How often should you eat to lose weight?

Many people who begin a diet have a tendency to skip meals in order to reduce their calories. This is completely opposite of what they should be doing. When you skip a meal, it sends a “starvation” signal to the body which will result in the body trying to store fat and slowing down the metabolism.

To speed up the fat loss process you can time your meals correctly so that your metabolism is functioning at its optimal capacity. If your metabolism is fat, then you are burning calories efficiently all the time, whether you are exercising or at rest. One way to achieve this is to eat five to six small and nutritious meals per day, instead of the traditional three. Modern hectic lifestyles can often result in skipping meals and eating a large meal in the evening. This will trigger the starvation response and could cause you to gain fat.

Whilst eating three meals per day is better than skipping meals, the best way to eat if you are trying to lose fat is to eat five or six smaller meals per day. Eating this way prevents the body triggering the starvation response and your metabolism is stimulated turning your body into a fat burning machine! If you eat the right foods you will not be hungry and your body will be supplied with a constant steam of nutrients and energy. Eating frequently actually accelerates your body’s natural rate of calorie burning.

Here are three good reasons why you should adopt the frequent eating strategy:

1. Frequent eating speeds up your metabolism. Digestion of food uses energy. The breakdown and absorption of food requires a substantial amount of calories. Since some of the calories in the foods you eat are burned off just to digest them, the actual calories that are absorbed are less than the actual calories in the food. Frequent eating takes advantage of this fact by ensuring that your body is always digesting and using energy.

2. Frequent eating prevents binging and cravings.  Since you are eating every three hours, you will feel satisfied throughout the day meaning that you are less likely to binge or experience cravings.

3. Frequent eating allows you to eat smaller portions.  When you eat smaller portions, this prevents you from over consuming calories. Excess calories consumed at any one meal will be stored as bodyfat!
If you want to lose fat the message is simple – prepare your meals in advance, take them with you in a cool bag and fire up your metabolism by eating more regularly!