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Weight Loss: Don’t Eat Breakfast – Lose Weight

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What?!?!?! We’ve been told by weight loss experts for eons that breakfast is the most important meal of the day – to literally, break the fast from the last meal the night before. “Breakfast like a king” they say, meaning eat your biggest meal first thing in the morning so that the body has time to absorb all the nutrietns and your daily activity will remove the excess calories. Well that has bene the crux of the theory. The reality is raising the question: does it work?

According to an Australian specialist surgeon, Dr Andrew Renaut, nothing we have traditionally considered appropriate for weight loss is working. Not even surgery in some cases (it’s easy to cheat by melting your ice cream or chocolate – you’re still consuming those mega-calories that have no nutritional value and will not help you lose weight).

Renaut argues that we need to appproach weight loss in a new way. He proposes NOT eating breakfast. Instead, use that time to up your activity level. You know, movement. Then consume your nutrient-dense calories in a “window” of time from 1pm to 7pm.

The basis of Renaut’s theory is that by eating regularly throughout the day as we do now, we never give the chance for our insulin levels to self-correct meaning they are always raised. That process in itself leads to insulin-intolerance and we actually gain weight. He argues it is necessary to enable the insulin level to get to zero and that is achieved by fasting. Dr Renaut advocates not eating from 7pm to 1pm the next day – a fast of around 18 hours. During this period you can have coffee, green tea and water. By halting insulin production we give our body the chance to use up the fatty acids.

“When it comes to food, there are three main factors: How much do we eat, what type of food we eat, and the amount that we eat. Of those three, the most important is when we eat it.”

Given that we agree with his synopsis, and who wouldn’t, then focusing on frequency and duration of intake is sound. There has been a resurgence of focus on fasting in recent years with the most popular method being the 5:2 diet popularised by Dr Michael Mosely. Most research supports that method as an efective way to live and reduce weight over time.

Under Renaut’s method of eating, you continue to have your required daily intake of 2000 calories for women or 2500 calories for men but you focus on eating them between the 1pm-7pm window, just restricting the carbs. (We usually eat way too many carbs that lead to weight gain). Focus on lots of fresh foods – vegetables, lean meat, fish, dairy, cheese. Some fruit is fine but remember they are full of sugar so eat them in moderation. Avoid bread, pasta, rice etc.

weight loss - better food choices

Make better food choices to lose weight

So the Renaut method is simply eating healthy fresh food from 1pm-7pm and fasting outside that period, by drinking water and coffee/green tea.

Note: it won’t help you to drink sweet creamy coffee frequently! So those 10 caps a day are not going to cut it. Same for those low-cal soft drinks or sodas – they still raise your insulin which is a no-no during fasting and defeats the purpose of the fast ie reduce insulin overload.

Action Plan for Weight Loss

  1. keep a time log for a few days and monitor what you eat when and how much – you might be surprised!
  2. start by introducing the fasting period between 7pm and 1pm the next day, making no other changes until you get into the swing of it
  3. next, remove as many carbs as you can from your intake
  4. give the method at least a month to see the impact on your weight loss progress. If it is working for you, keep going

(As with any changes, check in with your doctor and discuss the planned changes to make sure they will not impact any medical issues you may have).

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Have You Ever Tried Fasting To Help Weight Loss?

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I have to admit, I l-o-v-e my food! So the idea of fasting is usually only under sufferance and demanded by medicos when I have to go in for an op or a blood test that requires fasting. As soon as I hear “Nil by Mouth” my head automatically responds with “Not by Me!”. Annoying that we have to react responsibly sometimes 🙂

Lately I’ve been reading how occasional fasting is good to ‘clean’ your system and reboot your taste buds. In Ayurveda medicine it is also used for weight loss. It never occurred to me to actually do one. That requires discipline – a muscle I rarely exercise.

For some reason, I decided to do a fast on Sunday. It’s recommended you have a good meal on the night before. Luckily I was going to an Indian Curry night at a friend’s. Also luckily, the friend’s who cooked have a healthy eating mantra so the prepared food was not too fattening. I did go back for seconds I have to say, knowing that I’d be food-free for a day.

On the Sunday morning when I woke I carried on my normal routine. I picked Sunday because I had no engagements or visitors so less temptation to eat. In the morning I hit the bushes and pruned madly in the sun then just mooched around. I made sure I kept up the water intake. I didn’t add anything to the water but I could have added some lemon or honey. Probably I drank around 3 litres of water during the fast over 36 hours (including 2 nights sleep). That’s all I had all day – water, being only a one day fast.

It wasn’t til mid afternoon I had a pang of food regret. I downed some water and that passed.

By dinnertime I still wasn’t hungry so I watched a little tv and then went to bed – I knew if I stayed up on my own I’d be very tempted to hit the cupboards and fridge. Yes, I’m an evening, after-dinner binge eater. And I know I’m not alone in that!

I slept well and on waking wasn’t hungry at all. I thought I’d be ravenous. Obviously I have enough food stores in my fat cells to last a while! Lol!

I didn’t eat again until about 12.30 at lunch on Monday when I just had a shake with fruit. Don’t worry – I have a good serve of Indian food waiting for me for dinner and I’ll have a light snack mid-afternoon!

24 hour Fasting Results

Overall I was surprised how easy it was. I didn’t feel headachy or shaky at all. Apart from the morning I didn’t expend much physical energy but I was feeling listless. I survived the day just on water and dropped 0.5 kilos. Much of that will come back as I return to proper eating but I have no desire for sweets or stodgy food which I what I usually reach for when I crave food. I can see it would be detrimental to your health if you fasted just on water for more than a day.

It’s not something I’d do often and I am certainly not promoting it. I’m simply reporting my experience. If you do decide to do a fast I do recommend doing it under supervision, especially if you have any medical conditions or are pregnant. I followed medical instructions.

Having completed the fast, I’m not sure I released much in the way of toxins but I certainly gave my gut a rest and refreshed my taste buds. The weight loss is not something I’m focused on because I suspect it is temporary but maybe a couple hundred grams will be permanently lost.

5 Tips For Fasting

  1. Follow medical advice – don’t do it on your own or following a web plan or a supplement packet
  2. Prepare for it – make sure you have no events or activities on that day – treat it as a day of rest
  3. Keep hydrated – you”ll need to drink more water than usual – every time you think of food, drink some water
  4. After the day of fasting, ease back into eating – choose light healthy meals for breakfast and lunch
  5. Don’t do it just to lose weight – you’ll likely be disappointed after a couple of days

I’m not sure I’ll fast again. If I do I don’t expect I’d do it more than once every 3-4 months or whenever I feel the need to rejig my taste buds and break any pattern of poor eating.

What about you? Have you ever undertaken a fast for medical, health or religious reasons?