Many people live on a diet rollercoaster because they have an unhealthy relationship with food. People send their bodies through a “feast and famine” cycle everyday. They may eat 2 or 3 meals a day…or just 1 very large meal. This just puts the body in a fat storage mode.
So why does your body store the fat, especially if you are only eating once or twice a day? Ok a little scenario…Jane wakes up in a rush because she is running late for work. She showers, dresses, grabs her keys, and heads for the car. Of course she has no time for breakfast or preparing a healthy, sensible lunch. She gets to work at 9am and lunch isn’t until noon. Jane hasn’t eaten since 8 pm the previous night…that is 16 hours between meals! Lunch time comes and Jane is completely famished, so of course she wants a lot of food, and she probably won’t pick the healthiest option. She picks the biggest bang for her buck, an up-sized hamburger meal with fries and a Coke. This meal will probably top 1200 calories. Jane gets off at 6pm, and after sitting in traffic and running a few errands, all she wants to do is eat her takeout spaghetti and meatball meal, with French bread, and a salad with ranch dressing and veg out! Her day was brutal and the couch and TV won’t release their evil grips. (So you know that prepping a healthy lunch for the next day or planning a healthy breakfast won’t happen.) So she does this exact same cycle all over again!
So what Jane is doing to her body? She is causing it to become a fat storing machine. Our bodies want to live. So by not eating for long periods of time, the body perceives a famine, so it stores away fat until the next meal. And then once Jane does eat, she eats way too much, more than she would have had she eaten in better spaced out intervals. Oh, and she might have made better food decisions if she weren’t starving by lunch or dinner time. To fix this…eat frequent meals…ESPECIALLY BREAKFAST!
Thanks this make you think twice about how picking one day for food prep to keep you healthy
Planning and prepping are KEY!!
This awesome to know. I recently discovered to decrease my chances of gaining I actually have to eat MORE… of the good stuff of course. Lol. It does take planning but it is definitely worth it. I was drained working out intensely and teaching classes. It came to a point that I had to decide between doing basic things in my day class work or working out. Now things are becoming as they should be. I can live the life I want without having to hurt myself. Keep it up woman. You ROCK!
Well thank ya! And I love the fact that I can eat all the time! I don’t go crazy, but I eat to fuel my busy and active life 🙂