How many of you skip a main meal on a daily basis because either you’re too busy and forget all about it or you think this is the way to control your weight?
What really happens to your body, though, when you skip meals and end up having a large one?
Let’s go through the 3 most important reasons why this practice is bad for your health:
1 . Starvation diets usually affect sugar levels in your blood.
When you eat something, your body dissolves the food and sends certain nutrients right to the blood circulation in the form of sugar, so that sufficient energy can keep your body functioning throughout the day. When you skip your meals, sugar levels in the blood drop and you feel sluggish and tired. Your sense of hunger is intense and you inevitably make all the wrong, unhealthy choices for your next meal. Unfortunately, this practice leads to dangerous metabolic changes and you end up facing a high risk of developing diabetes.
2. The second reason is nutrient deficiency. Your body runs low on nutrients.
Bear in mind that a nutrition that is rich in all types of foods ensures a smooth body function. It can also have a positive effect on certain diseases and, certainly, prevent the occurrence of others (cardiovascular, strokes, cancer). You may believe that it is OK to skip some of the regular meals you need to have throughout the day and replace them with food supplements. But these are just “supplements”, as their name indicates, and can only support you as such.
3. Starvation also affects your metabolism.
Do you keep on skipping meals believing that this can help you lose weight? Unfortunately, I’m about to burst your bubble! On the contrary! You actually sabotage your effort without realizing it. When you eat, your metabolism is constantly working to dissolve the food and use it for your body functions. When you don’t eat anything, your body, very simply, cannot function properly and enters into a stress mode, since it lacks the energy necessary to perform its daily activities. It turns to the muscles for help and energy, while storing fat in case this “famine” lasts longer.
These three reasons clearly prove that, in order to maintain or control your weight, you need to eat regularly during the day. It is true, though, that sometimes we are actually too busy to eat 5 times a day. I’m here to help you and give you some tips that will make your life easier and healthier:
First, get organised! Prepare in the weekend the meals that can be preserved for 3-4 days.
If you keep forgetting your snacks, create a reminder on your mobile phone.
Keep in mind that you can have a variety of snacks at work, such as bread sticks, dried fruit and unsalted dried nuts, which do not need to be kept in the fridge.
Your snack can be a plain juice, which you can easily buy on the street.
You could always prepare and pack small sandwiches beforehand and just grab them before you head off to work.
Και το σουβλάκι σε ψωμάκι μπορεί να αποτελέσει μια υγιεινή λύση (που και που εννοείται) σε περίπτωση που δεν έχετε προλάβει να μαγειρέψετε. Δεν χρειάζεται απαραίτητα να συνοδεύεται από πατάτες, λιπαρές σος και αναψυκτικά.
Καλή επιτυχία στην προσπάθειά σας!