What's up with the 6 meals a day diet?
Let me explain to you why you hear so many people saying that you have to eat 6 meals a day to lose weight. It is not about the number 6 or having exactly 6 meals a day! Tests have shown that it takes the average person about 3 hours to fully digest what is in their stomach. Research has also shown that keeping your metabolism working all day will cuase it to continue to work while your asleep and burn either FAT or WHAT'S LEFT IN YOUR STOMACH. So if you have read my other article "When to stop eating at night" you might see the connection there becuase I talk about not eating within 3 hours of going to sleep!
Let me explain a little more. You do not want to eat 6 huge meals and or 6 tiny meals, actually half of the time you will just be snacking, not eating a meal! You still need your 3 main meals.. Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. These meals should be at a reasonable proportion and have all three of the following.. Protien, vitamins and mineral rich food like fruits or veggies, and some but not too much complex carbs. For dinner you really don't need much complex carbs at all, stick to lean protien and veggies! If you are unsure about what complex carbs are, or simple carbs, or even good lean protiens.. check out www.hollywoodfitness.biz and contact me, I would love to help you as much as possible.
So now we have our 3 main meals, why are they saying 6 meals? Ok well a lot of people work right? A lot of people eat breakfast when they wake up, but then don't eat lunch for another 6 or 7 hours, and then eat a huge dinner at night! This is horrible when it comes to being a fat burning machine, especially if your snacking on crap you know you shouldn't have during the day. Here is the good news.. you should never be hungry! What I'm trying to say is use all the info I've told you so far.. check it out- If research shows, after 3 hours your stomach will be empty, and research also shows that you want your metabolism constantly working to burn the most fat while you sleep, then you should be putting healthy foods in your body about every 3 hours! Now this is not an exact number, you may be hungry after 2 hours. Ok then after 2 hours snack on something healthy, let that digest and then snack again when you get hungry. Before you know it, it will be time to take your lunch! Do the same thing untill dinner, and if you have an early dinner you may have to snack one more time before you sleep, but try not to eat anything within 3 hours of going to bed. Just remember this, your metabolism is like a fire and to keep that fire burning, you have to put more wood (aka healthy food) on it just before it starts to go out. This will cause your metabolism to continue to work super hard and burn fat while you sleep since you have nothing in your stomach after the 3 hours! Get it?
So what I'm trying to say is you must understand how your body works. Don't worry about making sure you eat exactly 6 meals a day, becuase you may only need to eat 5 times, or you may need to eat 7 times. It all depends on your main three meals, and what your healthy snacks are, and what your activites are thruought the day. So please understand that when you are hungry, you should eat something. This is great news for those who think starving yourself is how you lose weight, for most people know by now that you will in the end putting the weight back on by doing that, and you would have suffered in vain!!
If you need help thinking of ideas for healthy meals and or snacks I would be more than happy to help you! Contact me @ adamkipling99@gmail.com or if you would like a nutrtion and fitness program made 100% custom to your needs and schedule please check out this website www.fitorbit.com/trainers/adamkipling I can help you over the internet whenever you need me 24/7!