Eating Often Can Lead to Weight Loss
Few would argue that fitness models have some of the most amazing looking bodies on the planet, and sometimes they are accused of being freaks of nature, that they are a product of nothing more than good genetics or that they must spend most of their time in gyms building muscle and starving. In fact, fitness models rely on a balance of disciplined physical training and meticulous dietary nutrition to look they way they do, often eating between six to eight meals per day.
That’s right—they eat between six to eight meals per day. The reason is that to maintain healthy blood sugar, metabolism and energy, your body needs fuel throughout the day. It is not enough to simply reduce and burn calories to have an optimally functioning body, and that is the goal of true fitness. If your body is starved of fuel, in the form of calories, it will switch into a survival mode and hold onto fat. Your body is designed to self-preserve, and if it fears starvation, real or perceived, it will defend against it. So, if losing fat is a goal of yours, one of the least effective things you can do is to cut back on how often you eat, such as skipping meals.
Breakfast is commonly called the most important meal of the day for a reason, your body has likely been sleeping for the past six to eight hours, and it needs fuel to get the energy it needs. Too often, skipping breakfast this is why people suck in caffeine to get the energy they need in the morning, but all this does is prevent your body from using up fat and nutrients for energy and instead uses an unnatural surge of adrenaline (which can lead to a host of other health issues).
Skipping lunch robs the body of the fuel it needs to carry on with mid-day and evening activities, and often people who skip lunch find themselves unusually irritable by mid-afternoon and/or sleepy. Again, instead of remembering to refuel with nutritious food, cravings for caffeine and sugary or carb-laden snacks seem to take over. Again, when doing so, your body isn’t being nourished properly and it responds as though its starving (because it is being starved of nutrients), and it tends to hold onto fat.
Instead, planning a number of healthful meals throughout the day that include whole, natural foods rich in fresh vegetables, fruits, grains and proteins is they key to feeding your body the nutrients it needs for health and vitality and the fuel it needs to maintain healthy blood sugar, metabolism and energy levels, leading to burned body fat.
Consider a meal schedule similar to this:
- Upon Waking: A grapefruit and a glass of water or apple and a glass of water
- Breakfast: Oatmeal with fresh blueberries and chopped almonds with a cup of herbal tea and lemon or two scrambled eggs with ½ roasted sweet potato topped with cinnamon and 1 tbsp of unsweetened apple sauce
- Morning Snack: Apple slices and organic almond butter or strawberries and cottage cheese
- Lunch: Roasted veggies with kale and fresh carved turkey wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla or spinach salad with eggs, smoked salmon, tomatoes and onions topped with lemon juice
- Mid-day Snack: Hummus with sliced bell peppers and pea pods or shredded kale with avocado, salt, pepper and lime juice
- Dinner: Roasted salmon with fresh dill, small spinach salad and ½ cup of quinoa with lemon juice or chicken and bean burritos wrapped in wilted collard greens with wild rice topped with fresh picante sauce
- After Dinner Snack: Protein pancake made with ½ cup ricotta cheese, 1 tbsp of vanilla low calorie protein powder and two egg whites topped with fresh berries or mint chocolate protein shake with low calorie chocolate protein powder, almond milk, ice and fresh mint sprigs blended well.
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