You have probably heard that ‘BrEakFasT iS thE MosT imPoRtaNt MeAl of ThE dAy’. Or the phrase: “eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper”
These may work for some people but really they are old wives tales and not rules for how you should eat.
We don’t all exist in a structured “3 meals a day” society where these can apply any more. Life is messy and busy and chaotic, but our meals & snacks should be the lovely bits in between.
It really doesn’t matter too much when you eat so long as you are getting the energy & nourishment that you need to get through the day. Whether it is ‘only eat within an 8 hour window’, ‘no eating between meals’, ‘eat nothing after 7pm’…you do not need to inflict generalised rules upon your relationship with food.
None of those rules would work for me so I would never revolve my relationship with food around them. If I did I think it would be quite damaging to that relationship, not to mention my social life as I eat out a lot and it is never before 7pm.
Saying that, they may well provide some much needed structure for others.
If you DO like structure when it comes to your diet, then I would encourage you to make your own rules. Make ones that work for your current lifestyle and ones that your body responds well to. But don’t let outsiders make them. You know your body, you know your life, so make it work for you. If you’re struggling to stick to a “food rule”, don’t blame yourself. You haven’t failed the rule, the rule has failed you.
Your food rules need to work for you and if that means there are no rules then that is just fine 👍
