I have decided after many years of talking to people that about half the community can’t function without breakfast and the other half can’t have breakfast very easily.  In the perfect world we would all have breakfast when our body told us to after waking up – for some this would be straight away and for others in an hour or two. The problem is that we don’t often have the luxury of doing this, which isn’t a problem for the must eat breakfast people but is for the other half of the population. If you miss food in the morning and then get busy and don’t notice a bit later that you are ready to eat, then hunger gets turned off at the time but can catch you later with nibbling mid afternoon on sweeter or richer foods, nibbling before dinner at home or eating dinner and still wanting to nibble afterwards, even if full.

The interesting thing is that if you do start to eat better in the mornings one effect can be getting hungrier earlier or for morning tea. This can lead to worry about overeating or weight gain but actually it is just your body waking up your brain and hormones and sending you more normal eating signals. The payoff is that if you listen and eat at the time you wont get those annoying nibble drives later – and perhaps you wont need as big a dinner at night or want chocolate as much.  The big picture will be much better. Apart from the fact that your thinking, mood and energy levels will be improved.

When you get up don’t force yourself to eat, just have something small that you can cope with, then have enough at morning tea so that by lunch time you will still be hungry, but not starving. Aim to arrive home at night having eaten well enough that you aren’t tired and starving all at once. This way you are less likely to overeat.