The Benefits of Breakfast like a Princess, Lunch like a Queen, Dine like a Maid

Cover - Change your Schedule,
Change Your Life by
Suhas Kshirsagar

Back in September, we turned our eating schedule upside down. We were reading a book called: Change Your Schedule, Change Your Life, a blend of Ayurvedic wisdom and cutting edge science.

One of the suggestions in the book was to eat the largest meal of the day at lunch time and a much smaller meal at dinner/supper time. The benefits were weight loss, better sleep, more energy, etc.

This was rather a radical concept to us. I mean, we knew that it was a common practice in Europe where lunch was often a hot meal and dinner was a bit of soup or an open-faced sandwich.

We'd never even heard of the idea of Breakfast like a King/Queen, Lunch like a Prince/Princess, Dine like a Pauper/Maid.

After much discussion, we decided to give it a try. We would eat a large, hot meal at lunch time and a much smaller meal at dinner time. Not just that, we would finish eating the evening meal four hours before bedtime. Apparently our bodies do not handle evening meals all that well and the later we eat, or the closer to bedtime we eat, the more likely that all those calories will get packed on as excess poundage. Given that we normally are in bed before 10 pm... this meant that our evening meal needed to happen before 6 pm!

We both work from home, so we had some flexibility in our schedules but, still, this switch required that we handle some big logistical hurdles. The first few weeks were a bit bumpy, but we've worked out most of the kinks. Some of the key steps were preparation and planning.

We started meal planning for the coming week so that we knew what we needed to buy at the grocery store. There's nothing worse than looking at recipe at 10:30 am, ready to get cooking, and realizing that we were missing some key ingredient.

We also knew exactly what we would be cooking the next day and what might need to come out of the freezer the day before. I can't tell you how many times we would miss that step in the old days and realize at 5 pm that we had nothing to eat and would then default to eat-out or take-out... not good for the health of our bodies or our budget! It's a bit harder to use that default when you're cooking in the mornings and most pizza places don't open that early!

The trickiest bit was getting used to the idea of cooking in the mornings. It felt really weird and threw a lot of monkey wrenches into well-entrenched habits and routines. We learned that cooking every single morning of the week was no fun... far better to make a big pot of something on the weekend and be able to eat that for several days before then having to cook something else mid-week.

We also learned that having frozen leftovers was non-negotiable. There are some days when we'd wake up and not feel like cooking but... we had something in the freezer that we could pull out and defrost quickly.

The importance of meal timing for our circadian rhythms

Now, has it made a difference for us? Absolutely. We are definitely eating less which means we have both lost weight. We also have more energy in the afternoons and sleep better at night. And, honestly, there are some evenings where I don't feel like eating anything and so I don't. It's actually a good thing to go to bed a bit hungry. This also means that when I wake up, I am quite hungry and so breakfast has gotten a bit bigger. It used to be that I would only eat a couple of peanut butter & jam sandwiches in the mornings. But now... it's a bowl of oatmeal with berries and walnuts, a bowl of meat-free baked beans and a peanut butter & mushed berries pumpernickel sandwich. I have tried various combinations of those three but, if I didn't have all three, I would often find myself hungry again at 9:30 am. This is the problem when you get up early and eat breakfast at 6 am! But... a solid breakfast now tides me over until lunch time.

But here's the thing... I would say the lunch meal is still the biggest meal of the day... not breakfast. So, for me, it's really Breakfast like a Princess, Lunch like a Queen and dine like a Maid. And for my partner, it's different. Breakfast fell off the radar a few months ago and she now starts her day with a big lunch, and then has some soup and a berry bowl in the evenings. The common theme is... biggest meal at lunch.

It's all tied in with our circadian rhythms... there are many, many studies that have shown the benefits of eating most of our calories earlier in the day. And, on the flip side... the harm that comes from eating a lot of calories in the evenings...

Flipping our meal timing so that our largest meal is at lunchtime was a small step in our road to physical wellness. It wasn't an easy step by any means but... having done it for over six months now... it was a very worthwhile step and one that we have now integrated into our lifestyle.

The Belt Never Lies

One Belt Hole = 10 lbs

Belt hole #1 - first time in twenty years

For years, I have suffered from belt hole creep. I have one black leather belt that is my go-to belt. I wear it everywhere and all the time. Over the years, I've learned that the belt never lies.

The belt is 40 inches long and has five oval-shaped holes in it. Looking at it now... it tells quite a tale about my health and wellness. When I bought the belt 20 years ago, I was using belt hole #2, the second tightest belt hole. That equates to about 160 lbs. It also gave me one belt hole for slimming down and three belt holes for expanding. Hmmm... was I in a pessimistic mood when I bought this belt? A lot of room for expansion but not much for contraction?

My belt

You can see though, that belt hole #2 is very well-used and stretched out. As I slowly put on weight, I'd keep trying to stay in belt hole #2... even if it got a bit tight... and a muffin-top formed.

Eventually though... I'd have to cave and resort to belt hole #3. Ahh... that always felt better - I've got space to breathe again! That would usually happen at the 170 lb mark. But then... the weight would keep creeping up... and soon... I'd be at 175 lbs and forming a # 3 Muffin Top. I was also facing a seismic shift from a Size 14/34 to a Size 16/36 in pants... incomprehensible. At that point, I'd go into panic mode and drastically cut something out of my diet... usually Hawkins Cheezies and chocolate. Or I'd buckle down and start riding my bike, go for strenuous hikes, walk every day, etc.

