Is Breakfast Really the Most Important Meal of the Day?

I just made breakfast and I think I ate too much. And I ate like nothing. A sliver of food. I had heard and I tell my own kids that it’s the most important meal of the day. But is it really healthy to eat right when you wake up?

Here’s what I think might be the best meal of the day:

• That candy bar at 10am. Is this not the best? I don’t do this every day but if I have something with chocolate and peanut butter at 10am, I feel like a champ.

• Sipping water throughout the day. This is hard one for me to admit because I feel the constant presence of water bottles is a little silly. But I feel I am always my best when I sip water throughout the day. And I get my exercise because I have to keep running to the bathroom.

• Free food. Free food is the best meal of the day. Some pizza or conference room sandwiches just lying on a table? It’s the best.

• Wait for food truck food. Waiting for food truck food is the best meal of the day. I’m not talking about eating the food—not that it’s bad. But that wait for food truck food? When you’re just standing there hungry, all excited about what might come out of that little propped up window on the side of a truck? That feeling might be the best meal of the day. Also, that feeling when the credit card machine works. Yay! The fifty dollars I spent on a hamburger got paid. That’s a good feeling.

• Bell peppers on sale at the grocery store. This is for my small town Alaska readers. When those bell pepper dip below $5 each, it is a time of feasts, my friends. Once again anticipation and excitement (and relief) are the best meal of the day.

• Food you caught, grew, hunted on your own. Look, I was a vegan for a while and I believe that animal life deserves much more thought and compassion. I’m not sure hunting is my thing. But I believe food caught in the wild is much better than meat from a factory. And that feeling of bringing food to your table (followed by a tub of neopolitan ice cream from the store) is a good feeling and could be the best meal of the day. Do you know I paid $24.99 for a pound of salmon the other week. I could literally open my back door and catch one myself. They’re everywhere. Why did I do that?

• Ice cream. Ice cream could be the best meal of the day. It’s rich in calories and flavor. Two qualities that qualify any meal as the best.