At times our busy schedules leave us with little time to eat, so more often, we end up skipping meals. While on the other hand there are individuals who are trying to lose weight and skipping meals is the answer. In reality, skipping meals does more harm than good, either over a busy schedule or when trying to lose weight. The following reasons are why you shouldn’t skip breakfast, lunch or dinner.
1. Tendency to overeat
There is a high tendency to overeat in order to compensate for the missed meal. Starving yourself all day or not making out time to eat three meals a day or snack in between will leave you feeling extra hungry and will make you to overindulge in the evening. When you’re really famished, you’re less likely to take the time to make a healthy meal, preferring something quick and easy. This may lead to eating packaged or fast food. Also, the hungrier you are the more likely to reach for seconds or even thirds, tripling your portion.
2. It slows down your metabolism
Skipping meals actually makes your body to gain weight instead of losing it. When you don’t eat for a long period, the body notices and your metabolism goes into safety mode by slowing down in an effort to converse your energy source. Skipping meals often, therefore means your metabolism will slow down over time.
3. Decrease in blood sugar
When you eat, your body breaks down the food and stores it up as fat, while the rest enters the bloodstream as sugar. Consequently, skipping meals will cause your blood sugar level to drop, leaving you feeling tired and sluggish. If this progresses over time, it will interfere with your insulin levels, which may lead to diabetes later in life.
4. Hormonal changes
Irregular eating habits can cause an unsafe drop in blood sugar. The body usually maintains a relatively stable level after one skipped meal but frequent and recurring low blood sugar can cause serious hormonal changes.
5. Muscle loss
This is probably the most obvious effect of irregular eating. Skipping one meal won’t cause a significant decrease in muscle mass, but with increased fasting, your body starts to break down muscle as a source for energy when skipping meals become too severe. This will contribute to weakness and fragility.
If you have a busy schedule, try to make out time to prepare your lunch in the morning or before you head out to work. If you’re already struggling with your weight’, this is going to put an extra strain on you when you start to notice those few extra pounds.
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