Skinny Girl Secrets. . .

I went in for another fill today and made sure that my doctor was the one to give it to me this time. She added in another .3 ccs, and I am now at 2.5 ccs in my 5 cc band.

My doctor has me follow each fill with 2 days of liquids, then 2 of mushies, so it generally takes a while for me to figure out whether the fill made a difference. While I was waiting, I re-read the office's list of best practices for bandsters. I've read it many times before, but this time, one of the first items caught my eye. It said: "Eat one to three small meals per day." I'm not sure why, but I never noticed the "one" in this before -- I just understood it to mean that I should have three small meals.

I asked my doctor about that guideline, and she said -- "Let me tell you a Skinny Girl Secret." (By way of background, she is thin and very pretty.) Needless to say, I was all ears! Her: "You really don't need to eat breakfast every day." She asked if I ate breakfast because I was hungry when I woke up (I'm not), and asked what I usually have (either a SlimFast shake or oatmeal). She then went on to explain that, while breakfast is a very important meal for growing children, the same isn't true for adults. She also told me that several studies by obesity physicians show that breakfast really isn't that important. I was like "WHAT?! All I've ever heard about breakfast is that it's the most important meal of the day!"

So, at my doctor's recommendation, I'm going to take a break from breakfast to see how it goes. She said that if I'm hungry when I get up, it's fine to have breakfast. But, if I'm not, there is no reason to eat. (That seems pretty straightforward, but it kind of blew my mind to be getting this information for the first time!) She suggested that if I'm not hungry, to just have a tea or a coffee instead of a meal.

The "one" part of the "one to three meals a day" thing really surprised me, so I asked some more questions. My doctor said that if you're not hungry, one meal a day is fine. She also said that I should think of just doing a healthy soup at lunch (which I do anyway) and dinner. I remarked that part of the reason I've been sticking to three meals a day is out of habit, and she was like "Exactly!!"

Still, it seems weird to me (and a little anorexia-esque/unhealthy) to think of only eating one small meal each day. I'm not planning to go that extreme, though I will try foregoing breakfast for a few days to see how it goes. Will let you know how it goes!

Funny -- I just ran a Google search and see that there are a bunch of articles on doctors' conflicting views of the importance of breakfast.