Every now and then, I find value in getting practical about the physical aspect of this journey. While the focus is the Lord and what He is working out in us while we are on this earth, sometimes there really is something obvious that strikes me…I believe that even these “practical tips” have spiritual components to them.

Anyhow, today, the thought that struck me is so often people just beginning to reject the dieting mentality struggle with one big thing in particular…sometimes it is the teaching that we *must* have breakfast each morning to “jump start” our metabolisms. Many who try the non-diet approach…that of waiting for the body to signal hunger…find that they aren’t hungry in the morning for several hours. They wonder if it is “ok” for them not to eat first thing in the morning. They have been taught by the medical/dieting community for years that if we “skip” breakfast, we will mess up our metabolisms further and not be able to release the extra weight on our bodies.

Here is something that strikes me rather profoundly…if I am not hungry within the first couple of hours in the morning, it is often because I have overeaten rather late the night before! I know this may sound obvious. But really, I think we forget this sometimes.

When I eat between the parameters of physical hunger and physical satisfaction, then when I eat my dinner, I have a small portion. Even if that is 8pm or so, typically by 10am my body will signal hunger. I go awry when I head into the kitchen yet one more time before bed–maybe while playing games or watching DVDs with the family–and “have a quick snack.” Usually this is “preventative” eating or something else…I am not really hungry. And if I *am* hungry before bed, it typically takes only a couple of *bites* to take the edge off of hunger so I can sleep.

So, if I am consistently not hungry for breakfast, I do well to analyze *why*. Is it because of overeating the night before?

That said, it may *not* be. Depending on medications you are on, how much extra weight you carry on your body, how active you have been and a whole host of other things, you may not get a legitimate hunger signal in the morning. Something I have found to be true…it is ok! I really CAN trust my body that God, who is an amazing designer, made! If I wait for a clear physical hunger signal, I can eat a small portion of food, even if it is at 1pm, and still release extra weight. I have done this and it works!

When I insist on eating breakfast even if I am not hungry, I have been convicted that this is allowing something other than the Lord to direct me…earthly wisdom…often, I just want to justify eating when I am not hungry…that same old rebellious attitude and I have the medical community to back me up, to help me to justify it!

So if you wonder about waiting until you get a clear hunger signal to eat and you don’t get a signal until 1pm during the day, thus “skipping” breakfast, yes! It is “ok!” The thing that messes up our metabolism isn’t the practice of waiting for hunger before eating! It is the practice of ignoring our hunger which is what dieting often causes us to do! Eating a small portion when you are hungry  is a great strategy to give the body precisely what it NEEDS to restore a healthy metabolism!

If you wonder what the spiritual part of all of this is…just consider…”If I am not willing to do this, why not?” 🙂 If you are like me, there may be a whole host of reasons!!!!! Most of them point to things that God may want to address in my life!