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Fitness Systems
Silver State Athletic Center
5680 Morgan Mill Road
Carson City, NV 89701
Phone: 775 883 3500
Fax: 775 841 5233
When To Eat
By Carson City Fitness Systems www.carsoncityfitnesssystems.com
To look and perform your best, you have to eat more often. The key phrase to keep in mind is Energy Balance.
Energy balance refers to the see-saw between burning and consuming calories. The ideal margin is between 300 and 500 Calories. This means that you should never be more than 500 Calories below what you need, and you should never eat more than 500 Calories above what you need.
The larger the energy imbalance, the more likely you are to become fat. Eating three big meals a day swings the energy pendulum too far for any fat loss to take place. Several smaller meals spaced evenly is one of the most important keys of our Firestorm Fat Loss Program.
In fact, the first rule of our nutrition program is to eat every two to three hours. All day. Every day. This should be six to seven meals a day.
Two people who eat the same number of Calories a day but space them differently, will have far different fat loss results.
Researchers in Japan found that athletes who ate the same number of Calories a day from either two or six meals both lost about 11 pounds in 2 weeks. The important thing here is that the group eating six meals a day lost three pounds more fat and three pounds less muscle.
Keeping good-looking, functional, metabolically active muscle is of utmost importance, so these results should be very interesting for anyone interested in fast-effective, fat loss.
Having smaller meals more frequently works for several reasons. But probably the most useful to remember is that you keep full all day, which means you're less likely to go on a gut-expanding binge. (Many people on this type of fat loss diet don't ever experience hunger pangs! Sign me up!)
| Habit | Changes Your Risk Of Obesity By: |
|---|---|
| Eating at least one midday snack | - 39% |
| Eating dinner as your biggest meal of the day | 6% |
| Waiting more than 3 hours after waking to eat breakfast | 43% |
| Eating more than a third of your meals in restaurants | 69% |
| Going to bed more than 3 hours after your last meal | 101% |
| Eating breakfast away from home | 137% |
| Not eating breakfast | 450% |
To make it easy, design slightly smaller meals for the big three (breakfast, lunch, and dinner). Alternate these with healthy snacks. Add in a post-workout shake and you're at your seven meals. Easy-peasy!
To your health!
