Very cool to see how our digestion ebbs and flows throughout a day! I struggle with going to bed hungry if I stop eating a few hours before bed. Working to keep improving but it’s been a long-term struggle!😨
Meal timing can be tricky, especially depending on season of the year and season of life. If eating closer to darkness or in the dark (like being pregnant in the winter, as I was last winter), I tried to choose small meals of healthy foods low in carbohydrates and eaten by candlelight to help reduce the blood sugar/hormonal impacts. Also, when possible, I keep the ambient temperature cool at night. Imagine eating by firelight in an igloo! 🧊🎣🥘 Warm belly, warm food, warm light, cold back.
Is it best to eat upon rising, even if we're getting up very early? I get up a couple of hours before the children so I can have some quiet time (allowing me to go to bed earlier at night, too)... I'm never hungry when I first wake up, and it's also still dark outside (especially in winter). Does it make sense to wait until it's light outside, or is it best to eat based upon wake time?
Great question! I do the same, and agree that I feel my appetite rise with the sun. My understanding is if you keep things mellow and dim, you can slow the cortisol spike in the morning. For example, lately it has been my 1yo and me up tending the fire (photobiomodulation & plasma) and sipping warm water, then milk together (I’m also pregnant, so my appetite is higher than normal), and I start breakfast when there is light on the horizon which currently takes about an hour. But if you are straight to coffee, bright white lights and a fast pace, I would recommend eating right away and not waiting for the sun. Also, in the summer, I wake when the sun is just below the horizon but I tend to want to enjoy a quick morning walk before starting breakfast because it seems like if I don’t, I miss the infrared only window and it will already be UVA time by the time I get out. Whenever I can, I like to catch both the infrared only time and UVA rise time. In the winter, it takes longer for the sun to cross that threshold so it just feels like more time available for a slow start to the winter day than the summer day.
Very cool to see how our digestion ebbs and flows throughout a day! I struggle with going to bed hungry if I stop eating a few hours before bed. Working to keep improving but it’s been a long-term struggle!😨
Meal timing can be tricky, especially depending on season of the year and season of life. If eating closer to darkness or in the dark (like being pregnant in the winter, as I was last winter), I tried to choose small meals of healthy foods low in carbohydrates and eaten by candlelight to help reduce the blood sugar/hormonal impacts. Also, when possible, I keep the ambient temperature cool at night. Imagine eating by firelight in an igloo! 🧊🎣🥘 Warm belly, warm food, warm light, cold back.
Sounds like my goal this winter of eating 1 dinner outside at a fire in our fire pit will be helpful then! Thanks for replying!
Is it best to eat upon rising, even if we're getting up very early? I get up a couple of hours before the children so I can have some quiet time (allowing me to go to bed earlier at night, too)... I'm never hungry when I first wake up, and it's also still dark outside (especially in winter). Does it make sense to wait until it's light outside, or is it best to eat based upon wake time?
Great question! I do the same, and agree that I feel my appetite rise with the sun. My understanding is if you keep things mellow and dim, you can slow the cortisol spike in the morning. For example, lately it has been my 1yo and me up tending the fire (photobiomodulation & plasma) and sipping warm water, then milk together (I’m also pregnant, so my appetite is higher than normal), and I start breakfast when there is light on the horizon which currently takes about an hour. But if you are straight to coffee, bright white lights and a fast pace, I would recommend eating right away and not waiting for the sun. Also, in the summer, I wake when the sun is just below the horizon but I tend to want to enjoy a quick morning walk before starting breakfast because it seems like if I don’t, I miss the infrared only window and it will already be UVA time by the time I get out. Whenever I can, I like to catch both the infrared only time and UVA rise time. In the winter, it takes longer for the sun to cross that threshold so it just feels like more time available for a slow start to the winter day than the summer day.