100.3 JACK FM Health Facts

Healthy Living Tips

By Nathan Graves, MD

Sponsored By McDonalds

Trying to lose weight? Starving is NOT the answer?

A recent Harris poll revealed that the majority (about 59%) of Americans are still trying to lose weight. Because obesity is epidemic this is certainly a good thing. But it makes you wonder, "Why can't people lose weight?"

For many people they desperately want to lose weight but don't actually do anything about it. They desire weight loss but don't commit to change. Others are simply stuck in a pattern that they believe is healthy but it is actually self-defeating.

Eventually, in an effort to lose weight, people will come to the point when they are both ready to take action and also realize that what they are currently doing isn't working.

If you are one of these people and you are considering making changes to your diet, then don't start off on the wrong foot by making drastic cuts in your food intake.

Although many people focus on what type of foods to eat, they often fail to consider the timing and frequency of their food intake. Timing and frequency are vitally important to keeping metabolism going and to prevent muscle breakdown.

Breakfast

It almost makes me cry to think about the number of times I've read about how important it is to eat breakfast. However, the distressing thing is how long it actually took me to start eating breakfast. Unfortunately, I am not alone. Only about 38% of Americans eat a full meal for breakfast. It's funny when you think about it, but 65% of us are overweight. You do the math.

Between Meals

There is often too much time between typical meals for the average person to continue to keep their metabolism going at rate which is beneficial for weight loss. Starving in between meals only increases fat storage when you do eat. What's worse is that if you don't eat frequently enough your body will begin to break down muscle to get energy. This is possibly the worst thing that you can do on a diet. Muscle burns calories and you don't want to lose an ounce of it.

How Much is Enough?

This all ties into what many experts recommend concerning meal frequency; eating 5 to 6 small meals a day is one of the best ways to lose weight. Most recommend shifting the majority of calories, especially carbohydrates, towards the beginning of the day. Other important times to eat are before and after exercise, when your body needs extra energy. At regular meal times to maintain a reasonable daily calorie intake, most people would do well to eat 300 to 500 calories. In between meals a snack of 100 to 200 calories will suffice to keep metabolism burning and muscle from wasting away.