Weight Loss Articles

More and more Americans, and people in all countries, struggle with being overweight in some degree. It is a common issue that has come to most peoples attention just in the last ten years or so. The problem is obesity and it is more common today than ever. What is causing the obesity outbreak? People today are always eating oversized amounts of bad foods and not exercising as much as recommended. As we strive to come up with a solution to this massive problem, serious questions about diet and exercise have come with it. Because of the available diets, physicians and scientists have many different opinions on how often, and how much you need to eat.

One opinion of some health professionals is to eat five to six small meals everyday to help prevent constant hunger. The idea is that if you are able to eat small amounts more frequently you won't snack on junk foods because you need nutritional supplement every couple of hours. It has also been theorized that we can only take in a certain number of nutrients and so much food at one time. If you tend to consume too much at one time, it will be added to your body as fat deposits because the body has too many calories. The worst thing you can do is skip eating all day and eat a big meal at night. Basically, your metabolism is in hibernation throughout the day and then is overloaded with too many calories at one time. This is why some people feel so drained after having dinner at night.

Looking at caloric intake and not how often is more valuable in the eyes of some experts. If we all had a meal when hungry nobody would maintain similar eating habits. You've probably heard that old adage that breakfast is the most valuable meal of the day. So why is it the one that everybody skips? Without a meal in the morning the body will go into hibernation because it feels the need to conserve energy. Also, if you skip breakfast you are more vulnerable to be very hungry when you will be able to eat and will consume too much food. For those of us who don't eat breakfast you need to try eating healthy foods that you are most likely missing out on. To get great energy from foods with low calories eat low fat dairy products and whole grains any chance you get.

Most physicians and scientists believe that to skip a meal or more than one is not helpful to one's overall healthiness. This is due to the way that our metabolism acts in accordance with our dietary needs. The metabolism only operates at a normal level when it feels that the body has received a safe amount of calories. If you remove a meal or multiple meals, you are sending a message to your body that there is not enough to eat and that it needs to start conserving energy. This can cause tiredness, a reduction in functionality, and some irritability. So is the answer to eat smaller meals more often? It is likely a debate that will go on for some time, because what determines how many meals to consume a day is individual metabolism.

To insure that the metabolism remains consistent avoid snaking on unhealthy foods, it is imperative that you consume a minimum of 3 full meals a day. That doesn't necessarily mean to over eat three times a day, it just means to maintain your caloric intake by time not by going by your body's hunger. Cutting out snacks and unhealthy drinks such as sodas, sports drinks, and coffee will bring down your caloric intake by hundreds of calories everyday.

In a recent study, British doctors concluded that females that didn't eat breakfast tended to eat more calories throughout the day to make up for the period of fasting. This also resulted in a higher level of cholesterol than those who eat healthy early in the day. Also, women who eat breakfast tended to eat less high calorie snacks throughout the day to make up for the body's hunger. The hungrier a person is the more likely they are to eat snacks and foods that are more readily available and these foods have little or no nutritional value.