Do you constantly find yourself skipping meals because you are just too busy to sit down and eat? Or you've replaced breakfast with your morning coffee? Lunch is too hard to fit into your busy schedule, so by mid-afternoon you've succumbed to that block of chocolate and managed to eat the lot. Dinner ends up being enough for two people because you've starved yourself all day and you've still got enough room for dessert, so why not?
Technically, you've possibly had the same amount of calories as someone who's eaten three meals for the day but this is the big problem with focusing all of our worries on calories. A calorie is just a number... It doesn't represent nutrients. It doesn't reflect how much energy you have and it certainly isn't the be all and end all when it comes to weight loss.
Skipping meals can mess up our bodies in many ways. When we feed our bodies sporadically, we often end up with extreme intakes of food (particularly carbs and sugar) in one hit. This makes our digestive system work super hard, particularly if we only eat our one meal at dinner time. Our metabolism slows down making it hard to shift weight and we start to feel lethargic so exercise is the last thing we want to do. It's also important to remember that our food impacts our skin, our hormones, our brains and our heart health. If we don't look after ourselves by eating well and regularly then everything else begins to suffer.
Why it's time to stop the cycle of skipping meals:
Skipping meals could be the very reason why you're feeling sluggish and why your skin looks dull. Your body deserves better, if you want to be feeling and looking your best then you have to treat your body with respect and nourish it properly.
It's time to start valuing your body. It's your most precious asset -- without it working properly, you've got big problems.
Here are some simple ways to ditch your habit of skipping meals:
1. Get up 15 minutes earlier in the morning to have breakfast sitting down.
2. Take lunch to work or wherever you are going to be for the day. (Hint: Cook extra the night before so you have your lunch all ready to go without any preparation.)
3. Know what your options are when you are out for the day. If there isn't anything on offer, see point 2!
4. Spend an hour on the weekend (or at another time that's good for you) to do meal preparation for the week. Do everything you can to make your life easier when you are going to be busy.
5. Have healthy snacks on hand and take a small container of nuts with you in your bag so you always have a snack on standby.
6. A smoothie is a meal in a glass and is quick to prepare. If you're in a hurry, a smoothie is a great choice for replacing either breakfast or lunch.
Do you skip meals or have you in the past? I know personally I used to always skip lunch and eat far too much chocolate as a result... By breaking this habit, I soon had more energy and lost weight. It really does work so it's definitely one habit worth changing!
Sam Cannell is a Holistic Health and Wellness Coach specialising in women's health. She believes that good health starts in the kitchen - you truly are what you eat! If you loved this article then you'll love Sam's FREE eBook 'Simple Steps', and discover how to go from feeling 'flat to fabulous' with her 9 simple steps! Click here to download your FREE copy today.