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Quote: “In order to be wealthy, you must be healthy”

Why should I eat more than 2x a day if I want to lose weight and have more energy?

In today's society it is very common to go, go and go and forget about the importance of proper nutrition of food for the body and how multiple smaller meals is much more beneficial for sustained energy and the regulation of the body's blood sugar levels. 

By keeping your insulin (blood sugar) levels regulated you diminish your body's ability to over eat from one meal to another. When you allow yourself to skip meals or snacks and allow for large gaps from one meal or snack this sends your body into a physiological fat storage mode, low energy state and ability to overeat at your next meal.  When your insulin levels drop from not eating and having low blood sugar your body sends signals to the brain to eat in an abundance to get the stability of regulation in your body.  With the inclination to over eat esp. grabbing for simpler foods such as processed white carbohydrates, this now sends your body into elevated glucose levels.  This produces the storage of sugar as glycogen in the liver and muscle.  Insulin promotes the storage of fat in fat cells as triglycerides.  Insulin also prevents the breakdown of glycogen and fat.  Subsequently this will prevent lipase which is another enzyme that breaks down stored fats, sending your body into a viscous cycle of ups/downs with energy and fat use/storage. 

One study evaluated the effects of eating 2x a day or 6x a day the same number of calories were ingested but the study found different outcomes from both ways the calories were consumed.  The group who ate 2 meals lost lean muscle tissue because of the greater myoprotein catabolism (breakdown of muscle tissue). The break down of muscle tissue slows down the metabolism.  Eating 6 times a day helps speed up your metabolism so infrequent feedings in this study supports the importance of frequency of meals not infrequency.  In this study infrequency was just 2x a day compared to  6x a day.  Now does that mean people can not lose weight or be successful eating just 1-2x a day, and for that matter of all the wrong foods?  Most defiantly not!  These are the variables that will be in your benefit for successful energy and weight loss.  Just because "grandpa john" or "gramma Jane" smoked till they were 100 years old without lung cancer does not mean absolutely positively everybody who smokes will obtain lung cancer but you sure do not put the odds in your favor.  The same holds true for proper nutrition and meal frequency!  For ex. eat 2000 calories of pure sugar or eat just 2000 calories of fiber, complex carbohydrates, lean proteins, fruits and veggies in a day and I bet you feel a lot different from one type of meal to the other.  You will probably be able eat your 2000 calories of pure sugar in a few candy bars or an ice cream sundae you will feel full of energy momentarily and in a few hours you will be feeling hungry and lethargic.  With the consumption of the 2000 calories of fiber, lean proteins, fruit and veggies you will more likely feel a lot fuller and sustain your energy levels a lot longer and blood sugar levels with much more stability.

Remember life long weight loss and energy will benefit you best with frequently spaced out meals throughout the day! 

Reference:

Iwao S, Mori K, Sato Y. Effects of meal frequency on body composition during weight control in boxers. Scand J Med Sci Sports 1996: 6 (5) 265-272.

By: J. D. Reber MS & BS Exercise Science, CSCS & NASM- CFT

Remember, eat healthy and live wealthy!

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