Dont eat breakfast

syklops

Evening Gents,

I put this here because I want sensible, mature debate, on a 'guy level'.

I am a wee bit over weight not a lot, but want to shed some pounds. My food intake seems to be generally quite low, and I dont eat sweets or chocolate at all.

The thing is, I dont eat breakfast at all. Sometimes on a Saturday/Sunday I fry a few eggs and I am not hungry until lunch/dinner, but in the morning on a week day, I eat nothing in the morning, and admittedly get hungry around 10-11, but the schedule at that stage does not permit running out for something, so Im hungry until lunch.

Im also not a morning person. The extended rituals that some do in the morning, that take ages, I am not into. I wake, dress, sometimes an extra cup of tea and I go.

My question is, are a lot of other people like this? Is it normal? Is it a result of the office hours schedule we are all forced into?

Thanks, I appreciate any responses.

parker kent

I thought there were studies showing a link between people who don't eat breakfast and being overweight.

Panthro

Personally, my day has to start with a bowl of porridge and a cuppa tea. Only the morning after a nights beveraging would I hit up a fry, and even then a few slices of toast might be more tempting.
I took to eating porridge purely because I've heard its a "superfood" that releases energy during the day. Now I'm a student so I don't be at anything too manual but to me it sounded like a better option than a bowl of cereal that might taste nice but could be full of sugar and such.

Galvasean

I rarely eat breakfast. If im working I prefer the extra 30 mins in bed. If im not working I generally wait 'til later and have a large amount of food.
FWIW, I'm very slim (AKA a skinny fecker)

cantdecide

I have a tendency to keep a little weight on. I've gone through periods where I've been overweight. Often very overweight. I've had periods where I've eaten breakfast religiously. I've been through periods where I've not had breakfast at all.

The conclusion I've drawn is that if anything, eating breakfast or not, doesn't seem to be related to weight loss. It has way more to do with wellbeing, IMO. I recommend you get into a habit of eating breakfast. If you found it to be a springboard for other dietary changes that lead to weight loss, it wouldn't surprise me.

Dravokivich

hmm there's an idea floating around that i read in a magazine recently. Eat a big (proper not fry up / kellogs shíte) breakfast and it'll lower your likelihood to snack during the day before Lunch.

Overall your body needs calories to burn. It never really takes into account when you get them through the day, just as long as you have them.

There's no point skipping breakfast, you'll just be dumping more food onto your plate later to cover for it.

Otis Driftwood

If I dont eat a proper breakfast Im like a feckin rat for the morning so unless I totally sleep it out I will always eat before I leave the house.

3hn2givr7mx1sc

It increaes your motabolism, which results in helping weight loss. In saying that, I rarely eat breakfast.:pac:

AlmightyCushion

I'm slim and I rarely eat breakfast. Saying that I have heard that eating breakfast helps you lose weight. I also heard even a particularly fatty breakfast (like a fry up) can help you lose weight as it helps set your metabolism up for the day. Don't know if that's true or not.

dev100

Try and always eat a good breakfast never skip meals . When you are doing that your body learns to store this food as fat because it thinks its being starved

Regular healthy meals and regular exercise Simple in theory

TouchingVirus

When you sleep your body is fasting. When you wake it your metabolism, that is the rate at which you burn energy when doing nothing, rises. The tissue that uses the most energy is active tissue (i.e. muscle) so if you refuse to eat, the body needs to lower its energy consumption somehow, so it atrophies the muscle. So you lose muscle before fat to lower metabolism when you don't eat. You want a high metabolism when you're losing weight - it's why exercising in the morning is really good for you as opposed to after work (the metabolism boost wanes over the whole day, instead of for a few hours before sleep).

When eating breakfast you should make sure to eat protein; Eggs are grand as long as they're not fried and eaten with toast lathered in butter. Common sense stuff really - fats are so calorie heavy it's easy to overdo it and have an 800kcal breakfast that isn't all that big or filling So a lean protein like chicken breast, eggs and to some extent maybe even a protein powder (though it's not as good as a real protein) are something you should do your best to get in the morning. The amino acids in protein 'protect' your muscles from being devoured for energy cutting when you don't eat so when your body needs more energy than you fed it it'll take it from adipose/inactive tissue (fat). And that's precisely what you want. Follow that up with some slow-digesting carbs so you actually feel full until lunch (porridge?) and you'll be set.

