We’ve all heard the notion that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Mom and dad drilled that phrase since into our heads since we seen the light of this world. Eating like a king is usually recommended as well, we need to eat big and eat whatever you set your sight on.

Your registered dietician and medical doctors told you the same thing. To them, skipping breakfast is as bad as letting kittens die.  So they advice never to skip your breakfast, especially if you are embarking on the journey of fat loss.

However, in recent years, there has been a growing number of people that skips their breakfast. Not because they are like us, waking up at 8.30am, showering at 8.30am and rushing to work at 8.30am when work starts at 8.30am.

These “rebels” intentionally skipped breakfast in the quest for better performance, better concentration and of course, the ultimate goal of looking good naked. This was also the birth of Intermittent fasting (IF).

The best definition of IF is the simplest one: IF is simply alternating intervals fasting with times where you are allowed to eat. So it’s like you eat some and then you don’t eat some.

Sounds pretty simple to me.

Before I share anything with my readers, I will enslave myself to experiments just to experience “miracle” methods before giving it my stamp of approval. After all, if there was an experiment that might turn someone into Superman, I definitely want to be the first to undergo that transformation.

That’s exactly what I did with IF. I must say that initially I was very sceptical since I’ve been a believer of the “you must eat 6 meals every 2-3 hours or your precious muskelz will die” diet. But my desire of turning myself into superman made me take on the IF protocol.

Experimenting with IF brought me to the conclusion that breakfast isn’t really awesome as what I used to think it is. I messed around with fasting for 15-16 hours/day and eating during the remaining 8-9 hours. This fasting and eating period is usually optimal for most people.

So here are some reason why I think breakfast isn’t really that big deal when it comes to looking good naked.

1. People eat a whole lot of crap

A person who is enslaved by the thought that places the crown on breakfast often makes poor food choices. Just because people think breakfast is “important”, they tend to eat anything and everything for breakfast.

We all know what the obvious food choices for breakfast are: Sugar coated Donuts, bowls of crappy cereal, a cup of Starbucks Frappucino with extra whipped cream and the list goes on.

Its funny how people think that breakfast is the essential when it comes to losing weight but expect to do so by eating that ton of crap.

These poor food choices are usually caused by the inability to prepare a proper meal because of the lack of time or sometimes people are just downright lazy. So the obvious choice is to grab whatever is in sight, and it’s probably not an egg omelette.

When it comes to losing weight, the important thing is caloric balance. In order to lose weight, you need to use more calories than you eat. Honestly speaking, most typical breakfast provides an influx of crappy calories which might possibly set you up for possible weight gain if calorie consumption is not managed throughout the day.

So the obvious when you have crappy food choice is to not eat anything at all. This will help eliminate any form of calories rather than putting a crap load of it and expecting miracle weight loss.

Sometimes it’s also convenient not to think of breakfast and just proceed with your daily activities.

2. Hormone regulation

The last time we heard about hormones is during the metamorphosis of turning into a teenager that was filled with testosterone/estrogens that were also suddenly attracted to the opposite sex.

But those are not the hormones I am going to talk about. Albeit there are many hormonal responses that take place in our bodies when we fast, I’m going to cover the two main hormones: Insulin and Ghrelin.

Insulin

People with diabetes usually have insulin problems and accompanying it might be some excessive weight on their bodies. This is because insulin manages your sugar level and to put it extremely simple, carbohydrates turn into sugars upon digestion and if they are not managed properly, they can be stored as fat.

Insulin is also secreted every time we consume a carb rich meal ( certain proteins causes the secretion of insulin, but that’s for another post).

Insulin sensitivity is also the most sensitive when you wake up, which is why most dieticians and doctors recommend a big breakfast.

However, insulin sensitivity is not enhanced because you woke up from sleep; it is enhanced because when you are asleep you are fasting for approximately 6-8 hours. During that period of no food intake, liver glycogen is depleted which leads to greater insulin sensitivity.

Since when we wake up our insulin sensitivity is high; skipping breakfast would not replenish the glycogen in your liver which leads to even higher insulin sensitivity.

Ultimately, better insulin sensitivity will lead to more efficient dieting. It will lead to better weight loss and help keep that fat off for longer periods of time.

This means that when it comes to losing weight, breakfast isn’t necessary and not much of a big deal. <—— Click To Tweet!

It’s not to say that breakfast is bad, I’m just saying that when it comes to fasting, breakfast seems like the obvious meal to skip since it’s the easiest.

Remember it’s not about what time of the day you fast but how long you fast for.

Ghrelin

To keep this short and simple, Ghrelin is a hormone that regulates hunger. Certain people will undergo mood swings when they are hungry. This is probably why you should never mess with hungry men and this effect is also regulated by Ghrelin.

Every time Ghrelin is secreted, we become hungry. So when we fast, we train our bodies to withstand the hunger inducing effects of Ghrelin. Just like how everything else in our bodies work, adaptation will occur. That means that the more you fast, the easier it becomes to withstand hunger.

In the long run, better hunger management will lead to better physique gains.

 3. Performance and   Concentration

We’ve all heard complains of feeling sleepy after one eats. This happens because your body secretes Serotonin, which makes you feel like sleeping beauty after your meal.

Serotonin is triggered when there is consumption of carbohydrates. Based on the typical diet that most people consume, I must say that a heck load of serotonin will be secreted after your typical breakfast.

So after breakfast you might get an energy boost, but not long after, you will experience a crash and feel like falling into a sleep coma.

Does that sound like a perfect way to start your day at work?

Besides, I’ve also experienced increased focus whenever I perform my tasks in the morning fasted. Without the need to think of breakfast, I just get up, take my shower and start work.

I’m actually fasting as I type this.

Another way fasting can improve performance is by getting rid of inflammation that takes place in our body.

We typically put our body through a whole lot of stress and this result in inflammation. Inflammation  causes our body to function inefficiently and can cause weight gain and weight retention.

What happens during short term (15-16 hours) fasting is that a process called autophagy takes place. Think of it as a cleanup crew that cleans up the inflammation and spoilt tissue in your body.

This process is also assisted because when you are not consuming any food; your body takes a break from all the processes that are required in food digestion, which further reduces the stress placed on your body.

So think of intermittent fasting as letting your body take a holiday to replenish itself which in the long run, can lead to better lifestyle changes

Wrapping Up

While this might be a short introduction to some benefits of Intermittent fasting, I do hope it gives you an idea of why breakfast isn’t as important.

It’s hard to actually change your mindset immediately, but I hope that as I continue with the next couple of parts, you will be able to make the choice if you would want to skip breakfast or not.

So for now, let’s wait for part II where I would share how to practice IF to compliment your lifestyle goals. If you have any questions, which I hope you do, leave them in the comment section below!

Anyone going to embark on the IF journey? If so drop a yes at the comment section, and don’t forget to share this because breakfast might just be overrated! 

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  kedric

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  Trixie Ng Zi Yi
  

  What would you say if I told you that people who don’t eat breakfast tend to be grumpier than those who do?

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