Being a Dietitian means we are equipped to prescribe dietary advice, and a crucial element to this, is that we individualise it, hence I do not write generic meal plans for people or sell books with an OSFA approach.
When it comes to breakfast we all would have heard that “it is the most important meal of the day”, or that it “kickstarts our metabolism” or that if we don’t eat it, we will crash later. For many of us, that may be correct. But for a few of my clients out there, part of their individualised plan is to delay breakfast.
There simply is no concrete evidence to show a specific time period is the best to eat. Some of the people I work with simply scoff food with no thought to appetite, enjoyment or fulfillment, they are simply not hungry, nauseous even at the thought of food, and then they might just eat morning tea on top of this…just because it’s time. So one strategy is to delay breakfast, be relaxed, aware of your food choice and enjoy it.
Many mums (&dads) are racing in the morning getting little kids fed, clothed and off to school; their breakfast (& coffee) is inhaled under stress. They have no memory of enjoyment or satisfaction and hence find themselves looking forward to a reward coffee/cake date a little later. Many of us do not need to be eating a second meal mid-morning and these extra bites may be contributing to our excess weight.
In these instances, waiting until you’re home at 9 am or making time to sit down at work after you’ve tended to your morning tasks to enjoy some nourishment in a calm environment could do you wonders. And just in case you’ve misinterpreted me, I’m not saying skip breakfast because you’d rather sleep in a little later or just can’t be bothered…I’m saying, listen and learn what cues your body is giving you and adapt your eating. And if this image makes you go ‘pffhh that would be nice…’, I encourage you to think about what small moments YOU can create in your life to feel energised and happy!
