Few Myths with meals that need to be dispelled

 

Myth1: Skipping meals is a good way to lose weight!

One popular approach people seem to be hearing and have unknowingly been following to lose weight is skipping a meal, usually a Breakfast. Studies show that people who skip breakfast and eat fewer times during the day tend to gain more weight than people who eat a healthy breakfast and eat portion controlled yet balanced nutrient loaded food four or five times a day. This is due to the fact that when skipping a meal, you feel hungrier and tend to overeat at the next meal and pay less attention to how full you are. Skipping meals also lowers down the metabolic rate of the body, burns more muscle rather than the fat which further slows down the process of burning calories.

Myth2: If I eat anything after 8 p.m. I will put on more weight!

The body burns more fat when you are more active, less fat when you are less active. But it does not store fat depending upon the time of the day. Fat storage depends on your basal metabolic rate (BMR). And in general BMR slows down as day passes by since we get less active by night and it is also not absorption time as per our body cycle. So it is not when you eat but what you eat and what your lifestyle is that makes the difference.

If you want to boost BMR during evening time, include dietary fibre and good quality protein food in your evening snack so that you don’t over eat during the dinner time.

Myth3 : Liquids don't add calories!

Beverages can pack a surprising number of calories whether they are hot or cold!

Most people who are conscious of their calorie intake make the mistake of only watching the calories in the solid foods they eat – completely ignoring the calories in the beverages they drink during the day… the tea or coffee consumed all day long (doused with cream and sugar), the sodas or colas at lunch or snack time (with free refills!), the tetra pack fruit juices (which are most often loaded with sugars and preservatives), the vodka and cranberry juice cocktails that help some people unwind at the end of the day.

It may surprise people when all these are added up only to realize that they were taking close to 1000 calories a day from beverages alone.

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