Meal Timing May Affect Weight Loss, Study Says

A new study conducted in Spain and published in the International Journal of Obesity suggests there is a correlation between when you eat and how successfully you lose weight. As it turns out, meal timing is almost as important as what's for dinner.

Background Information

There are a few relevant bits of information that research has already told us about meal timing and its effect on weight loss.

First, eating a meal soon after waking up helps to jump start your metabolism. By skipping breakfast, your metabolism is forced to start conserving calories instead of burning them.

Spreading your calories out throughout the day also increases your metabolic rate because you're forcing your metabolism to stay active. We know, for example, that eating 2, 300 calorie meals a few hours apart is far better than eating 1, 600 calorie meal in the same amount of time even if you end up eating the exact same things.

The Study

Marta Garaulet and Dr. Frank Scheer, who is the director of the medical chronobiolosy program at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, recorded the progress of two separate groups participating in a 20-week weight loss regiment. The first group, dubbed the "early eaters," ate lunch before 3 p.m. while the second group, dubbed the "late eaters," ate lunch after 3 p.m. (In Spain, it is common for lunch to be the largest meal of the day, comprising approximately 40% of their daily caloric intake.)

The Results

The researchers found that the first group, the "early eaters," lost 25% more weight than their counterparts in the "late eaters" group. The researchers did not notice a difference in weight loss based on when participants ate breakfast and dinner.

Controls

Garaluet and Dr. Scheer controlled for other factors that lead to weight loss like energy expenditure (exercise levels), what the participants ate, appetite hormones, and sleep patterns so there was no significant difference between the two groups.

Limitations

The nature of this study was observational, meaning it cannot imply causation, it can only show a correlation. To imply causation, the researchers would have to randomly assign participants to two or more groups and then change the independent variable accordingly.

Takeaway

The study mentioned several possible explanations for these results. First, you have a biological "clock" that regulates your internal organs. If you're eating a large meal later in the day when your metabolism is getting ready to slow down, those extra calories may stay with you longer than you'd like. Another possible explanation cited is that for whatever reason, participants in the "late eaters" group had a smaller breakfast or no breakfast more often than the "early eaters." The authors suggested that some people may be more genetically wired to eat later in the day, which could disrupt their internal timing.

The most important thing for you to do is to eat a large breakfast. You'll ultimately consume fewer calories throughout the day and your metabolism will work hard all day long to burn those calories.

If possible, avoid eating a large dinner, especially if you go to bed soon afterwards. Instead, try shifting your calories towards earlier meal times. For example, eat 100 extra calories for breakfast, lunch, and have a larger mid-afternoon snack than usual. Also, load up on fruits, vegetables, and lean meats at dinner. They're filling, easy for your metabolism to handle, and low-calorie options.

Eating at the right time is easy with this meal plan. You'll learn when to snack and how large your meals should be to keep your metabolism running strong all day long!

For more easy to understand information about nutrition, fitness, general well-being, and simple every day substitutions, visit http://www.delveintohealth.com/

Thanks for reading!

Nathaniel

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Fat Loss Tips: Follow These Ideas for Success

ByBrian C Grant

Many individuals embark on a diet at some point in their life. While we are unable to accurately display a percentage of failed diets we can say that most efforts result in short-term weight loss due to calorie reduction and unfortunately lead to further weight gain. Just in case your diet has failed or is on the verge of failure read our tips for the best fat loss...

1. Between 5-15 minutes before a meal, drink an 8 oz. glass of water or another healthy choice beverage to fill your stomach up so you don't eat as much food.

2. Choose breads and other carbohydrates that are whole grains such as spelt, buckwheat and barley.

3. Replace all soft drinks and other sugary juices with water. If you need flavor in your water use a lime or lemon wedge mixed in your water.

4. Always eat breakfast. A balanced breakfast will include a protein (steak, chicken, fish or eggs); Fruit and some oatmeal to kick start your metabolism. A balanced breakfast will allow you to stabilize blood sugar and prevent over indulging later in the day.

