I know I’m not the only one who’s skipped breakfast because y’all are in my DMs and comments letting me know how hard it is for you. With that in mind, I wanted to clear some things up about what skipping breakfast is doing to you as well as how I make a plant based plate that will make you feel incredible for the rest of the day!
Here’s the thing about breakfast… your cortisol is SUPPOSED to spike when you wake up. That’s not a sign that something is wrong, that’s your body doing exactly what it’s supposed to do. It’s called the cortisol awakening response and it’s a normal 40 to 75% jump in the first half hour after you open your eyes. It’s what gets you out of bed. It’s actually good!
The problem isn’t that spike. The problem is what happens if you don’t eat. And hey, this is no judgment, just a reminder that breakfast and your health goals actually co-exist.
There’s a study done specifically on women that found people who skipped breakfast had elevated cortisol from the morning all the way through the afternoon, plus a flattened cortisol rhythm and higher blood pressure. Your body isn’t confused when you skip breakfast. It’s just still sitting there waiting for food that never came, and it keeps that stress hormone cranked up because as far as it knows, food might not be coming at all today.
If you have PMOS (formally PCOS) or endo, you are not starting this from zero like everyone else. Inflammation and insulin resistance are already part of your baseline. So skipping breakfast isn’t a neutral choice for us the way it might be marketed as for everyone else and it’s actually contributing to your inflammation.
And can we talk about intermittent fasting for a second? Because I have thoughts.
Of all the intermittent fasting studies sitting in Harvard’s own database, only a handful even included women. None of the controlled studies focused on women specifically. And in the research that did include both, one study found IF improved insulin sensitivity in men while it made glucose tolerance WORSE in women. So next time someone tells you their 16:8 window changed their life, ask them if they have a uterus. Because a lot of what we’ve been told about fasting was tested on bodies that don’t cycle.
Here’s what I’m actually eating and how I put together my breakfast plate!
Building a balanced plate is honestly a little bit of an art. It's not about hitting some perfect macro split (bc for real I can’t stand that thinking), it's about making sure a few things are actually on your plate at the same time. Protein so you're not running on empty later in the day and so your blood sugar is balanced. Fat because it slows everything down *and* keeps you satisfied. Fiber because that's what controls how fast the sugar in your fruit or your bread actually hits your bloodstream. And then something colorful because the colorful food is often the food with the most micronutrients, the most fiber AND the most flavor. Once you get the rhythm of it, you're not following a recipe anymore, you're just building.
Rough estimate on this plate: about 28 to 32g protein and 14 to 16g fiber, give or take based on your portions.
What were working with: Dirty soy matcha, watermelon juice with inositol, zinc, CoQ10, vitamin D, quercetin and B complex, vegan Spanish omelette, avocado with flakey salt, buckwheat waffle with peanut butter, mango, raspberries, strawberries, cucumbers with hemp seeds, maple syrup.
That juice is basically a PCOS protocol that tastes delicious. Inositol is one of the most studied supplements out there for insulin resistance and ovulation in PCOS. Zinc and quercetin are both anti inflammatory. CoQ10 supports egg quality and cellular energy. I’m not just drinking watermelon juice, I’m drinking my supplements because you will not catch me taking 20 pills or even 2.
The omelette, avocado and hemp seeds are protein and fat before any sugar hits my bloodstream. That’s what actually keeps you steady instead of crashing by 10am. And the fruit isn’t “sugar for breakfast,” it’s fiber slowing that sugar down plus real vitamin C in whole food form!
Rough estimate on this plate: about 35 to 40g protein and 20 to 23g fiber, give or take based on your portions.
What were working with: Soy milk latte, electrolytes, tempeh bacon, chia pudding with kiwi and dates, sauteed kale, edamame hummus bagel.
Electrolytes first thing matter more than people give them credit for, especially if you’re depleted from your cycle or just dehydrated from sleeping all night. They’re doing some of that same cortisol regulation work we just talked about.
Chia pudding with kiwi and dates is fiber and natural sugar together, so it’s not spiking you the way sugar on its own would. Tempeh bacon and edamame hummus is plant protein, twice, which most breakfasts have basically none of. Bagel and coffee is not a breakfast on its own, it’s a snack that I personally can’y get enough of so I add some extras to make it PMOS friendly!
This isn’t about eating perfectly or performing wellness for the internet. It’s about starting your day already ahead before you’ve even left the house!
Which plate are you making first?? Tell me in the comments!
Sources:
Cortisol awakening response, Endocrine Society: https://www.endocrine.org/journals/endocrine-reviews/the-cortisol-awakening-response
Breakfast skipping and cortisol in women, ScienceDirect: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031938414006684
IF research gap in women, ISSA: https://www.issaonline.com/blog/post/this-hot-diet-trend-is-not-recommended-for-women
2026 systematic review of IF in women, Frontiers in Nutrition: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2026.1818813/full
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