Skipping Breakfast

IS BREAKFAST NECESSARY?

I used to think breakfast was the most important meal of the day. I wouldn’t go without it. I bought into that saying and I didn’t think anything of it.

Now, I know better.

Perhaps that saying that breakfast is the most important meal of the day was made up by cereal companies that wanted to profit off of poor unsuspecting consumers. No one will ever know for sure.

But it makes you think, doesn’t it?

If breakfast was the most important meal of the day, then why don’t we always feel hungry in the morning when we get up? I don’t always feel hungry but I would eat just because I believed that saying.

How awful is that!

Why should anyone eat just because? We should never put food in our mouth if we are not hungry. We should never eat a meal because it’s the thing to do.

Food is sustenance. We need to live and thrive. Eating isn’t just some meaningless thing that we do for kicks. It has a purpose, and that’s to keep us alive.

Shame on any ad company that makes us think otherwise. Don’t eat if you’re not hungry.

And why is it that when you eat breakfast you feel sluggish afterward? I know this answer. It’s because when your belly is full all your energy goes into digestion. How can that be beneficial to your workday?

Most of the time, when I do eat breakfast which is very rare these days, I feel like I want to curl up and go to sleep. Thankfully, my work benefits from intermittent fasting. I don’t have to deal with being tired and sluggish because I didn’t have breakfast.

Doesn’t the word breakfast mean “breaking a fast” anyway? Can’t we, “break” a fast anytime? I think we can.

I think we can!

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE SKIP?

I don’t know what happens to you when you skip breakfast, but for me, absolutely nothing!

Nothing happens to me when I skip breakfast.

I don’t faint. My blood sugar doesn’t drop. I’m not weak like a puppy. None of those things that they scare people with if they skip breakfast, happens to me.

If it doesn’t happen to me, most likely it won’t happen to you. There are those exceptions for people who struggle with certain health issues. I understand that. But for the most part, the average person can skip breakfast and not fall apart.

Instead of being tired and sluggish, I am alert and energized because I skipped my breakfast. My digestive system is not sucking up all my energy.

If you haven’t tried skipping breakfast yet, try it. You might just find that everything you ever thought about breakfast is completely backward.

FASTS THAT PROMOTE SKIPPING BREAKFAST

There are many kinds of fasts, and just about all of them encourage you to skip breakfast. Doesn’t that make you think?

The 16:8 fast is notorious for being known as the fast where you skip breakfast, simply because 16 hours is spent in the fasted state. That means you count from the night before after supper, right up until noon.

Some people skew that line a bit, but generally speaking, 16 hours is spent in the fasted state, and the remaining eight hours is your eating window. That means you break your fast at around noon or 1 PM depending on when you started your fast the night before.

Fasts like the 20:4 fast, or OMAD (one meal a day) require you to skip breakfast and lunch. That’s a personal preference, but the importance is to know that you don’t need breakfast.

Alternating day fasts require you to fast all day. That means you don’t eat breakfast as well as other meals. But the important thing to note is that you don’t eat breakfast.

Perhaps we should think of breakfast as a bad thing rather than a requirement. It seems that most fasts require you to skip breakfast, giving you the impression that breakfast is not just not needed, but entirely bad for you.

Whatever your views on breakfast, just remember this. When we “break” the fast, isn’t as important as we once thought.

If you like your bacon and eggs, just wait a few hours and have them for lunch.

HOW TO SKIP

Many people think there is a process to skipping breakfast but there isn’t. Just get up in the morning and don’t have it.

If you’re used to the routine, make another one to replace it. Instead of having breakfast, go out for a walk. Do yoga. Spend time meditating. Do something else instead of opening your mouth to eat.

Some people can’t do without their morning coffee. Is coffee breakfast? That’s not an easy answer. To some it is, and to some, it isn’t.

It’s a personal preference, really.

If you must have your coffee in the morning, then have it. There are no real rules to intermittent fasting unless you make them up. What works for one person may not work for another. That’s okay.

You’re not breaking any intermittent fasting rules just because you want to have your morning coffee. Have your morning coffee! Have it with cream or don’t have it with cream. Nobody really cares.

Just do what works best for you.

You can still be an intermittent faster and have your coffee if you like. I know people who do it and have still lost weight. You can too if you wish.

The main thing is don’t get caught up in the logistics of how to skip breakfast or how to do a certain type of intermittent fasting. Remember that there are many types and variations of intermittent fasting programs and they all benefit you.

Personally, I just drink water in the morning. I’m not a coffee drinker but that’s just me. I go for a walk and clear my head, and I look forward to when I can eat lunch or supper depending on what type of fast I’m doing.

It’s as simple as that.

HOW TO COPE WITH THE HUNGER?

There are many ways to cope with hunger. The best way is to keep busy. When I work I don’t think of food. My mind is preoccupied and that’s a good thing.