5. Have an oral fixation that you normally correct with food? Try chewing flavored gum between meals. Most gum can be found in a variety of desert flavors and can have less than 10 calories per stick. Don't overdo it with the gum and be careful of your dental health.

6. Cheat Days are acceptable. Allow your body to give into a craving once a week for one meal. Just don't overdo it.

7. Replace your regular snack foods with raw almonds, cashews, pumpkin seeds that are high in protein and essential fats. Just be conservative as calories can add up fast.

8. Try to avoid milk as it is filled with unhealthy hormones. Leafy greens are rich in calcium and can replace the calcium lost from the reduction of milk.

9. Cook more often at home. This will allow you to know exactly what is in your food and help you reach your goals.

10. Avoid all fried foods. If you are craving fried foods cook them at home using coconut oil.

11. Try to avoid processed food. Processed foods have chemicals and additives that are unhealthy and contain a mass amount of calories.

12. Remember to keep working. All types of activities burn calories. Move around as much as possible. Park further in the lot when going to the store, take the stairs instead of an elevator and experiment in new types of physical fitness. If you have kids create activities that get you all outside to PLAY and just do what you enjoy!

13. Don't judge weight loss by the scale alone. Find ways to judge your progress and don't get discouraged if the scale fluctuates. Take before and after pictures of your progress and judge your goals by the way your clothes fit.

Desire, Dedication and Determination will be required to reach your goals. Diets are not a quick fix they are a life style change that must include physical activity.

Need some great advice? Check out http://www.firehousefitnessnutrition.com for all of your workout ideas, supplement reviews, cheap supplements, and fitness articles.

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Losing Weight - What Is Stopping You?

Everyone knows that losing weight is as simple as less calories in, more calories out. So why is it so difficult for most of us to achieve and maintain our ideal weight? Below is a discussion of some of the reasons.

"I Don't Have Any Willpower" - Yes, breaking habits does require commitment. Honestly though, do you have any more or less will power than the next person? Highly unlikely. It is a matter of making your weight, and health, your priority. Choosing to lose weight, no matter what, in a manner that works for you, and your lifestyle. Most importantly, one that you can sustain for life. At the end of the day- who controls your mind?

"I Just Love Food" - Well yes! Most people love food. If we didn't the human race would be extinct by now. There is nothing wrong with enjoying food. We simply need to learn to enjoy our food in small portions if we want to lose weight. As the French do.

Getting Older - Yes we are all ageing. Yes, the body does physiologically slow down. Hormone levels decrease or become imbalanced. The liver becomes sluggish and therefore less able to produce the bile to break down fats properly, to metabolise cholesterol and remove hormones and waste products from the blood. Blood pressure naturally increases. Getting old or older doesn't mean we should give up though. It just means we need to work harder to stay healthy!

Self destructive tendencies - Do you really want to look good by losing weight?

Unfortunately for many people, sexual abuse as a child has made them feel the need to develop an extra layer to protect themselves from attention and from further possible abuse. This subconscious need to protect themselves may override all logical thought. There can be other reasons why this self destructive tendency to punish oneself through food, usually links back to some form of abuse.

To ever achieve a healthy body and to lose weight this psychological issue needs to be identified and dealt with. Not an easy task for some, certainly, but until it has been dealt with, one can never let go of the excess baggage i.e. weight. Professional help and diet advice may be needed to overcome such an important obstacle.

I Don't Have Time - Yes we have said or heard all the excuses...

I am too busy.I travel a lot for work.I am a single mum/dad.I run my own business.I am a working mum/dad.I have a family.I take care of my ageing parents.

... Sorry but there is no way around this one. These are all nothing but excuses! It doesn't take any extra time to eat less.

The Lure Of Advertising - It's true, advertising is an incredibly powerful tool for companies. Although these days, consumers are becoming more and more savvy, advertising still penetrates our psyche, if by no other means, through pure repetition.