Hopefully this makes sense - the folks in Nutrition and Diet will give you more information on it.

So yeah, breakfast - if you're overweight, eat it

Now, if only I could follow my own advice and get up that bit earlier...

magneticimpulse

papagormo wrote: »

Personally, my day has to start with a bowl of porridge and a cuppa tea. Only the morning after a nights beveraging would I hit up a fry, and even then a few slices of toast might be more tempting.
I took to eating porridge purely because I've heard its a "superfood" that releases energy during the day. Now I'm a student so I don't be at anything too manual but to me it sounded like a better option than a bowl of cereal that might taste nice but could be full of sugar and such.

Agree, porridge all the way. Ive lost a stone (im a girl and wasnt overweight so its alot) since Christmas and I put it down to eating porridge for breakfast every morning. It really is super fuel. Personally I can never miss breakfast and rarely do, unless its a brunch at the weekend.

SugarHigh

+1 for porridge. 2 mins in the microwave, 2 mins to eat and 20 seconds to clean up. Also have a banana.

Dravokivich

TouchingVirus wrote: »

Now, if only I could follow my own advice and get up that bit earlier...

haha, same meself... was stuffing me face on the way out the door this morning.

Also, porridge for meself as well, but I add Wheat Germ into it and dabble some honey over it to sweeten it up.

--Kaiser--

I often skip breakfast, read up on intermittent fasting, it has numerous reported benefits.

Owen

I have breakfast on Saturdays and Sundays, Mon - Fri I hardly eat anything during the day at all. I know I should, but for some reason, I'm just never hungry.

Penn

SugarHigh wrote: »

+1 for porridge. 2 mins in the microwave, 2 mins to eat and 20 seconds to clean up. Also have a banana.

I do the same (minus the banana). It may not be the tastiest breakfast, but it's quick, filling and sets you up for the day. I couldn't go without having something for breakfast. Even if I was running late for work I'd stop off in a petrol station and get a sandwich to bring to work or something. Can't understand how people go without breakfast.

Porridge is healthy too. For years I had Bran Flakes for breakfast until I found out that they aren't as healthy as you'd think. A nice wee bowl of porridge does the job.

Korvanica

I don't have breakfast when i get up but I bring cereal into work and eat it around 10am..

Have a few pieces of fruit that last me the rest of the day until dinner...

I gotta get back into my morning smoothies though... 2 eggs, 1 apple, a banana, i pear, a load of grapes, blackberries, and multivitamin juice...

But Will it blend? Yes, thats what a smoothie is... Its awesome!

folan

eat breakfast, small lunch and small snack about 4 ish (like 2 apples or so) and then a smaller dinner.

Doing that ive lost 10kg, with alot of exercise thrown in for good measure. the main thing for me seems to be the meal size though. takes some getting used to

Penn

Eggs in a smoothie? Raw or boiled?

Actually when I lived alone for 6 months (had to move back home due to a downturn in work), I did make smoothies some mornings. Blackberry, strawberry, blueberry, apple and some orange juice. Beautiful. Really refreshing start to the day

Bottle_of_Smoke

Its a real 'not being arsed' thing for me. So have just been having a pint of milk with a scoop of protein powder the last while. Keeps ya full til lunch and its made in less than a minute

I have a protein shake in the mornings, I can't usually handle much food in the morning when I get up so it's quick and ok to have. I used to have porridge when I get to work but I found that getting into the habit of eating at my desk meant eating more

lol snap, BoS

D'Agger

Eat little, eat often is the best advice that can be given here.

I've been sleeping in alot these past two weeks so I started keeping my cereal & milk at work - eat the minute I get in - my point being - don't skip breakfast

If you want to shed a few pounds an increase in exercise level would do more than the breakfast issue me thinks, perhaps a piece of fruit and a lash of water in the morning would do no harm. I get up before 8 and have breakfast at work at 9.30, I'm quite hungry by then.

Logical Fallacy

syklops wrote: »

Evening Gents,

I put this here because I want sensible, mature debate, on a 'guy level'.

I am a wee bit over weight not a lot, but want to shed some pounds. My food intake seems to be generally quite low, and I dont eat sweets or chocolate at all.

