Throughout
the day, most of us don’t think about when we eat, or
how
many times we eat. Time and time again, we have been told to eat
breakfast, lunch and dinner, and that if we are to stay healthy, we must
follow this plan.
This is a
myth embedded in our culture, and an outdated habit.
The truth is
that we must eat at least 5 times per day in order to maximize our
energy, stave off unwanted
body fat, and keep our bodies running at full speed.
Many of us
don’t think about the consequences that an improper eating
pattern has
on our mind, our bodies, and how we feel.
What many of
us don’t realize is that...
Food has drug- like effects on the body
...and
that we can control many of our physical circumstances by eating
properly.
For example,
have you ever eaten a large portion of Chinese food like lo mein, and
then felt starving about an hour later? Maybe even accompanied by a
headache? This is an effect of a dramatic increase in blood sugar, due
to the
high carbohydrate in lo mein, followed by a sudden drop in blood
sugar due to the effects of insulin.
What are
the effects of low blood sugar?
Even though
you have eaten enough calories for the body to use as energy over the
next few hours, the body sends hunger signals to the brain. This is
where we tend to over eat. We eat, even when the body is not hungry.
Not eating
for long periods of time also has negative effects on energy and our
moods. On a seven hour sleep schedule, if we were to follow the
breakfast, lunch and dinner rule, we would only be eating every 5 1/2
hours.
This is a death blow to your energy and
fat loss goals!
After a few
hours of not eating, our bodies go into a slump caused by low blood
sugar. At this point, we are starving, and no matter what kind of
ambitious healthy eating plan we are on, it all goes out the window.
Many people think that by holding off eating for as long as they can,
they will consume less calories, and thus
lose weight. This actually has
a reverse effect.
After several
hours of hunger, we are more likely to binge on unhealthy foods. Since
blood sugar is low during this period, that chocolate cake looks even
better. We are more likely to give in to those potato chips that all day
you were proud to avoid by saying, "Well, I haven’t eaten all day, one
chip won’t matter".
Sure...
After we’ve
eaten the whole bag, we feel guilty and start the cycle all over again.
A good rule
of thumb that can actually be more fun and less painful is to eat for
the next three hours of your life. This means that according to your
activity level in the next three hours, you will eat as much as you
need. (We've actually stumbled upon a really cool
method of crushing cravings that you can use)
For example,
if you are going to exercise, or if you’re job involved strenuous
activity, you would eat more. If you were going to sit at a desk for the
next few hours, or it was bed-time, you would eat less. Remember, the
more active you are, the more calories you’ll burn.
Any time you want to lose weight, you need
to eat an
effective
diet. You also need to partner that diet with strength training,
because
adding
muscle fiber is crucial to fat loss
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