FooDY FRIday- Identifying your Diet Style

Do you regularly skip breakfast and just down a coffee? Wine and dine nightly? Find yourself at the food table nibbling & grazing more often than not?
“Understanding your eating patterns can tell you a lot about your chances of gaining weight,” says researcher Yunsheng Ma, PhD of the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Here’s what he found in a recent study surveying nearly 500 people on their eating habits:

Breakfast skippers are 4 ½ times MORE likely to be overweight! When you miss your morning meal, it causes your blood sugar to dip which leaves you more hungry and quadruples your chances of overeating.

Restaurant regulars (for breakfast or dinner) are TWICE as likely to gain weight! Meals served in food establishments tend to be higher in calories and fat and lower in fiber. And the bigger servings encourage overeating.

Lunch buyers are 30 – 60% LESS LIKELY to pack on pounds! This exception to the “dine out, widen out” philosophy can be explained by the ever growing variety of healthier options available during lunch hours as opposed to the other times of the day. (as long as you’re not buying lunch…AND breakfast AND dinner)

Eating four or more meals a day CUTS your obesity risk by 45%! Even if you are eating the exact same number of calories! (no, that wasn’t a typo) When you eat only 1, 2, or 3 big meals a day, it prompts your insulin levels to spike, triggering your body to store more of what you are eating as fat. Proper balanced meals eaten 4-6 times throughout the day keeps sugar levels even- causing you to use the energy efficiently rather than storing it. (that is MY excuse to be eating every 2-3 hours!)

Here is a sample schedule:
8am * breakfast
11am * snack
1pm * lunch
4pm * snack
6pm* dinner
8pm * snack

There is scientific PROOF that supports the fact that more meals work, but the reason why it works is because it does something that many diets don’t do:

It keeps you full and satiated, which in turn reduces the likelihood of a diet-destroying binge.

Until next time team, depriving yourself of food is a cruel way to live- enjoy food, and eat it plentifully!

Health respect & happiness,
Beki