HERE’S THE DEAL ABOUT SKIPPING MEALS

I have heard this more times than I care to admit:

“I haven’t done anything today so I’m only going to eat one meal”
“I only eat once a day, I need to lose weight”

These are ridiculous things said by people who do not know how the human body works. You cannot skip meals and hope that by eating less you will suddenly lose 30lbs. In fact, the complete opposite might happen and I am here to tell you why.

Let’s start with a key word: Metabolism. “Metabolism is a term that is used to describe all chemical reactions involved in maintaining the living state of the cells and the organism.”

Most of this revolves around digesting food and turning it into energy for the body, repairing cells, etc. to make sure that we are the well-oiled human beings that we are. So eating is extremely important because it gives us energy! Drinking water gives us healthy skin! All because our metabolism uses all of this to refresh our bodies.

What happens if you start skipping meals or starving yourself in the hope of losing weight?

Truthfully, skipping meals will work, but only for a little while and the long term effects are far worse for you than those few days that the numbers on the scale will be down.

When you start skipping meals or starving yourself, your body will start to eat away at the fat in your body. Fat is reserved energy the body puts away when there is excess and uses it in case of emergencies. So for the first few days your weight will go down and you’ll be pleased by the results, however that is where all the pleasantries end.

After an extended time of not eating or restricting your food intake, your metabolism will slow down dramatically or shut down completely. When talking about metabolism and speed, it is referring to how quickly the body processes energy.

Your body goes into “starvation mode” meaning that it is going to try and retain as much energy as it can. So any food you eat will automatically become stored and your weightloss will either plateau or start to increase. You will start bloating due to the retention of liquids and eventually the body will start to attack the muscle and tissue to convert into energy.

You will be bloated, weak and unable to function. Is that really worth it for a few pounds less on the scale?

The human body needs food to survive and if you do not give the body what it needs – i.e. eating when you’re hungry or just plain old eating – it will converge on itself.
DO NOT SKIP MEALS.
DO NOT STARVE YOURSELF.

There are many healthy ways to speed up your metabolism to help you lose weight. Many are centered around a healthy diet and exercise!

Be sure to check back in as I make a list of different foods that will help make you into a lean machine!

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