I am not a morning person and have a hard time keeping up with my boys first thing, so they get some fruit, maybe toast, and milk when they first wake, and then once I'm really awake, a more substantial breakfast. Auto-pilot first breakfast allows me a moment to breathe and really wake up, second breakfast (second half of breakfast?) I can get them something more filling and with some protein usually. Second breakfast works for these hobbits.

Oh, I definitely have a second breakfast. Usually "first breakfast" is my coffee & oatmeal (or another 250-cal or less combo) followed by "second breakfast" which is generally a fruit, fruit + peanut butter combo, or a granola bar.

I actually get hungry about every 2 hours, like tummy-rumbling, light-headed, must-eat-something-now hungry. I actually was worried I was developing diabetes or something so I had blood tests done but nope - I'm 100% healthy.... just like to eat more often I guess haha ~

I start with fruit and water when I get to my desk at work (7:30 am). Around 9 am, I eat some high fibre bar and at 10:30 I have 2x100g yogurt. And then lunch's at 1 pm. That way I'm nto starving by the time comes eleven. So I guess I'm a Hobbit in a way. Pippin would be proud of me. :D

YES I have some oatmeal around 6am but by 9:30-10 I am a bit peckish and will have a granola bar or some yogurt to tide me over until lunch.

I'm currently six months pregnant and definitely eat two breakfasts - I have a hard time eating much in one sitting, so I spread out my breakfasts throughout the morning. For example, I'll have a smoothie around 7:30 or 8, and then cereal or peanut butter on toast around 9:30 or 10; or, an egg and some toast early, and yogurt with fruit later. Of course, I also eat two lunches these days....

Most folks that need second breakfast either have a very large span between breakfast and lunch or just aren't eating enough protein for breakfast.

Coffee and toast and/or oatmeal isn't going to last for the 4-6 hrs till lunch. Because toast and oatmeal are basically like table sugar to your body.

It's true that Germans have a second breakfast (although white sausages are a Bavarian thing) - but that's because their day starts so much earlier (school around 7.30, many office workers at 8), so they need it to get through until lunchtime.

I have to eat every 3-4 hours. Period. But, I'd say it's more of a snack before lunch. I also believe that lunch should be 12 or 12:30. That's when my body wants it. I don't get these 2pm lunches. That's almost time for snack before dinner at 5:30 or 6. Then a snack before bed. My husband makes fun of me and calls me an old lady, but I know my body and I know what it needs. If I don't stick to what I know works for me... my body goes completely haywire!

Yup! Usually I'll have a bite of something with my tea in the morning ... Or I'll eat a banana and peanut butter when I get into the office. But by 10:30 or 11, I'm hungry, so I usually will grab a string cheese or piece of fruit to tide me over till lunch.

If I'm working out heavily I need a serious first breakfast (eggs, hummus, beans--something high protein) and then a couple of hours later I will def need a second breakfast, usually with more carbs (like a pumpkin muffin or oatmeal).

This is fine except when I eat like that when I'm NOT working out heavily. That's when I begin to physically resemble a hobbit--and that is not good. (The movie hobbits look fine--the book specifies a nice, fat tummy.)

Like Wee Eats mentioned above, I too have to have a little something every few hours so Second Breakfast is a must! I can never understand people that can have coffee and toast and then "forget to eat" until dinner time. People like that worry me!! :)

@ WEE EATS - You may have low blood sugar. (hypoglycemia) I am the same way, borderline hypoglycemic. If I don't eat all day, every 2-4 hours I turn into a dizzy, starving, not-very-pleasant-to-be-around monster! People made comments about diabetes, but I had my blood checked and it's all normal. Don't worry until you have something to worry about. Since you know you need to stay fueled every couple hours, just make sure you are eating good proteins and filling up on whole foods, and it sounds like you are already very healthy. I'm telling you from experience this makes a HUGE impact on how I feel. It took me a long time to figure out that I am just not made like everyone else. My husband can eat one disgusting, big unhealthy meal a day and be perfectly happy. He is amazed at how much I eat all day and keep a healthy weight, but that's just how I function best. The biggest tip other than eating healthy whole foods that will keep you full is.... ALWAYS HAVE A SNACK IN YOUR PURSE! It's a lifesaver. If I don't have something right when that feeling hits (not hunger, but that dizzy, awful, foggy brain feeling) then I quickly spiral into a Monster Me. :) Good luck!! Hope you can find some things that work for you...

