Have you ever been around people who you know don’t eat huge amounts of food (in fact they eat less than everyone else) but are still overweight? This used to be a strange phenomenon to me. Even stranger still, I’d hear about these diets where people reported weight loss while eating way more than they normally would. How does it work?
Well, it’s all about metabolism. Are you skipping meals to get skinny? Well it’s time to back up and hear the truth about why this doesn’t work. This pattern is especially found in people who aren’t eatin healthy nutritious food when they do eat and they skip meals. This habit is a road to obesity and will work havoc on your metabolism.
So here is the answer about why it’s bad for you and can even make you fat.
Why Skipping Meals Doesn’t Work
- By consuming more energy than your body requires you will store it around your body as fat. These fat stores are almost limitless. We all need energy to survive.
- By not consuming as much energy as your body requires, your metabolism will slow down. Your body does this in order to hold onto whatever energy it has stored. This is the body in starvation mode. Your body thinks there is no food around & doesn’t know if or when it will get food. It goes into this mode after only a few hours of you not eating.
- If you skip a meal and put your body into starvation mode and then eat something later in the day, your body is grateful. It’s crying out for energy. But it’s not yet convinced that danger has been avoided or that food is now in abundant supply. So it won’t yet snap out of starvation mode. Instead it will store as much of the energy you now give it as possible. This energy will be stored as fat.
- If you follow the same routine tomorrow and the day after you will train your body to become really efficient at storing body fat. Your stomach may appear flatter, but I can’t stress enough, YOU BECOME A FAT STORER.
Why eating regularly does work
- On the other hand, if you eat regular amounts of the right food, your body will be comfortably persuaded that there is plenty of food around and it does not need to be in starvation mode. It will happily use the energy you consume as there is no need to store it because your body knows the next meal or snack will never be too far away.
- If you eat regularly you will train your body to use what you eat and drink efficiently and you will minimize the amount of body fat you store.
So, please, no more skipping meals but remember:
Eat the right portion size
Eat the right foods
Eat on a regular basis
Eat a variety of foods
And just in case you are one who has short memories, don’t skip meals. It plays havoc with your memory.