Most people don’t believe it when I say breakfast is a myth.
The notion that breakfast is the ‘most important meal of the day’ may be counterproductive. Despite the idea of breakfast being deeply ingrained in our culture, after delaying my breakfast for the last 6 months, my mental clarity and energy levels skyrocketed.
This encouraged me to reconsider the timing and necessity of our morning meal — is breakfast truly that important?
By questioning the importance of breakfast, I opened myself to exploring new ways of fueling my body and mind for optimal productivity.
Why Can Breakfast Be Detrimental for Productivity?
The traditional breakfast foods are catered towards convenience, rather than optimal nutrition.
They’re packed with insulin-increasing processed foods such as toast, sugary cereal, pancakes, waffles, and breakfast bars. Not only are these foods detrimental to your cognitive function, but they also harm your health, often leading to mid-morning crashes.
While they provide a quick energy boost, they fail to sustain energy levels throughout the day, leaving you tired and unfocused. However, when I started to recognise the untapped potential of the morning for creative output and productivity I reshaped my approach to starting the day.
The morning is the perfect window for when our brains are sharp and alert, creating the ideal conditions to tackle our toughest challenges and pursue our passions with clarity and focus.
Therefore, we can increase productivity and well-being by reevaluating our breakfast choices.
The morning sets the tone for the rest of the day as Tim Ferris says:
‘Win the morning, win the day’
It’s evident how traditional breakfast foods can hinder productivity, but what and when should we eat?
Foods high in protein and healthy fat provide high energy and satiety, for example, eggs, smoked salmon, protein smoothie/ porridge, nuts, nut butter, avocado, and yogurt.
As for when to eat, it’s entirely up to you. There isn’t a set time. I practice intermittent fasting and have my first meal around 1 or 2 pm, which allows ample time to engage in deep, focused work.
This deliberate delay in breakfast allows me to optimise my morning routine for mental clarity. Embracing this flexibility in meal timing keeps my appetite at bay, and is pivotal for setting the stage for a day filled with productivity and energy.
Why Delaying Breakfast is Crucial to a Productive Morning
Succumbing to the temptation of food first thing in the morning leaves me feeling satisfied.
This leads to a lack of motivation and productivity as the rest of my day is plagued with inattentiveness and a lack of willpower to complete my daily tasks.
Hunger reinforces drive and motivation, akin to our ancestors hunting when hungry. This highlights the value of embracing a mild hunger to boost mental clarity and productivity.
Therefore, leveraging the determination that comes with a slight hunger, leads to superior productivity, and propels you toward achieving your goals.
This is especially important because fulfilling the needs of our stomachs before fulfilling the needs of our purpose is the one-way ticket to destroying your dreams.
Learning how to harness hunger to your advantage is one of the most underappreciated skills to invest in. When managed correctly, hunger unlocks potential. It can serve as a means to improve productivity by increasing focus and determination. However, it also has the potential to destroy your pursuits.
The 2 key takeaways from this post are as follows:
Traditional breakfast foods are terrible for productivity (they spike insulin and make you more hungry).
Hunger = drive (but please don’t starve yourself).
Thank you for reading, see you on my future posts!