How Often Should I Eat?

 

How Often Should You Eat? The Starvation Mode Myth

If you eat frequently to avoid starvation mode, you might not like the news you're about to read. Many dieters need to understand the concept of eating frequency, and it may cause your weight loss plan to fail.

When dieters talk about starvation mode, they usually refer to the effect that infrequent eating can have on your metabolism.  The commonly held belief is that if you don't eat every three hours or if you skip a meal, like breakfast, your metabolism immediately slows to preserve energy and prepare for starvation. As a result, weight loss grinds to a halt, and weight gain can occur.

Some science-savvy dieters might also confuse starvation mode with what researchers call "adaptive thermogenesis."  Scientific studies have confirmed that people who have successfully lost weight have a slower metabolism than their same-weight counterparts who have never dieted.

These people often (reasonably) complain that they are gaining weight but eating less.

Researchers believe that a slower metabolism is an adaptation to eating fewer calories over an extended period of time.  Adaptive thermogenesis makes it harder for people who have lost weight to maintain a healthy weight.

So why is the distinction between starvation mode and adaptive thermogenesis so important?  Even though the concept of adaptive thermogenesis has been validated in clinical studies, researchers don't necessarily blame infrequent eating or skipping meals (starvation mode) for the slower metabolism.  So dieters shouldn't necessarily use the evidence-based concept of adaptive thermogenesis to justify eating more often.

Can You Gain Weight Without Eating?

So can you gain weight without eating all the time?  Dr. Fuhrman explains that eating less can have an effect on your metabolism, but not in the way that you think.  In fact, he thinks that the idea of starvation mode is "ridiculous."

"Caloric restriction can have an effect on metabolic rate but on the rate at which you lose weight, not on whether or not you lose weight," he says.  Fuhrman says emphatically that dieters will not gain weight by restricting calories. "If starvation mode was a real thing," he says, "then anorexics would be fat."

In short, Fuhrman says that dieters should never try to eat more to avoid starvation mode. Snacking frequently or increasing the number of meals you eat during the day doesn't work if you want to lose weight.

"When people increase the number of eating occasions during the day, they increase body weight."

How Often Should I Eat to Lose Weight?

So what really matters if you want to lose weight?  Fuhrman believes that the quality of your diet—not eating frequency—makes the difference. In The End of Dieting, he offers a scientific explanation for why we want to eat all the time.

He explains that what feels like hunger is often just our body's natural response to withdrawal from junk food.  "People get uncomfortable, that's all it is." He says that weight loss happens when we increase the amount of healthy food we consume, not the frequency of eating episodes.

So should you worry about starvation mode?  Nope.  Starvation mode doesn't make you fat.  Eating less does have an impact on your metabolism, but that is a natural and expected part of the weight loss process and it shouldn't derail your attempts to eat a healthy, calorie-restricted diet. If you eat too often to avoid starvation mode, your weight loss plan is headed for trouble. 

I reblogged this post from a popular health and fitness website but it's been quite a while and I'm not sure where it came from. The doctor has a point and I respect his opinion but I don't agree. You will slow your metabolism by limiting or drastically cutting calories. The thing is that all of this takes more time than we think. Your body does adapt to the changes you make, but it doesn't happen in a couple days unless you're a small child. An adult's body might take weeks to adjust to changes. So you can go into starvation mode if you cut your food drastically but it's only temporary until your body makes the adjustment. 

I'm getting a little off the subject but if I was on a junk food diet for several months or even years and then decided to change to a healthier low-fat, low-carb diet, the body wouldn't know what was happening and would be craving the old food. Even though my body wasn't getting enough nutrition on the junk food diet, the body grew accustomed to the junk food. The body doesn't understand longevity, the body doesn't know how long you will live or might live. Your body lives in the moment and it will adapt to whatever you eat or whatever you're doing if you give it enough time.

I still think that by losing your body fat you can live a longer, happier, and healthier life. To get to that point is the journey that you have to take. I can tell you how I lost my fat or most of it, but my way might not work for you. You have to find the way that works for you. It will involve eating nutritious foods and it will involve giving up foods that you like and it will involve more activity and these are the things you have to decide for yourself. The journey is long and you will stumble along the way, but it will be worth it.

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