Immutable Truths

When was the last time you questioned an immutable dieting "truth"?  You know what I'm talking about -- that convention so ingrained that if you aren't following it, you feel guilty because you know you're not doing what you should -- for example, no one who is trying to lose weight should eat pizza...at least while they are on their diet and perhaps ever!

Or what about the convention that breakfast is the most important meal of the day?  How does that stack up against the idea that you do not need to eat if you are not physically hungry?

Here's the thing -- Breakfast would be the most important meal of the day if you ate a reasonable sized dinner at 5:30pm and then didn't snack in the evening...at all.  But that isn't the way most of us live our lives.  It takes a super kitchen wizard to get home from work at 5:15 and have dinner on the table by 5:30.  And we do snack in the evening.  Which means we aren't fasting for the 12+ hours that used to be the case.  If I eat dinner a good sized dinner at 8:00, there is a good chance I won't be hungry when I wake up (which is usually the case) so there isn't a reason for me to eat breakfast before I rush out the door.

The important idea here isn't whether or not you are eating breakfast, it is to question the ideas that "everybody knows are true"....because they might not be true for you any more.

Your body will let you know when you need to eat -- you don't need to feed it proactively to protect yourself from feelings of hunger.