Eating Breakfast Ended Her Cravings and Nighttime Binging
She thought skipping food was keeping weight off, until eating more in the morning calmed her cravings and sleep.
The Metabolism and Menopause Podcast · 10 Secrets From Women Who Lost 30+ Pounds And Kept It Off | MMP Ep. 332For years, she did not eat a bite until 1 p.m. Skipping breakfast felt like discipline, and like part of who she was. When she had started fasting years earlier, she had gotten results, and she believed fasting was the reason she was not gaining more weight.
So when her coach gave her the new plan, she panicked. Stephanie Crasweller, the founder and chief executive of Vitality OET, which works on fat loss for women in and after midlife hormonal change, told her to eat breakfast within an hour of waking, with full protein and carbohydrates included.
To the client, it sounded backward. She was already skipping breakfast and still struggling to lose weight. She asked how eating more food, earlier in the day, could possibly help, and thought her coach had lost her mind. She was terrified that if she started eating breakfast, she would start gaining weight.
Crasweller says she has seen in her clients that being told to stop a long held habit feels wrong. It can feel lazy, like giving up, or like not being productive, even when the habit is getting in the way.
In this case, the experiment took a few weeks just to begin. Crasweller spent that time talking the client down and explaining, in her words, that "her body needed energy and nutrients" earlier in the day. Eventually, the woman agreed to try.
Six weeks in, she said the energy crashes and cravings were no longer a struggle. Her sleep was improving. She was no longer binging and snacking after dinner, a pattern she had never connected to daytime fasting.
Crasweller says the clients who kept weight off were not the ones who followed a plan blindly. She describes being coachable as, in her words, "a willingness to run the experiment, even when you are terrified," to collect the data, and then let the coach use it to guide decisions.
Questions people ask
Why would skipping breakfast lead to binging at night?
Going many hours without food can leave you with low energy and stronger hunger later, especially in the evening when willpower is low. The body also ramps up hunger signals to make up the shortfall. Eating protein and carbs earlier steadies energy and reduces that rebound hunger.
Does a good breakfast have to include carbs?
Not necessarily for everyone, but carbs help restore energy after sleep and can support training, mood, and sleep when eaten in balanced amounts. Protein is the priority for fullness and muscle, and adding fiber-rich carbs like fruit, oats, or beans often makes the meal more satisfying. The key is the total pattern across the day, not one magic food.
Does this mean intermittent fasting never works for weight loss?
No. Some people lose weight with time-restricted eating mainly because it helps them eat fewer calories overall. But if fasting leads to crashes, intense cravings, poor sleep, or nighttime binges, the calorie savings may disappear. In that case, shifting more food earlier is often worth testing for a few weeks.