Struggling with skipping breakfast

I've finally got my cycle back (18 months pp, thanks my boob obsessed DD!) so have just started back on the LE diet, but a week in and I'm struggling already.
I skipped breakfast for years with no trouble but now I'm feeling awful by about 10am if I don't eat, like faint and super hangry and even having chest tightness and palpitations 😬
I've still been having a coffee with sweetener and a dash of soy or oat milk at around 8am.

I have read on here that skipping breakfast isn't essential, as long as overall calories stay low, but how true is that really? It seems like the extended fasting is particularly beneficial? (So skipping breakfast better than skipping lunch?)

I am still breastfeeding a few times overnight so that probably doesn't help, I'm pretty depleted by morning 😝

Any opinions on how to tackle this? Keep trying to skip breakfast but up my calories later in the day so I still feel human? Eat something small in the morning, then less later on? Increase minerals/electrolytes?

(Also first post, hi! A friend recommended this forum when I was TTC my girl, so hoping we'll be blessed with another!)

What time are you eating dinner the night before? I believe it is more about the longer fast between meals like you said.

Personally I eat 3 meals a day still, but I have dinner so late that the 12-14hr fast I’ve been doing puts my “breakfast” around lunchtime, lol.

Do it you’re having dinner at a normal time like say 6pm, having your first meal at 10am is already a 16hr fast! 12-16hrs is the amount of time you wait to aim for; I’m usually at 13hrs, sometimes 14. It all depends on what time you eat dinner the night before.

I find three meals much more manageable, plus I’m aiming for 1800 cals which would mean two ~900 cal meals a day, which is crazy! I feel much better with three meals a day, and as long as I’m hitting at least a 12hr fast between dinner and the first meal, I’m not worried about it.

Hope that helps! [emoji4]


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I agree it’s about the overnight fast more than anything from what I understand. I have three meals too, dinner at 6pm and breakfast at 10am so 16 hrs in between. I would not be able to skip breakfast!!!


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Hi! I was going to start a thread with the same issue. I think that the important bit is the fast between meals. Atomic always said that most keep with 3 meals and still have good results. Lots just push breakfast a bit later in the day so their fast is a bit longer. I find it very hard to skip breakfast too. I wake up thinking about it so I don't know how I will do with that. My idea was having a coffee and then have breakfast later.

I've not fully started with the LE as I'm going to ease in, but I've been trying to stop snacking between meals and I had never realised how much I do it. I find it very hard and specially with the children, as they have their snacks. If we're out and about it's not so bad and I can cope with it, but if we're at home (and that is a lot with covid19) I find it difficult to not eat between meals. Any tricks or ideas to get over this??


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Originally Posted by Lulila

Hi! I was going to start a thread with the same issue. I think that the important bit is the fast between meals. Atomic always said that most keep with 3 meals and still have good results. Lots just push breakfast a bit later in the day so their fast is a bit longer. I find it very hard to skip breakfast too. I wake up thinking about it so I don't know how I will do with that. My idea was having a coffee and then have breakfast later.

I've not fully started with the LE as I'm going to ease in, but I've been trying to stop snacking between meals and I had never realised how much I do it. I find it very hard and specially with the children, as they have their snacks. If we're out and about it's not so bad and I can cope with it, but if we're at home (and that is a lot with covid19) I find it difficult to not eat between meals. Any tricks or ideas to get over this??


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Not snacking is the hardest part for me too!! I used to constantly graze, like all day long. What I’ve been doing, that helps a LITTLE, is to kind of build my snacks into my meals. Like a serving of laughing cow spreadable cheese with a serving of good thins crackers, and a serving of strawberries with a 100 calorie snack cup of dark chocolate hummus... but have those things WITH my lunch. So snacking WITH the meal, instead of in between. It kind of adds a little bit more variety, and it’s almost like the grazing of my days prior, but grazing bunched into three times in a day instead of all day long! If that makes sense, lol [emoji4]


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Good point about dinner! I'll try keep that no later than 6pm and should give up my pre-bedtime hot cocoa.

