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If you think by skipping a meal that you will lose weight, think again. Instead there are bad effects of skipping meals, your body thinks its in starvation mode and slows down your metabolism to compensate. During this “fasting,” carbohydrates, proteins and fats are used for energy. Carbohydrates are the number one source of fuel. As you progress during the day the chances of binging and overeating are high. Couple that with an already slowed metabolism and you’ve got a recipe for weight gain. “If you are trying to watch your waistline, you don’t want to be skipping meals,” said Sari Greaves, RD, CDN, and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. “If you skip meals you become a hungry eater, and that means a much faster eater. The tendency to over-indulge is there and the greater risk for no judgment. It takes 20 minutes to signal that you are full.” To help control hunger throughout the day and foster healthy eating, Greaves and industry experts agree it’s important to start the day with a good breakfast, as it is the most important meal of the day. Breakfast provides the fuel needed to break the fast you went through during the night. It also helps you to concentrate better throughout the day and maintain your weight. Skipping breakfast can actually make weight control more difficult, because breakfast skippers tend to eat more food than usual at the next meal or nibble on high-calorie snacks to stave off hunger. But not any breakfast will do. “Skip the refined carbs and go for the high fiber and lean protein. Oatmeal with skim milk or yogurt with cereal, are great breakfast ideas,” offered Greaves. While adults need to eat breakfast every day to perform their best, kids need it even more. Their growing bodies and developing brains rely heavily on the regular intake of food. According to www.webmd.com, when kids skip breakfast, they can end up going for as long as 18 hours without food, and this period of semi-starvation can create a lot of bad effects such as physical, intellectual and behavioral problems. As you progress during the day you may find that eating smaller, more frequent healthy meals helps curb your appetite and balance your blood sugar level. Others may be fine eating three healthy meals and one or two small snacks. According to www.webmd.com, several studies suggest that people tend to accumulate more body fat when they eat fewer, larger meals than when they eat the same number of calories in smaller, more frequent meals. If you opt to eat smaller healthier, more frequent meals, nutritionists and doctors recommend eating every two to three hours. The best way to do this is to break up your meals. For instance, for breakfast you plan on having oatmeal, yogurt and fruit. You can eat half the fruit portion with the oatmeal and save the second half to eat with the yogurt a few hours later. “Go for unprocessed carbs. Choose foods high in fiber [3 grams or more], fresh fruits and vegetables. Use fat as an accompaniment to your meal. For example, make vegetables the base and build with some protein and a fat, maybe a tablespoon of olive oil drizzled over the vegetables,” suggested Greaves. If you know your day is going to be hectic, plan for it. Keep portable snacks like nuts, carrots, non-fat Greek yogurt, reduced calorie bread and peanut butter on-hand for healthy eating. And if you’re bored with your food plan, mix it up. Have breakfast for dinner and enjoy a dinner for lunch. Experiment with different recipes and spices and flavorings. Keep eating. It will do your body good. |
