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A Highly Effective Diet Strategy for Achieving Weight Lose Results
Are you on a dieting plan that has caloric intake restrictions? Do you find it hard to maintain or stay within that caloric restriction? Are you finding that you are still overeating at 1 or more meals? Are you still not losing the weight? Would you like to learn a strategy that will be simple to remember and easy to implement, making your weight lose goals less of a struggle to achieve? Well, I want you to remember these three points:
- Eat smaller meals/snacks,
- 5-6 times a day,
- every 3 hours!
How large should my meals be?
If you have been trying to lose weight for any length of time, you have probably heard or read somewhere of the importants of eating smaller meals. This is sometimes referred to as portion controls. The reason for this assertion is the body can digest and use only so much nutrients at one time. Anything in excess is either excreted or stored as fat. More often than not, this excess intake of nutrients is stored as fat. So, eating smaller meals helps the body to effectively and efficiently digest and use the consumed nutrients with little waste and storage. Put in other ways, eating smaller meals helps to boost the metabolism resulting in a metabolism that is much more efficient at burning off calories. This results in helping your body burn more calories all day long and having a higher energy level throughout the day.
How often should I eat?
As your meals become smaller, it is extremely important to eat more often. That is because, as food is fuel for the body, and while you want the body to use its fuel effectively, smal ler meals mean your body will need to be refueled much sooner. This is especially the case if you are incorporating a fitness program with the nutrition program. The common wisdom in weight loss strategies is to that when you are eating smaller meals and the body is making better use of the nutrients, you will find that you appetite is better regulated, Thus, you should aim to eat either a small meal or small snack about every 3 hours. So, if you eat breakfast at 7 AM, snack should be 10 AM, and lunch shold be around 1 PM. Now, it is also very important to note that you should not wait until you are starving to eat, doing so will only increase the likelihood that you will overeat. So, to put the two points together, eat smaller meals and snacks about every 3 hours.
How many meals should I eat?
Now the above mentioned points, beg the questions, if I am eating smaller meals more often, how many meals should I be eating throughout the day? Well, in our nutrition programs, we structure our client’s nutritional program to include: 3 small meals and 2-3 small snacks. We take the total daily maximum caloric intake; divide that over 5-6 meals and snack, with the meals receiving a slightly higher proportion of the allocated calories than the snacks. Again if you take this approach, that is, if you establish a daily maximum intake amount and divide them over 5-6 meals and snacks, you are guaranteed to eat smaller meals.
Is it hard to use this strategegy?
As it was stated in an article that I read this week (http://www.shapefit.com/lose-weight-eat-more.html,) on the same topic. It may not be easy in the beginning to eat smaller meals more often, particularly if you have a habit of eating 3 regular size meals. Moreover, it may take you a little bit more time in establishing these points as a dieting habit, but whatever time you spend implementing these points, the better you will become at control your calorie intake. Which in the end will result in you reaching and/or maintaining your weight loss goals. This is ultimately why you are controling your caloric intake in the first place.
So, again, the three points: Eat smaller meals/snacks, 5-6 times a day, every 3 hours!
Do you follow a caloric restriction strategy as part of your overall weightloss program? If so, what is your method? What techniques to you use to ensure that you are not overeating, getting the right amount of nutrients and increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the metabolism? Do share your comments, thought, questions whether you agree of disagree.
