Is Breakfast as Important as They Say It Is?

We have all heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but with intermittent fasting rising in popularity I am getting more and more questions about breakfast. The most common questions are; When is the best time to eat breakfast? & What should I eat for breakfast? The answer is “it depends”. There are a lot of factors that go into answering those questions. Your age, sex, weight, and goals are all factors in my answer.

With that in mind I am going to give you some tips to optimize your breakfast.

To start, I do believe that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, it is the meal that breaks your fast after sleep and can set your day up with good energy and focus or with energy crashes and cravings. What you choose to eat for your first meal and when you choose to eat it have an impact on your entire day.

Breakfast does not have to be the first thing you do when you wake up, if you have your first meal at noon, even though you may call it lunch, it is the meal that breaks your fast. Intermittent fasting has gained popularity and caused a bit of confusion. The basic idea of intermittent fasting being that you determine an “eating window” and you only eat in that time. So, if you have an 8-hour eating window and your first meal is at 10am, your last meal would be at 6pm. Eating windows can be as long as 12 hours and as short as 2. As I said earlier there are many factors to determine what is best for you but we must remember that fasting is a stress on the body and while a little stress can be good for us, too much stress can begin to have negative effects on the body. I believe that 12 hours of fasting is safe for most people. Otherwise, listen to your body, if you want to fast for 18 hours but at hour 15 you are starving and miserable, maybe you should reconsider. And remember that you are not bound to anything, you can have a 12-hour eating window one day and 8 the next, there is no need to be militant about intermittent fasting.

Now, let’s talk about what to eat for breakfast. I consider the what to be a lot more important than the when. Starting your day off with sugar and refined carbs can lead to a spike in insulin that can lead to a day filled with sugar cravings and afternoon energy crashes. This can easily cause unwanted weight gain since we tend to reach for more refined carbs and sugars to give us the boost we need to finish our day. For my weight loss clients especially, I encourage a savory breakfast, eggs are a great choice. Focusing on protein for breakfast is a great way to help with sustainable energy and focus throughout your day. Protein is also very satiating so it will help to manage those afternoon sugar cravings. Some of my personal favorite breakfasts are; scrambled eggs with ground beef broccoli, onions & mushrooms, over medium eggs & steak with avocado slices, smoked salmon with onions and capers or my healthy deviled eggs! Left over dinner is always another fast and easy choice.

Breakfast, whatever time you eat it, is very important to the rest of your day and it is even more important if you have weight loss goals. Work on creating a good breakfast habit for yourself and see if you notice a difference.