Consulting the master...

So I wrote to Erene, to send her the link to my first post (below), and asked if she would say a few things about why breakfast is so important. These are the things she told me, which had convinced me to try this wacky breakfast thing in the first place... and I didn't want to blotch her teachings... so here it is in it's pure, unedited form... straight from the master:

erene@appliedchikung.com to kate 11/30/10 9:20 am

YOU ARE HILARIOUS!

You really jumped on that didn't you. Here's a little more for ya...

...Without going into the uber scientific details which you may find anywhere, I will share something that not everyone will tell you. Breakfast is not the most important meal of the day because of what you eat or how big it is but because it sets a foundation for your day, your life and your emotional well-being. This may sound a little dramatic, but I consider drinking coffee and/or eating nothing until 2pm dramatic. When you don't give your body the fuel it needs to function properly, you are sending the message that there is no food available. We may believe that we have overcome nature and we don't really "need" too much to keep us going, but your DNA has other ideas. We come from millenia of ancestors who, when it was available, ate breakfast, lunch, dinner, and anything they could get their hands on. When you go without, especially in the morning, your body gets the message that something must be wrong, there is a stressful situation happening, ie saber tooth tiger hot on your heels or there is a famine. Survival mode kicks in and voila! Fight or flight mode is the order of the day. When your adrenals kick in, your body will NOT BOTHER you with hunger for as long as it can so that you can find a way out of the situation. This may feel normal to you at this point, but eventually, this pattern will undermine your emotional health. Think about how stressful it would be to be chased by a saber toothed tiger every morning of your life from 8am to 2pm, Monday thru Friday for 35 years. Or, you could just eat breakfast. The regularity of eating at the same exact time every day(if you have been stuggling with this pattern for awhile), will help to recalibrate the endocrine system and establish a healthy appetite, replenishing the systems of the body that have been overcompensating for this neglect for however long. What is a healthy appetite? One that doesn't include eating something simply because it comes near your face. One that let's you know what you want to eat for dinner at breakfast time and one that enjoys cooking and eating. If I had a dime for every time someone said to me, "but if I eat breakfast, then I don't want to drink my coffee." Mmmhmm...think about that for a second. I don't vilify coffee. I don't think any food on earth is intrinsically evil, but everything in moderation. If you can't do it in moderation, there is most likely something in your habit that is poisonous for you. Focusing on nourishing yourself, you will see the vices fall by the wayside. Then sleep, a lot...but that's a whole other chapter.

Ok, that's a mouthful. I can go on forever but you can edit accordingly...

xo

e

Eréne Lejeune
Chi Nei Tsang Practitioner
www.appliedchikung.com

... SO interesting, right?!!

What the hell is this???

While feeling around two vertebrae that were jutting out of my lower spine, my wise friend Erene said, 'You need to eat breakfast.'

'Okay...' I said. But I am thinking, I hate breakfast and have never had an appetite in the morning, EVER. Ask my mom, who would try to coax me into oatmeal, Familia, toast, poached eggs on toast and slowly over the years I was so stubborn about breakfast that my mom would bring me a smoothie in bed and beg me to just drink a couple sips. Even worse, now as an adult I really think I don't need breakfast because after sucking down my blue bottle coffee every morning... I feel totally fueled up! Erene shakes her head at me.

'If you eat breakfast for 30 days it will change your life' says Erene.
Now she has my attention. And then she goes on to tell me how + why, from her very large array of knowledge in health + Chinese medicine.

'Okay, I'll do it.'

Breakfast everyday at approximately the same time (8:30am) for 30 days.

This blog is meant to keep me in check, help me log my progress (+ potential life changing epiphanies), allow for you to cheer me on, or even inspire you to join me!!

Let's eat!





And because I am a really good sport... and take direction well... :)
I decided to make myself some home made granola to get things started off right.