What is it about breakfast?
It must be one of the most confusing meals. Many of us have been raised to think it’s about sugary cereals, others start their day with a gigantic plate of bacon, sausages, and baked beans while others favour congee or soupy noodles.
Personally, I don’t eat it. Eating is the last thing on my mind when I get up at 5am or even 7am on the weekends. I’m busy, I’m on full alert in the morning and can get a lot of work done before the rest of the world starts to stir so this is my productive time. It’s not the time I think about eating.
I would argue that most people, if they really think about it and tune into their bodies, don’t feel like eating first thing in the morning either. Breakfast was largely invented by breakfast cereal manufacturers, and it has little to do with being hungry or providing fuel for the day as it’s marketed. It’s more akin to eating a lump of sugar, interfering with insulin levels straight away, than providing good quality energy.
We’re just not hungry at that time of day and I eat when I feel hungry, at about 10am or 11am, and then I don’t eat until dinner. My body works perfectly well on two meals a day and I never eat three meals. I honestly couldn’t manage it, especially when I know the body works best when it can fast for 12 hours overnight.
Sometimes, in the program we recommend an evening fast because the lighter meal of the day will always give you the lower insulin response so remember, if you’re having two meals, it’s better to finish the second meal as early as possible.
I should point out that my approach to children’s eating would be different. Kids are growing and they need to eat three times a day. It’s hard for them to get enough nourishment if they’re not eating that much food but it should still be three good quality, highly nutritious meals a day and not rubbish. Children should never start the day with sugary breakfast cereals. Boiled eggs are a much healthier and easy option.
Adults though, really think about whether you’re just force feeding yourself breakfast because you think you should, you always have and it’s what everyone else does. It may be the easiest meal to drop, tune into the Donna clock and never look back.
