I\u2019m part of a generation who was at one time, bombarded with the virtues of breakfast being the holy grail of all meals. How many of you were convinced that if you didn\u2019t start your day with a big \u2018ol bowl whole-grain cereal accompanied by a side of OJ you\u2019d be destined to fall asleep in glass or (gasp) your metabolism would slow down?<\/p>\n
The issue of whether or not you should have breakfast is a huge source of conflict. You\u2019ve got your conventional eat-within-two-hours-of-waking-up wisdom, dysfunctional metabolic conditioning that tells you to ignore your hunger cues \u2014 and starve yourself until you can\u2019t take it any longer, and newer studies that say that it doesn\u2019t matter when you eat as long as you just eat less.1, 2.<\/p>\n
Breakfast is When You Break Your Fast
\nHistorically, breakfast was a term used to describe your first meal of the day, no matter when that meal took place. Sometime around the 15th century, it became synonymous with the meal you consume shortly after waking up. And now, thanks to the hundreds of thousands of people thriving with intermittent fasting, breakfast is returning to its first-meal-of-your-day roots.<\/p>\n
Simply put, breakfast is how you break your fast.<\/p>\n
Whether you have a planned eating window or your fast is just the hours that you\u2019re asleep, the meal that answers the day\u2019s first call of hunger is arguably the most important. Let me repeat that: your first hunger of the day is the most important. It\u2019s your body\u2019s first polite request for you to deliver substantial, supportive, and sustainable fuel to your body.<\/p>\n
Somewhere between parental advice and diet culture influence, many of my own health coaching clients have been taught to answer their first hunger with a banana and piece of toast. Or an energy bar. Or a single hard-boiled egg. The problem is, when you start your day with one of these unsatisfying breakfasts, you\u2019re doing yourself and your body a disservice, well, unless you\u2019re cool with the rollercoaster of snack attacks, constant hunger, or needing to eat again in about an hour.<\/p>\n
The Metabolic Benefits of Eating Breakfast
\nBreakfast is whenever you break your fast \u2013 it doesn\u2019t have to be 6:00 a.m. or 9:00 a.m. or even noon. But there are metabolic benefits to consuming a significant meal earlier in the day. In this study, 93 overweight women between the ages of 30 and 57 were put into two isocaloric weight loss groups: one had their largest meal of the day at breakfast; the other had their largest meal at dinner. Over the course of 12 weeks, the group who consumed the most calories at breakfast lost two and a half times more weight than those who had a light breakfast \u2014 or skipped it altogether. They also had significantly reduced fasting glucose, insulin, ghrelin, and triglyceride levels. Apply this approach to your own life and within a few days you\u2019ll start to notice:<\/p>\n
Your cravings disappear
\nYou\u2019re not thinking about food 24\/7
\nYou have more sustained energy
\nYou stop snacking all day
\nYou sleep better at night
\nYou\u2019re not spiraling into guilt or shame because you binged once the sun went down
\nSo having a satisfying, satiating, nutrient-dense, and calorically dense breakfast could be the key to optimal metabolic health. But how do you get out of the biggest-meal-of-the-day-at-night routine?<\/p>\n
Breaking the Late-Night Eating Cycle
\nOften times, my clients will tell me they don\u2019t feel hungry when they wake up. If that\u2019s the case with you, I\u2019d argue that you\u2019ve trained yourself not to be hungry. Years of waking up, rushing to get ready for work, and not making time for a solid, sit-down breakfast has resulted in the belief that you don\u2019t need to eat. (Side note: if you don\u2019t eat \u2018til dinner time and feel awesome, that\u2019s great! This is for folks looking to make a change in their health, their hunger levels, and their relationship with food, and who feel like, perhaps, their meal timing could be their ace in the hole.)<\/p>\n
To break the cycle, I typically have my clients eat a morning meal loaded with protein and fat \u2014 whether they\u2019re hungry or not.3 I\u2019m all for listening to your body\u2019s cues, but most people are so disconnected from what their bodies are telling them already, and this is a great opportunity to retrain the mind and body to actually want a meal in the morning. Somewhat forcing the issue of breakfast is a means to an end; a tool to help bring hunger signaling back online. That, and, if you have an epic break fast meal, there is a greater chance that you will eat less as the day goes on. Pretty soon, once we\u2019ve flipped that eating schedule on its head, many people do start feeling a slight grumble of hunger in the morning.<\/p>\n
Remember there\u2019s a difference between skipping (or skimping on) breakfast because you\u2019re following conventional wisdom or you\u2019re still feeling full from the previous night, and \u201cskipping\u201d it because your first meal falls a little later in the day.<\/p>\n
How to Break Your Fast Epically
\nIn my opinion, food isn\u2019t just fuel. It should satiate hunger. It should be delicious and enjoyable. And it should support your metabolic needs for energy and vitality. If you want to break your fast in an epic way, you probably already know what to do, you just might need a nudge in the right direction.<\/p>\n
Respect yourself enough to make time. I don\u2019t love \u201cgrab-n-go\u201d breakfasts, and I even question their necessity at times. When people tell me they\u2019re too busy to make a nutrient-dense, supportive meal for themselves, all I hear is \u201cI don\u2019t value myself.\u201dIf you\u2019ve decided that getting out the door is more important than appropriately feeding yourself, this is your chance to show yourself how much you respect the miracle that your body is. Not only that, consider the extra time you spend scouring the cabinets for snacks or thinking about what you\u2019re going to eat (or not eat) next. What if you took that 15 or so minutes and tacked that on to the beginning of your day?
\nPrioritize protein and fat. Want to set yourself up for sustained energy between meals without fatigue, mood swings, and cravings? Break your fast with a combo of protein and good-for-you fats. And I\u2019m not talking about a single egg and half a piece of bacon. You can do better than that. Filling your plate with a healthy portion of these miraculous macronutrients regulates the hunger hormone ghrelin, so you feel fuller for longer and keep cravings at bay. So, slide a pan of bacon into the oven, fry up a few eggs, and top it all off with some colorful veggies slathered in butter.
\nReset your circadian rhythm. Your circadian rhythm affects everything \u2014 both cognitively and metabolically. When you have the habit of eating later at night and consequently, not eating during the day, you disrupt your natural body clock, which can lead to increased production of insulin, among other things.4There are two ways to reset your rhythm: a) eat a smaller meal at night so that you\u2019re hungrier in the morning, or b) eat a larger meal for your first hunger of the day and you\u2019ll naturally want less food at night.
\nKnow that breakfast doesn\u2019t have to look like breakfast. Eating \u201cbreakfast food\u201d for breakfast is a construct that\u2019s been spearheaded by cereal manufactures, created to make you believe your morning meal has to look, smell, and taste a certain way. There\u2019s absolutely zero reason you can\u2019t have leftover ribeye and asparagus or a Big Ass Salad for your first meal of the day. You\u2019ve got your protein, your healthy fats, and vital nutrients to support your body for the long haul. What else do you need?
\nHow Important is Breakfast?
\nWhether you consider it self-care or just taking ownership of the miraculous organism your body is, breakfast \u2014 the meal you break your fast with \u2014 is the most important meal of the day. There\u2019s no better way to take the reins back from hunger, cravings, and chronic energy dips than by making time to front load your day with an epic protein and fat-forward meal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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