Is breakfast really the most important meal of the day

B R E A K F A S T (Literally means - Breaking your overnight fast).

There is so much controversy floating around various platforms of social media in regards to whether breakfast is still considered the most important meal of the day. And my goodness – I can see why! No wonder people become so confused with what and when to eat sometimes.

But what I want to highlight is that it doesn’t necessarily need to be this difficult. Think back to when you were a baby right - you were able to eat when you were hungry and stop eating/feeding when you were full. Your tummy was able to send messages to your brain when you had enough food and could stop eating. That’s right, your body had it’s own innate ability to tell you what it needed. And newsflash – it still does, you probably just may not have listened to it for a few years (and your not alone in doing this).

Over modern years we no longer feel that we can trust our own bodies; we no longer trust our own hunger and fullness cues. What we ‘trust’ more are the various articles popping up on the internet and in fitspo magazines. Bizarre right?! You need to begin to trust your own body again and actually become aware of the signals it sends you. You know your own body better than anyone else – including myself. So how exactly does this relate to breakfast you’re probably thinking right.

Let’s bring it back to breakfast – what is right for one person isn’t always right for another. Some people do better on a big hearty breakfast (i.e. porridge, eggs on sourdough) where as others find their appetite doesn’t kick in till mid-morning where perhaps they go for something lighter like a smoothie or boiled eggs. The truth is there is no right or wrong here. But you have to do the homework and reflections to find what works best for you. Not just for how it tastes in the morning but for how it sets the platform for your food choices you have for the rest of the day.

Some people find skipping breakfasts leads them to become hungry, ravenous, moody and ready to smash back a donut at 3pm – this is where perhaps a protein-rich breakfast may improve their daily outcomes. Cut the googling, cut giving in to the ‘click-bait’ on social media and cut the bloody diets. Trust your gut - literally.

Indications that a nutritious breakfast may be a good fit for you:

- If you engage in moderate-high intensity exercise in the morning such as the gym, group fitness, moderate-high level running (Most activity beyond a light walk or stretch)

- If you ENJOY eating breakfast (It’s personally my favorite meal of the day)

- If you perform better with eating breakfast (i.e. energy, mood, cognitive function)

- If it acts as a positive precursor to the rest of your daily food intake (i.e. not causing a 3pm choc-craving).

So – my message for you, is to do your homework. No, not on the internet or from a book.

Do your homework on your own body and its performance over the next 7 days and see what a change in breakfast does for you. Think about the foods it does best on, what type of breakfasts keep you full until lunch time rather than reaching for a mid-morning scone? Or are you someone that does better on an extended over-night fasting beginning your food intake for the day at 11am? Don’t worry about what the rest of the world is doing – just run your own race.