And, honestly, I think there are many people out there who would benefit from eating this way.

Funny thing was I was just about to chow down on my 2nd breakfast of leftover pumpkin spice pancake wrapped around a chicken apple sausage link when I decided to check out kitchn and saw this article.
My husband makes coffee at 5:30 in the morning and then I will get in the kitchen and throw together a smoothie to wash our vitamins down with, but by 9:30am I'm ready to eat again.
2nd breakfast can be anything with protein. Since I decided to cut down on pork, I've been loving the chicken sausages from Applegate. Yumm.

6 'small' meals a day put me in the best shape of my life. Of course, cardio + weights helped.

Yes, every day. I have a half cup or so of steelcut oats with a glass of water in the morning before I walk/run/cycle to work at about 6:45. Once at work I have a coffee with cream and two boiled eggs around 9:00. I sometimes have a piece of fruit with the egss or mid-morning (or I eat it later in the day).

I usually have coffee or tea for first breakfast around 6 a.m. and oatmeal for second breakfast at my desk around 9 a.m. (I am up at 5:30 and at work by 7.)

I find that eating earlier just makes me hungry all morning and then I overeat all day long. This way I can make it to noon or later before wanting to gnaw my arm off.

Yep, I'm like sewtrashy and have to eat every 2-4 hours. When I was working, I'd have a cup of coffee and a piece of whole wheat toast with peanut butter about 7:00 a.m., then have some sort of snack at about 10:00. The only way to eat less often (for me, anyway) is to eat a really heavy, greasy breakfast; then I can go 4 or more hours before eating again. No way am I going to eat that way every day, though; I just bring snacks with me and plan to eat a little bit every few hours.

I am really not a morning person at all, and I find it difficult to face food when I get up. However, I feel much better overall if I eat breakfast. So I end up doing a first and second breakfast--I'll have morning coffee plus either yogurt or a smoothie at home and then a few hours later, I'll have some peanut butter toast or some oatmeal with dried fruit and nuts at my desk. I don't seem to have a problem eating a full meal's worth of food for lunch or dinner, but I can't seem to choke it down in the morning.

The movie hobbits talk about second breakfast. I'm not sure if it is in the LOTR books (it might be in The Hobbit book--it's a very Bilbo-esque thing, for sure).

I had heard about elevenses my whole life but when I moved to the UK for a year after college and was living with some friends who were having work done on their house, I was very surprised to find that I was expected to provide elevenses for the work crew--tea and biscuits, if you please. How civilized!

I am a strictly 3 meals a day gal myself. This is one way I control my over-eating after years of doing that. I only eat when I'm supposed to eat, hungry or not. I realize that doesn't work for everyone, but it works for me.

I also practice multiple breakfasts. Mine are usually after the gym/getting reading the morning - I will have a hard boiled egg, low fat cottage cheese and an english muffin. Then I will take a mid-morning snack to work for second breakfast - usually fruit, fruit+greek yogurt or something like that that will give me a boost before lunch (usually around 1pm).

I also keep a stash of nuts and some tangerines in my desk drawer for filler.

My classes start at 7:30, so my breakfast has to be quite early. I couldn't survive until lunch time without another breakfast. Specially because nothing fills me up in the morning. That wouldn't bother me so much, but sometimes because of my classes, I can't eat for some time, so I'm starving and pretty angry because of it. I'm still trying to find a breakfast that would keep me full for 5 hours.

