Am I hurting myself?!!

[kk91]

Well basically im 17 and around 185pounds but taking into consideration my height I need to drop to around 140 pounds, now for around a week Ive started eating nothing in the morning and nothing at night and just having lunch which usually cotains carbs, protein and a lil fat. I also drink plenty of water and exercise for 1 hour a day everyday! I know you should eat breakfast otherwise you will pig out at lunch but you see I don't I eat exactly the same amount i usually eat for lunch and Im not hungry for the rest of the day. Ive been told though that I might be hurting myself because my body is having to use up muscle?!! Thing is I cannot do the whole 'eat and excercise' thing because I eat not when i am hungry but when I can so at best I would stay the same weight as opposed to putting on more.
Im really worried... can anyone shed any light on how good/bad my little scheme is and if it is bad what are the alternatives.
HELP thanks!

[abrannan]

Adding to your lunch hunger is only part of the issue with skipping breakfast. The bigger problem is what happens to your metabolism. When you sleep, your body switches into another mode, metabolically speaking. It generally slows your metabolism and some other things. The signal it needs to switch your metabolism back up is when you begin to eat again, breaking the fast you've been on all night (hence, breakfast).

Eating breakfast is effectively turning on your body's metabolic engine. If you skip brekafast, you end up spending your whole morning in "sleep mode". You're sluggish, you have low energy, and what's worse, you're burning fewer calories.

The ideal scenario is one where you're constantly feeding the furnace small quantities of fuel all throughout the day. 5-6 "meals" of around 250-300 calories each keeps your blood sugar levels even, and keeps your metabolism working away all through the day.