What It Means When You Always Eat Lunch Early

You know the feeling — you’re at work and the morning feels like it’s going a little slower than usual. You really want to eat lunch, but it’s only 11am! Is it too early to eat lunch?

Jump to:

• Why you crave lunch early
• Your breakfast isn't as healthy as it could be
• You avoid snacking
• You're dehydrated
• You're bored
• You've been working hard

Why you start craving lunch early

While you don’t need to ignore a rumbling stomach, wanting to eat lunch earlier might not always be because you’re hungry. These are a few reasons why you might want to eat lunch early.

Your breakfast isn’t as healthy as it could be

It’s fantastic if you’re eating breakfast — it is really important! But if your breakfast doesn’t balance some protein, carbohydrates and healthy fats, it might be letting you down. A grab-and-go packaged cereal bar can be highly processed and high in sugar, giving you very little nutrients and leaving you feeling hungry again a short time later.

Taking a few steps to make your breakfast healthier can help you to feel satisfied, so you’re not reaching for lunch until later. 

You avoid snacking

Having a mid-morning snack isn’t a bad thing! In fact, it can be really helpful, even if you’re trying to lose weight. By having a healthy snack in the morning, you add more nutrients to your day and keep your tummy happy! Win-win!

You’re dehydrated

Yep, sometimes what you think is hunger is actually a sign that you’re thirsty! Water actually helps our body’s cells to make use of the nutrients in our food intake. A sign of dehydration can be a sudden craving for food, or feeling really hungry. Drink some water and wait a few minutes to see if the hunger subsides. If not, it might be time to reach for your lunch. 

You’re bored

Scrolling through Instagram when you’re bored is an easy way to trigger hungry feelings, especially when there are so many beautiful food photos! Boredom can lead to emotional eating, which might be why you want to eat lunch early! Instead of relying on lunch to cure your boredom, try going for a quick walk instead. You’ll likely find having a distraction leaves you feeling less hungry.

You’ve been working hard

If you’re training regularly and pushing your body harder than before, it’s not a big surprise you want to eat a bit more. This can be linked to a boost in your metabolism, so you might be burning through your stores of energy and glucose faster. Eating regular nutrient-rich meals and healthy snacks can help satiate your hunger and replenish those stores. 

Some days you might want to eat lunch earlier than usual and that’s okay! Just try to listen to your body and get to know when it’s really ready for a meal. It might just be giving you a hint that it needs something else.