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Posts Tagged ‘Skipping Meals’

A recent debate questions whether we should eat three meals a day or five to six meals a day for optimum health and fitness. Nutritional experts are divided about this, but all of them agree that skipping meals is detrimental to overall fitness success.

Individual metabolism seems to be the key in determining how many meals a day to eat. However, if you eat only two to three meals a day you are probably not making your metabolism work as hard as it is supposed to. You may feel tired with a loss of energy and wind up turning toward snacks, which may not be as carefully chosen as an actual meal. With five to six meals a day, you have more opportunities to plan to eat correctly as opposed to snacking on junk food.

Deciding to eat 5 or 6 meals a day gives you the opportunity to think about what you are eating and plan meals that include the four food groups. The portions you serve should equal the size of your heart, which is approximately the size of your fist. Exercising portion control and spreading your meals throughout the day keeps your metabolism working properly, giving you plenty of energy. Also, smaller portions help you to avoid overeating and do not make you as sluggish as eating a huge meal. Having several meals during the day gives you the opportunity to add more variety to your diet, as well as avoid pangs of hunger from going too long without eating.

The ADA suggests that you ask yourself three questions when deciding how and when to eat:

- Am I hungry? If you are not, wait 20 minutes.
- When was the last time I ate? Meals should usually be about three hours apart.
- Could a small snack tide me over until my next meal? Of course, fruit and veggies are preferred choices for snacks in between meals.

In summary about the debate regarding three meals a day versus six, Gary Schwartz (researcher at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine) states, “There’s no strong data supporting either as being being more effective. Clearly, there is an emphasis on reducing caloric intake overall, whether it be by decreasing meal size and/or decreasing meal frequency.”

You can develop a truly effective individual fitness plan by counting calories, exercising regularly and carefully monitoring how your metabolism reacts to the number of meals you eat daily.

Thanksgiving to the New Year seems to be the Scariest time for most people who are Health Conscious. Most people view these 6 weeks as the inevitable time they Gain Weight and becomes the classic downfall to their program. I am here to tell you that you Can Have Your Cake and Eat it Too… it all comes back to Understanding the Body and Educating yourself on the proper adjustments before and after you have an “Off Plan” meal and realizing that a few additional days of extra enjoyment has a very minor effect on your waistline in the grand scheme of things.

Let me use my recent Thanksgiving Meal as an example. First, you should know that I love Thanksgiving and I love to eat! When dinner was served I ate everything on the table: Turkey, Stuffing, Bread, Butter, Broccoli Casserole, Pumpkin Bread, Vanilla Ice Cream and of course Whip Cream! Needless to say this was a meal that spiked my blood sugar levels and I enjoyed every moment…

In the past I would feel guilty before I ate the meal, while I ate it and after I was finished, thinking that I was sabotaging myself. I thought I needed to be 100% compliant 100% of the time. Even when I was knee deep in it, that mentality just never seemed realistic so I decided to focus on the body’s physiology, and uncover some secrets that would minimize storing fat from big meals. Now these Secrets should be used for all “Off Meals”, not just during Holiday time.

Let’s start with the most important secret, Eating Consistently before the Meal. Too many times people don’t eat anything all day in preparation for their feast of an “Off Meal”. This becomes a nightmare for your metabolism. What ends up happening is you burn lean tissue mass all day long while you are skipping meals. Your muscle mass is responsible for a fast metabolism, so if you burn muscle mass you slow down your metabolism causing you to store more body-fat. Additionally you will be eating with low blood sugar; this in turn maximizes your appetite. The end result is a very high blood sugar spike alongside an Increase in fat storage. This metabolic swing can be avoided simply: just eat balanced meals right up until the “Off Plan” Meal. Doing this will keep your body stable and burn energy more efficiently through the day. It will also prevent you from severely overeating at the “Off Plan” meal.

The second secret to surviving these kinds of meals is to eat a Meal of Just Protein and Fat 4 hours after the “Off Plan” Meal. Eating food causes the digestive system to work, and an active digestive system typically means an active metabolism. Most people after an “Off Plan” meal will not eat for the rest of the evening. This causes the body to flip right over into a storage state, something that carries over to the next day – and they’ll have no appetite upon waking. There is an easy solution to this. Even 4 hours after an “Off Meal” the body’s blood sugar may still be high, so by having a ½ Meal of just Protein and Fat (No Carbohydrates), you’ll allow stimulation of the digestive tract and will increase your body’s metabolic rate, helping digest your initial “Off Plan” meal. In this second meal, you want to avoid carbohydrates since your blood sugar is still high and carbohydrates are the biggest component in causing elevated blood sugar. You will notice that this second meal will cause your appetite to increase later in the evening and this way you’ll wake up the next morning hungry. These are very good signs that your body has used the extra energy available to it.

