It’s no big surprise that what we eat and the amount we eat affects whether we have a great body or not. But a lot of people don’t know that the time you eat and how often you eat matter a lot too. If you’re going to succeed in getting fit, you need to listen up. This is a true secret of getting in the shape you desire.
What time you eat has a major effect on your results. Let’s start from the very beginning. When you first wake up, your body has been without food for many hours. Your blood sugar level first thing in the morning is low, and you are running on stored energy. Once those reserves are used up, your body will turn to its next available source of fuel, your muscles! It’s real tough to get in shape when you’re groggy, hungry, and your body is breaking down your muscles for energy. You need to eat your first meal as soon as possible after waking up in the morning. This gets your body fueled up and preserves your muscles.
Now you understand how important it is to eat soon after you wake up. Doing so gets your blood sugar to the correct level (assuming you are eating healthy stuff) so you can function effectively and protects your hard-earned muscles. You’ll feel better, function better, work out harder, and protect your muscles while getting into shape.
The quest to keep your blood sugar level in the right zone also tells us how often you should eat. Within 3 to 4 hours after a meal, your body digests whatever you ate and your blood sugar level will start declining. So you really shouldn’t go much more than 3 hours between meals (except when you are sleeping at night).
To eat every few hours implies that you’re going to be eating more than the common number of meals a day. Depending on when you get up, that means fitting in 5 or 6 smaller meals a day, rather than three large ones. Eating that frequently, starting first thing in the morning, means you’ll never go more than three to three and a half hours between meals. Eat right at each of those meals and you will find that your blood sugar levels remain where you want them at all times.
Since you’re eating more meals, you need to reduce their size. A popular way to do this without drastically reworking the way you eat is to have somewhat smaller meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and supplement them with two nutritious snacks of around 100 calories. Those snacks are then eaten during the biggest gaps between meals, typically between each of the main meals or one between lunch and dinner and the other before bedtime.
Try this approach and see the results for yourself. Chances are you’ll be a lot closer to getting as fit as you desire.