Hmmm... I never saw a connection until now as I sit down to write, the word "fast" within the word breakfast. Think of all of the hours you have fasted while sleeping. Your first meal of the day is breaking that fasting period. After years of listening to the signs and signals of my body, I have found it a relief to continue the fasting period until lunch time. You are not as hungry in the morning as you think and the bonus: you actually burn calories faster. You just need to get past that threshold of thinking that you are famished. I actually drink a lot of water before I go to bed at night and again in the morning with the purpose of aiding in flushing out the toxins that are stagnant in my body at night. I make a final water push in the morning so my digestive tract empties early, is relieved of any inflammation, and I can exercise or participate in sport without any intestinal discomfort. It's become a way of life for me. I continue to drink a lot of water all morning and throughout the rest of the day to keep this continuous flow throughout my body. That false hunger is gone because my stomach is comfortably full from hydration. Even so, once in a while I need an early snack. It usually depends on what I ate the day/evening before. So, the first thing I reach for is fruit. I get my fiber, which continues that natural flow (keeps moving, so toxins don't build up), and provides me with a boost of energy ("natural carbs"), vitamins and minerals. I am a "morning faster" and an "avoider snacker!" By noon, I'm hungry. REAL hunger. My body is now craving natural, juicy food; not junk. It can't wait to get more of what it truly needs. Think about when we were hunter-gatherers. We fasted a lot. It was part of our survival skills. It helped keep us strong, we moved faster to get it, and it kept our minds sharp.
Steamed chicken and shrimp
If you are desperately trying to get healthy, begin by conditioning your body with hydration, a morning fast, and a first healthy meal of the day. Eat light and allow your stomach to shrink. You will find yourself surprised at how much less food we really need to function. You see, processed foods fool the body into thinking it needs more. Processed foods are stripped of their nutrients and left with sugars. These sugars wreak havoc on our brains, our immune systems and digestive systems and cause unwanted inflammation wherever it decides to manifest. It gets worse from there by causing damage to our vital organs, nervous system, etc. Here's a good analogy, think of your body as a machine or car. If you don't baby it, hydrate it, and keep it clean, it will eventually become backed up and malfunction. Our bodies should be treated no differently. Hydrate your body, give it time to process and then fuel it!
In Good Health,
Jamie Gottschall
The NYClifestylist
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