men versus women: the breakfast table

I have come to the general conclusion that women love and need breakfast and men, well men just don't. I don't know for sure why this is typically the case, but from personal experience, observation, and talking with other people, I believe it to be more true than not.

I love breakfast. I do. I am not talking about enormous weekend brunches, which I don't always love because they mean lazy, wasted days and that I will only get to enjoy two meals a day versus my typical three. What I love is weekday breakfasts, which are much lighter than weekend brunches and which are as much about kick-starting my system- mentally and physically as they are about taking care of my self.

Each morning I get up earlier than I technically need to (in order to get to work on time) so that I can enjoy a simple breakfast, paired with French-pressed coffee and if I have extra time, a look at the headlines or a flip through a tabloid.

I don't make savory breakfasts in general. My staple breakfasts rotate between three variations on the same general theme. In its most simple form, my breakfast will consist of a bowl of cereal or granola (or a combo of both) topped with walnuts and 2% milk, or a whole wheat english muffin with butter, honey and walnuts. In its most constructed form, breakfast will be a bowl of plain yogurt with honey, crushed walnuts, granola and dried cranberries (when on hand).

It is not that when I wake up every morning, I am starving for food. But, I am knowledgeable enough about my body's needs to know that after not eating for 6-8 hours during the night, I need a little refueling. More than that, it is about satisfying mental and emotional needs.

I fear the idea of being hungry mid-morning with lunch seeming to be far far away. I hate those hunger pangs. Maybe this fear of hunger is a remnant of my marathon training days, during which I was starving at all times. I hate the idea of being stuck somewhere without food...of being forced to go a long time without access to food. Maybe I am just spoiled and don't want to be uncomfortable for one single moment of the day. Possibly. It is also possible that I, we, are just primed to want to eat, to think we are hungry, since there is food all around us, everywhere....perhaps we don't even know what hungry is anymore.

The catch to it all is that when you eat breakfast, your metablosm gets kickstarted...so, you burn more calories, which makes you hungrier. But, I hate the idea of my body and digestive system laying dormant, as if it was still asleep...I hate the idea of limiting calories while your body conserves them versus burns them...I am an active eater!

Emotionally, it feels good to have a little morning ritual. It is little time for myself. I'm not a 40 year old mom who needs a "me moment" in the day, but I do appreciate a little bit of time to mentally prepare myself for the day. And, to feel like I am doing something good for body, while I awaken my brain with coffee and feed it with news (or gossip reading). It feels like I am starting off right, each day. And, it is not because I had a toaster pastry on the go. It is because I put a little time into my morning, to get it right.

So...I have blabbled on and on about me, and my breakfast ritual...because that is what it is...a ritual...but what really struck me the other day is exactly what I said at the get-go...women love breakfast, they create rituals around it, and men just don't.

I have talked to other women my age, and there are many others out there like me...it may be cereal, it may be peanut butter and banana on toast, or honey and butter on toast, but I know many women who take the time to have a small, specific breakfast each morning, and who have a ritual around it, whether it be at home or at work. But, I can't say that I know any men who take the time to eat breakfast, let alone to make it. The male concensus seems to say that breakfast is great if it is made for them, but if not- they'd preferable to get a few extra minutes of sleep.

I can't help but admit that I think there is a little bit of an evolutionary thing going on here....I think it goes back to women traditionally being providers, and having to worry about feeding themselves and their children, and rationing food, as a means of survival. But more than that, or in addition to that, or because of that, I think that women have a stronger emotional connection to food. We love to eat. We look forward to eating. We want to incorporate it into our day as much as possible, and to get pleasure out of it. And we don't want to feel bad about that.