It has been one week since my last confession.
I don't eat breakfast.
Oh, man, *exhale.* I know this is a big confession. Pretty much everything I read tells me that all things wrong with me could be fixed by eating breakfast. By skipping it I'm totally binge eating, and I'm definitely overweight. And I'm dumb and mean. Because I skip breakfast. At least, according to most magazines and blogs and newspapers out there.
But, breakfast doesn't do anything for me.
Now, don't get me wrong, I love savory breakfast foods. Eggs, potatoes, and bacon? Sign me up. At noon. On a Saturday. Cereal and a banana? Not before 11am, no siree bob.
Eating within four hours of waking up makes me feel ill most days. And then tired. And then grumpy. And then STARVING. I am hungrier at lunch time on days when I eat breakfast versus days when I don't.
Essentially, eating in the morning makes me experience all the things sources tell me will happen if I don't eat in the morning.
So, instead of powering through, I don't eat breakfast.
I feel normal hunger pangs between 11am and 1pm. Before that, I rarely feel hungry. Nor do I feel sluggish, stupid, or grumpy, unless I didn't get enough sleep. And that's not something food is going to fix.
From the looks of it I'm not the only one who works this way. Which is a relief. Because it's hard not to read a healthy magazine without having the necessity of breakfast thrown in your face. It sucks to be an outlier. I get told all the time that I should eat breakfast, that it will be "healthier." How? I still eat enough calories. I still make good choices about what fuel I put in my body. I know that eating food too early in the morning will make me feel ill the same way that eating food too late at night will make me ill. This is how I work.
And I work well.
I ate a granola bar before my last marathon. I kind of felt gross for the hour between eating it and starting the marathon. The previous marathon (my first), I tried to choke down a banana while walking from my hotel to the start line. I almost threw up in the street. My best runs? No "fuel" in my "tank." Except, you know, the stuff I ate the day before, which is what directly contributes to my morning performance. Unlike food I just that moment chewed up and swallowed.
Does this mean breakfast is dumb and everyone who eats in the morning is stupid? Of course not. If it didn't work for most people it wouldn't be a thing. And breakfast is a thing. It's just not my thing.
Phew, I'm glad to get that off my chest.
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Do you eat breakfast? Does it work for you?
Wow, pretty serious sinning here. :) I always think of it as breakfast helping to keep my metabolism going. At least that is what my mom always drilled into me. Of course we've probably all heard the mom voice saying "breakfast is the most important meal of the day!" :) To each his own. Happy Friday!
ReplyDeleteI totally used to be this same way! If I ate breakfast then I would be starving the rest of the day! And I wouldn't even be hungry for breakfast, I was just eating it because I was told to!
ReplyDeleteI've gotten pretty good about always having something in the morning, and I haven't been starving as early as in my younger days. But I certainly can't eat much. Usually just an English muffin with peanut butter or some toast.
HOWEVER, on the weekend when I can move at my own pace and do what I want, then I'm more inclined to possibly fix myself some eggs and potatoes. But that's like once every 3 months. I'm super lazy about food. I pretty much just don't like food. I wonder if this is why I dropped my dinner on the floor last night? Was it subconsciously on purpose?? No. I was starving. It was going to be yummy. :(
You rebel you. haha
ReplyDelete@Amanda I've read a lot about the metabolism thing, on both sides. For every article that said "more meals is better for metabolism!" there seems to be another that says "number of meals doesn't matter when it comes to metabolism!" This guy (who is awesome) puts it best, I think: http://jimmysmithtraining.com/six-pack-diet/small-meals-and-your-metabolism
ReplyDeleteFirst, he talks about how everyone is different, and you have to find what works for you, which makes so much sense to me. If I were ruining my metabolism my body would have a much different composition that it does now.
He also says : "We give our metabolism too much credit. There’s no way that we’re going to be in an insanely catabolic state if we have three meals vs six meal. We’re not going to lose muscle mass if we’ve missed a meal, our body doesn’t instantly pull amino acids from muscle tissue. "
This makes sense, too, if you look at how we evolved. Sure, we're a long way from the nomadic man of our past, and I know there's a lot of backlash to the Paleo lifestyle, but certainly, humans were not having 6-7 perfect mini meals a day 100 years ago. They might have been lucky to have three. And, they were probably a lot stronger than the average person of today. But, they also died from getting a cold. hahahahha.
Oh man. You are *definitely* going to fat-person hell for this. Probably with diabetes too. And celulite. And you'll deserve it all. Because you didn't eat breakfast.
ReplyDelete(Hopefully my British humour comes through in html.)
Seriously, this is a good example of how even the most fundamental healthy eating ideals aren't right for everyone. Doing what suits you is way cooler.
Plus it means there's more for me at the breakfast buffet. Because I freakin LOVE breakfast.
jillian looks so hot in that picture!!!! i can't take it.
ReplyDeletei live for breakfast. sometimes i go to bed at night excited about breakfast and coffee the next day. i kid you not.
peanut butter toast all the way! yum! i also love the usual indulgences like pancakes. to die for.
you are missing out!
Rebel!! I have to eat first thing in the morning if I plan on driving anywhere. If I don't, I get a little, or a lot, car sick. Cinnamon toast is my weakness!
ReplyDeleteI'll breakfast your guys' faces off, as long as it's noon. And isn't all carby or sugary. Breakfast proteins are awesome. I would eat them for every meal if they didn't involve a crapton of oil.
ReplyDeleteMy mom eats two pieces of dry toast for breakfast every morning, anything more and she feels sick, anything less and she is ravenous by lunch.
Everyone works differently.
You're asking the wrong girl about the bacon Rose! I think though that in British cafes it is often limp and sad. I think you guys make it *really* crispy. Like I say though, I have little to no bacon experience. So what the eff do I know.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe it! My favorite meal of the day is breakfast. In fact, I think I have my hubby beat in the amount I can put down at breakfast.
ReplyDeleteSometimes breakfast is better in the late hours of the night. When I get the munchies, I turns to late night breakfast foods. So good! But I definitely always try and eat something in the morning. Otherwise I'm thinking about how hungry I am until lunch!
ReplyDeleteAfter a fun night of drinking back in the day, all I'd ever want in the middle of the night was French toast and hash browns! Yummy!!
ReplyDeleteOh, man, greasy diner breakfast at 2am? Yes, please.
ReplyDeleteIt's just the timing. It probably also doesn't help that I leave for work within 10 minutes of waking up.
I kind of eat breakfast. I don't feel good when I wake up, so I always have to wait a bit before eating. My schedule weekdays is to get up, hit the gym do my workout and then eat two eggs and some bacon (with some digestive enzymes) after I get to work - usually about 10:30 or so. Weekends, well since I sleep in, breakfast is usually around noon :D
ReplyDelete