You may think that you’re getting an edge on your weight loss goals, but you’re really working against yourself. So many of us skip meals in an effort to cut back on calories, but the end result is never positive.
It may just be that you skip meals because you run out of time, but preparing healthy meals can benefit you in so many ways. Let’s start by understanding what happens to your body when you skip meals.
There are the obvious issues that come about when you skip a meal – loss of energy and focus, lethargy, and that weak and even dizzy feeling. The cost of skipping a meal doesn’t just hit you physically but it can carry into mental and emotional issues.
You can feel the effects when you are unable to carry out your daily tasks with the energy you need. These are the things you can actually feel firsthand – but what is happening within your body is silent but much worse!
There Is A Lot Going On Behind The Scenes
When you skip a meal it starts to cause your hormones to become imbalanced. Sure one meal won’t cause much harm, but when you continue to skip meals over a prolonged period of time this really causes some dramatic effects internally. Not only is there significant hormonal imbalance, but you are also affecting your metabolism and the fundamental processes within the body.
When you skip a meal it triggers something within the brain – and this starts a process to try and save you, a sort of “feast or famine” type of effect. The brain sends signals to the rest of your body that you are starving, and it goes to work to save you in “starvation mode”. This is a natural process and actually a good thing, but not so great for weight loss.
Your Body Tries To Protect You But You Won’t Like The Impact
This process happens silently within the body and helps to keep you from starving to death. So the body will hold on to everything you eat and store it as fat.
This is all in an effort to keep you from starving, as it’s what the body is supposed to do. The end result? You will likely end up gaining weight since your body is in fat storage mode.
So, while skipping a meal may sound like a great idea to cut back on calories or eat less throughout the day, you are ultimately working against yourself. You will find that you can’t make it through the day with the energy that you need, but you will also find that in the long term your metabolism stops working the way it should.
There are some really serious impacts to be felt if you continue to skip meals, so take the time to prepare healthy meals and this will keep you going strong now and in the long term.
-The Alternative Daily
Sources:
http://www.healthyfoodhouse.com/see-what-happens-to-your-body-when-you-skip-meals
http://www.healthyfoodteam.com/what-happens-with-your-body-when-you-skip-a-meal
http://www.livestrong.com/article/443009-what-would-happen-if-you-skip-a-meal
