To eat Breakfast or not to eat Breakfast?

Is that a question you struggle with every day?  Or maybe it is something you worry about when you run out of time or 'forget' to do in the morning.  If you answered yes to either of these questions, then maybe this interesting study can put your mind at ease.

***Please keep in mind this is just informative information.  At the end of the day you are in charge of your body and can practice whatever  you believe is right and best for you.  I am posting this information to just expand your mind and make you think possibly outside of the box.  So many people are stick in one way of thinking.  I am using this post to provide you with information you may not have thought of before or provide you with more evidence on what you are doing is the correct way and you shouldn't change a thing :-) ***


Last week, in the New York Times Blog (yes the NYT has a blog too, so cool!) under the health a diet section there was an article that presented a good argument on whether or not having breakfast does actually aid in weight loss.  You can find the original article here, but I am going to summarize and point out facts I found to be interesting.

"Americans have long been told that routinely eating breakfast is a simple habit that helps prevent weight gain.

Skipping breakfast, the thinking goes, increases hunger throughout the day, making people overeat and seek out snacks to compensate for missing that first – and some would say most important – meal of the day.

“Eating a healthy breakfast is a good way to start the day,” according to the Web site of the United States surgeon general, “and may be important in achieving and maintaining a healthy weight.”

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has put together some studies to see what is true, does eating breakfast help in weight loss or at the end of the day is the person who eats breakfast eating more calories than the person who doesn't.

Three different test groups were performed.  All of the groups got the same amount of calories.  The differences were, one group you normally ate breakfast were told to stop, the group that normally skipped breakfast were told to starting eating breakfast and the third group was told to keep their same eating habits.  (Please keep in mind all the adults tested are considered overweight).

In numerical order here is how each group stacked up in weight loss.

Most weight lost: 

1. Group that skipped breakfast

2. Group that started to eat breakfast

3. Group that changed nothing

In conclusion, breakfast eaten or not eaten had no effect.  The reality is the groups that changed their eating habits had the most success.

Our bodies are very smart and can adapt easily.  This might prove and encourage you to change up eating habits every once in awhile if you feel like you are at a stand still in your weight loss goals.

What I do find to be extremely important is to remember your overall goal is to be healthy, that should be your motivation in your decision.