Never Skip Breakfast… or could you?

Often too much weight has been given to the importance of eating breakfast.

In my view meal frequency just isn’t worth worrying about for most people.

A study by Schlundt 1992 took 52 obese subjects through a 12 week treatment. Their metabolic rate was established at the beginning of the trial to establish their calorie requirements for weight loss.

The group were divided into two groups:

1. Habitual breakfast eaters
2. Non habitual breakfast eaters

Both underwent two different treatments where their daily intake was split between:

• Two meals per day
• Three meals per day

The habitual breakfast eaters lost:

• 8.9kg in the no breakfast treatment
• 6.2kg in the breakfast treatment

The breakfast skippers lost:

• 6.0 kg in the no breakfast
• 7.7 kg in the breakfast treatment

Often when this study is cited I’ve seen it quoted that the subjects calorie intake was identical. However, this was not in fact the case, the subjects actually used diaries in free living conditions (at home at work etc) to report their intake. Despite the fact that this trial didn’t control for calories perhaps that doesn’t matter.

In my view this study shows that making a conscientious change to your daily routine might in itself be a factor in the success or failure of your weight loss. It takes a lot of focus and discipline to skip a meal when you would normally have one or to eat one when you usually skip one.

What do you think from your own experience. Could focus and discipline be the most important factor in weight loss? Let me know your thoughts.

Spence.