Diet Weight Loss Misconceptions

How many times have you heard that, the average female requires 2000 calories per day to maintain her weight at a constant level? You’ve probably heard this many times, as it is a useful benchmark when talking in terms of diets and losing weight.

We all know that if we consume above the 2000 calorie per day benchmark we are at risk of gaining weight. However, it may come as a revelation to you that not only is it important to keep control of your daily and weekly calorie intake, but to also control the amount of calories you consume at any one sitting.

For instance, lets say for arguments sake that you decided to eat only once in the day, ingesting all 2000 calories at one sitting (thus not eating for the rest of the day). First of all, this would send an unmistakable starvation signal to your body, and thus when the body gets fed (at the one daily meal), it will be predisposed to store fat to build up its energy stores. However, the big thing to realise here is that at any one sitting, if you ingest more calories than your body has need for, the excess will go into fat storage. Therefore overeating at any one meal will trigger fat storage. You cannot reverse this by eating a little less at the next meal to “balance the day out”, the damage has already been done!

This is one of the reasons why you hear so much about eating six small meals per day as opposed to two or three large ones. Eating the six meals per day enables you to consume all of your energy and nutrient requirements whilst keeping the calorie count of any meal at an acceptable level. If you divide 2000 calories by six, this averages out to 333 calories per meal.
Knowing that portion control is one of the big keys to weight loss explains to a certain extent why many people think that their calorie consumption is low, yet struggle to lose weight – they may well be eating too few meals per day, which is often the case with modern hectic lifestyles. However, you can achieve this way of eating by planning ahead and taking your meals with you in plastic containers and a cooler bag.

If you need to lose weight, pay attention to not only your calorie intake per day, but also your calorie intake per meal!