Monday, January 31, 2011

Eat More, Weigh Less

Three main reasons why skipping meals is relevant to fat loss exist. Skipping meals may negatively affect fat loss unlike what most people know. This results in the promotion of muscle loss, slowing down of the metabolism as well as the activation of the starvation mode. Once we notice that we are gaining weight, we would usually blame it in eating a lot. It is true, it was stated in the law of energy balance that we tend to gain weight if we eat more than what we expend. Our thoughts tend to turn to what seems to be the most sensible solution in order to solve the problem. That is, to stop consuming food which therefore causes us to skip meals. The thing that we don't realize is that we are messing up with our system using a wrong solution. We need to find ways to create a calorie deficit using methods that maximize our potential to use calories as fuel in order to lose fats.

Breakfast is the common meal which people miss. It is the most important meal of the day because it literally breaks your fast. We normally eat 3 meals in a day including snacks in between. Our last meal is usually consumed around 8 in the evening. The gap between dinner and breakfast is eleven hours. Your body might fall into a catabolic state if you extend fasting up to lunch time. Moreover, you're sending signals that food is in short supply, activating the starvation response.

A lot of people would reason that they don't have enough time to eat breakfast. What they don't realize is that they are missing an important strategy for fat loss. There could be a sluggish metabolism if you skip meals. This results to inefficient use of calories as fuel because skipping meals activates the starvation response which promotes fat storage. If you're skipping meals, chances are you're going to make up for it in your succeeding meals. That conveys that there is a chance that you will stuff yourself in just one sitting. This cycle, repeated everyday, sets you up for some serious fat gain.

Small, frequent meals spread out through the day are the best way to stoke your metabolism. For men, 400 to 480 calories per meal for a total of 5 or 6 meals is enough. For women, a 5 or 6 meal plan would average 300 to 350 calories per meal. Some people would say that frequently eating makes they consume more calories. If they skip meals, they can only consume, say, 1200 calories instead of 1600 calories. The difference lies in how the body utilizes it. Eating small, frequent meals speeds up metabolism and increase energy and muscle growth.

To lose fat, counting the calories that go in and out is important. Extreme food restriction is dangerous to health and detrimental to fat loss. The earlier you develop the habit of eating breakfast and small, frequent meals, the earlier you'll be able to lose fat.

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