It doesn’t have to be work that keeps you busy, it can be anything really. It can be a project at home. It can be sewing. It can be shopping. It can be painting the deck.

Whatever it is that you do, do it. You want to keep your mind from thinking about food. The moment you think about food, you will crave it.

Drinking water helps, but I’ll caution you. The more water you drink the more your stomach will growl. That’s just the biological thing that happens. If you put water into your stomach it will obviously move around. You don’t want that.

Just drink when you’re thirsty and that’s all.

I cope with hunger by going for a walk on my breaks at work, rather than sit around and watch everyone else eating their lunch. I escape. Sometimes the smells are overwhelming and that immediately makes me feel hungry.

But it depends on what kind of fast I’m doing. If I’m doing a water fast, by day three or four, I really don’t care what I smell. I feel so good that I don’t crave food at all. I know that sounds weird, but it’s true.

Long fasts are different than daily fasts. Something happens to you that is unexplainable. I don’t feel hungry after day two. Instead, I feel supercharged. I feel invincible. I feel like a superhero.

Superheroes don’t feel hungry, do they?

My suggestion is to do more long fasts so you don’t experience hunger quite as much as you do during a short fast. It’s strange that shorter fasts are more challenging, but maybe it’s just me. Maybe other people are different.

Every body is different.

Sometimes if I want to push myself, I deliberately watch cooking shows. That’s strange, isn’t it? If I can fight off the urge to eat just by looking at it, I feel accomplished. That power gives me the strength to carry on with my fast.

HOW TO BREAK THE FAST?

When it comes to breaking your fast, there are a few things that you need to know. If you just skip breakfast and no other meals, then continue on as usual.

Eat food that you would normally eat for breakfast once you break your fast. Have the bacon and eggs. Have the toast and jam. Have the cereal you love. Basically, eat whatever you want.

If you’re doing a longer fast, watch your digestive system. When you shut off your digestive system, it becomes inactive for a length of time. It needs to be primed to start working again. 

I always use the well-pump analogy.

When I lived on a farm we had an old well with a pump handle. When we didn’t use it for a while, it stopped working. You’d pump it and nothing would come out.

That’s like the digestive system. Our bowels will stop working when we stop eating. That’s just a biological fact. With inactivity, comes the challenge to restart it.

Like the well analogy, we need to prime the pump. I would pour water down the pump, and then start moving the handle again. I would work the pump until water came spewing out in bits and spurts.

That’s not pretty.

Well-water can come out yellow and orange, spinning and spurting until finally it runs smoothly again. Once that happens, the pump is primed and water is clear and regular.

Do you get my drift?

Our digestive system works the same way. Once we start eating again, things may come out unexpectedly. Diarrhea can happen, but should only happen once or twice. If it lasts for a long time you need to address the cause.

I like to break my fast with something that will hold my food in. Ground flax does the trick for me every time. When added with warm water, the ground flax swells up. Its the best form of fibre for your system.

You can break your fast with other things as well, but I just recommend flax. I’ve experimented with a lot of other types of foods like bread, but it doesn’t seem to work as well.

Bear in mind I only have experience with my system, so this might not work as well for you. But the general idea is to create a plug to keep your food in as long as possible.

Gross, hey?

I just want to be honest with you and let you know what works for me. Breaking a fast is a controversial thing because of the diarrhea that happens, but it doesn’t have to be.

If you understand what’s happening to your system, then you can fix it easily. You know what to expect, and you know how to prevent the worst of it.

Don’t fill yourself up with soup and liquids, or an entire plate full of broccoli without shovelling a spoon full of ground-up flax into your mouth first.

Trust me on this one.

Eat ground flax to break your fast, and chase it down with a couple of glasses of water. You’ll thank me for it later!

BENEFITS OF SKIPPING

The benefits of skipping breakfast are huge. All the benefits of intermittent fasting are yours to be had when you skip breakfast, because when you skip breakfast you are intermittent fasting.

Give yourself a pat on the back.

Firstly, you’ve just learned the best life skill. Self-discipline! If you can discipline yourself with food then you can discipline yourself with just about anything. That means if you are a smoker, you can quit smoking easily. If you have an addiction, you’ve now got what it takes to stop.

That’s incredible!

Your body will benefit from skipping breakfast by healing itself. I’ve experienced it. My eczema has gone away completely. I lost 50 pounds and kept it off. I feel more energized. My skin is glowing. I’m more youthful. The list goes on.

As for the other health benefits, according to Harvard studies, the list is endless. It reduces heart disease and diabetes. It prevents Alzheimer’s and high cholesterol. It normalizes blood pressure and blood sugar. It prevents cancer. It promotes cell regeneration and heals the body.

Need I say more?If you liked this article, please consider pinning it on Pinterest by clicking the picture below.

For more information, please got to the Hungry Old Lady Youtube channel by clicking on the video at the end of this post. Thank you for reading my blog!