It would work... I'd slowly retreat to a straight up #3 belt hole waistline and even maybe make it back to #2 Muffin Top. Whew...

And that's been my cycle for the last twenty years or so... gain some pounds, lose some pounds... gain some... lose some. I've been pretty steady-state for the last ten years, fluctuating between 165 and 175 lbs pretty regularly

2015 BMI data for Canadians

Becoming a Statistic
The last few years though... I've been more in the 170 to 175 range. Which is not good. In fact... it's very bad. At 175 lbs, I've become an obesity statistic:

175 lbs - BMI 30 - that's the beginning of the obesity range

170 lbs - BMI 29.2 - overweight but not obese (still a statistic)

Wait, what? I'm not obese. No way, no how. Talk to some of my male work colleagues (back me up here, guys), and they'd likely never guess my weight. I hide it well. I hold it well. And I could easily convince myself that I am big boned... that's why I weigh more. Or maybe it's cause I am muscular... and muscle weighs more than fat, right? I know the BMI index has its issues. It doesn't, for example, distinguish between fat content and muscle but it's easy to measure...

It's just a number. But it's a freakin' scary number. Coupled with a high LDL and Total Cholesterol blood test in September... and I realized that I was facing a decision point. I could keep doing what I had always done... and keep creeping upwards, further into the obesity range, or I could make some changes. I ain't gettin' no younger and after the age of 50... I don't know that one can eat Cheezies and chocolate with the same impunity as when one is 20...

Have you ever played with the BMI calculators online? They are seriously scary... and eye-opening. Sooo... given my height... at what point would I creep back into the "normal" range (under BMI 25)... let's run some numbers:

165 lbs - BMI 28.3 - eesh
160 lbs - BMI 27.5 - so much for belt hole #2... sigh...
155 lbs - BMI 26.6 - good grief... still NOT there?
150 lbs - BMI 25.7 - the last time I was 150 was in 1993! WTF... belt hole #1
145 lbs - BMI 24.9 - thank goodness... but I'll need a new belt (or a new belt hole)

That is seriously depressing. How did I not know this? I know, I know... it's easy to lose sight of the numbers... to justify the weight gain... to be comfortable with the new status quo... to say the BMI Index is the problem...

Making some Changes
But... all is not lost. In September, my partner and I made a few small adjustments to our dietary plan.

In early September, we adjusted the timing/order of our eating: regular breakfast, largest meal at lunch, small meal at dinner, no snacking between meals (we didn't even want to) and no eating for four hours before bedtime (no eating after 6:30 pm). That made a huge difference (more on that in another blog post).

In late September, we went on an 8 week detox and eliminated all sugar/sweeteners and grains from our diet. The first week was hard but after that, it got easier. My energy improved... and my belt holes started showing the change... as did the weigh scale.

I was about 170 lbs in early September... and in belt hole #3. Soon enough, I was 165, back into belt hole #2. And then I was 160 lbs... with no #2 Muffin Top. I haven't been in the 150s for years... but in early December... I crept into the 150s. High fives all around! And I got to flirt with belt hole #1... still too much of a muffin top though...

Not me... but you get the idea,
saggy, baggy pants

The other big thing was... my size 14 (34) pants were all getting way too big. I had to go shopping at Value Village for new pants... in size 12 (32). I haven't worn size 12 for decades, but even I had to admit... the size 14 (34) pants were looking hideous on me. I looked like some of those kids who have their pants hanging have-way down their butts, and their pants crotch is heading for their knees. Not a good look for me.

Today, I'm 154 lbs and just snuck into belt hole #1... it's a bit tight but... the belt never lies. And... people are noticing. One friend saw me before Christmas and remarked: "Wow!! You look great! You've lost weight and your energy is amazing!" Huh... go figure!

The detox ended before Christmas and we eased back into a more "normal" eating pattern with a few long-term changes. We are also not jumping back on the sugar band-wagon. Sugar is insanely addictive and bad for the human body. We are also continuing to limit refined grains (flours, breads, etc) since processed foods in general are not good. Whole grains, however, are making a comeback (more on that in a later blog post). We are also, most definitely, sticking with the altered meal schedule. If I had to point to ONE thing that has made the biggest difference for us... it would be the changes we made to the timing/order of our meals. Our bodies run on a circadian rhythm and do best when our eating supports that... stay tuned for more info in a future blog post...

Luscious warmed-up double chocolate chunk fudge brownie
(Starbucks)

For now... I will say this... I made it through Christmas without a huge binge on sweets - no Toffifee or Ferrero Rocher or Lindt balls for me. Our finance guys gave us a huge box of truffle chocolates for Christmas and I turned around and re-gifted it to my sister (sorry Pam!).

I did, however, indulge in a warmed-up Starbucks double chocolate chunk fudge brownie on my birthday (over the holidays). Just one. Just to see. The resulting sugar buzz/vibration/anxiety/crash was astonishing and very, very unpleasant. There is no going back...

Over the last six months, we have taken a number of Small Steps towards better health, and they have added up quickly:

• make lunch the biggest meal and dinner the smallest
• no snacking between meals
• no eating four hours before bedtime (6:30 pm) 
• no sugar/sweeteners (that includes any of those fake sugars... as well as honey/stevia etc)
• no refined grains

I find myself with more energy and less weight. I might not always see it on the weigh scale... but the belt never lies.

BMI P.S.
If I really want to up my game, and I might, I should be aiming for a mid-normal BMI range (BMI 22). That would be 130 lbs. I haven't weighed that little since high school. I don't know that I will make it there but... stranger things have happened. Stay tuned...