About timing Breakfast...

[Alana in Canada]

I'm wondering how concerned I should be that it seems that I'm just not all that hungry for breakfast anymore.

I'm on Day 49 of my whole 30 and I've been noticing in the last week or so that 1) when I eat within an hour or so of waking, I am not eating all of the 2 egg frittatta I'm making....and 2) I'm making it with fewer and fewer vegetables. (I also usually eat roasted root vegetables or a piece of squash in the mornings.) So, in order not to watse food, 3) I've started waiting until I'm HUNGRY. Like, right now, I've been up 2 1/2 hours and I've just started to cook my complient bacon.

I am concerned that I am deviating from the whole 30 guidelines concerning breakfast--how important are they?

PS: I am a sahm, so I can basically eat whenever. I have noticed, though, that when I do eat late, on days like today, I only eat two meals instead of three.

My food log, started on Day 31, is here: http://forum.whole9life.com/topic/4404-my-whole-31-a-do-over/

[Tom Denham]

When our hormones are in a good rhythm, our cortisol levels rise in the morning to wake us up and make us hungry. When we aren't hungry during the first hour we are awake, that is a good sign that our hormones are not in their best rhythm. Many people experience high cortisol levels at night, which makes sleep difficult, and low cortisol in the morning, which makes it harder to wake up and suppresses appetite. One of the best ways to get our hormones regulated the way they should be is to eat breakfast within an hour of waking whether we are hungry or not. Eating in the morning starts adjusting our hormones into the direction they should be. We ask people to follow this schedule during a Whole30 because it can help cascade a number of things in the right direction to make the overall experience better. Now that you know what the issues are and you've already done 30 days, it is up to you whether you stay with the program on this point or not.

I happen to be a sahm myself (stay at home man), and my breakfast habits have changed over the past 6 months. I used to eat a big breakfast before starting work at 6 AM. Now I get up at 5:45, drink 2 big glasses of water, and go to my desk with a 3rd glass of water to drink over the next 2 hours while I work. Then I eat a few boiled eggs and one or two pickles for breakfast with a mug of herbal tea. That generally keeps me happy until lunch at noon. My sleep is pretty decent lately, so I have not been worrying about eating later and less than I used to at breakfast.

[Alana in Canada]

Thanks, Tom! I appreciate having the facts--and your own experience.

Funnily enough, I woke up to my alarm this morning at 6:45...I turned it off...but I woke up 15 to 20 minutes later with hunger pangs! I thought, "That's interesting" and went back to sleep.

And, by the by, I have been getting oodles and oodles of sleep.

You know, I think I will do my best to get back on track in the morning if indeed it helps regulate my hormones. I'm at that age where they tend to go wonky just because!