Timing Meals|meals and benefits

Scheduling meals and benefits - A really rigid meal plan and schedule makes the early days of a diet much easier.

Before you start, sitting down and working out the first five days' menus in complete detail, based on the meal plan you've developed as described in chapter would be beneficial.

When you do feel hungry, you're at least certain when your next meal is coming and what it will consist of. If you space your meals evenly through the day and balance the calories among them, a glance at the plan assures you that, you don't have that long to go before you can eat something to feed your hunger.

A rigid plan protects you against one of the most dangerous temptations in dieting: the tendency to add a little more food when preparing or ordering a meal whilst really hungry,. The plan helps you overcome this ever-present danger of the first and hardest days. Trust the plan and follow it to the letter, and in a few days you'll find most of the hunger and temptation behind you.

You have to make a special effort to eat your meals at regular times for the first week. Random delays result in your meals coming at odd times, your calorie balance around the day will be uneven and will hamper your overall plan. This will almost certainly cause worse than usual hunger during the longer gaps between meals.

It's not intelligent to wait for the next meal without the uncertainty

of not knowing when it will arrive. When you start your diet, do whatever is necessary to make your meal schedule regular and comfortable: pack a lunch, eat frozen food, and decline dinner invitations that would skew your mealtime.

Once you're firmly on the course of weight loss you can relax on these constraints. A regular schedule at the beginning is well worth it for the peace of mind.

If it works in weight loss - The dietitians who tell you it doesn't matter when you eat, believe that all that counts in weight management is calories. They believe that a calorie is a calorie - that it doesn't much matter where that calorie comes from or when it's consumed as long as the total amount taken in is less than the amount you're burning up.

That view is extremely dated. It misses a big part of the picture and doesn't stand up to any clinical experience.

For one thing, the "calories are all" theory completely ignores the fact that what is your eating habit -- the composition of your meals -- has a profound effect on hormones that your body releases, namely insulin and glucagon. The balance between these hormones is important to weight-loss success. High-carbohydrate meals stimulate more insulin than balanced, or low-carbohydrate, meals. Timing also seems to make a lot of difference. In one study, for example, all participants ate the exact same 2,000-calorie meal once a day. One group ate in the morning and the other at night. The group who ate at night gained weight, while the morning group did not. If calories were the only thing that counted, it shouldn't have mattered when it is consumed.

A large meal before you go to bed -- especially one high in carbs -- stimulates insulin that stimulates fat storage and definitely prevents "fat burning." A tried and true strategy in weight management is to cease eating as early in the evening as is both possible and practical -- a strategy that works quite well for most of the people. If you just can't go to bed on an empty stomach, take a small snack that has protein and some fat but is low in carbs; eat just enough so that you're not too hungry to sleep and feel weak.

• Find out how many calories you need
• Eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day
• Watch for Portion Size
• Do not Skip Meals
• Go for wholesome fresh foods
• Don't be overly-restrictive
• Understand Food Claims and Labels
• Watch for the sugary drinks
• Keep a food journal
• Exercise as much as you can.