Listen To Your Body

One of the people I follow on Twitter posted the following question the other day:

“It’s really difficult for me (even when I’m feeling good, like today) to eat anything in the morning. I am just rarely hungry. At all. Tips? Tricks? Skip breakfast and don’t worry? What do y’all think?”

Lots of Advice

People were giving all sorts of responses about what they recommended doing for breakfast. Some people didn’t eat breakfast either, others felt breakfast was the most important meal of the day, some people would eat something small like yogurt to get their appetite going, and others were committed to intermittent fasting.

The “Right” Way to Eat Breakfast

I was struck by how many people felt like there was a “right” answer to the question, like maybe there actually was one way of eating (or not eating) in the morning that was best for everyone.

My response was simple: “I would just listen to your body and not worry about it too much.”

Listen to Your Body

In today’s culture, we have lost the art of being mindful and listening to our body. We tend to eat when we aren’t hungry, eat too fast, and eat things that aren’t good for us. We think there is a way we “should” eat, rather than tuning in to our body and developing wisdom about what, when, and how much to eat.

Inner Wisdom

It would benefit us to work on developing this inner wisdom about eating and nutrition. Press the pause button and tune into your body. What does your body need right now? Are you hungry? Thirsty? If so, eat or drink something. Start small and go slow. It takes your mind about 20 minutes to register that your stomach is full, so it’s easy to overeat. But if you start small and go slow, you can avoid this problem. Remember, we aren’t experiencing a food shortage. You can always eat more later if you are still hungry.