|
Eating often means starting our day with some form of breakfast, and continuing to eat every 3-4 hours. This "way of eating" includes meals, mini-meals and snacks. All types of foods can be eaten at any time of the day, so if you happen to love breakfast foods, enjoy them at dinner, as a mini-meal, or snack. The idea is to eat, and not skip meals or snacks!
Does this sound crazy as a weight loss plan? Does it sound easy (eating often may sound really easy, right?)? It may sound crazy and easy, but it is not. Changing our eating habits requires a plan and persistence. So, before we go on to suggestions for changing our habits, we need to look a little closer to see why we can lose weight this
way.
Eating Often:
Will keep our blood sugar levels in an optimal range. This can help reduce those sugar cravings (afternoon candy anyone?).
Will supply our brain readily available fuel. Not only will this reduce sugar cravings, but it will help us to maintain an even mood, and higher thinking ability. Ever feed your fatigue? Ever eat as a result of stress?
Will help us to burn a few more calories. Every time we eat we raise our metabolic rate a bit. This is called the
"thermogenic effect of food". Sort of like adding a little bit more wood to a fire and seeing the sparks.
Will give us more physical energy. When we have more energy, we can have a better workout (more intensity means more
calories burned) and more energy doesn't aid the couch potato syndrome.
Helps us to reduce our portions. Ever go a really long time without eating and not want to eat the kitchen sink? We can shrink our stomach (stomachs do shrink) by eating small amounts of food at each meal or snack, and this can help us to reduce those portions over all.
Helps to reduce starvation eating. Ever eat all the bread in the bread basket when you arrive at the restaurant? Ever eat the meal as you are preparing the meal?
Will help to tame our party eating! How many times have we arrived at a holiday party, or special holiday dinner starved because we've been saving our calories for the special event, and then later complained we ate way more than we
intended? If we think we'll save a few calories by not eating beforehand, we may find ourselves eating way more later on!
Do any of these sound familiar? You might try eating often. It may take time to organize, and many times we find reasons to fight change. Changing lifestyle habits requires effort, but isn't a slim waistline and feeling better, worth it?
Here's to eating more often!
|
|
Back
to Weight Loss