FRONT LOAD YOUR CALORIES & LOSE WEIGHT!

I hate to say it, but in my observation people that are over-weight are almost always eating the majority of their calories after 3pm.  Even worse then eating a large dinner, they continue to snack on even MORE calories after their already exceedingly large dinner. 

Many of my clients, friends and family members have all fallen for this hidden trap.  You see, they start the day off thinking “I need to lose weight, I am going to be good today and not eat that much so that I can finally get this weight off”.  Well my friends, that’s just not how the human body works.  It needs most of its calories in the early part of the day (before noon) so that it can use them throughout the day for sustained energy. 

When you eat first thing in the morning you are telling your body to start revving its engines thus kicking your metabolism into high gear.  Start your day off with a hearty breakfast and then provide your body with a steady flow of healthy nutrients every 4 hours or so.  You will have sustained energy throughout the day and your body will become a fat burning machine. 

When you starve and deprive the body all day, inevitably in the evening it’s going to let you know.  What often occurs is binging on junk food and empty calorie foods (like candy and crackers).  Food carries with it energy and believe me when I tell you that this low-nutrient food directly impacts not only your waistline, by your mood! 

Even worse is that all those calories that you ate in the evening your body is now going to store as fat.  You just sent a strong signal to your body by depriving it for most of the day.  That signal was telling your body that you weren’t going to feed it at regular intervals.  The body then begins to think that the next meal it gets from you it better hold on tightly too! It generally settles right on the waistline!

Let’s set the scene.  Nighttime roles around and emotions are high.  You’ve had a rough day and you feel like you can no longer hold back on your hunger craving.  You hit the cupboards hard and find the quickest junk food fix you can.  Stuffing down your emotions.  Mindless eating in front of the TV or computer.  Numbing your mind and body to the craziness of the day.   

Then you realize, it’s late at night and you head to bed feeling guilty, like a failure for not having stuck to your game plan.  You feel like a failure and you tell yourself all sorts of negative things – like you will never lose the weight and you are not truly worthy. 

It’s a double whammy.  First, your body goes into fat storage mode because you loaded all your calories into the back end of the day.   Second, and even worse is that negative self-talk does so much harm to your self-esteem and your ultimate goal of weight loss.

How can you turn things around? Well, now you know the first step.   Front-load your calories in the early part of the day.  This means eat a large healthy breakfast, a moderate lunch and a light dinner.  One of my all time favorite adages is: eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper. 

Here are a few other tips:

·      Make your last meal at 7pm and don’t eat after that – limit all munching. 

·      Try to go to bed by 10 pm and get 7-8 hours of sleep. 

·      Drink lots of water throughout the day.   

·      Consume protein at each meal to help keep you full between meals.  Make sure that your diet is well balanced to meet your daily nutrients needs.  Fiber-rich whole fruit, vegetables, and whole grains are important dietary staples that also satisfy hunger between meals. 

As for the guilt part and moving forward after we make a “mistake,” well, that’s another article.  I will address this question in my blog next Thursday….stay tuned!

In the meantime, if you need any information on weight loss please contact us.  We are happy to answer any questions you have at no cost!  Get more information on our Storm Fitness Website or like our Facebook Page to stay updated with the latest news in health and fitness.  

In Health and Wellness!

Storm Fitness