Weight Loss and Wellness

One question that I get asked frequently is, “I only eat one meal a day and I still gain weight. What’s going on?” Often, that is precisely the problem. Skipping meals is not a solution to weight gain. Here are 3 reasons why skipping meals causes you to gain weight.

When you skip a meal, your body goes into a starvation mode. The next time you eat, your body wants to store as many calories away as fat “just in case.” The same number of calories as someone else who eats regularily leads to weight gain for you.

Skipping a meal can also lower your metabolic rate. Digestion requires energy, which is why your metabolic rate decreases when you are not using your digestive system regularily. Instead of skipping a meal, have a high protein, low saturated fat, low simple carb meal. Your metabolism will thank you.

When you are starving, you can’t help but to overeat. When you overdo it, you cause your pancreas to pump out more insulin. If you overeat regularly, your body may actually make you less sensitive to it’s own insulin - leading to metabolic syndrome or even diabetes.

The bottom line is that regularily eating meals that are higher in protein, lower in saturated fat and lower in simple carbohydrates will help you to lose weight much more quickly than skipping meals during the day.