Plan your meals
Home >> Nutrition: Body Fat Loss >> Boost your energy by Kevin Orr, ISSA, NASM, APEX
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Boost your energy By Kevin Orr, ISSA, NASM, APEX Eat a small meal or snack on an average of every three hours. This may be the most important change that you make. Eating something is better than eating nothing. Consuming food once every three hours balances your blood sugar which helps you increase energy and maintain a higher metabolism. When you don’t eat anything for four hours (or longer), your body believes that it is experiencing a period of famine and reacts as if you are starving. This leads to a blood sugar low which, in turn, results in lower energy. Your energy level is your best indicator of how eating something every three hours makes a difference for your body. If your energy level drops, ask yourself, “When did I last eat something?” As you noticed, eating frequently throughout the day is the key to proper nutrition. This will help balance blood sugar, increase your metabolism, lead to optimal energy, and establish a solid foundation for accomplishing your goals. Plan to eat breakfast, your first meal of the day, within an hour of waking. Look at the chart above. If breakfast is at 7 a.m., then plan to eat a meal or snack at 10 a.m. and about every three hours the rest of the day. You should feel a little bit hungry when it is time for your next meal. If you’re not hungry three hours later then your “small meal” probably contained too many calories. If you are extremely hungry three hours later, then you’re probably not eating enough. It’s a little bit of trial and error at first, but you’ll learn how much you need to eat to satisfy your hunger for three hours. Always try to eat within a half hour of your scheduled meal. A week of practicing this schedule will help you with portion control to avoid over or under eating. This is a critical first step before moving on to other nutrition goals. And remember, eating any form of calories — within reason — once every three hours is better than eating nothing.
The chart above shows how eating consistently will maintain blood sugar level. The chart below indicates what happens when you eat inconsistently.  |
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Why eating breakfast is so important It is important to establish new eating habits beginning with your first meal of the day. Breakfast fuels your mind and body. It helps your cells to function correctly and maintain the proper hormonal balance. This balance increases your metabolism as well as your mental alertness and physical performance. Eating breakfast sets you up to succeed. Skipping breakfast tends to make people very hungry towards the late afternoon and evening. When this happens, they naturally feel the need to overeat in the evening. Overeating in the evening suppresses your appetite, making you less hungry in the morning. This cycle leads to low energy and body fat storage. |
