I'm sure you've all heard the old saying: "Breakfast
is the most important meal of the day". And you may have even heard the current trend saying that's not true and breakfast is not necessary. Well I'm here to tell you that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but not necessarily in the way you might think.
Breakfast means to break your fast. You fast every day from the time you finish your meal (or snack) at night, until you start eating again in the morning. That's why your morning (usually) meal is called
Breakfast. But it doesn't need to be in the morning. It can be at any time of the day. It's whenever you choose to break your fast. So if you wake up in the morning and don
't feel particularly hungry, then there is no need to break your fast at that time.
Our bodies carry enough stored fat to provide us with energy for a long time past waking (even for several days). Not only is it possible to not eat breakfast until "lunch" time, it's actually very good for us. During the period of fasting is when our body is able to break down the broken cells, remove them and be ready to build new ones. This process is called autophagy. If we don't give our bodies some good fasting time it's a bit like we're always trying to re-tile the bathroom over the existing broken tiles. It's much more effective if we first scrape off the broken tiles. Our body very cleverly does this for us without us having to do anything - except refrain from eating.
It is important to note that fasting is not right for everyone.
You should not do intermittent fasting if you are:
* Underweight (BMI < 18.5) or have an eating disorder like anorexia.
* Pregnant – you need extra nutrients for your child.
* Breastfeeding – you need extra nutrients for your child.
* A child under 18 – you need extra nutrients to grow.
You can probably fast, but may need medical supervision, under these conditions:
* If you have diabetes mellitus – type 1 or type 2.
* If you take prescription medication.
* If you have gout or high uric acid.
* If you have any serious medical conditions, such as liver disease, kidney disease, or heart disease.
So why do I say breakfast is the most important meal of the day? Because what you eat after fasting is what you build your cells with. So think about that bathroom retiling job. If you try to retile with cheap plastic tiles, what was the point of doing the renovation in the first place? The same with your fasting. If your first meal after a fast is processed, nutrient poor food, you will be building your cells out of this poor quality material.
If you try and find yourself feeling shaky, dizzy, ravenous or angry, you may need to do some work on your diet before you continue. Going straight from a Standard Australian Diet (SAD) into fasting can be hard on your body as it's suddenly been deprived of the carbohydrates it was relying on for fuel. If this is the case you can look at first reducing your carbohydrates by removing processed foods and added sugars. Book a free phone consult with me to discuss the best place for you to start - Free Phone Consult
Are you going to try Intermittent Fasting?