First Thing or Not At All: When Do You Eat Breakfast?

It always surprises me when I find out someone is not a "breakfast person." What's not to love about a meal to get you going in the morning? Whether I'm running to a meeting or having a lazy Sunday, breakfast is usually the first to-do on my list, right before or after coffee. When do you usually eat in the morning?

I think the only time I ever go without eating within an hour or two of getting up is the rare occasion where I hit the gym before work. And even then, I grab a bite to eat as soon as I can. Usually I have to pace myself and eat at the office rather than at home, or I'll need to fill in the gap with a mid-morning snack. For me, the saying that breakfast is the most important meal is absolutely true; without, at minimum, a handful of cereal, I feel sleepy all morning.

That being said, eating at the office limits my options somewhat. Although I'm lucky enough to work in a building with a cafeteria, for frugal reasons and to keep myself from eating a double chocolate chip muffin every morning, I usually eat dry cereal or microwave a cup of oatmeal. On weekends, however, my breakfast is usually a toasted everything bagel with veggie cream cheese from the deli on my block.

What's your usual breakfast routine?

(Images: Flickr user jma.work licensed for use under Creative Commons)

Comments (46)

On days that I work out, I eat breakfast as soon as I get home. On non-gym days, I eat after I'm ready for work, but before I leave the house. If I'm going in to work early, I'll take breakfast with me or pick it up on the way.

if i get up VERY early, i'll eat something an hour or two after i'm up. but normally, it's just a cup of coffee for me. i'm not hungry in the mornings, and forcing myself to eat just makes me queasy. :P

Monday through Friday, it's usually an apple or some strawberries with greek yogurt eaten at my desk. On weekends I might make some bacon & eggs or pancakes. Bagel & lox is my fave.

Usually don't eat breakfast. On weekends i get up late enough to get "brunch" around noon, and on weekdays i find that eating breakfast just makes me hungry again before lunch. Without breakfast i'm good to go until lunch, but when i have something early it just kind of kickstarts my hunger... and NO, it doesn't mean that i end up eating less. Its basically just another meal added on to the total. Best for me to avoid it, really.

I USED to eat pretty well right away after getting up.. before showering or anything. But since I moved out of the city, I took out eating breakfast at home in the interest of getting a few extra minutes' sleep. So now I eat on the train in the morning.. about an hour or so after I get up.

Weekends, I generally eat pretty well right away. If my husband's sleeping in, then I'll at least have a little something.. granola bar, handful of cereal.. to tide me over until he gets up and we make eggs on english muffins with cheese!

I wake up hungry. Skipping breakfast is not an option. Chocolate milk is a must (I never grew up into a coffee drinker). Lately I've been having homemade pumpkin yogurt, a banana, and a slice of homemade spelt bread in the mornings. Sometimes, it's spelt bread with peanut butter. On weekends, I might have oatmeal, cream of wheat, eggs, or something else that requires cooking.

I'm always running late, so Mon - Friday I have breakfast whenever I can, usually at the office, usually about 4 - 5 hours after I woke up. I just can't find time to feed myself.
On weekends I'm so freaking tired that I wake up late, so breakfast becomes lunch and I eat whatever I can find on my fridge...

I eat before I'm even fully awake; if I don't, then I enter zombie mode for the whole day! A slice of glorious rye with a generous amount of peanut butter & a glass of milk gets me going every morning. Mmm.

I always eat a big meal in the evening, usually after 8pm, so breakfast is just coffee. I often don't need to eat anything until 3 or 4 in the afternoon. I wish I did feel hungry in the mornings, as I love the idea of pastries or a fry-up.

I simply cannot eat anything right after waking up--even coffee has to wait at least a half an hour, maybe more. Ever since about junior high, eating first thing in the morning has made me sick to my stomach. I generally make coffee at home, take it to work with me and drink it there, and will maybe snack on something between first getting to work and lunchtime. On weekends, brunch is great, but even then I wait a while after waking up to eat anything.

Since I get up so early, I eat a few hours into my day, but even then that is usually by 7:30 during the work week and no later than 9am on the weekends.

Leaving the house without first having breakfast (and two big mugs of coffee) makes me very sad and cranky. It can be done, like if I have very early plane to catch and am basically leaving home in the dead of night. But even then, I get my hands on breakfast (and coffee) asap.

Coffee. Sweet, sweet coffee.

