Is it really true? The MORE you eat the MORE you lose?
Posted in Eating, General Weight Loss Tip on May 20th, 2009 by admin – 3 CommentsIt’s been said, “The MORE you eat the MORE you lose.”
This is one of the most important concepts to consider when you’re planning any type of healthy weight loss plan/regimine. First of all, it should be restated: “The more often you eat, the more you lose.” There we go, that’s better.
Today we are talking about the concept of Metabolism. To begin, I’ll explain the process as simple as possible.
- A green plant takes in energy from sunlight. The plant uses this energy and the molecule cholorophyll to build sugars from water and carbon dioxide in a process known as photosynthesis.
- Next, people and animals eat the plants (or if they’re carnivores, when they eat other animals that have eaten plants), they take in the energy in the form of sugar.
- The next step is for the body to break down the sugar so that the energy released can be distributed to the body’s cells and used as fuel.
- Enzymes in the digestive system break proteins down into amino acids, fats into fatty acids, and carbohydrates into simple sugars such as glucose.
- These broken down compounds are absorbed into the blood through the lining of the stomach – which transfers them to the body’s cells.
- After cells absorb and take in these nutrients – other enzymes act to speed up and regulate the process of chemical reactions involved with “metabolizing” these compounds. (Energy can be released for used by the body or stored in body tissues; especially the muscles, liver, AND BODYFAT.
- There are two types of metabolism:
A. Anabolism, or constructive metabolism, is all about building and storing: It supports the growth of new cells, the maintenance of body tissues, and the storage of energy for use in the future. During anabolism, small molecules are changed into larger, more complex molecules of carbohydrate, protein, and fat.
B. Catabolism, or destructive metabolism, is the process that produces the energy required for all activity in the cells. In this process, cells break down large molecules (mostly carbohydrates and fats) to release energy. This energy release provides fuel for anabolism, heats the body, and enables the muscles to contract and the body to move. As complex chemical units are broken down into more simple substances, the waste products released in the process of catabolism are removed from the body through the skin, kidneys, lungs, and intestines.
Your body reacts differently to your different eating habits, so lets say for example; one day you have 3 meals (typical right?) and they are pretty large and hefty meals. Well your body’s metabolism looks like a rollercoaster, especially if they’re extra large meals, or meals in which you feel very full after eating. Your metabolism goes from low to VERY high because it’s trying to burn and distribute those ’sugars’ that you just consumed.
Lets think of your body as a Car. You’re going to be taking a road trip to Florida from California, and you have two options:
- Buy all of the gas that you will need in order to get there and store it inside of a small tank that you’ll pull, OR
- Buy gas as you go and as you need it.
Option number 2 seems like the obvious and logical answer – but most people treat themselves like the First CAR. The weight of the extra fuel will no doubt slow you down and make your car run sluggishly. The car that fills up along the way, will run a lot better, and get a lot better gas mileage (efficiency).
Now lets apply this to eating. Instead of eating 3 bigger meals during the day, break that same amount of food into 6-7 meals and eat one meal every 2.5-3 hours. Your metabolism will stay higher, and therefore you’ll be burning more calories throughout the day as your body gets used to your new eating ways – it will no longer see the need to hold onto all those other calories your body doesn’t need at that time.
When you eat 2 or 3 bigger meals throughout the day, your body goes into what I like to call “Survivor” Mode. It stores all of the calories it can (as fat) for use later, because on your 2 – 3 meal/day routine, it knows it will be a long time before it’ll be able to fill up again, and who knows, you might miss lunch, so double that.
When you eat 6 or 7 smaller meals a day (same amount of food as the bigger meals, just mini meals), your body goes into a calorie burning phase that keeps burning calories all day long and into the night – because it no longer sees the need to hang on to those extra calories because it knows it will be refueled in a couple hours.
Supplement this with some free weightloss supplements and you’re going to be seeing results faster than you could ever imagine!
One of the most common New Years resolutions is to lose weight and live healthier. Looking forward and saying “my goal is to lose 25 pounds this year” is a great start in the right direction but that 25 pounds can turn into a mountain pretty quickly.