The thing is, I dont eat breakfast at all. Sometimes on a Saturday/Sunday I fry a few eggs and I am not hungry until lunch/dinner, but in the morning on a week day, I eat nothing in the morning, and admittedly get hungry around 10-11, but the schedule at that stage does not permit running out for something, so Im hungry until lunch.

Im also not a morning person. The extended rituals that some do in the morning, that take ages, I am not into. I wake, dress, sometimes an extra cup of tea and I go.

My question is, are a lot of other people like this? Is it normal? Is it a result of the office hours schedule we are all forced into?

Thanks, I appreciate any responses.

If your food intake is quite low, but you are still a little overweight it begs the question "where does the extra weight come from?".

How are your drinking habits if you do drink?

Basically all you need to do is establish a clean structured diet, some excercise and you should be fine.

syklops

Logical Fallacy wrote: »

If your food intake is quite low, but you are still a little overweight it begs the question "where does the extra weight come from?".

How are your drinking habits if you do drink?

Basically all you need to do is establish a clean structured diet, some excercise and you should be fine.

Easier said then done, but I am trying.

As for where does it come from, well I did used to drink a lot of coke. I'd have a 500ml bottle on the way into work, and maybe a can around lunch. 500ml is 200 kcal, and the can is another 120 kcal or so, so that combined is more than 10% of what you need to maintain your weight. I've knocked that on its head now, so that should go some ways to making a reduction.

As for exercise, Im going to start swimming a few times a week. I'm not going to make any radical changes because I wont stick to it.

I should also point out that im 7 months off the smokes and Im feeling a lot healthier, so aerobic exercise will be easier than it was the last time I tried it.

Bottle_of_Smoke

syklops wrote: »

Easier said then done, but I am trying.

As for where does it come from, well I did used to drink a lot of coke. I'd have a 500ml bottle on the way into work, and maybe a can around lunch. 500ml is 200 kcal, and the can is another 120 kcal or so, so that combined is more than 10% of what you need to maintain your weight. I've knocked that on its head now, so that should go some ways to making a reduction.

As for exercise, Im going to start swimming a few times a week. I'm not going to make any radical changes because I wont stick to it.

I should also point out that im 7 months off the smokes and Im feeling a lot healthier, so aerobic exercise will be easier than it was the last time I tried it.

Do you drink alcohol?

syklops

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

Do you drink alcohol?

Yep. I assume your advice is to stop?

allthedoyles

afaik , breakfast should be eaten within 1.5 hours of waking .

Most posters here mention porridge , and i fully agree with this .

In my 20's / early 30's I often went without breakfast and normally have 1st bite around 11am. -
Not good idea imo.

I now eat microwaved porridge every morning and with a little exercise , its easy keep the weight down .

syklops

allthedoyles wrote: »

afaik , breakfast should be eaten within 1.5 hours of waking .

Most posters here mention porridge , and i fully agree with this .

In my 20's / early 30's I often went without breakfast and normally have 1st bite around 11am. -
Not good idea imo.

I now eat microwaved porridge every morning and with a little exercise , its easy keep the weight down .

I've heard what you and others have said before. That eating a large breakfast kickstarts the metabolism, so any food you eat gets burnt as soon as you eat it, and you dont 'put on' anything extra.

And I suppose once you get in the habit then you look forward to breakfast and it doesnt become a chore, like it feels at the moment.

Well I had 3 boiled eggs this morning, and I am planning on starting doing porridge in the morning like you guys do.

Trevor O

As a fatty myself I feel the pain! I do know the rights and the wrongs of dieting etc. From any articles I've read breakfast is a must. I'm lucky cause I can eat breakfast at my desk. My daytime eating is good but come the evening the pull of KC's Chipper in Douglas is just too much ! :-(

TouchingVirus

Breakfast is mundane for me at the minute - I try to get in some porridge made on water, but with some slimline/fat free milk (can't do without the milk) and a small bit of honey. You know, never full fat milk or spoonfuls of white sugar - it's these small steps that count more than you know If I'm feeling like I need some essential fats - fats are important, but only the good ones - a bit of flax seed never went astray.

I try follow it up with some scrambled eggs, poached eggs, boiled eggs, dry fried eggs (or maybe eggs fried with a low-calorie spray I must) and a slice of wholegrain bread or a small wholegrain pita bread, easy on the butter/benecol. Top it all off with a pint of water, and a piece of fruit and it comes in to about 500-600kcal. It may seem like a lot, and it might well be, but if you manage your intake for the rest of the day you'll be fine. One thing I'll guarantee you is that you'll be damn full after it - right up to lunchtime you won't feel hungry and it will lead to a smaller lunch (say 300-400kcal, including protein).

