Rise and shine, feh.

August 7, 2010 12:56 PM

How do I get hungry for breakfast?

This is a bit of a metabolism question and a bit of a "how does a night owl ratchet back the circadian rhythms" question.

I've taken a new job that involves getting up a little earlier than I've been used to doing. Lifelong, I've been a night owl by tendency, but am now up around 7 to get a specific task done on the web and then out of the house by 8:15 to get to work at 9.

Problem: I don't feel hungry when I get up. When a day belongs to me, I have coffee around 9 and then do other things until I find myself wanting something to eat around 10 or 11. Working, I have to slam a coffee around 7:15 then make myself cram in some food even though I don't want to, because from experience I know that once I'm out getting my ass to work, I'll get hungry just as I arrive, and then have hunger pangs till I can get lunch. But I don't like eating to become a chore like this.

Other possibly relevant points: I'm not on any meds, I sleep well and don't take sleeping pills, I don't drink often and don't smoke (anything), and I'm not given to midnight snacking. I'm experimenting with eliminating gluten from my diet (for unrelated reasons) but am otherwise an omnivore. I'm moderately active but not athletic.

Solutions involving getting up even earlier are not likely to work for me. Likewise, I'd rather not eat while I work; I've not been expressly forbidden to do so but I have a feeling it wouldn't be too cool.

posted by zadcat to Health & Fitness (30 answers total)

Eat more fiber generally, and particularly at night--a big salad with dinner helps. Get to the point where you have to poop first thing in the morning. Seriously. I'm often not hungry until I take my, ahem, morning constitutional.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 1:05 PM on August 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

If you eat breakfast every morning for a week or two you'll want food in the morning and feel very hungry if you happen to skip.

/This is just based on my own experience and with getting people I train to eat breakfast.
posted by zephyr_words at 1:05 PM on August 7, 2010 [3 favorites]

How late are you eating in the evening? It could conceivably be that you're still full from the night before-- a few days of early dinner + fasting until bedtime would probably help you ascertain this.

Failing that, though, it's possible that you're just never going to be an early-breakfast kind of guy/gal; I know my morning appetite usually doesn't kick in until I've been up for an hour or more. If you don't have time to eat later than 7:30 or so, what if you gave up on having a full morning meal and just tried drinking a high-protein smoothie, or a big glass of milk? A nice big, tasty, protein-filled drink, spread out over your morning commute plus possibly the first hour or so of work, might help get you through the hunger pangs until lunch rolls around.
posted by Bardolph at 1:08 PM on August 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

You could try moving your dinner to an earlier time or have a smaller dinner so you're hungrier sooner the next day. Otherwise just snack on some nuts or an energy bar just before you head into your work( or even once inside - I wouldn't think that would be overly obvious that you're having your breakfast that way). Otherwise, I wouldn't eat until you are actually hungry even if it means ducking off for a mid-morning 'coffee break' to have a snack to hold you over to lunch
posted by parryb at 1:12 PM on August 7, 2010

I was bad at eating breakfast until I started to take a prescription med that made me seriously queasy unless I ate something. Iron supplements can do this, too, so if you're low on iron and want to trick your stomach, I'd suggest that route.

It also helps to have breakfast foods that are as prep-free as possible so you can just eat without wasting valuable sleep time. Greek yogurt and energy bars are staples for me.
posted by Metroid Baby at 1:28 PM on August 7, 2010

Exercise in the morning. Honestly, I know you say that you can't get up earlier, but as you get used to this schedule you will find it easy to do so.

I didn't used to eat breakfast at all, but since I've started getting up to run in the mornings, I have to eat something as soon as I get back.
posted by voltairemodern at 1:31 PM on August 7, 2010 [3 favorites]

Seconding the nuts/energy bar solution. Instead of forcing yourself to down breakfast all in one go, why not get a bunch of small snacks you can eat over a few hours? Oatmeal cookies, dried fruit, single-serving yogurts: these are your friends. You can eat a handful of trail mix with your coffee and snack later when you're getting more hungry. And eventually, you'll start feeling hungry soon after you wake up. This happened to me!
posted by guybrush_threepwood at 1:33 PM on August 7, 2010 [2 favorites]

Is it possible to eat breakfast at work? Almost everyone at my old job did, either running out and getting coffee or actually making something. Cereal, oatmeal, yogurt, toast, and fruit were all popular choices. Only oatmeal really has any odor to it. I had roughly the same schedule as you, and only really got hungry around 9:15.
posted by charmcityblues at 1:43 PM on August 7, 2010

Sorry, obviously missed that last bit. Can you eat as you commute?
posted by charmcityblues at 1:45 PM on August 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

