Toast + Sadness = ?

Today the Committee will be joined by yet another up-and-coming Guest Committee Member, Guest Committee Member Steve. Steve is a writer and a Breakfast-eater who isn't afraid of tackling tough Breakfast problems. Welcome, Steve! The Committee appreciates your help as we continue to work through our formidable backlog of Breakfast queries.

Speaking of which, let's go to the inbox!


Dear What Is Breakfast Committee:

This morning was a normal morning with a normal breakfast—buttered and jammed toast with coffee. I washed the dishes, swept the floor, and immediately proceeded to make another cup of coffee and two more pieces of toast. 

What is this second meal? Is it still breakfast, or has it passed on lunch? Or something in between? And why do I eat when I'm sad? And why didn't this second breakfastlunchthing fill the empty part of my heart like I thought it would? 

-David Black- and Empty-Hearted


David, 

Let's start with a fact: Toast and Coffee is Breakfast.

You raise a very good question, however—does the scope of Breakfast extend beyond the initial food-engagement period? Separately, these food-engagements qualify as Breakfast. But does the interstice constitute the beginning of a new meal?

As a rule of thumb, there is a forty-five minute window wherein you can resume Breakfast, no matter the activities undertaken between the first and second food-engagements. If your dishwashing and floor sweeping did not exceed forty-five minutes, and you resumed eating directly after those activities, you are still in Breakfast. If your chores took an hour, the second food-engagement qualifies as Shitty Lunch.

Now to the more pressing issue—your emotional eating. Thank you for bravely discussing your habits with the What Is Breakfast Committee.

I can't speak for all meals, but Breakfast carries with it a great deal of baggage. You have woken to the world, and you'd like to begin the day on a good note. There is innately a lot of pressure attached to Breakfast. The goal is to make Breakfast a positive experience, to serve as a catalyst for more positive experiences throughout the day. Like any emotional eater, once the pleasure of eating is gone, the roots of your negative emotions remain. Your decision to perform small tasks is good, in theory, but once those tasks are completed, your emotional hunger is likely to return. So, how can you help to prevent this emotional hunger?

After your first successful attempt at Breakfast, and after washing dishes and sweeping the floor, why not take a walk? Perhaps you could meet a friend for that second coffee? Take a pottery class at your local community center. Engage in life outside of your home, and outside of Breakfast. Food can be comforting and celebratory, but if you’re not parlaying those positive feelings into more positive feelings, you run the risk of falling into an emotionally negative cycle, much like you're describing.

Also, it's hard to fill a hole in your heart with refined grains and stimulants. Grab an apple and get out there!

Best,
Steve


David,

You thought you were done with Breakfast, but turns out you weren't.

Love,
Jessy


The Committee Believes:

Any Amount of Toast and Coffee Consumed Within a Reasonable Amount of Time in the Morning is Breakfast.

Further information can be found here.