It really is common knowledge, but a little difficult to have an attitude adjustment about - when you get overweight you are simply consuming too much energy for your expenditure. It obviously wouldn't be the smartest idea to eat 1800kcal of Mars bars and nothing else for the day but if your energy expenditure is 2200kcal you'll lose weight on your Mars bar diet. As an aside, the reason it'll work in the beginning and not for long is your aren't protecting your active tissue (muscle) from being eaten by your body in an attempt to make up the deficit of 400kcal. You body is like "I need 400kcal extra, this lad hasn't eaten enough - HELLO MUSCLE!!" So before you know where you are, your body is eating muscle, which lowers your metabolism (and thus your energy expenditure) and suddenly 1800kcal is too much to eat and you put on weight. It's the same with all diets.

You don't diet to lose weight, or rather you shouldn't. Your goal with diet change should be to make sure you treat food the way it is - fuel for your body and nothing more, eat the good stuff and only what you need. That's why it's referred to as a lifestyle change, and it isn't easy to get the head around. You'll burn the excess weight off with exercise because as long as your diet is right and is protecting your muscle, the only other place for this energy you're spending to come from is your fat reserves.

I eat too much, and I'm not talking like some Hollywood view of overeating where I'm covered in cheetos and dip passed out on a couch either - my portion sizes are way off. A lot of overweight people don't think they are overeating, but they are. With all that being said I'd encourage you to not think of breakfast as the solution to your problem but it is a good start.

By the way, don't follow that 2000kcal for men guideline, it could be way off the mark. There are several (easy) formulas out there for calculating roughly how much you spend in energy every day but almost all are based on your total weight of muscle/bone (your lean body mass) and not your total weight - fat doesn't need feeding. So if you knew your LBM (or even roughly guess it by pinching inches) and ran a few formulas to get a rough idea of how much you spend you might find that 2000kcal is too much food.

I really hope this isn't information overload, I just hope it gives you some idea as to why breakfast is a great idea but might not be the solution to your issues. It may seem like quite a bit to take in or to do to lose weight but most of the steps are piss easy to make, it's just a matter of actually making them.

If you're determined to make a go of it there are nutrition and fitness log forums on boards that are good for inspirational reads too

Handsome Bob

I have to eat something in the morning, if I don't I find that I eat like a hog later on in the day. Personally, I feel it'd be bad for my weight loss.

doncarlos

I stopped eating breakfast at the end of January. I also cut all the junk-food out of my life as I used to get pizzas & Chinese every week and breakfast rolls a least twice a week.

I have lost a fair bit of the gut but I have also stepped up my exercise. (walking into work, boot camp twice a week & football once a week)

I don't know if going back and eating a healthy breakfast would help me continue to lose weight or should I keep going the way I'm going. Everybody keeps telling me that not eating breakfast is bad for you but I feel great and don't feel tired or hungry in the mornings (what everybody said would happen).

Ruu_Old

I run and workout everyday so am up early for breakfast before all of that. Big bowl of oatmeal with some nuts tossed in or a couple of eggs. If I am in a hurry then a protein shake will do. Sets me up until dinner time. I am a skinny fecker though, just under 9 stone.

L31mr0d

PaulieC wrote: »

I started keeping my cereal & milk at work - eat the minute I get in - my point being - don't skip breakfast get paid to eat

FYP

I eat breakfast also, but mainly because my blood sugar levels affect my mood really easily. A nice bowl of oatmeal at 8am keeps me full until 1pm.

To surmise what has been said, you can increase your weight in two ways.

1. Eat more than your body can handle.
2. Mess up your bodies ability to handle the food you do eat.

Everyones different of course, but the rule of thumb is that if you're finding it hard to lose weight, eat a healthy breakfast and eat little and often throughout the day to kickstart your metabolism.

Bottle_of_Smoke

syklops wrote: »

Yep. I assume your advice is to stop?

I would advise you to realise it is high calorie and intake needs to be included in your diet plan.

Bottle of wine = 500 calories I think. Pint around 160. Check those figures cause I could be way off the mark.

