Most people have a difficult time losing weight. Even people that workout regularly often have trouble dropping their body fat to healthy, attractive levels. Weight loss is one of the largest industries in the United States. Everyday a new book or fad diet is put on the shelves of bookstores or seen on TV advertisements. Everyone wants to look and feel better. With all of the different diets and information out there, it can be a huge challenge to sift through the garbage and find a diet that really works. The truth is that there is no magic diet or pill that can make a person lean and fit. A fitness lifestyle, however, can help a person achieve any goal they have. One of the most important aspects of a fitness lifestyle is to eat the optimum number of meals during the day. This article will shed some light on how often you should eat and how this will affect your body.
The most common mistake people make when attempting to lose fat is that they do not eat enough! They incorrectly think that cutting calories, skipping meals, and eating less will help them lose weight. This is one of the biggest stumbling blocks to weight loss and should be purged from your mind. Skipping meals and only eating three times a day can doom a weight loss attempt from the start. It is a recipe for disaster because it puts your body into starvation mode. Your body wants to survive periods of starvation and responds by releasing hormones that tell your body to store fat!
In order to maximize weight loss and burn fat you must provide a steady supply of energy to your body. Your goal is to maintain stable blood sugar and insulin levels. As an example, a large drop in blood sugar is usually the cause of the afternoon crash that many feel during the workday. It ultimately leads to your body storing fat. The best way to maintain a constant blood sugar and turn your body into a fat burner is to eat more frequently. Most people should eat every three to four hours. If you sleep the normal 8 hours at night this equates to about five meals a day.
It is important to make these eating times true, discrete meals. They should contain sufficient calories and there should be no snacking between meals. This gives your stomach adequate time to empty and begin digestion. On average it takes your stomach about three to four hours to empty. Snacking between meals will delay your stomach from emptying, slowing digestion. This will cause a drop in blood sugar because of the disrupted digestion and will hinder your weight loss. Done properly, your body has a constant supply of energy with virtually no ups and downs. Many individuals are to able break free of their coffee addiction by following this plan. Best of all, eating more frequently keeps your body from going into starvation mode and enables the body to burn fat.
Many people worry about eating too much when first learning to eat more frequently. Although it can happen, it is quite rare. When eating a full five meals a day and you will find that you are not hungry, you will lose your cravings, and you do not over eat. It may take a few days, but the eating of regularly spaced meals tends to regulate how much you can eat. Over time your stomach actually shrinks. This makes you feel fuller and more satisfied when eating. If you do over eat at a meal you will know it. You will feel very full and will not feel like eating as much at your next meal time. In general simply eating five meals a day tends to eliminate a majority of dieting woes. Just get into the habit and the rest will take care of itself.
In summary, the easiest way for most people to lose weight and decrease body fat is by eating more. Eating five to six meals a day, every three to four hours, will provide your body with a constant stream of energy. It will turn your body into a fat burner as all of the proper enzymes and hormones required for weight loss are manufactured and released. You will feel more vitality and your energy levels will be more constant throughout the day. This is the only tried and true method for maintaining long term nutritional health and is the first step in developing a fitness lifestyle.
