If you have been in diet culture for many years, you’ve probably heard countless suggestions about how, when, and what you should eat for breakfast. One day you read that you should eat the second you wake up and the next day you hear that you should be fasting until lunchtime. So, when should you eat breakfast?
With intuitive eating, there are no strict rules. Intuitive eaters don’t have to eat breakfast at a certain time. They aren’t restricted to certain food groups or portion sizes.
We know that the human body likes to be consistently fed to keep blood sugars stable and prevent getting “hangry” after hours of not eating. If you notice that your body is not naturally hungry until 9 or 10 am, it is absolutely okay to eat breakfast at that time. However, we want to avoid waiting too long, to the point that you are famished and feel out of control when you sit down to eat. We also want to keep our daily schedules in mind. If you planned to eat a late breakfast but forgot you had a 10 oclock meeting, you might not be able to eat until later in the day. At that point, you may feel ravenous and start urgently eating everything in site.
Here are some questions you can ask yourself when making breakfast decisions:
Am I hungry right now?
What sounds satisfying to me?
When is the next time I will be able to eat after this meal?
What food do I have availability to right now that can nourish my body?
The goal of intuitive eating is to keep ourselves feeling physically, emotionally, and mentally pleasant. One of the best acts of self care is fueling our body consistently. Not because it’s a rule that you have to follow, but because our intention is to take care of our body by giving it energy and keeping our blood sugars stable. We are shifting our eating decisions from external factors back to our internal, biological feelings.
If you wake up feeling hungry, go ahead and enjoy a delicious breakfast to start your day! If you don’t feel hunger during the early hours of the day, that is okay too, but you need to keep in mind how your timing of food will play out over the course of the day.
Want to learn more about intuitive eating and what it looks like to find food freedom? Click here to check out my blog post on feeling out of control around food!
