? Maybe it's not a good thing you're going without food all day, and your body is negatively reacting by getting exhausted before it would otherwise?

Suggestion: why not eat a light dinner instead of no food all day? Stick with lighter foods, no junk foods or caffeine.

[MasterD]

Eat when hungry, not by the clock.

[magi13]

You have to eat at least once a day no matter the time. It's better if you have a schedule but, to miss everything else? It will not be healthy.

[bluedragon]

If I understand correctly, you were trying to punish yourself for sleeping in by starving yourself all day, since you say yourself that you don't do it for healthy reasons, not knowing them.
There are better ways to wake up early in the morning - more effective (yet gentle) ways. Have you read Steve's articles on this topic? Did they help you? I have experimented multiple ways and I find waking up early the easiest thing in the world.
Besides, how can someone have enough willpower to not eat all day but still no be able to get out of bed?

[TropicThink]

If you sleep in and miss breakfast, just get up earlier the next day so that get to eat breakfast.

[nick666]

I eat one large meal a day-no breakfast ,lunch-the occasinal snack when hungry-if I don't want breakfast I don't have it -I drink between 1 and 2 bottles of wine every day and feel great-if I joss it I'll get my wife to let you know-seems a bit obvious-hungry eat ,thirsty drink,tired sleep I go to bed when I am tired -get up when I want to -don't go over the top in either?Not rocket science

[sirkinm]

Originally Posted by moviestar

I don't consider breakfasts healthy. It's an idea that it is propagated by cereal companies. I'm never hungry when I wake up. Check out the Warriors Diet. I feel extremely well while on it. There was a thread about it here on the forums.

I remember reading about that book. It's one massive meal a day where you gorge yourself -- no thanks.

I love my b-fast

[ken nubo]

Personally, I couldn't go throughout the day without eating. I eat 6 small meals a day

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[Jthorn]

I 'm pretty sure people would eat breakfast before cereal companies.

Considering the OP's idea, I think it would accomplish quite the opposite for me. If I haven't eaten during the day I end up squirming in my bed with hunger and if anything I stay up even more.

[StephanieShine]

Breakfast re-awakens your digestive system so by not having breakfast, the OP is probably not hungry by lunch/dinner because his digestive system is still sleeping. (Way over simplified way to say it.)

I know what you mean by being hungry at night if you missed breakfast or had it relatively later than usual. Instead of not eating all day, I'll have a big meal about an hour before bed that way I still get nutrients in for the day but I wont be hungry when I lay down to sleep. Try this out.

[magi13]

Is it safe to fast every other day? If i miss breakfast, I still eat at least once a day.

[StephanieShine]

Originally Posted by magi13

Is it safe to fast every other day? If i miss breakfast, I still eat at least once a day.

By safe I am assuming you mean enough to prevent malnutrition? In that case, plan your meal and include a variety of foods. Or take a whole food mulitvitamin.