Hi there Reader,

A lot of women tell me they're just not breakfast people. They're not hungry when they wake up, they feel fine on coffee until noon, and the idea of eating before 10am sounds like a chore.
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I’m going to big sister you right now, not being hungry in the morning is almost never about breakfast preference. For most of the women I work with, it's a symptom.
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Here's what suppressed morning hunger actually signals: your body has adapted to under-eating.
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When you've been in a pattern of restriction, skipping meals, eating light, eat way too much one day and then not enough the next day, "saving yourself" for that special dinner, your body adjusts its hunger signals to match. Ghrelin, the hormone responsible for making you feel hungry, gets suppressed. Your body stops asking because it's learned not to expect a response. It has, in its own quiet way, given up on breakfast.
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This sounds convenient, maybe even like a perk. I used to call this intermittent fasting. It sounded cute and trendy, but it was really intermittent restricting.

Hunger is a communication system. When it goes quiet, it doesn't mean you need less. It means your body has stopped asking for what it still needs.
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And then what happens? You skip breakfast, feel totally fine, maybe have a light lunch, and by 3pm or 5pm or after dinner, hunger comes roaring, like it's bad.

Hungry in a way that feels urgent and hard to manage. Reaching for things you wouldn't reach for if you'd eaten earlier. Chocolate, chips, bread, crackers, literally a nugget from your kids lunch plate. You then eat past full because your body is trying to make up for hours of nothing.
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Sound familiar? (I know it does.)
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The fix? It’s going to surprise you and be super annoying at the same time. It’s eating breakfast 30 minutes to 1 hour after waking even when you're not hungry. You can start small, not a huge meal, not forcing down something that makes you feel sick.

But something. And definitely something before coffee.

Something like: protein (small bowl of yogurt), a whole food carb (fruit or honey - maybe you want both! You need that glucose response), and fiber (small sprinkle of chia or ground flax). A meal that tells your body: this is a new pattern now. Food is coming in the morning. You can start asking again.
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Within a week or two of eating consistently at breakfast, most women notice their hunger signals starting to normalize across the whole day. Your morning appetite comes back, sometimes slowly, but also sometimes faster than expected. Afternoon cravings settle down. Evening eating becomes less frantic because the deficit earlier in the day isn't there to make up for anymore.
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Your hunger signals aren't broken. They're just quiet from being ignored for too long. And they come back when you start responding to them.
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If you're not sure what a balanced breakfast actually looks like in practice, something quick, real, that doesn't require you to think too hard at 7am, pick up my ​​PWiFF Breakfast Recipes. It gives you the 5 breakfast ideas you can use to bring back the hunger cues (and some of them taste like dessert).

I can't wait to live a life well nourished with you!