How often should I eat?
There are factors that determine whether a person gains, maintains, or loses weight. These include the size and nutritional value of your meals, your genes, and your activity level, physical fitness, and metabolism. New evidence suggests that the time you eat also matters. Each of these elements collectively affects body weight over time.
The main factor is simply the number of calories you eat and burn. So, in general, if you consume fewer calories than you consume, you should lose weight. And if you eat more than you burn, you will gain weight. Maintaining weight means achieving an optimal level of consumption of the same amount of calories that you consume every day during exercise and daily life.
However, most dieters know firsthand that this equation doesn't always add up. This is evidenced by numerous studies showing conflicting results regarding the frequency of food intake and weight.
In fact, while many people who fast and / or reduce their calorie intake lose weight, some who eat less still gain weight.
Looking at the schedule of what you eat and the body's physiological efforts to maintain weight can help you understand the rather complex relationship between calories consumed and weight loss.
Frequency of food intake
There are many different points of view on the optimal frequency of eating for weight loss. Despite the fact that there are many useful studies on this topic, one "correct" or "best" way to determine the time of eating, which will lead to weight loss and / or weight maintenance, has not appeared.
Many studies have found that eating more often leads to a lower risk of obesity and health complications (such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease), but many also show the opposite.
There are many options for a meal plan, such as stocking up (eating a lot, in small portions), fasting (for a long time without eating), and following a typical plan of three meals a day. Perhaps you just need to experiment to find the right meal time for you - one that you like and that you can maintain without burdensome effort.
Stock
Some diets recommend eating a small amount of food every two to three hours, which is also called a stock. However, many studies have shown that this will not help you lose weight, especially if you consume a lot of calories during each of these "snacks".
The appeal of this type of diet for some people is that eating more frequently can help them feel full and satisfied with food, while avoiding hunger due to more restrictive eating plans that can lead to overeating. However, the danger is that frequent eating can lead to an overall intake of more calories.
If you are a very disciplined and organized person who does not want to feel hungry (and likes to eat during the day), then the stock can be an effective plan for you.
For this option to be successful, ideally you need to spread your target calorie intake over five to six daily small meals and snacks. If you try not to exceed the daily allowance, you will probably notice weight loss, but it can be difficult to accurately distribute calories. In addition, research shows that your body tends to stimulate your appetite to make up for lost weight and / or calories, encouraging you to eat more.
Intermittent fasting is a feature of many new diets that are based on the theory that a significant (or complete) reduction in calories for certain periods of time leads to weight loss - and often it does. Popular science-based methods include fasting every other day and two days a week. However, people who lose weight in this way sometimes find that they quickly regain the lost pounds when they return to their normal eating habits. This effect is often associated with putting your body into "starvation mode".
When people talk about fasting, they usually mean the body's reaction to skipping meals. In theory, if you don't eat every three hours or skip meals, your metabolism slows down to conserve energy and prepare for starvation. The worry here is that your metabolism will stop and there will be weight gain.
However, fluctuations in daily intake, at least in the short term, don't seem to have much or lasting impact on your metabolism unless you drastically cut back on your calorie intake. In other words, skipping periodic meals or limiting the meal period (more on this below) is unlikely to have a negative impact on your weight loss efforts - it may even lead to the opposite. However, prolonged fasting and dietary restrictions can lead to slower metabolism.
Adaptive thermogenesis
The fasting regime is usually confused with what researchers call adaptive thermogenesis, that is, slow metabolism. Adaptive thermogenesis can make it harder to maintain a healthy weight for people who have lost weight, so sometimes dieters believe they are eating less but still gaining weight. Studies have confirmed that people who have successfully lost weight tend to have a slower metabolism than their same-weight counterparts who have never dieted.
Shortened food windows
One promising strategy is to merge stock and starvation, which shortens your " meal window." This method involves limiting the time period during which you consume all your calories, lasting from four to 10 hours. This time period is called the window. Sometimes people can eat whatever they want during this period, or in other cases, a comprehensive meal plan may be prescribed.
A growing body of research suggests that shorter meal times may contribute to weight loss. One study in particular found that more than half of adults consume food for 15 hours or longer each day. Research shows that reducing your daily meal length to 8 hours or less a day can help you lose weight.
The big plus of diets with a limited food window is that many people can lose weight without counting calories and without limiting the types of food they eat. Weight loss can be associated with eating fewer calories (for example, avoiding late-night snacks) or with positive changes in your metabolism. However, the food you eat, your age, activity level, and other factors also make a big difference.
What you can do
Many believe in the justice of a simple truth: you eat more, you gain weight. However, even this is not the case. There is evidence that the body has mechanisms that resist changes in body weight, which is an important reason why it is so difficult to lose weight and maintain it.
The body's job is to keep you alive, and it works hard to maintain your weight, regardless of whether your weight is "optimal" or healthy. In fact, research shows that in the short term, even large fluctuations in the number of calories consumed often do not lead to the severe weight loss or gain that one would expect simply by counting the number of calories eaten.
However, over time, sustained changes in eating habits often produce effective results for losing weight and maintaining new weight. In other words, if you want to lose weight and maintain weight, you need to make changes that you can stick to for a long time.
Hints
Suffice it to say that all this is complicated. There are no one-size-fits-all answers, and you'll have to experiment to find the diet that works best for you. So, where to start? Try these strategies:
* Find out when you are really hungry, and eat only at this time. Make notes in your food diary about when you are most likely to have a craving for food and when you will feel really hungry. You can also mark the time during the day when you experience energy slumps. Then schedule meals and snacks for that time.
* Check your lifestyle in general. Study your sleep schedule to make sure you are well rested, drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration, and plan your meals so that these energy dips are less likely to occur as a result of hunger. In addition, many people believe that daily exercise gives them more energy and motivation for a healthy diet.
· If you want to reduce the time of eating, do it gradually. If your current meal window is large, you can try to gradually reduce it by half an hour or an hour every few days. Whatever time you choose, try to eat as much as you need to stay active and healthy.
* Focus less on when you eat and what you eat. Choose nutritious foods that are low in calories but high in fiber and protein to feel full while maintaining your overall calorie intake.
* Remember that calories still matter. If you eat less often, but eat foods that are high in calories (even if these foods are healthy), it will be difficult for you to achieve your goal. Check your total daily calorie requirement and try to stay within a few hundred calories of that goal.
* Talk to your doctor. If you still find it difficult to lose weight or maintain weight, check with your doctor to make sure that the cause is not a medical condition or medication.
Result
Don't worry if your meal schedule is different from what you see in magazines or on websites. The ideal schedule is different for everyone. What matters most is the quality of your diet and overall health, as well as how well you feel about your eating plan and whether you are able to follow it. In addition, switching your focus from weight loss to a healthier diet can also help you succeed (and improve your health) regardless of the numbers on the scale.