@Francine ... hear you on the pregnancy requiring more meals, now I am breastfeeding and that seems to ramp up my appetite even more than pregnancy did. I had oatmeal for breakfast, 2 cheese sticks at around 10. Lunch part A (apple and sandwich) was at 12, and I'll eat something else at around 3 probably.
My 8month old daughter is now getting about 700 calories from my breastmilk, so that's basically 2 extra meals in my book. Luckily I love eating! Best part is that it got rid of the pregnancy weight right quick!

Oh my gosh I just wrote about Elevenses today in the comments on a breakfast post I did!

http://www.juliasbookbag.com/2012/03/i-love-breakfast.html

And I couldn't remember if that concept was in LOTR or Winnie the Pooh... thanks for clearing that up for me :)

I'M ALL ABOUT SECOND BREAKFAST.

There was always an elevenses break as well as lunch break at school in England when I was a kid. And then tea at home, and then dinner. And then because we're Chinese, I'd be woken up for midnight feast every so often. So yes, through training I prefer a series of smaller meals and tend to eat small breakfasts that get me out the door, then hunger for second breakfasts.

I don't usually want a big meal when I first wake up, just a half-piece of toast, a handful of nuts, or a short glass of fruit smoothie --- a few bites of something to accompany my morning cappuccino. Later, when I'm properly awake, I have a real breakfast, unless I move on to an early lunch.

I was wondering if this was a post on having breakfast at different times of the day. My family loves breakfast for dinner and we have that almost weekly. I also started eating another breakfast at lunchtime to keep me filled up but cut some calories. Having a regular lunch, a sandwich or leftovers reheated, always made me hungry again in a few hours. Eating oatmeal, cheese grits or a scrambled eggs fills me up until dinner. I've lost a good bit of weight doing this to stop my afternoon snacking habit.

So, as odd as it sounds, some days I eat breakfast for all my meals, and I love it.

I love elevenses!

I have trouble eating in the earlier part of the morning-- I get very easily nauseated, can only stomach small portions of sweeter carb-based breakfast foods like cereal or cinnamon toast, and even have trouble with my beloved tea, other than a ginger green tea blend that helps me keep it all down. (No, I'm not pregnant-- I've been like this for years.) As a consequence, I usually get rather hungry by around 10 AM, and usually try to tide myself over till lunch with a granola bar or something else I can eat quickly while at work. (This also means I'm a big fan of breakfast-for-dinner, since that's when I can eat things like eggs and bacon and pancakes and actually enjoy them.)

Definitely need "second breakfast." I'm like @wee eats and @sewtrashy. I have low blood pressure, and while I'm not sure whether that has anything to do with this, I also get lightheaded, dizzy, and cranky if I don't consistently graze throughout the day. I try to limit the snacking now, to be more conscious of when I'm actually hungry, but if I have, say, an english muffin at 8am, I definitely need something around 10am to tide me over until lunchtime.

@jenn_y - I start at 9 a.m., which I always thought was pretty standard (at least in the UK), but it seems that's quite a late start here in Germany. But I can't stomach breakfast before work anyway, I have my (only) breakfast when my co-workers are having their second!

Yup, I am definitely a multiple breakfasts gal!

I also share the same affliction as @wee eats, @sew trashy & @sarah f.w.c.p. I second the 'carry food in your purse comment.' I always make sure to carry "Emergency Rations" with me at all times, especially if I plan to be out all day or traveling. (In fact, before we go somewhere my husband now asks me- "Where's your emergency food?" cause we both know I need it). It has saved me many times from reaching the point of hunger-pyscho-monster. All it takes is a couple bites and suddenly I am a sane human, but without that food I would hate you all ;)

I wonder how my place of work would react to me having a proper German/Bavarian second breakfast of sausage, pretzel, and beer. Sounds good to me :)