Skip breakfast to lose body fat and gain muscle – all at the same time

Many years ago, experts were against skipping meals and not eating the required six meals a day. But, in 2021, we’ve come a long when it comes to dieting, maintaining an ideal physique, and leading a healthy lifestyle.

Who would have thought many years ago that skipping breakfast could be the best thing in the world for you and your health?

Some people go as far as skipping a full day’s meal every so often or perhaps choosing to ignore dinner instead. This is the beautiful world of fasting, and here’s how skipping breakfast can benefit you in more ways than one!

A study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation showed that not eating for 24–48 hours produced spikes in human growth hormone. Eating seems to disrupt the rhythm and intensity of human growth hormone release. These pulses in GH (growth hormone) are thought to increase fat loss, retain muscle mass and even allow you to build muscle. This is all happening in an environment where your body still loses fat.

The reasoning behind weight loss success whilst skipping breakfast is this. If you look at the certain hormones apparent when we wake up, cortisol levels and ghrelin are elevated. Insulin levels are low. High cortisol levels working whilst insulin is absent mobilize body fat in the presence of insulin, which causes fat accumulation. So the advice here is this — if you want to lose weight, skip the carbs in the morning and save them later in the day.

Ghrelin levels cause spikes in GH within a couple of hours of walking. This helps accelerate fat loss and preserve muscle. It might be ideal for extending your fasting beyond breakfast at times, as this will help you get leaner.

Usually, one might suspect that more is better. Perhaps even skipping food for a day or two to supercharge your results?

Science has explored the best time to fast is while you sleep and in the morning. But there is also a maximum amount of time that is beneficial.

Fasting beyond 24 hours prevents growth. It also starts to use muscle as fuel, especially when you are training.

Animal studies have shown that fasting for longer than 12–14 hours makes them more susceptible to using fuel as fat storage — which is not what we want here. Of course, this was based on animals, but it gives us some food for thought.

Fasting is beneficial, and it works. So these pieces of research should not put you off. On the contrary, if we fast appropriately and do not take it too far, we’ll undoubtedly experience beautiful results.

The science world tells us that the best time to break a fast, or the most extended period to fast for, is 12–14 hours before we inhibit our bodies ability to increase muscle. Plus, we may run the risk of gaining body fat.

Now, some people may disagree with this. I, for one, have fasted and do fast beyond these times and have found it to be very successful for me.

My advice is to start small and then transition towards more extended fasting periods if you need to. There is no sense in doing something that’s not required. Although fasting provides a well-deserved break from digesting food, certain people may benefit from abstaining from food than others. It depends on your goals and how your body begins to change.

I recommend paying very close attention to your results and intervening with the best possible solutions. The best way to see if something works for you is to go ahead and try.

Good luck with your breakfast skipping journey.