I skip breakfast every single day and don’t eat until 2 p.m., and it’s the only thing that has ever let me stay lean and keep my six pack. Skipping breakfast doesn’t burn fat by magic. It makes eating fewer calories easy, because you do the hard part while you’re busy and focused.
Abs come down to calories
Getting six pack abs mostly comes down to burning more calories than you eat. Workouts, supplements and weight loss medication can all help, but they come second. For most people, burning more than you eat means eating less.
Why cutting portions all day is so hard
If you eat breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, the only way to eat less is to shrink every one of those meals. You’re a little hungry all day long, and it’s hard to stick to.
Skip breakfast, eat a late lunch, and you’ve cut a whole meal without thinking about portion sizes. Not eating for part of the day is so much easier than trying to eat a little less at every meal.
Mornings are easy, nights are hard
In the morning you’re usually working. You’re in a logical state of mind, there aren’t many temptations around, and it’s easy to stay on point.
At night it’s the opposite. You’re getting dinner with your family, going out, doing something fun, and you want to enjoy yourself. That’s when the temptations come out.
So put your discipline where it’s easy. Stay on point through the morning and early afternoon, and you’ll have so much more flexibility at night to eat what you want and still hit your calories. That’s why I fast until 2 p.m., and why you should too.
How I do it
- No breakfast. Nothing with calories until 2 p.m. That includes cream or creamer in your coffee: it doesn’t feel like eating, but it breaks your fast.
- Break the fast with a low-carb meal or a salad. You’re still in work mode, and it keeps you less hungry for the rest of the day.
- Save the carbs for night. If you’re going to have them, have them late. Then you sleep, fast again and start fresh the next day instead of losing the whole day.
If you want the research on eating inside a shorter window, read when you eat matters for belly fat. The rest of my system is in my top 10 tips for getting six pack abs at 40.
Want to see what you’d look like once the belly fat is gone? Generate your free AI transformation.
This is general fitness information, not medical advice.
