Does Skipping Meals Help Your Weight Loss Goals?
Deciding to change your lifestyle and engage in a weight loss program takes dedication. And, sometimes, in our busy lives, grabbing a healthy option may seem impossible. It's now that some dieters choose to skip a meal all together. Hey, it can't hurt! After all, you are reducing the number of calories you consume. So, it should help your weight loss. Right? The truth is that skipping meals can do more harm than it can good for both your weight loss plan and your overall health. Here's why.
What Happens When We Fast?
Whether you are fasting to save calories for a large cheat meal at the end of the day or skipping breakfast because you are just too busy, when we fast, there is an actual reaction in our body that doesn't do us any good. When you skip a meal, your body draws the nutrients it is lacking from body structures like your muscles. This can do a number on your muscles, making them weak and damaged. Less muscle added to fat mass results in a slower metabolism. Because your metabolism changes and you start burning less, when you do start eating, you regain the weight you lost and more. By eating healthy and regulating the needs your body has for nutrition, you will stimulate your metabolism and avoid hunger.
The Mental Effect of Fasting
Believe it or not, our brain has a lot to do with what, when, and why we eat. Hunger is how the brain and the body communicate that it is time for you to eat. And an increase in hunger is a trigger for over eating. When we skip a meal, it is likely that our next meal will consist of larger portions and the wrong foods. Many people make up with junk food when the hunger gets so mind consuming that they can't ignore it. Skipping meals leads to a drop in blood sugar levels, and the lack of glucose increases our hunger and gives us cravings for carb-rich foods. Nutrient deficiencies affect our brain because they are linked to fatigue, poor mental function, and other health concerns. In addition, fasting increases our risk of disease, lowers our immune system, and voids us of the vitamins and minerals needed for a healthy body. Our brains go into survival mode in our quest for food. The longer we fast, the more tired, foggy, and irritable we become as the likelihood of experiencing mood swings kicks in. Therefore, the overall effect fasting has on our body certainly doesn't seem to be worth saving those calories.
Starting your day with a healthy breakfast is important to kick starting your metabolism. When we feed our bodies the nutrients it needs to be sustained, it allows our system to properly process the nutrients ingested and regulate our system. This leads to healthy weight loss that can be maintained and sustained, instead of temporary loss of weight that comes back with a vengeance.