Eat More Often and Increase Metabolism?

I love to eat!   I love trying new foods and preparing new foods for others to try. For many of us, eating is more then just feeding our body... its a social event with family and friends and can be emotional as well.   Although I love to eat, I am mindful of what I eat!  It's important to be in control of what you eat and not allow the emotional attachment to food run wild.

Have you ever had someone say to you, "I don't understand how I am overweight? I ONLY eat once a day?"  Well, that may explain it.  Eating only once a day deprives your body of the continuous energy that it needs and can actually mess up your metabolism. When you are only eating one meal, one time a day at sporadic times, the message that you are essentially telling your body is "Eat this and hold on to it! I'm not sure when I'm going to feed you again!"   In an effort to protect itself and store energy, your body slows down your metabolism so that it can have enough energy since its not sure when it will get food again.

HOWEVER--- Its been my experience, that if you eat healthy foods around the same time each day, 5-6 times a day, your body will eventually adjust to your eating habits. It will understand that it can burn calories because it will anticipate you feeding it again. 

THE COMMON SENSE BEHIND IT: Think about it-- little babies will let you know like clockwork that they are hungry! right? Their bodies respond to specific feeding times. Kids with healthy eating habits often require a couple snack during the day. As we become adults, we often adjust from these habits.

When you eat HEALTHY foods that provide you with ENERGY throughout the day and stay within your caloric range based on your sex, size and age, your body's metabolic rate will remain in balance. Your body will not be in starvation mode. Eating healthy will not bog down your body with heavy, fatty, sweet foods that it has to work extra hard to process.

TIPS:

• Eat small portions 5-6 times a day (3 small meals and 3 small snacks) within 30 minutes of a normal set time throughout the day as opposed to large meals, 1 or 3 times sporadically throughout the day.
• Choose foods that are fresh and full of nutrients.  Your food show be colorful!
• Avoid Processed foods.
• Avoid juices and soda that are high in sugar and drink more water. (You can add lemon or cucumber to your water for flavor).
• Don't eat 2 hours before bedtime.