UNITED STATES—I know I am NOT the only person who sometimes skips meals during the day. So here is the question people: is it healthy to skip meals during the day? The answer is simple: NO. Why? When you skip a meal you tend to overeat during the next meal and guess what: those calories tend to add up. I for one always eat breakfast. It is the start of the day and you need that fuel to keep moving forward. You can operate on an empty stomach, but at a point your energy will expire and then what happens next: you’re out for the count people.

For some its breakfast, lunch, skip dinner. For others its, lunch and dinner, skip breakfast, for some its breakfast, skip lunch then dinner; whatever the combination is the point I’m getting to is that most Americans skip one of the big three meals of the day and they pay the price later, mentally and physically, but food is at the catalyst of our daily routine. We think about it much more than we’re willing to admit to. When you deprive yourself from a meal, no matter what the reason may be, it ultimately comes back to bite you in the butt, figuratively and literally.

Oh, I didn’t eat breakfast, so I will make up for it, but eating a bit more than normal for lunch to make up for that missed meal. We tend to do that more than we’d like to acknowledge and that is a bad thing people. Don’t try to compensate for missing a meal, by adding more calories to your next meal. 1) You are prone to overeat 2) You are likely to pack on unnecessary calories that your body doesn’t need 3) You find yourself ready to take a nap from eating too much.

Tell me are any of those 3 things I just mentioned beneficial to you? Nope. Not in any way, shape or fashion. Our bodies don’t respond well to overeating because it places us in a fatigued state of mind. Do you want to eat? What do you want to eat? How much of it do you want to eat? Should I continue? When it comes to food we are constantly thinking about these things, even if we tell ourselves that we aren’t. No one wants to eat the same thing each day. You want a variety, but you don’t want too much of an adventure when it comes to eating either.

We like what we like when it comes to food, even if a vast majority of the time, those choices or items that you like or indulge in are NOT healthy for you. Mexican, Chinese, Mediterranean, Pizza, Italian, American, Indian, the list goes on and on with the options available at our fingertips. Some healthier than others, but could you imagine eating the same style of food every single day? It would drive anybody insane if they did, which is why we like options, we like change, it gives us the chance to venture out and learn about other cultures and try new things at the same time.

Food is a very powerful thing: it bonds us together. It unites us with others, not just family and friends, but complete strangers.

Written By Zoe Mitchell