Written by Rose Posted in Maintenance on Monday, 16 July 2018.
Are you overweight because you don’t eat enough?
Coffee is breakfast? You skimp through lunch. Then you realize about 4:00 that you are starving!!! A quick reminder to yourself that you haven’t eaten anything all day and this, therefore, is the justification for making a less than healthy option. Really…who wants a salad when they are starving?
Sound familiar?
This story seems to be more common than you would think and it’s the perfect formula for weight gain. It’s a behavior problem and if it continues, the long-term side effects will catch up to your health.
So here’s what happens when you skip those meals…
When you go those long periods of time without eating, your body will go into what we refer to as “starvation mode”. Your body is smart, and when it doesn’t know when it will see food again, it will plan to “store” your next meal for you. So then when you do go and eat all those snacks and your big dinner meal late in the day, your body will store it and hold on to that fat…just incase you decide to have a “fast” again the next day. Your metabolism slows, your cravings increase and this is a cycle that will make your body a fat-storing machine…most likely what you don’t want.
So how do I change?
Let’s start with breakfast. If you haven’t been eating breakfast you may feel nauseous in the morning when you do start. I would recommend starting with something like an easy healthy smoothie or protein shake to get your body accommodated to that morning food.
You have to plan your lunch and healthy snacks. I know, I know…you’re too busy for lunch or too busy to plan the lunch. No, but really, it’s effecting your health, so make the time. You will be a better employee, parent, or whatever it is you are doing that makes you too busy to eat lunch, after you’ve stopped for a few moments and re-fueled yourself with healthy food.
We see lots of clients that are overweight, yet malnourished. Think about that for a minute. We have always associated malnourishment with being underweight, but it is more common to see the opposite, yet ignore it. You can even continue to treat the symptoms with meds, but will always have the foundational problem, which is that you’re not eating enough of the good stuff.
Recognize that this is going to be a behavior change and that it will take effort before it becomes habitual. You will find yourself making excuses about how you don’t have time, but catch yourself and make the time because it’s that important to you. You are worth it!