The last Secret is to accept that “Off Plan” Meals are good for you! There are 365 days in a year, if you are consistent 85% of the time you are doing Fantastic. “Off Plan” meals are a great way to indulge in your favorite foods, enjoy Social Gatherings, and most important give yourself a Vacation from your regimen. There are even studies showing that an “Off Plan” meal can be helpful in breaking through Plateaus, due to the way they tend to shake up the body’s metabolism.

There you have it, the Three Secrets to fully enjoying your Holiday meals as well as any Future “Off Plan” meals. It’s important to remember that the Key to Achieving your Permanent Nutrition and Fitness Goals is your day to day consistency. “Off Plan” meals, if used in moderation, are excellent for maintaining a realistic and balanced approach to your program. By embracing these ideas, you can now let go of the worry about Weight Gain during the Holidays. Implement these three secrets and you can Have Your Cake and Eat it Too!

Copyright (c) 2009 Stephen Smith

Many people believe that having 5 or 6 small meals a day will make them put on weight but in actual fact it will help them lose weight!

Most people eat three meals a day: breakfast, lunch and dinner. The problem with only having three meals a day, or even fewer meals, is that there is a large gap (greater than 3 hours) between meals. This large gap between meals results in a substantial decrease in the body’s blood glucose level. This causes the body to invoke its ‘Anti-Starvation Response’.

Consuming 5 or 6 small meals a day is enormously beneficial from a weight loss point of view and cannot be over-emphasised. It keeps your body’s metabolism elevated, which means you burn up more calories and therefore more fat during the day.

Having 5 or 6 small meals a day (ideally every 2-3 hours) means your body is constantly supplied with the energy it requires to function, as well as the amino acids it needs to maintain and build body tissues.

The feeling of hunger is also dramatically reduced, as is the tendency to over-eat at each meal. People who only eat three or fewer meals a day have a greater tendency to over-eat at each meal because they feel hungrier than people who tend to ‘graze’ (eat more often) throughout the day.

This tendency to over-eat is even more pronounced in people who skip meals to lose weight. Skipping meals results in uncontrollable urges to binge eat, especially during the evening – the worst time of the day to be consuming a large amount of food.

Following is a summary of the advantages of consuming 5 or 6 meals a day:

Increased metabolic rate.

This increase in metabolism occurs because the body is being constantly supplied with energy (food) every few hours. Through the process of digestion, the body is forced to expend more energy.

Also, since the blood glucose level remains more stable, the body’s metabolism doesn’t have to slow down as it would if only three meals were consumed.

Positive nitrogen balance.

Nitrogen balance is a measurement of how much nitrogen is lost (through sweat and urine) against how much nitrogen (from protein) is gained through dietary intake (food). Nitrogen balance determines whether the body is breaking down body tissue (negative nitrogen balance) or building up body tissue (positive nitrogen balance).

Ideally it is best to keep your body in a positive nitrogen balance at all times. Maintaining or building tissue (particularly muscle) means your body’s metabolism will remain elevated, making it easier to burn off body fat and lose weight.

Having protein in each of the 5 or 6 small meals a day means there is a constant supply of tissue-building amino acids to assist in the maintenance and building of lean body tissue, which includes muscle.

When you eat only three meals a day your body will be in a negative nitrogen balance at some times during the day because of the delay between meals, even if you eat protein at each of these meals.

Reduced hunger.

Feelings of hunger are reduced when there is a constant supply of glucose to the brain. This can be easily achieved by consuming 5 or 6 small meals a day and by ensuring there is a slow influx of glucose into the bloodstream.

Sustained energy.

By having 5 or 6 small meals a day there is a constant supply of glucose in the bloodstream, sustaining energy levels. This is in direct contrast to having three meals a day, which results in large fluctuations in blood glucose and therefore, energy levels as well.

Reduced fat storage.

Another reason why having 5 or 6 small meals a day is so effective for losing weight is because smaller meals don’t affect the blood glucose level and in turn, insulin levels, as dramatically as three larger meals do. A lower insulin level means there is less opportunity to convert carbohydrate into fat.

Eating more frequently also means the body is constantly using up energy digesting food. This is why eating breakfast is so important – it gives your metabolism a ‘kick-start’. If breakfast is skipped, your metabolism and therefore your body’s fat-burning ability stays sluggish until your first meal.

Increased fat mobilisation.

Your body’s tendency to mobilise fat for fuel increases with smaller and more regular meals. This is mainly due to the fact that insulin levels are low. A low blood insulin level means more fat can be mobilised from the body’s fat stores.

On the other hand, a high level of insulin inhibits the mobilisation of fat for fuel and larger meals tend to promote the release of greater amounts of insulin from the pancreas.

So become a grazer and watch the weight fall off your body!