I found that I developed an appetite in the morning, after years of disdaining the idea of breakfast, by forcing myself to start eating then. Eventually my body began to expect an early meal. As others have suggested, ready made foods like granola bars can make it easier to choke something down when your not feeling up to it, but I expect you'll find eating an earlier breakfast will get easier with time. You just need to get over that initial hump. It's just like getting used to a new sleeping schedule.
posted by reren at 2:13 PM on August 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Drink some water first thing upon waking. As long as you've gotten enough hours of sleep, it will hopefully get your GI tract moving, and could start you feeling actually hungry after a few days.
posted by Ouisch at 2:35 PM on August 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

Also, don't drink the coffee until after you've had your water (or eaten breakfast.) The caffeine will suppress your appetite a bit.
posted by Ouisch at 2:36 PM on August 7, 2010

Yep, what reren said: Just start eating breakfast—maybe a granola bar and a couple string cheeses. A banana. Your body will start to expect it.
posted by limeonaire at 3:21 PM on August 7, 2010

Speaking as another night owl, plus going off of what you said, it sounds like it takes you 2 hours to get hungry after waking up, period. That seems to be the case for me too: I wake up (involuntarily) between 6-7, would be totally grossed out and sick if I tried to eat at 7, but am fine if the eating takes place after I get to work at 8. Also, my office has a lot of 8 a.m. meetings, some of which have free food, so now I am sort of used to eating then.

I hate to say it, but either getting up earlier (though yeah, I wouldn't choose to do it either) or eating in your car/mode of commuting might be the best solutions to actually changing your "hungry" time or eating closer to when you actually would want to eat. Night owls have a hard enough time just functioning in the morning for the first few hours as is, especially when you feel that groggy and awful. Food is just so not appealing then.

Then again, maybe your stomach will just get used to having to cram food at 7:30 too. Hell, if a person like me who pretty much didn't feel hungry till 11 can deal with breakfast meetings now, maybe you'll adjust.
posted by jenfullmoon at 3:23 PM on August 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

Seconding the water recommendation. I was never hungry for breakfast when I used to get up early, and just the thought of shoving food in my mouth disgusted me. Then I started drinking a nice, cold glass of water right after my morning shower (of course if you don't take showers in the morning you can drink the water right after you get up and drink it as you're getting dressed). Now I get up at 7:30 and leave for work by 8:30, and I'm always hungry enough by 8:10 to happily eat a bowl of cereal.
posted by wondermouse at 3:24 PM on August 7, 2010

I'm a night owl too, FYI. For a while I worked a job where I was able to get up at noon, and I was so happy. I didn't think I'd be able to survive the shift to morning hours, but the cold water really helps get my body out of sleep mode, and it's very refreshing.
posted by wondermouse at 3:26 PM on August 7, 2010

I am very similar to you in that I have NEVER been a breakfast person. When I entered into a situation that required me to be up at 6:30am daily, I really struggled with getting anything in my stomach. What helped me was to simplify it, instead of trying to eat an entire meal. I started out with Carnation Instant Breakfast and a banana each morning. After a few weeks, I noticed that I started feeling hungrier upon awakening. Also, after a few weeks, I just couldn't do the instant breakfast thing anymore, and was very willing to add something more substantial into my morning diet.

Also, I think the water idea sounds fantastic. I've never tried it, but I've heard from people who have done this and they said it works great.
posted by I_love_the_rain at 3:30 PM on August 7, 2010

Breakfast is overrated. I hate eating in the morning. Can you sneak a bagel or granola bar at an eleven o'clock break or something?

"The most important meal of the day" isn't necessarily for everyone. I really believe some people aren't made for it. I wasn't interested in breakfast as a nine year old, I'm not interested in breakfast as a forty year old.

My recent thing has been a cup of whole milk mixed with coffee. It's 180 calories or something, it has protein and fat, it's not overly sugary and if I get sketchy before noon I just plow through.

I have that in the car on the way to work around 7ish depending on the day, then suck it up until noon.

I'm probably recommending the world's most unhealthy lifestyle, but then again, I don't think the entire human race sits down to a leisurely bowl of cereal or an omelet.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 4:04 PM on August 7, 2010

As others said above, early breakfasts aren't for everyone. I, for one, can't stand eating shortly after I get up. Take something portable that you can eat whenever you're ready. Yogourt, hard boiled eggs, granola/cereal bars, muffins and fruit are all good options. If you can't eat while you work, target arriving a little early to eat or eat during a break.
posted by Simon Barclay at 5:06 PM on August 7, 2010

I was EXACTLY you until earlier this spring when I went off coffee (and most other caffeines save the occasional Coca-Cola to fend off a migraine, etc). I never wanted to eat in the morning, started drinking coffee with milk around 9, didn't get hungry at ALL until at least 11 and sometimes even later than that.