Also if you go out for drinks you're probably more likely to grab a pizza/chipper afterward. These meals often forgotton about but combined with alcohol consumed that evening may equal an extra days worth of food.

Logical Fallacy

Just want to say it's been quite nice watching the two threads on healthy eating/excercise this week.

Two chaps looking to make a change and actually taking advice on board....Skylops be sure to keep us in the loop with how it all goes for ya.

syklops

Well I bought a protein powder and some swimming goggles today. The reason I bought the powder is so that in the morning if I dont feel like eating, or I am in a rush, I can have a shake and at least it is something in the way of calories in the morning, getting my metabolism going.

The reason I bought the goggles is because I intend to take up swimming again, and I love to swim underwater.

I would advise you to realise it is high calorie and intake needs to be included in your diet plan.

Bottle of wine = 500 calories I think. Pint around 160. Check those figures cause I could be way off the mark.

Also if you go out for drinks you're probably more likely to grab a pizza/chipper afterward. These meals often forgotton about but combined with alcohol consumed that evening may equal an extra days worth of food.

I absolutely understand what your saying, and your figures were pretty much perfect by the way.

Men's Health magazine which I buy whenever I can had an article on weightloss. It was something like 10 changes which will guarantee weight loss, and number one was give up the booze. I did some research into it, and it seems alcohol is kind of a double edged sword.

When your drinking, your system metabolises the alcohol first, then the rest, but one of the side effects of your system metabolising alcohol is your metabolism slows down in the process, and gets backed up, and as you said, you put a kebab in on top of that and it could end up being an additional days worth of calories. Plus, the next day you feel less like doing any exercise at all to counter-act it.

So to sum up, alcohol is bad news when it comes to weight loss. I am in the process of cutting it down.

BopNiblets

According to my dad, my uncle had a pint of Guinness with a raw egg mixed in for breakfast...

allthedoyles

SugarHigh wrote: »

+1 for porridge. 2 mins in the microwave, 2 mins to eat and 20 seconds to clean up. Also have a banana.

This is me as well ........................porridge / oatmeal - call it what you like .

You don't have to go for the fancy microwavable sachets .

Just your normal bag . Use about 2 inches in a large tumbler , fill with skimmed milk / low fat , and into microwave for 3 minutes .
Add a generous spoon of sugar , and more cold milk too , as it may have thickened in the microwave .

Will keep you fuller for longer and and guarantee a slow release of sugar throughout the day to ensure plenty of energy .

I use flahavans :
http://www.flahavans.com/product/

Haruki

Bowl of porridge, two scrambled eggs (sometimes boiled), grilled tomato, two slices of toast, banana, glass of orange juice, cup of tea. That's my Monday to Friday breakfast. Really sets me up. Use to be a bowl of cornflakes kinda guy, until i started crashing at a 10:30 and id just end up eating rubbish to tie me over until lunch.

strobe

Pint of bainne here. Only thing I have the appetite or the time for in the mornings.

mufcboy1999

my day starts at 8am with the breakfasta.

a bowl of porridge mixed with 1 cup of water and 2 cups of low fat super milk and a bit of manuka honey on top, if i dont have time to make porridge il have 2 weatabix's or some sort of high carb, high fiber cereal because im not a fan of microwave stuff.

2 slices of wholewheat bread with my manuka honey on top, a glass of whatever innocent smoothie i have in the fridge usually the blueberry one and one yakult.

i love breakfast and i know its been said above mate but you have to have it if your serious about losing weight not only will it kick start the metabolism but it will also stop you from snacking and eating bigger portions for your lunch and dinner not to mention giving you a lot sharper start to your day.

your body will adjust quite quick and will become use to having breakfast and if you eat your meals around the same time every day and limit the snacking your body will work as kind of alarm clock and will know when its time to eat and will signal to your brain other than the other way around.

breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper:D.

Poor Craythur

I seem to be completely opposite to everyone when it comes to porridge. I don't find the stuff at all filling. In fact, I'm hungier quicker on porridge than crappy cereals. And I don't like the stuff, but I would eat it if I found it filling, but I don't.

I like to have a boiled egg followed by two petit filous and a cup of tea. I find this a really good filling brekkie. I think this is because it's protein rich. Eggs and bacon is good at the weekend. Note: I'm female so a man might need to eat a bit more at brekkie, I don't know.

