Tonight is one of those nights where the eyes are heavy and I’m not all that excited to write. It happens. Dinner still has not been served, but neither has lunch or breakfast. There’s been a few snacks throughout the day, but nothing to actually call a “meal.” It would all be closer to some corporate bar company’s packaged sludge that isn’t necessarily healthy, but it’s not really UNhealthy either. It’s just…calories.

There’s something deeply satisfying about a home cooked meal. The process of thought that gets involved, the effort involved, the preparation, the actually cooking process, the seasoning, the creativity of it all .. and then finally the plating of it. Dinner is a special meal though. Dinner is the one that declares a hard days work is pretty much over. It’s not called “Thanksgiving breakfast” or “Christmas breakfast.” Dinner is the time when we can come together and say, “DONE.” Yet, some people choose to have their dinner around 5pm. I never have, NEVER WILL be one of those people. In fact, how do those people operate? They come to a martial arts class at 6 talking about how their dinner is in their throat.

Well… no shit.

Why wouldn’t you just eat afterwards? It’s like you’re multitasking…your body is trying to digest food while you’re trying to learn a skill. Why don’t you pick one? Sure, you have to be up early and eating before bed can be a problem for your sleep (I’m an expert on this), but wouldn’t you rather either not eat at all or just have a big breakfast? Maybe you save yourself a protein shake for after class? Maybe just a piece of fruit or a yogurt? But to eat an entire meal and then train an hour later seems like pure insanity. It’s a recipe for distracted focus and vomit.

There are days where nothing gets eaten until the end of the day and it is the most rewarding feeling. For clarification, the evening is totally yours once you sit down. You can ingest that delicious food and enjoy some hobbies afterwards. Perhaps you can get lost in some art. Or if you’re disciplined about it, you may not get lost…you may just need to grind it out. BUT, it’s your choice.

Personally, I envy those “early to bed, early to rise” people, but it’s not something I’ve ever been able to associate with. They say becoming a morning person is a skill. It most certainly is, but just like being a gay porn actor…it’s not one I want. Although, it really is admirable to be both a morning guy and a gay porn actor. Those are both roles I cannot and WILL NOT…let me reiterate…WILL NOT ever play. The morning one I’ve tried, but the other role…I’m going to leave to the professionals. Professional morning people are amazing.

If you’re a morning person, you can wake up and have a big hearty breakfast. but you’d never enjoy eating a later dinner because it would only fuck up your mornings… which I assume you’d hold dearly. If you have a big breakfast, and medium sized lunch, and then a tiny dinner, it’s going to be far easier for you to forgo that feeling of being completed for the evening.…but just like their breakfast to us evening people; they’re missing out on a tremendous sensation. Different strokes, for different folks I suppose.

There are mornings where a massive breakfast is the biggest treat of the day. Eggs galore, bacon, sausage, a fruit cup, sweet potato hash browns and MULTIPLE cups of coffee… it’s definitely more fun than a cup of black coffee and being right to work. But just like all choices we make – there are pro’s and cons to both sides. The cons of eating such a big breakfast is how logy it makes you feel. You might have some energy from the coffee, but you’ve got thousands of calories to digest before you can get on with your day or even think a clear thought. The PRO to it, is that you essentially just had a food-gasm upon waking up. It’s a treat to do this and can easily brighten a day. Not everyone needs to function well in the AM. What a life.

Switching your big meal with breakfast to dinner allows a faster start to the day, depending on what your evenings look like. Those of us that are out late training, beaten and bruised from the night before, have very little interest or ability to exercise in the morning. Recovery is everything, also…so your 8 hours of sleep is not to be fucked with. So you wake up, stretch, shower, etc…and then you can be out the door to take on the day. Only, of course, after having a fat ass cup of black coffee from your favorite caffeine pusher. Then as the day goes on you can have a lunch to kickstart your metabolism and simultaneously give yourself a mental break in the day, but then it’s back to work. Then after the 2nd half of the day…well…that’s when DINNER happens. That’s right… it HAPPENS.

When dinner happens, you’re eating close to bedtime which is horrible for your sleep, for acid reflux, and supposedly your metabolism. There’s probably more, but again…this is a freewriting exercise so google it if you want to know more. BUT…once done eating, it’s chill time. You can cuddle, you can play a game, you can read, you can watch a movie, you can go for a walk if you so choose. The rest of the evening is yours. Morning is only a few hours away, but that’s tomorrow you’s issue…you get to enjoy a full stomach (which personally has always helped me sleep), you can leave the digital world behind, and you can exist. You’re safe now. The “real world” can no longer get to you. Put your phone on “Do Not Distrub” for that extra emotional safety. All your stressors are gone and all that matters is the next bite.

Yum. Dinner time.