Eat More To Lose Weight

The notion of eating more to lose weight can seem a bit backwards as we usually register weight loss with eating less. But let’s take another look at our dieting habits. The typical daily routine consists of 3 meals per day. Now you say you are dieting and your meal plan just turned into one and a half meals per day and you can’t understand why you’re not losing weight. In effect you have slowed down your metabolism, as your body is hoarding calories not sure when it will be fed next. This is one reason why 5 to 6 small meals per day are ideal to keep your metabolism humming along, and keep your hunger in check. The other reason is to keep your energy levels at a consistent pace rather than endure spikes throughout the day. Eating often throughout the day not only keeps your body from hoarding, it also keeps you from pigging out on the wrong foods from hunger.
Researchers from Georgia State University conducted an interesting study. They reported that when athletes ate snacks totaling roughly 250 calories each, three times through the day, they had better energy output than when they didn’t snack. Also, they found that snacking helped the athletes eat less at each of their regular meals. The end result was a higher metabolism rate, a lower caloric intake, and reduction in body fat (found at webmd.com “Make the Most of Your Metabolism” by Colette Bouchez).
The take away here is that we have to eat often to keep our metabolism running faster so we burn our calories rather than store them as fat. This is a commonly practiced concept; however my wife lost sight of it. She was having trouble dropping a few pounds that she gained while putting in longer hours at work. Getting caught up in work, she would skip opportunities to eat and would end up eating one meal of the wrong things. During the day she found herself drinking sodas in an effort to keep up her energy. At the end of the day her caloric intake was very low, but the weight wasn’t coming off even though her work outs were consistent. She finally journeled what she was eating and realized what she needed to change. Now eating throughout the day, and passing on the sodas, she is back on track.