The case for breakfast
(yes, it's important!)
Last week, we talked about why I am not a fan of intermittent fasting for most women. Now I’m going to take that a bit further and focus on breakfast as being, you may have guessed, the most important meal of the day (and something IF is missing!). Yes, this is a very common saying and we’ve all heard it before. But so many of my patients and clients over the years still aren’t eating it. Or if they are, they’re not eating nearly enough.
What happens when you skip or skimp on breakfast
Exhibit A: you wake up in the morning and have less time than you’d like to get ready for the day. You grab some coffee and either a bar of some sort, egg whites or nothing before you’re out the door to work or head into your home office for a marathon of meetings. By 12:00 p.m., you’re craving carbs hard but scarf down a quick salad as you work. During the afternoon you’re falling asleep at your desk (coffee #2!) and by the time you’re done for the day it’s all the snacks before dinner, dinner, and then intense cravings for sweets into the night. You’re most popular saying here: “I was good all day until I got home from work”
Exhibit B: you get up early to get your run in and don’t bother with a pre-run snack (it’s so early!). You get home, shower, get ready for work, sit down to your emails, and (oops!) finally have smoothie, muffin or a bagel with cream cheese mid-morning. By lunchtime, you’re so hangry you almost bite a co-worker’s head off (just figuratively, but…), attack the candy drawer and grab a quick sandwich. You’re still starving in the afternoon (“why is nothing helping? I just want to eat all the food!”), and in the evening try to have a big dinner to satisfy your unrelenting hunger. Late night ice cream finally does it. You’re most popular saying here: “man, all of this running is making me so hungry!”
Do either of these scenarios sound like you? If so, you’re definitely not alone. It’s so common for missing nutrition in the morning to have an effect on the later half of the day - insatiable hunger, carb and sweets cravings, low energy, even bingeing. To complicate things even more, these feelings and behaviors often cause guilt and shame, and (thanks, diet culture) convince us we need to eat even less the next day. Rinse, repeat.
How to stop the cycle
Eat breakfast! Everyone is different when it comes to digestion and there is a lot of nuance here, but eating within about an hour of waking up is a good goal to start. If you’re not hungry in the morning, I hear you. I usually still want you to try to eat something (it can be small, like a banana or a cup of yogurt), because sometimes you need to re-teach your body that it can rely on you for energy in the morning. Working up to a complete, nourishing breakfast being the end goal.
Components of a nourishing breakfast
A truly satisfying breakfast should have carbs, protein, fat and fiber. This combination of nutrients will provide sustained energy, satisfaction and be a sort of “nudge” to the body to start utilizing energy efficiently. If you’ve just gone for a run or workout, they’ll also help your muscles recover and repair. This is my opinion, but I do think breakfast should be one of the biggest meals of the day and it can really set you up for success in the many hours afterwards. Here are some good examples that include all of our key nutrients;
two slices whole grain bread (carb, fiber) with mashed avocado (fat, fiber), 1-2 eggs (protein, fat), salt & pepper
2% or whole milk Greek yogurt (protein, fat) with berries (fiber, carbs), granola (carbs, fiber) and chia seeds (fat, fiber)
oatmeal or overnight oats (carbs, fiber) with almond milk (nada, sorry almond milk), scoop collagen (protein), berries (carbs, fiber), big scoop peanut butter (fat, some protein), flaxseeds (fat, fiber)
whole grain bagel (carbs, fiber), cream cheese (fat), lox (protein, fat), sliced tomato, onion, greens (fiber)
omelet (protein) with veggies (fiber), goat cheese (fat) and slice of whole grain toast (carbs, fiber) or potatoes (carbs fiber)
tortilla (carbs fiber) with eggs (protein), avocado (fat, fiber) and veggies (fiber)
peanut butter (fat, some protein) sandwich on whole grain bread (carbs, fiber) with sliced banana (fiber, carbs), hard boiled egg (protein, fat) or container of 2% or whole milk Greek yogurt (protein, fat)
I could go on here, but I think you get the idea. Breakfast can and should be substantial. Some of these ideas take more time than others, but there are always quick options, like the sandwich, overnight oats or hard boiling eggs ahead of time, that can be put together quickly. If all of these options sound terrible, eating that much food in the morning feels daunting (common with disordered eating) or you generally feel overwhelmed, working with a dietitian for some guidance and a more individualized approach can be a gamechanger.
For more information on working with me, please visit my website or shoot me a note at kellyhoganhealth@gmail.com