I don't eat breakfast on weekdays and when I do have some on weekends, it is at an hour you would call lunch. I do not practice intermittent fasting, my mug of black coffee just happens to be, for me. enough in the mornings. Breakfast food for any other meals is ideal for me. My mornings consist of meditation, working out, updating my task lists and making calls to loved ones. Without breakfast, I can focus on other parts of my morning routine at the start of the day. And when that is done, I hit the ground running for work.
I hardly ever eat before noon and this has led to a constant berating from family members, roommates and even colleagues. Before IF was all the rage, I was given lectures on how my days would be much better if I had breakfast. It was the fuel that would power all the pursuits of the day. My 'diet' would hurt me in the long run and if I really wanted to be my most productive, energetic self, I should start eating breakfast.
Breakfast as we know it is the result of a successful decades-long advertising and lobbying campaign by companies that make cereal, package milk and all the base components of a good breakfast. For example, the nutritional value of milk has been disputed for years but milk remains unseated from its place on the breakfast table. We just assume that children need milk. It was actually a cereal company that first called breakfast the most important meal of the day. They did this while adding sugary, fruit flavoured corn flakes to the same breakfast table. Breakfast is not crucial, it is profitable.
Besides, what does your typical breakfast before a workday look like? Two mandazi, a sausage and maybe a samosa? A rolex? Four slices of bread and tea with lots of milk in it? There are certainly people who can claim to have a healthy, nutritious meal at the very start of their day but they have very little company.
I think mornings are the most important time of the day. For me, those few hours between 6 and 9 are the only time I truly get to myself all day. How I spend them sets the tone for my entire day - on Mondays, it is my whole week. I cannot waste an hour preparing and then eating breakfast. If you have been curious about ways to eat better, exercise more or maximise your time in the day, giving up breakfast could be a wonderful first step.
