Wisdom from Arrested Development

Michael: “What have we always said is the most important thing?”
George Michael: “Breakfast.”
Michael: “Family.”
George Michael: “Oh. I thought you meant of the things you eat.”

Whether or not you’re an Arrested Development devotee, you’ll realize that George Michael is right. To start your day and your path to wellness off right, remember that beginning the day with breakfast is super important for getting your system going and jump starting your metabolism. It also will help keep blood sugar even (Headaches, dizziness, light-headedness, grouchiness... sound familiar? Keeping your blood sugar even-keeled will prevent these symptoms of fuel-failure related crashing.) If you need to focus and think clearly, honor what you ask your body and mind to accomplish each day and give ‘em a little fuel. Your expansive brain relies on SOLELY glucose (sugar) for its energy. Nope, that’s not found in coffee. So, no breakfast= no fuel for brain. Try rocking your new client meeting or exam this morning without any fuel. It’s called break-fast for a reason. You’re breaking your overnight fasting- not consuming food. That means your body has already utilized its stored carbohydrate (sugar) energy and needs to get the fires going again!

I’m a HUGE breakfast fan, and I could go on and on about the merits of breakfast-eating, (like that it’s proven that kids perform better in school and have fewer behavioral problems when they’ve had breakfast) but instead I think I’ll give you a story about the other side of it: the not-eating of breakfast. I’m big into corporate wellness, and even bigger into helping people connect the dots between what they eat and how they feel. I was talking with an exec who, like many people, didn’t make a habit of having breakfast in the morning. Well, by the time hunger set in, he would be far too busy to stop and think about food. Often when he would get to an important lunch meeting with a client, he would be ravenous and would order something large and fried- and not be at the top of his game to interact with the client. Later, he’d feel overly full and sluggish from too big a meal. This scene plays itself out too many times in our hectic society. What I’ve seen is that just grabbing SOMETHING in the morning/midmorning is enough to break up the cycle. Grab a granola bar or cereal bar if you can’t manage anything else. I haven’t found a person yet who can tell me they don’t have time to pick up a granola bar on their way out the door.

This post isn’t about how to design ideal, healthy breakfasts (we’ll work on that later). It’s about just starting the habit of eating in the morning to prevent the dreaded “hitting a wall” feeling of low blood sugar (no energy). So step one: doesn’t matter WHAT you eat, it doesn’t even have to be “breakfast food”, if you don’t currently eat breakfast, just do it. :)

ps: MY personal current favorite breakfasts? Whole grain toast, peanut butter and sliced bananas; anything by Kashi; or a Green Smoothie..curious??