Article By: John Fontana

It seems to be a cultural phenomenon for those dieting to decide not eating is the key to success. People cry that they eat pretty healthy foods but just can’t understand why they wont lose weight. They claim that they only eat one or two meals a day and yet nothing is happening. The issue is not necessarily what you eat, but rather it is when you eat that matters.

If you ask these people what the two meals per day are, the response is typically lunch and dinner. When they say lunch they don’t mean noon, lunch usually lands around 3 or 4 and dinner around 7 or 8. This is where you will be running into a major issue. Nutrient timing is essential when you are attempting to lose weight or even maintain the weight you are at.

The first thing you have to think about is your metabolism. Compare your metabolism to an open fire. If you throw a bundle of logs on a fire it will likely have a huge spark and large flame for a few minutes than it will settle down. Within a few hours, if you don’t throw logs back on it the fire will die out. Your metabolism is very similar, only with food instead of logs. The appropriate thing to do is to throw a log or two on, wait about two hours and throw another log on. Continuously loading your fire back up will never cause a huge flame and always keep a nice steady burn. Your digestive system will be constantly working and able to handle what you are throwing at it, instead of being asleep and then overwhelmed by the amount of food.

Your metabolism is extremely important when considering the breaking down and digestion of food, but insulin levels are equally important. Going back to the fire analogy, the big flame that occurs right when you throw the bundle of logs on is the same as a blood sugar spike in your body. A major blood sugar spike is something that you are trying to avoid if you are in a starving position, which you will be if you haven’t eaten all day.

Insulin is what carries carbohydrates, fat and protein through the blood stream. A large spike in blood sugar spikes the insulin making it carry these nutrients faster than normal. This becomes a big issue when it has nowhere good to take the nutrients. If the carbohydrates can’t be used as energy they will be stored as fat. The people that don’t eat all day are not only slowing their metabolism way down, but also making themselves susceptible to a huge insulin spike. The issue here is that even if you are eating fewer calories a day, the calories aren’t being used properly and are being stored as fat. If your goal is to lose weight, it is also probably to “tone up” as well. By allowing these insulin spikes to happen, you are putting yourself in a bad position that will inhibit your ability to “tone”.

The lesson here is to time your meals out a little bit better. In an optimal world you would eat more meals but if you refuse to eat more than two meals make it breakfast and in between lunch and dinnertime. This will be the best timing you can pick with the two meals and will allow your metabolism and insulin to operate a little better. Breakfast is a necessity because not only do you jump-start the metabolism but also in the case of an insulin spike, your body will be able to handle it better. It is likely that you are more active and busy during the morning and afternoon hours as opposed to nighttime. Since that’s the case it is better to have the insulin spike during your most active hours, because your nutrients will be used as energy in the muscles. Obviously you should eat more throughout the day and eat smaller meals as you go. The reason people have told you a million times to eat 5-6 small meals a day is because it’s true.

Start to focus more on when you are eating and not necessarily what you are eating. This is by no means a pass to eat bad food, but it is better for you to eat a little worse food multiple times a day (in smaller meals) than to eat it twice. The ultimate goal should be at least four meals. Instead of thinking of them as meals, start to think of them as snacks. A meal usually seems like a big production with a lot of food and can be overwhelming. If you think that you need to eat 4-6 snacks a day instead of meals it might be easier on you mentally. This might sound funny but the little tricks we play on our minds sometimes make all the difference.

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