A few weeks ago I met some good friends for coffee, and was absolutely amazed at how much weight they had lost (he was about forty pounds lighter). After asking how in the world they did this she told me they ate six small meals a day.
In recent years this idea of eating something every two to three hours has gained popularity because it actually works, and proves you don’t have to starve yourself in order to lose weight.
Sadly most of us when pursuing fitness don’t take this six small meal philosophy. The biggest reason is we are looking for dramatic weight loss that happens very quickly.
The majority of diets begin with a two-week physical detox process with big eating changes, and of course massive weight loss. Eating six small meals a day will help us lose pounds, but at a much slower rate [1].
So why should we take the slow road to weight loss by eating more? Because the two-week crash dieting isn’t an eating plan that can be continued.
- You will lack the energy to accomplish daily tasks
- There will be less self-control of anger or frustration since such a huge eating change had taken place overnight
- The weight loss in crash diets comes from eating far too few calories, which means all the weight will be gained back when you start eating normally
- They are far too restrictive (no carbs, no sugar)
A focus on weight-loss instead of fitness (having the energy to be productive all day) can result in another poor eating style that I’ve actually struggled with all of my life.
It’s eating less during the day to lose weight
This may sound like the two-week crash diet at first but there are some differences:
- It isn’t as restrictive with what you can eat
- It’s focused on not eating till your body “tells you that your hungry”
- Meals are put off till later so your eating every five to six hours instead of every two to three
I used to embrace this idea of putting off eating for as long as possible since in my mind it helped my body burn extra calories [2]
The truth is our body needs calories and nutrients during the day for “fuel” and if we aren’t giving the proper amount of healthy food then it will start giving off warning signs.
Unfortunately since our lives are so busy we don’t notice the warning signs our body gives to us till the moment a red light starts going off [3]. So we respond by eating a huge amount of food.
The strange thing is even with the large meals our body still craves more nutrients (we are meant to eat every two to three hours) so we become incredibly hungry after slowing down or relaxing.
This is why less than two-hours after eating dinner my body will be demanding ice-cream, popcorn, cake, and other kinds of snacks…it’s trying to make up for the food that it didn’t get during the day
It used to be when thinking about eating I would ask myself “am I hungry?” but that was a very bad question since lots of times I wouldn’t actually feel hungry when the body needed fuel [4]. By the time I felt hungry it would be too late.
Instead my question today is “how long has it been since I’ve eaten?” or “do I need to eat?.” For me the time-period between healthy snacks is about three-hours, so if it’s been that long I make myself eat something healthy.
The idea of eating more to lose weight is strange I know. But as someone who used to put off eating in order to lose weight let me assure you that it doesn’t work.
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