Why Lunch Matters
You’ve heard the mantra that “breakfast is the most important meal of the day,” but we’re declaring that “lunch is cool,” and we want you to join us in this. Skipping lunch has become the thing to do- both for students in school and adults in the workplace. It’s easy to work through the midday break, skip it entirely, or replace a meal with coffee and gum. Diet culture even celebrates skipping lunch as being disciplined, and something that should be lauded. When you’re in eating disorder recovery, eating lunch consistently is an important habit to start and keep. Even if you’re not in eating disorder recovery, lunch is still an essential part of your day. Join us in our campaign to make lunch cool again. Read on to see why lunch matters. We think you’ll agree that it deserves a spot in your every day. Seriously!
Your Body Needs It (Really!)
Your body is incredibly smart. It adapts to whatever chaos is thrown its way, in pursuit of keeping you in homeostasis (balance). When you skip a meal, your body doesn’t know why you’re skipping it, it just perceives that you are not getting calories that it needs. Your body will make necessary adjustments to keep you functioning, but behind the scenes, there is damage being done. Your metabolism slows so that your body can conserve energy. You may start to develop cold fingers and toes, as your body doesn’t send blood to your extremities. Your blood sugar levels will drop as your cortisol (that’s stress hormones) rise. When you do finally eat, you may feel you are full quickly and eating may even feel painful. This may then create a negative association with eating.
Eating lunch keeps your body happy and functioning. It’s also positive reinforcement, that you are taking care of your body and giving it the necessary fuel to keep your body alive. Think of it as preventive care. Skipping lunch increases your fatigue, irritability, brain fog, and may cause you to binge later. Eating a meal helps keep all of these gremlins at bay, so you can function the rest of your day. It keeps the body’s energy stable, preventing a roller coaster of blood sugar highs and lows, which in turn, provides emotional regulation as well.
Lunch is Normal
When you skip lunch, your brain starts to rewire to expect no or minimal calories midday. When you don’t eat lunch for any of the reasons that diet culture might reward (such as “being good” or “saving calories for later”), you start to feel guilt if you do eat, even a small amount. Then the eating disorder voice gets stronger and louder. Eating a midday meal starts to strengthen the neural circuits in your brain so that it eventually doesn’t feel uncomfortable. Consistently starting to eat lunch makes the choice feel safer to your brain, and sends the message that your body deserves food solely by existing and that it doesn’t have to earn food. In the beginning of eating disorder recovery, it might feel like you are eating all the time, with three meals and two or three snacks every day. Diet culture and eating disorders thrive on feeling hungry, or not eating until you feel extreme hunger cues (if you’re curious what hunger cues can be, read last week’s blog post about it). An intuitive eater knows that eating every few hours, or so, gives your body consistent fuel, and allows your body and brain to function best.
Even if you don’t have an eating disorder, starting to eat lunch consistently will help you see all the ways that skipping lunch has harmed you. You may notice that you have more energy for work, you don’t experience that 2pm slump, or that you have more patience for those around you. These are all good things, and evidence that your body needs nourishment.
How to Get Started
However you’ve been approaching lunch to this point, let’s start small. Remember that progress doesn’t mean perfection- it means trying new things and being flexible. If you have a designated lunch time on your schedule, great. If not, try and block off time on your calendar every day so that you can have a break. It might feel hard to protect this time, but it’s an important boundary.
What you eat is up to you. You can search online for lunch ideas, look at restaurant menus, eat leftovers from dinner the night before, or go back to your childhood for ideas. The basic foundation should have carbohydrates, protein, fat, produce, and something fun. You don’t have to pack a lunch unless you want to- you can plan to eat in the cafeteria, grab a meal from the grocery store, or get lunch out with a coworker.
Some people find it helpful by meal prepping a lunch over the weekend and packing the same option throughout the week before trying something new the next week. Other people come up with themes for each day- sandwich on Monday, soup on Tuesday, crackers with meat and cheese on Wednesday, etc. and some may cook extra dinner to take leftovers for lunch the next day. Do what works best for you. Try to sit down, close your laptop, and appreciate the food. If it feels scary, you can tell yourself, “I deserve to fuel my body.” This simple affirmation is a good reminder that your body doesn’t have to earn food, it deserves it by simply existing. Some days may feel harder than others, but remember that it’s not about perfection, and that you are changing your brain’s chemistry to do something good for yourself physically and mentally.
We hope after reading this that you’ll agree on the importance of lunch. What do you love to eat for lunch? Do you have a midday routine that you want to share? Let us know in the comments- we want to see how lunch is cool in your world!