I keep skipping breakfast. This is not intentional. I just get moving on the day and then realize I’m really hungry at around 10:45 when Patch arrives home from Kindergarten. I know I shouldn’t skip breakfast. I’d have more energy all day if I didn’t. And yet the pattern persists. I think it is because eating represents a break. It is a time for me to slow down and relax a little. Slowing down is the last thing I want to be doing first thing in the morning. Mornings are when I dig in and get piles of work done. I’m more likely to eat if there is something I can grab and eat quickly. On the mornings that Howard cooks for me, I’m happy to eat. So perhaps eating is not the problem so much as preparing food. I don’t want to get creative preparing food. I want to use that energy and creativity on the other tasks of the day. The answer probably involves me planning ahead and having quick-to-grab foods available. Unfortunately this requires me to think about breakfast ahead of time and I’m not likely to want to focus on food then either. I wish food were optional. Eat it when it is fun, skip it when it is not. But if food were optional, I’d probably never take breaks until I was brain fried and exhausted. Breaks are good for me. So is food. I need to make sure I get both regularly.
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May I suggest the humble rolled oat?
Emily and I did a ‘study’ on comparitive breakfast foods. Oatmeal won in all categories. It’s cheap (5¢ a bowl), nutritious without having a ton of fat and calories (although it does have a ton of soluable fiber!) and it fixes in 2 minutes with a minimum of dishes and energy (more economy there). I keep a canister of oatmeal on the counter with a ¼ cup scoop in it. One scoop in a bowl plus ½ cup of water (the measuring cup does not have to get washed, it’s only water) in the microwave for 2 minutes and breakfast is ready.
I have a similiar problem, although with me, if I skip breakfast then I will crash by mid-morning. I used to keep a carton of pre-boiled eggs in the fridge (protein is much better for me in the morning than carbs!); one egg plus an apple is a good kickstart that can be eaten without really slowing down much, and the eggs will keep 3-4 days so I didn’t have to do it every day. I really need to start doing that again, but you know…
Where is my dinner in pill form?
Oatmeal is a good suggestion. I shall have to stock the pantry.
Protein makes a difference for me too. I may have to try this. Although if you find those dinner pills, let me know.
This is why I live on cereal in the mornings. It all started because my stepmom wouldn’t make us breakfast and only allowed us to eat cereal (one bowl, no more, which of course left me starving by mid-morning anyway) but I’ve never gotten into other kinds of breakfasts on a regular basis, because I’m brain dead in the morning. Pour some Grape-Nuts into the bowl, pour milk on top–protein and carbs together and they’re pretty filling for a long time. I tend toward the more whole-grain cereals, and they last longer, like oatmeal does. I also love instant oatmeal for the same reason, and because it adds some fruit to my diet.