(Not sweet in the literal sense; I don't take sugar)

I'm with the people who "wake up hungry." I never understand people who just aren't hungry in the mornings! :)

I will wake up and want a full meal, not necessarily breakfast food either. I'll eat a real meal: curry, roast chicken, pasta...whatever I have left over from the night before.

I'm like watchthesky84. Coffee or even a glass of water first thing after waking up will make me feel sick and food is waaaay worse. I usually bring my coffee to work and wait a couple of hours before munching on anything.

I've gotta think that the people who don't wake up hungry aren't ... regular enough.

If it's been 10 or 12 hours since your last meal, it should be on its way out, making room for breakfast.

Within an hour of getting up (I am a very slow awakener in the morning so need at least 2 hours to get moving and out of the house), usually after my shower. I have some variation of cheese sandwich every morning during the week--may be open faced and broiled, grilled, cold cheese and bread on a hot summer morning; cheese and bread varies depending on mood. Whatever variation, it goes down easy and settles well.

I don't wake up hungry and people think I'm really weird for it, especially my boyfriend. I have to be up at least an hour and then I will have a slice of toast with cheddar (during the week) or a boiled egg (on the weekend).. If I can, I will eat some left overs though!

During the week I wake up at 5:30 to go to the gym and afterwards I am not hungry at all so I'll have a cup of coffee then eat breakfast at my desk at 9--Greek yogurt with almonds and honey every day. Yum.

I always eat a hot breakfast before work. Its one of the great things about the morning. It almost always includes some form of egg dish and without fail, always, always, always a freshly ground/pressed/poured cup of coffee.

I typically wait until I am hungry. I don't get hungry until about 10 am and then I'll have some fruit and maybe a bowl of cereal ( like oatbran or a bran-y cold cereal) Lately I really don't like to eat unless I'm hungry unless I know that I won't be able to eat when I actually do get hungry (ie in a meeting or something)

Sometimes I eat breakfast as soon as I get up. But, most of the time, I'm eating steel cut oats at my desk. I'm not super hungry first thing, and I find that if I eat at my desk when I get into work, I don't snack as much before lunch. (I know it's only a few hours, but I am almost always hungry between 9 a.m. and noon!)

I morphed over the years from being an "ugh, just give me coffee" person into being a breakfast person. This has been nice...I regularly "discover" things other people already love. My latest passion has been poached backyard chicken eggs on homemade wheat bread for breakfast, and prior to that I had a fancy granola stage. Or Cheerios. Those are good, too.

If I eat too early, I want lunch at 10:00am, so I usually hold out until just before I leave for work, about 8.

I'm with those who aren't hungry when they first wake up. I usually eat an hour or two later (between 8:30-10:30). A lot of times, I have a salad and some protein for breakfast.

@Stephanie: Just curious, you say that breakfast is always before or after coffee. But why are coffee and breakfast never together? They're such great partners that I enjoy them at the same time. :)

As for me, I HAVE to have breakfast. I just can't do without. I eat even before hopping in the shower in the morning.

I love breakfast and I love breakfast food; usually the things that aren't good for you: bacon, sausage, etc. I would much more happily skip dinner than breakfast.

I eat breakfast every morning, usually within the first 30-45 minutes of waking up. If it's a morning I'm going for a run or doing yoga, I will wait until afterwards. I think it's completely crazy to not want to eat food in the morning, I don't wake up super hungry, but it's just part of my wake-up routine.

I'm the "not a breakfast person". I'm also not a morning person. Perhaps the two are related. I just don't feel hungry in the morning. But I know it's better for my health and state-of-mind to have breakfast so I try to force myself. I'm successful about three times a week.

I've made myself into a breakfast person, but it took effort. When I was commuting for work, I would eat a granola bar or a small bowl of cereal while I was getting ready, or if I was really late, wait until I got to the office and have oatmeal there. Now that I don't have to be anywhere in the morning, I like to lay in bed reading for a while, then I get up, walk the dog and eat when I get back.

I always eat breakfast in the morning, right after I get out of bed and put my contacts in. I'll usually collect some clothes and drive to the gym or hop in the shower if I'm skipping my morning workout.

Weekends entail lazing around with a french press of coffee, the radio on, the local paper, and likely some brunch (eggs, waffles, whatever).

Before I was pregnant, I ate after my morning workout (usually 1.5 hours after I get up). Breakfast is usually a fruit smoothie or an egg with oatmeal.

