Here’s a fun fact: if you want to gain weight like a sumo wrestler, skip breakfast.
It’s true! For centuries, Japan’s revered rikishi have followed a counterintuitive protocol to achieve their impressive physiques: skip breakfast, exercise on an empty stomach, and eat just two massive meals a day. Their time-tested strategy for weight gain might be the most persuasive argument I’ve ever seen for… eating breakfast.
Who would have thought that sumo wrestlers would accidentally prove what many of my executive clients learn the hard way – restricting meals often leads to exactly the opposite of what you want. Though I should note that none of my clients have ever cited “becoming a sumo wrestler” as their health goal. The closest request was “I want to have endless energy while not “changing any of my bad habits” – which, as it turns out, breaks several laws of physics.
This insight came to mind recently when working with a CEO client whose story might feel familiar to many of you…
“I’m eating twice as much and feeling twice as good,” she laughed during our recent check-in. “If you’d told me this a few months ago, I would’ve thought you were secretly working for the breakfast lobby.”
When Less Isn’t More (Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Breakfast)
When Sarah first walked into my office, she was the picture of the “doing it all” modern executive.
Impressive career? Check.
Busy schedule? Double check.
Relationship with food that resembled a complicated Facebook status? Check.
Despite religiously following the latest intermittent fasting trends (with the devotion of someone who discovered CrossFit and cryptocurrency in the same week), she was carrying extra weight that seemed to have signed a permanent lease on her midsection.
“I can handle the weight,” she told me during our first meeting, “but I can’t handle feeling like this anymore.” The ‘this’ she referred to was a laundry list of symptoms that might sound painfully familiar:
- Energy levels that made sloths look hyperactive by mid- afternoon.
- Low motivation and feeling ‘detached’ from her career.
- An immune system so unreliable it made Melbourne weather look predictable.
- Enough aches and pains to make her feel like she’d accidentally aged in dog years.
- A stress level that had become her constant companion (like those emails marked ‘urgent’ at 4:59 PM on a Friday).
The Plot Twist: What Her Body Was Really Telling Us
When we dug deeper with comprehensive testing, we discovered her body wasn’t just being difficult—it was staging a full-blown protest. While these patterns show up in all my clients who restrict their eating windows too much, they’re particularly pronounced in women, especially those over 40. Think of it as your body sending increasingly urgent text messages that you’ve been leaving on read.
The lab results painted a clear picture:
- Vitamin B12 levels so low they were practically subterranean.
- Dopamine levels that explained why motivation felt like a distant memory.
- A continuous glucose monitor revealing dramatic spikes and crashes.
- A body composition scan showing alarming muscle loss.
The kicker? Her genotype analysis revealed she was naturally wired to be a “Diplomat”—someone who, when properly supported, should be focused, productive, and bubbling with motivation. The Sarah sitting in my office was operating at a fraction of her potential.
Why This Hits Middle-Aged Women Harder
Here’s something those twenty-something fasting gurus (who confidently give advice about hormonal fluctuations they won’t meet for another 20 years) often forget to mention: women’s bodies are exquisitely tuned to detect famine signals. This isn’t just an inconvenient quirk – it’s how our bodies evolved to keep us alive.
When we regularly skip breakfast or extend our fasting windows too long, our bodies respond with predictable survival mechanisms:
- Stress hormones spike (hello, stubborn midsection weight).
- Thyroid function downshifts.
- Blood sugar regulation becomes increasingly erratic.
- Muscle preservation becomes surprisingly difficult.
While men experience some of these effects too, their hormonal systems are generally more forgiving of extended fasting. Women, particularly after 40, often find that skipping breakfast is like trying to start a car with no fuel—it might work once or twice, but eventually, something’s going to give.
The Counterintuitive Solution
Now, here’s where most people expect me to suggest more meal skipping. Instead, I did something that made Sarah’s eyes widen: I told her to eat more.
We completely revolutionised her approach:
- From irregular meals to 4 structured eating occasions throughout the day (yes, starting with breakfast).
- From low protein to protein at every meal.
- From refined carbs to legumes and healthy fats.
- Added targeted supplementation to boost those depleted dopamine levels.
“But won’t eating more make me gain weight?” she asked, echoing what I hear from nearly every client. Spoiler alert: quite the opposite happened.
The One-Month Miracle
Fast forward one month. The changes were remarkable:
- Down 2kg despite eating significantly more food.
- Energy levels stable throughout the day (no more 3 PM slump).
- Motivation had made a dramatic comeback.
- She actually looked forward to morning meetings (a miracle in itself).
“I can’t believe I’m losing weight while eating more,” she said. “But what’s even better is that I feel like myself again.”
The Bottom Line
If you’re struggling with energy, mood, and stubborn weight gain—especially if you’re a woman over 40—consider this: the answer might not be intermittent fasting. It might be eating more—just more of the right things at the right times.
Because sometimes, the path to better health isn’t about restriction—it’s about nourishment. And sometimes, eating more is exactly what your body needs to give you less of what you don’t want.