It is amazing how many people obtain their nutritional information from advertising. As if advertisers have our best interests at heart. They have the bottom line in their sights and will twist and turn the truth to sell us their product. It is imperative that we don't believe everything we hear and see if we're serious about losing weight.

Marketing is much more insidious than advertising. It consists of things like the upsell. Finding a way to make you spend a little more by ordering the next size up. This concept was well documented in 'Supersize Me'. The documentary highlighting how much weight you would gain by eating a larger size of food at McDonalds every time it is offered to you.

Another surreptitious and little known marketing ploy is the deployment of lobbyists. The Boards of special interest groups such as beef, dairy, chicken, grains, vegetables, fruits etc, all spend huge sums of money on cunning and powerful lobbyists to obtain acceptance and support for their product. They are all vying for the highest point on the food pyramid for example. These lobbyists are only interested in finding ways in increasing consumption of their product. They don't care what the ramifications are on our health or waistline.

As with the topic before, advertising, it is imperative to keep alert and make up our own minds as to what and how much we consume!

Peer Group Pressure - This is a strange one. Family and friends, or those whom we think are our friends, one would think, would be supportive. In actuality, family and friends may have many different motives for not wanting us to lose weight. They may like us to stay at our current weight to be the same as them, or because they want to look better than us, or they become envious that we are able to exercise some control over our lives.

The reaction may come in many forms. Sarcasm, ridicule, put downs, silent treatment, you name it, I have seen it all. The main thing is to be strong and know that we are doing what is right for us.

Fear Of Not Having Enough - This fear is quite common in people that have been through the war, famine or times of great hardship. For most younger generations brought up in the western world this would not apply. This is really for people that have been in a situation where they didn't know if, and when, there would be something to eat. This incredibly stressful experience can weigh on the psyche for life. This issue must be dealt with, perhaps through the help of a trained psychologist, to be able to move on and let go of the food addiction and extra weight.

Starving Kids In Africa - We have all heard this one. This is the 'Butterfly Effect'. If a butterfly flaps its wings in Jamaica, it can spark off a cyclone in Australia 2 weeks later. Or so the hypothesis goes.

Whilst it is true, that everything we do, will have a knock on effect to those around us, and further still, eating more food than our body needs is not going to help the starving kids in Africa or anywhere else for that matter. It just stops us from losing weight effectively.

Nurture Vs Nature - This is becoming more prevalent nowadays with more and more children being exposed to over-consumption. Whilst one could say that due to genetics, some people have a natural propensity towards being heavy. It is unfortunate that many children are being raised to consume way too many calories. The reasons are numerous. Food is used as a bribe for many working mothers who feel guilty about being away from their kids.

It used to be, that perhaps only one child was over-weight in a family, it is now quite common to see whole families grossly over-weight. This is unfair to the children but also extremely difficult to deal with as some parents are simply passing on their own poor eating habits.

Re-training one's eating habits, after being brought up with over-consumption as a way of life, has got to be one of the most arduous tasks to undergo. It can be done, but professional help may be needed in the process of losing weight.

Self-Actualisation - Is a concept invented by Abraham Maslow. This is a pyramid of needs. Starting with physiological at the bottom to self- actualisation at the top.

In order the levels are; Physiological; Safety; Love/Belonging; Esteem; Self-Actualisation.

When each level is fulfilled a person can, theoretically, advance to the next level, with becoming a self-actualised person being the goal. Maslow studied very healthy and happy individuals to come up with his Hierarchy of Needs.

Self-Actualisation is not actually another reason why we are not losing weight. It is actually this author's argument to lose weight. That even though you may have everything else in life you can never be truly happy or healthy until you reach your optimum weight!

This is Sienna Wolke and thank you for reading my article about weight loss.
Visit http://www.healthforme.com.au/ for further information and have a talk with me and to use our natural health products online store. I'm looking forward to be with you in your quest for a healthier body and mind.

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