Carry Forth Tradition

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That's Why it's Called "Break-Fast"!

Every day is Christmas!


Happy New Year! What is your new year resolution? Going on a diet??

Working around Your Digestive System
Becky sent me this YouTube link last year, which helped me to change my eating pattern in my daily life;
“Fat Burning MAGIC Time Hack from Chinese Medicine”
https://www.ganjingworld.com/video/Vkp2niVhcRPKz


Here is my summary of the video:

  • 7−9am: Stomach meridian channel is most active, so eat a hearty warm breakfast.

  • 11−1pm: Heart meridian channel is most active, so feed yourself with good protein.

  • 5−7pm: Kidney meridian channel is most active, so have some soup or fruit. (A small amount of carbs is OK.)

  • In ancient times, people used to eat twice a day, and when it got dark, they just went to bed.

I do like the idea. Rather than being on a diet and punishing myself with a hungry stomach, I can have a gorgeous lunch every day. You know, after stuffing myself silly over Christmas dinner, you cannot possibly eat a full evening meal…So this eating pattern means “Every day is Christmas!”

I have been practising this eating pattern for about four months. To start with, I felt really hungry in the evening, and I was eating lots of fruits. However, psychologically, knowing I will have good food next day, I have been quite happy to accept a less full stomach in bed. Also my motive was not to reduce weight, but to be kind to my own body by working around the active meridians.


An all-day breakfast with sausages, bacon, fried mushrooms and tomatoes, scrambled eggs and toast by Smuconlaw. (Downloaded from Wikimedia Commons)

Breaking your Fast


To my surprise, “morning meal” is called “Break-fast” in English. Both in Chinese and Japanese, the word for a morning meal is “morning meal”. In French, the word means “small lunch”.

Did the ancient English work around the Chinese meridian channels?

A quick look on the internet told me that the word came from Middle English “brekefaste”, literally “to end the nightly fast”. Likely a variant of Old English fæstenbryċe, (literally, "fast-breach").

It seems that my new eating pattern fits both ancient Chinese and Anglo-Saxon cultures. I am looking forward to a lovely Christmas dinner on non-Christmas days for 364 days a year!


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