Then I have my unhealthy, naughty stable of breakfasts, one of which I'll have once in a blue moon - but that's a WHOLE other thread. :pac::pac::pac:

syklops

So Im sat here with my protein shake. The powder and water together, to be honest tastes pretty awful, so I added some frozen berries and stuck them together in a blender, and it tastes a tiny bit better, but Im not drinking it for how it tastes. Only eating and drinking things that tasted nice is what got me into this situation in the first place. Ill stay on the shakes for a week or two. It might get my body into the habit of expecting food in the morning and then I can switch to something like porridge.

Dinner last night was Chicken and Philadelphia grilled on my George Foreman Grill. It was very tasty, and also very lean.

My american relatives call Guiness 'steak in a can' they should try this stuff. It is pretty heavy.

syklops

syklops wrote: »

So Im sat here with my protein shake. The powder and water together, to be honest tastes pretty awful, so I added some frozen berries and stuck them together in a blender, and it tastes a tiny bit better, but Im not drinking it for how it tastes. Only eating and drinking things that tasted nice is what got me into this situation in the first place. Ill stay on the shakes for a week or two. It might get my body into the habit of expecting food in the morning and then I can switch to something like porridge.

Dinner last night was Chicken and Philadelphia grilled on my George Foreman Grill. It was very tasty, and also very lean.

My american relatives call Guiness 'steak in a can' they should try this stuff. It is pretty heavy.

Did you get a flavoured one and are you using a blender?
I use skimmed milk in my shakes and maybe a bit of ice so they're really nice
The chocolate ones are so tasty

syklops

bluewolf wrote: »

Did you get a flavoured one and are you using a blender?
I use skimmed milk in my shakes and maybe a bit of ice so they're really nice
The chocolate ones are so tasty

Yes the only one they had was green apple, so it is flavoured. Ive never tasty cement mixed with water before, but I reckon this is pretty close to what it tastes like. I also wouldn't call it a 'quick' drink as it took nearly 20 mins for me to finish it. That said, it is 2 hours on and I have not had any mid-morning rubblings, which is unusual and good I think. I think ill try it with skimmed milk next time. and some ice, and less water to make it a bit thicker. I have considered pouring it all into a shot glass with atiny amount of water and throwing it back, and then drinking a pint of water, but I can imagine it coming back up again at some speed.

Also, surprisingly enough my concentration seems pretty good.

syklops

syklops wrote: »

Yes the only one they had was green apple, so it is flavoured. Ive never tasty cement mixed with water before, but I reckon this is pretty close to what it tastes like. I also wouldn't call it a 'quick' drink as it took nearly 20 mins for me to finish it. That said, it is 2 hours on and I have not had any mid-morning rubblings, which is unusual and good I think. I think ill try it with skimmed milk next time. and some ice, and less water to make it a bit thicker. I have considered pouring it all into a shot glass with atiny amount of water and throwing it back, and then drinking a pint of water, but I can imagine it coming back up again at some speed.

Also, surprisingly enough my concentration seems pretty good.

:eek:
I don't know what kind of shake you are having but I wonder if you are putting in enough liquid and mixing it up properly!!

Logical Fallacy

syklops wrote: »

Yes the only one they had was green apple, so it is flavoured. Ive never tasty cement mixed with water before, but I reckon this is pretty close to what it tastes like. I also wouldn't call it a 'quick' drink as it took nearly 20 mins for me to finish it. That said, it is 2 hours on and I have not had any mid-morning rubblings, which is unusual and good I think. I think ill try it with skimmed milk next time. and some ice, and less water to make it a bit thicker. I have considered pouring it all into a shot glass with atiny amount of water and throwing it back, and then drinking a pint of water, but I can imagine it coming back up again at some speed.

Also, surprisingly enough my concentration seems pretty good.

What brand did you get????

Brand can make all the difference, i'd normally recommend Nutrition X stuff. It tastes lovely, mixes well and is good value for money. I've been using it for maybe 5-6 years and have never felt the need to change.

Screaminmidget

I dont eat breakfast during the weeks. Get up at 10 to 8 and catch the bus at 8, so no time.
Ive been doing this since about october, and ive lost maybe a stone (?) without any extra excercise.
As for concentration, havent noticed that much of a drop in it...

If i find myself ridiculously hungry before lunch, i just pick up a few cereal bars and thats me sorted