@Lulila - my toddler loves your koala avatar, grabbed my phone out of my hands and started kissing it lol

I hear you on the snacking all day when you're stuck at home! Lots of low-cal drinks helps me, coffee or diet coke or cordial (I suck at drinking plain water, but that would be best!) And delaying rather than denying - so instead of telling yourself "no you can't have this tasty snack!" you think "I'll look forward to eating this, when it's meal time". Then if you still want it by then you can, but you'll probably have forgotten about it by then ;p

Please eat at 10 am! That still counts as skipping breakfast. I often ate that early when I couldn't make it to 11. That is absolutely fine.

just to clarify two things: the PP's are correct, it is the overnight time 12-16 hours that matters and NOT breakfast itself. And you do not need to slavishly stick to a schedule every day or eat only at a certain time of day, that's not necessary and contributes to that control freakishness that may sway blue. Skipping lunch is fine provided you are getting in the appropriate amount of fat, protein, and calories in the day. Also, both 2 and 3 meals are equally acceptable, so you can probably have breakfast, lunch, and dinner and still be within the guidelines. Personally I ate breakfast somewhere between 10-12, then again at 4-5ish, and then had a bedtime snack since I couldn't sleep on an empty stomach.

Chest tightness and palpitations shoudl not be going along with not eating though so we need to get to the bottom of that. How much fat, protein, calories, and sodium/potassium are you eating?

I want to be sure since you're breastfeeding you are eating 1800-2000 cals a day, 50-60 g protein and fat (not counting the pro and fat in fruit and veg, and NOTHING in low carb veg since they're free and unlimited)

So you had a successful sway in 2018 using our methods?? Cool beans!

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Originally Posted by atomic sagebrush

Chest tightness and palpitations shoudl not be going along with not eating though so we need to get to the bottom of that. How much fat, protein, calories, and sodium/potassium are you eating?
...
So you had a successful sway in 2018 using our methods?? Cool beans!

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Thank you for clarifying the fasting/skipping meals! ^_^

So after reading your post I had a play around in myfitnesspal and figured out to how display other nutrients and I am totally not getting enough potassium!! Averaging only 1000 mg a day :O That could definitely explain the palpitations and other symptoms of feeling run down, so definitely need to get that number up asap!
I'm averaging around 1500 cal, 50g protein, 50g fat. I'm quite small so was going lower on calories but will bump that up a bit too and see how I go.

And yes! I didn't make an account then, just lurked ;) I'm still thrilled by the result too!

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Originally Posted by hotlikemexico

Not snacking is the hardest part for me too!! I used to constantly graze, like all day long. What I’ve been doing, that helps a LITTLE, is to kind of build my snacks into my meals. Like a serving of laughing cow spreadable cheese with a serving of good thins crackers, and a serving of strawberries with a 100 calorie snack cup of dark chocolate hummus... but have those things WITH my lunch. So snacking WITH the meal, instead of in between. It kind of adds a little bit more variety, and it’s almost like the grazing of my days prior, but grazing bunched into three times in a day instead of all day long! If that makes sense, lol [emoji4]


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I try to do the same, include some kind of treat in the meals but for now i'm just monitoring what i'm eating a bit to find out how much protein and fat i have in normal basis.

I'm not planning to sway until december/january as I'm exclusively breastfeeding and i don't think my period will come before that. So i still have plenty time, but as we are not going to ttc but probably not prevent either (3 children under 4 that end up in your bed in the middle of the night is the best birth control ever!). After DS3 surprise i prefer to be on the LE diet as soon as possible and doing the exercise just in case.

My Fitness Pal is notoriously unreliable on potassium (it says you're getting less than you actually are) but at any rate yes still up potassium and sodium if limiting that. Fruit juice is a great addition to help you get some extra potassium easily. Please keep me posted if you continue feeling unwell.