Stopping the coffee has made me really crave food in the morning, it's weird. If you can get off the caffeine without killing anyone (the first 2.5 weeks are the hardest), you'll be home free.

Barring that, keeping small bags of nuts = good from a protein/hungerkilling perspective pre-lunch. Or string cheese, because it's portable and if you feel uncomfortable about pulling out a bunch of food at your desk, it's a quick snack.
posted by bitter-girl.com at 7:36 PM on August 7, 2010

I drink a glass of water in the morning (8-9) and then a cup of sencha in an hour and then another cup of sencha in 1-2 hours and I only become hungry at 2-3pm. Actually that's not exactly right: sometimes I may get hungry before that but if I wait 15 minutes, it passes. I think a cup of coffee would make you hungry. I personally feel that's a bit too much for the morning, I'd concentrate on milder drinks before lunch...
posted by rainy at 8:01 PM on August 7, 2010

Seconding glass of water before your shower, then 15 min later or whatever it's easier to eat. Make toast; the smell usually gets me at least minimally ready to eat. Toast+hummus, toast+peanut butter, something easy but with a little protein.
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:30 PM on August 7, 2010

Response by poster: Can't eat and commute - it's bus or bicycle, and no guarantee of a seat when it's the bus. I don't relish watching other people eat on the bus so I'm unwilling to inflict it on anyone else anyway.

Toast, bagels, muffins and most "bars" are out, when you're not eating wheat. Breakfast has been a fistful of (expensive) non-gluten granola, a fistful of berries and a whack of goat milk yogurt. This can be yum and quite sustaining, but I realized this week I was just forcing it down like medicine – hence this post.

Not a snacky person, and am working on a computer in quite close proximity to my boss, so sitting there nomming on and off all morning would just seem wrong, and also potentially messy.

Not going to give up caffeine or get up even earlier to exercise – sorry. Those are not on.

I will, however, give the water thing a try. Thank you.
posted by zadcat at 9:25 PM on August 7, 2010

Toast, bagels, muffins and most "bars" are out, when you're not eating wheat. Breakfast has been a fistful of (expensive) non-gluten granola, a fistful of berries and a whack of goat milk yogurt. This can be yum and quite sustaining, but I realized this week I was just forcing it down like medicine – hence this post.

Actually, I think you need to start exploring the various gluten free options. My husband has celiacs and we have GF bagels, muffins, and bread all in our freezer.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 9:45 PM on August 7, 2010

you could also just eat breakfast at work when you get there. that's what most people do at most offices i have ever worked at (except for the front-facing positions like receptionists or whatever, unless you work at a trashy office).
posted by misanthropicsarah at 10:12 PM on August 7, 2010

I know you said you don't want to get up earlier to exercise, but would you consider getting up just ten minutes earlier and doing yoga in your room? Not only will it really help you wake up, but it should make you hungry. Even a few stretches and some push-ups or sit-ups should do the trick. A lot of times I don't wake up hungry, but after doing some yoga for even 5-10 mintues, I get really hungry. It's not like you have to go out for a long run.
posted by bearette at 2:37 AM on August 8, 2010

Have you thought about drinking a smoothie for breakfast? That's what I do when I don't feel like eating and its not as much of a struggle as forcing myself to eat actual food.
posted by Laura_J at 5:18 AM on August 8, 2010 [1 favorite]

What works for me about toast is the smell. If toast is out, is there anything else you could heat up to get a little food-smell going?
posted by LobsterMitten at 5:37 PM on August 8, 2010

zadcat: "Can't eat and commute - it's bus or bicycle, and no guarantee of a seat when it's the bus. I don't relish watching other people eat on the bus so I'm unwilling to inflict it on anyone else anyway."

Do you pack a lunch? Can you use a slightly bigger lunch bag and put in a little extra food? What worked for me was always to get to work a little earlier* and sit in the lounge and have breakfast there, because like you I didn't feel like breakfast but if I waited for lunch I'd be starved.

*This doesn't necessarily mean you have to get up earlier. Just take the time you'd spend eating breakfast at home and transfer it to work.

I know bento boxes are really popular lately, and since I started using them I almost always have food left over... seriously, they look small but I can rarely finish what I fill it with, at only one meal. I love to pack berries like you mentioned.
posted by IndigoRain at 9:07 PM on August 8, 2010

Response by poster: I've been prompted here to comment whether anything worked. Well no, not really. We had a massive heat wave and I didn't feel like eating at all in the morning for a couple of weeks, so I've been skipping breakfast with no problem. I'm sure I'll figure something else out when it gets cooler.
posted by zadcat at 3:16 PM on September 7, 2010