2nd Breakfast the Cure to Magical Thinking
At least when it comes to hunger!
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Autumn once was my least favorite time of year.
Now it’s my favorite season. It’s a time when blazing color signifies deep change, an anticipatory and inevitable turn towards shorter days, a brief moment when fallen leaves carpet the ground.
Similarly, I used to hate eating breakfast. Now? Well, the name of this newsletter, But First Breakfast, says it all.
Autumn was synonymous with not only the end of summer but the beginning of school. School was not always my favorite place to be.
Yes, there were subjects I enjoyed and did well in like reading, language in general, and social studies. But math and science were a challenge. My heart pounded on test days, my grades evidence of my struggle.
I mentioned in last week’s post that I grew up with an exacting father. He was intolerant of anything less than perfection which in terms of school meant he wanted to see straight A’s on every report card. My report cards were mostly in the B and C range, a smattering of A’s here and there.
Magical thinking was something I became very skilled at when report cards were due to be issued. I would think to the point of believing; This time, I just know I’m getting an A in math and science.
Perfectionist tendencies have been a hard habit to break. I like to think of myself as a recovering perfectionist. It’s a thought pattern I’m working to rid myself of.
So is magical thinking.
I know I’ve talked ad nauseam about how hungry I am most mornings, that I wake up with a ravenous appetite. Breakfast is my main–and favorite–meal of the day. It’s often followed by a second, mid-morning breakfast. I used to think this gnawing mid-morning hunger meant I might be pre-diabetic or suffering with some unknown condition, that something was seriously wrong with me. No one else I knew got the headaches or epic hangry attacks if they felt a rumbly, complaining stomach. Some of my friends poo-poohed me saying; Just drink some water to fill your stomach. That ought to hold you until lunch.
They were wrong. They just didn’t get it.
For a long time, I persisted in magical thinking. It was (and still is) kind of a pain to be hungry in the middle of the morning when I don’t always have access to food or the opportunity to eat. Often, I would catch myself thinking, almost praying, that I could “tough it out”, make it through the morning without needing a serious snack.
This was magical thinking at its worst. And it only served to perpetuate the belief that there was something wrong with me.
That I’m less than perfect.
Dictionary.com offers this definition for perfect: perfect- “something that is exactly fitting the need in a certain situation or for a certain purpose.
Yes! Thank you Dictionary.com!
What was “wrong” with me is that I wasn’t honoring my own needs.
All I needed to do was make peace with the fact that my hunger pattern demands I eat a second breakfast.
The truth is that pretty much every day, I find myself in need of a second breakfast. By 10:30, I’m starving again. And by starving, I mean I have to eat right away, as soon as I detect that first glimmer of hunger. Anyone who has ever spent any time around me or has traveled with me knows when I say, I’m hungry, there’s about a 10 minute window until a total meltdown is likely to ensue.
In my ideal world, I’d be eating lunch by 11:00.
Intuitive eating for me means I can eat when my body signals its hunger.
This is what a day of intuitive eating looks like for me:
7:00: Eat a BIG breakfast. This is usually eggs cooked with veggies, a healthy sprinkle of grated cheddar, and homemade ground turkey sausage. Sometimes breakfast is a serving of dinner leftovers. If you’ve been here for a while you know that my breakfast isn’t complete without toast. These days sprouted bread is my bread of choice because it’s easiest on my stomach. My favorite toast topping is butter and raspberry jam. I also like it with peanut butter and jam, Labne, or sometimes with olive oil and a dusting of dried sumac. But make no mistake, toast is showing up most mornings.
10:30-11:00: This is happy hour! Now it’s time for lunch. The only thing better than lunch is, well, its breakfast. Lunch is usually some kind of protein like chicken, tofu, canned tuna or salmon, and lots of veggies either as a salad or cut up for dipping into a yogurt based dip.
4:00 pm: Fruit and a cup of herbal tea
7:00 pm: Dinner is often a big kitchen-sink style salad. But now that autumn has finally arrived soups are making a comeback into the dinner rotation. No matter what I’m eating for dinner, my portion is small simply because I’m not terribly hungry by day’s end. Sometimes my dinner is a bowl of popcorn or a few crackers with cheese.
But, like I said, there are plenty of days when I can’t eat lunch at 11:00. Those are the days when a second breakfast, often something portable, comes to my rescue.
I’m always excited about mid-morning snacks that combine protein and complex carbs to hold me until lunch time. I love incorporating pumpkin into dishes whenever I can. Enter Baked pumpkin oatmeal! To boost the protein, I added a scoop of some vanilla protein powder that I’m trying to use up, but this step is definitely optional. Rolled oats, not the quick cooking kind are required in this recipe. Eggs are also called for, but you could use your favorite egg substitute like flaxseed meal mixed with water you’ve allowed to sit for five minutes.
Once cooked and cooled, the baked oatmeal slices up beautifully into pieces that can go with you. Last week I took a slice with me while running errands, stopped for a coffee, and enjoyed a most delicious mid-morning second breakfast.
Here’s the recipe:
BAKED PUMPKIN OATMEAL
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups rolled, old-fashioned oats
1 scoop vanilla protein powder, if using
1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice OR ½ tsp ground cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon cloves
1 tsp baking powder
1 15-oz can pumpkin puree
1 cup milk, either cow or plant-based
1/3 cup honey or maple syrup (I used honey)
¼ cup natural peanut or seed butter (I used Tahini)
2 large eggs or flaxseed meal egg substitute
1 tsp vanilla extract
PREPARATION:
1. Preheat oven to 375F and grease an 8 inch square pan with olive oil or cooking spray.
2. Add oats, protein powder, baking powder, dried spices to a large mixing bowl. Stir to combine.
3. Add pumpkin, eggs or egg substitute, nut or seed butter, honey or maple syrup.
4. Stir together until completely combined.
5. Pour oatmeal mixture into prepared pan.
6. Bake for about 35 minutes, until the mixture is pulling away from sides of pan.
7. Cool slightly before slicing.
8. Refrigerate remaining baked oatmeal. Can also freeze individual portions.
9. Leftovers taste best warmed up either in MW or toaster oven.