Lesson 5: When to Eat
You’re already aware that food is your body’s fuel, and just like a car, your body needs to be refueled at regular intervals. Think about it like your weekly commute and gas bill. You know that your commute is the same length every day, just like your BMR is the same every day. You also know that after so many days commuting you’ll need to put more fuel in your car to keep it going. You probably have a set routine for the days that you refuel your car. Your body needs the same type of routine.
Before we talk more about when you eat, let’s talk about the number of meals and which meals you need to eat. A lot of people skip breakfast with the excuse that they’re just not hungry. Let me tell you why you’re not hungry. You’ve just gotten out of bed after sleeping for 6 or 8 hours.
When you sleep, your body slows its metabolism and goes into a resting state knowing that it will not be getting any food for at least the next 6-8 hours while you are sleeping. While you are sleeping, you are essentially fasting, and your body compensates for this fast in order to conserve calories and make sure that there are enough calories to maintain your basic bodily functions. Hunger is the signal your body sends you when it is running out of calories and needs more. If your body is in a resting state and conserving fuel, you won’t get a hunger signal for quite a while. When you wake up, your body is still in a resting state.
The signal for your body to come out of this resting state is breakfast, as it tells your body that the fast is over. So, in order to jump start your metabolism for the day, you need to eat breakfast. The longer you wait to eat after waking, the more time your body spends in this resting state not burning very many calories. So, get up and eat breakfast, and don’t skimp on the calories... this is the first fuel of the day and you have a whole day of fuel burning to come!
Now that you’ve gotten your breakfast in, you’ll need to space out your meals to keep your body fed. You’ll need more fuel at the beginning and middle of the day (when you’re working and using all that fuel), and less fuel towards the end of the day (when you’re winding down from the day and getting ready for bed). So, plan your meals accordingly. Here’s what my day usually looks like for my calorie requirements (your calorie requirements will be different):
6:45am Wake up
7:30am Breakfast 330 calories
12:00pm Lunch 300 calories
4:30pm Dinner 500 calories
9:00pm Snack 145 calories
11:00pm Bedtime
As you can see, I eat about every four and a half hours. I wouldn’t recommend eating any fewer meals than the 4 that I eat, and you can certainly eat more meals and refuel your body more often if you like. I’ve heard of people eating 6 meals a day. You’ll have to figure out what works best for your body. Once you get a plan in place, pay attention to your body. If you start to get hungry way before you’re due to eat your next meal, your body may require fuel more often that what you have planned. Try eating more meals with shorter intervals.
Before we talk more about when you eat, let’s talk about the number of meals and which meals you need to eat. A lot of people skip breakfast with the excuse that they’re just not hungry. Let me tell you why you’re not hungry. You’ve just gotten out of bed after sleeping for 6 or 8 hours.
When you sleep, your body slows its metabolism and goes into a resting state knowing that it will not be getting any food for at least the next 6-8 hours while you are sleeping. While you are sleeping, you are essentially fasting, and your body compensates for this fast in order to conserve calories and make sure that there are enough calories to maintain your basic bodily functions. Hunger is the signal your body sends you when it is running out of calories and needs more. If your body is in a resting state and conserving fuel, you won’t get a hunger signal for quite a while. When you wake up, your body is still in a resting state.
The signal for your body to come out of this resting state is breakfast, as it tells your body that the fast is over. So, in order to jump start your metabolism for the day, you need to eat breakfast. The longer you wait to eat after waking, the more time your body spends in this resting state not burning very many calories. So, get up and eat breakfast, and don’t skimp on the calories... this is the first fuel of the day and you have a whole day of fuel burning to come!
Now that you’ve gotten your breakfast in, you’ll need to space out your meals to keep your body fed. You’ll need more fuel at the beginning and middle of the day (when you’re working and using all that fuel), and less fuel towards the end of the day (when you’re winding down from the day and getting ready for bed). So, plan your meals accordingly. Here’s what my day usually looks like for my calorie requirements (your calorie requirements will be different):
6:45am Wake up
7:30am Breakfast 330 calories
12:00pm Lunch 300 calories
4:30pm Dinner 500 calories
9:00pm Snack 145 calories
11:00pm Bedtime
As you can see, I eat about every four and a half hours. I wouldn’t recommend eating any fewer meals than the 4 that I eat, and you can certainly eat more meals and refuel your body more often if you like. I’ve heard of people eating 6 meals a day. You’ll have to figure out what works best for your body. Once you get a plan in place, pay attention to your body. If you start to get hungry way before you’re due to eat your next meal, your body may require fuel more often that what you have planned. Try eating more meals with shorter intervals.
posted by Pamela Suzanne at
7:00 AM
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