Now that I'm pregnant, I have to eat the second I get up. I have a small bowl of cereal, workout, then have a smoothie.

I don't feel like I'm ready to leave the house if I haven't eaten breakfast!

I eat 20-30 minutes after I wake up i.e. as soon as the coffee has finished brewing. My go to breakfasts are yogurt+granola+fruit or nut butter and jam on toast+fruit. And a big giant glass of ice water.

IF I eat breakfast (which is not often), it's about three hours after I get up. Eating before I'm awake and moving around just makes me feel ill.

My partner drives us to work each day; often I eat in the car as she drives, and she eats when she gets to work. I would eat at home, but I don't want to sacrifice having to wake up any earlier than I have to!!

I LOVE breakfast! But usually for lunch or dinner. I am one of these can't-eat-for-several-hours-without-getting-sick people, in addition to being COMPLETELY useless in the morning time.

All of these "easy" breakfasts posts make me chuckle to myself. Ease is definitely in the eye of the beholder: when you are the kind of person who caught herself trying to squeeze her toothbrush onto her toothpaste the other morning (yes, you read that correctly) even an hour after getting up (!), any involvement at all with stoves, appliances, knives, or anything else potentially dangerous is not really an option before leaving for work. If it's not grab-and-go, it's not happening.

It's a rare, rare thing if I eat anything within an hour of waking up. After about an hour, I'm ready for coffee with plenty of milk and a little sugar. The little bit of protein from the milk and carbs from the sugar is usually more than enough to hold me for several hours. Sometimes I'll have a mid-morning snack, other times I'll hold out till lunch ... depends on how hungry I am.

Fruit smoothie with protein powder dumped in, 2 hours after waking up. It's the only thing that doesn't make me feel sick, and it keeps me full through a lunch time workout.

I eat after I get dressed, before running out the door to work. Usually it is something quick like yogurt, a granola bar, or oatmeal that I made ahead of time and put in the fridge.

My coffee goes into a travel mug and I don't get to drink it until I've been up for 2 hours because I don't have time at home and the first hour of work is hectic. I've gotten used to that though and I don't start feeling sleepy until later in the morning if I don't have my coffee.

Food doesn't tend to sit well in the morning for me. I usually just have a pot of tea and then wait until I'm actually hungry. Occasionally when I'm up early of my own free will, I will make a big, elaborate breakfast, but I have to admit - it's the cleanup so early in the morning that's not appealing.

Gosh! This post makes me feel a lot better about my breakfast experience!

I am quite literally a little bit of everybody here. M-F I'm a snoozer so by the time I'm up it's about an hour's mad dash to get to work on time. Maybe it's from the hectic pace, but usually I'm not hungry by the time i settle in the office. BUT, i have been trying to be better about breakfast so I've kept a loaf of sprouted wheat and whipped cream cheese so by 9:30 I'm having "breakfast." And I too have noticed that having breakfast sparks the metabolism.

But the weekends are a different story. I LIVE for breakfast on the weekends. Partly reminds me of family--back home everyone would come over for breakfast feast on the weekends. And partly because on weekends I actually have time to cook elaborate amazing breakfast dishes which are so coveted since I don't have time on the weekdays.

Funny thing though, when people ask me what's my favorite meal i undoubtedly say breakfast.

I don't think about food until 11 or so. The only time I eat "breakfast" is on the weekends, when I cook for my husband. He feeds himself the other days.

I work from home, and the dogs wake us up much earlier than I actually need to start working, so I generally read the news with a cup of coffee, and after that cup is done I'll have breakfast, and catch up to any tv that aired the night before (we're Hulu-ers) while eating. Most often I eat leftovers (especially leftover soup) or make a sandwich, but lately I've been doing yogurt and granola. After I'm done eating, I get another cup of coffee and get to work.

I have to have something to eat first thing or I crash later. I usually get up and drink coffee for about half an hour before I make my toast or bagel with peanut butter.

I don't eat breakfast and when I do...It's for dinner...First thing I usually eat/drink in the morning is something light + coffee.

Coffee first!

Sometimes I'll be excited about some sort of pastry or making some bacon and eggs, but I don't usually eat breakfast first thing. I don't usually get hungry for my first meal until it's everybody elses lunch time.

I need breakfast, but usually around 8-10. I mean I need it. I turn into the hulk if I don't get breakfast. And it has to be the hardy kind- eggs and bacon or sausage. It's tough keeping up with my craving, but completely necessary.