You have heard:
“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day”
“Skipping Breakfast slows down your Metabolism”
“Skipping Breakfast can make you gain weight”
“Skipping Breakfast retains fat”
“Skipping Breakfast slows down brain function”
It’s all bollox. To put it simply. Because there’s this notion that you have to eat breakfast first thing in the morning.
Listen, if you’re not hungry when you wake up in the morning, you don’t have to have a meal. Look at breakfast in the sense of two words joined together – breaking the fast. So technically it’s the first meal you have since the day before after fasting all night in your sleep.
For people trying to manage their weight and nutrition, IF you have a tendency to “skip breakfast” then get to lunchtime starving and ready to wolf down anything and everything nearby then it would be a good idea to have something, even something small to curb that hunger – because when we leave it too long we’re more likely to over eat by eating too quickly and eating more than we actually need (hence calorie surplus = weight gain)
You should never really sit down to any meal “absolutely famished” for that reason, it’s not just breakfast, it applies to them all.
Skipping breakfast doesn’t make you gain weight, it doesn’t slow down your metabolism, it doesn’t hold onto fat and it doesn’t slow down your brain function. Your actions in response to being hungry for a prolonged period of time can influence that (well at least the gain weight and brain function bit, not so much the metabolism and fat storage)
If you stuff your gob because you’ve left it too long and are ready to chew a colleague’s limb then yeah you need to eat maybe a little bit earlier to prevent that. But know that breakfast itself is breaking the fast – no matter what time of the day it is.
Eat when you’re hungry. Eat SLOWLY and STOP when you’re full. Regardless of the time on the clock.
It’s worth mentioning that it’s actually more important to get some fluid into you when you wake up – after dehydrating all night (and probably sweating in the bed). Plus drinking something, even a simple glass of free H20 will suppress your appetite if that’s your thing – note: if you drink a glass of water and are still hungry, it’s highly likely that you’re actually hungry and not dehydrated 😉
Want to hear more of some BS Myth Busting? Check out my Cut The Crap Nutrition Seminar on August 23rd – attend in person or get access to live stream from anywhere in the world. No excuses!!
Details Here.
Be Well.
SJ x