Proper nutrition by the hour raises a lot of controversy - will such nutritional tactics help weight loss?
I would like to continue the topic raised in the previous article "
Will you need to focus on eating well or eating by the hour?
You are probably a little annoyed right now, because you are looking for information about what time of day you will eat more efficiently and, accordingly, lose weight?
Then, let's talk about eating by the hour, at a specific time, and it is not at all necessary that at first it was proper nutrition.
Let's first focus on hourly nutrition, and only then, you yourself will decide how you will eat properly or how you eat now.
Is it good for our body to eat by the hour?
Our body lives according to certain cycles and rhythms, and of course, if there is a constant rhythm in nutrition, then there will be many advantages for the body.
The same gastric juice will be produced at a certain time and the digestion process will be much better than when you eat in different time, and besides, still on the go and with whatever 🙂
How many times should you eat a day?
How many people, so many opinions - someone talks about 3 meals a day, someone about 5 meals a day or 6 meals a day.
But, if you look from the point of view of weight loss, then of course, it will be more effective to eat often and in small small portions.
This food is called fractional food.
Why fractional?
Because, the amount of food required for the normal functioning of the body during the day is divided into 5-6 servings, i.e. crush.
Most important point, you should not have in every meal - the first, second and compote.
A portion should not exceed 250-350 gr.
When you eat fractionally, then you simply cannot be hungry, this is the most satisfying and effective method weight loss.
Perhaps those people who have never come across fractional nutrition may have a question - how will weight loss occur if I am full all the time?
Indeed, many have such a stereotype - if I feel hungry, then at that moment I lose weight.
And that is why, various diets are so popular, because they force, because of their meager diet, to constantly feel hunger and it seems to a person that the hungrier he is, the faster he will lose weight.
Yes, in fact, when a person is starving, he loses weight, to the point of exhaustion and then, death.
But, unfortunately, what is lost is not fat, not subcutaneous tissue, of which that hated excess weight.
When fasting, especially in women, first of all, the amount of muscle tissue decreases and only then does the turn to fat reserves come.
But when they constantly enter the body into enough all nutrients, and if there is a slight calorie deficit, it will be fat deposits that will be spent.
And yet, there is such research that when a person is hungry, the hormone leptin is also produced. These hormones block the waste of fat in the body.
The conclusions are very simple - if you eat often and by the hour, then the process of losing weight will be more comfortable and effective for you.
Five meals a day for weight loss - or six meals?
Now let's go through the approximate meal times.
- Breakfast is after you wake up.
- Snack - 3-4 hours after breakfast.
- Second snack - 3 - 4 hours after lunch
- Dinner no later than 2 hours before bedtime
(except for bananas)
What time should you eat?
It all depends on your lifestyle, whether you are an owl or an early riser? What time do you wake up and what do you do in the morning? For example, if you are doing exercises or doing some kind of practice, then breakfast will be a little later.
And my advice to you is - always adjust your nutrition only for yourself and do not listen to any advice about what time it will be more useful for you to eat.
I have repeatedly come across people who work the night shift, and it is natural that other people's recommendations did not suit them at all, and this was the main stopper in the process of losing weight.
It must be remembered that the biggest meal break is at night!
We should have a sleep rate of at least 8 hours and another + a couple of hours when we do not eat before bed. So, it turns out, 10 hours without food, and then, every 3-4 hours there will be a meal.
Do you need to respond to body signals if you are on a fractional diet?
That is, to signals of hunger or satiety?
I mean, if your snack time is right, and you absolutely don't want to eat, then what to do? Force food into yourself or wait for the feeling of hunger?
In my opinion, it is better to wait, because, in this way, you feel your body better, and it is quite possible that later, you will simply eat out of hunger.
But what to do if you have eaten just recently and suddenly you feel a brutal appetite, and it seems to you that you are actually hungry?
Here we need to clarify one point - hunger is physiological and emotional. More often than not, if you've recently eaten and want to eat again, it's emotional hunger.
Such hunger is difficult to endure, it seems that all thoughts are focused only on food. Here a very simple way helps out - you need to ask yourself questions and answer them:
- What happened?
- What am I worried about?
- What situation bothers me? Etc.
Questions and answers of this kind, knock down a brutal appetite, and allow you to focus on the problem, give it enough attention and thereby refocus from food, and then, the brutal appetite will subside.
Do you get the right nutrition by the hour?
Remember, at the beginning of this article, I said that at first you need to focus on nutrition by the hour, and only then, pay attention to correct or incorrect nutrition?
In order to lose weight, you need to adhere to only one rule - it is better not to finish eating than to overeat.
I think that you perfectly understand that the whole unhealthy diet consists of several problems - an excess of simple carbohydrates (sweet and starchy foods) and too fatty foods.
And when you switch to fractional meals, then you just eat fewer of these dishes. Your diet should be dominated by foods containing protein and vegetables.
In conclusion, I want to say that the easier you are about your diet, and the less you follow some nutritional systems, and the more you listen to your needs, the easier and easier your weight loss will be.
Best regards, Natalia
When we try to stick to our chosen diet, we pay great attention on what we eat. But at the same time we absolutely do not think about exactly when it is better to sit at the dinner table, how many times during the day we should eat and what will happen if we decide tightly.
The typical number of meals a day is three. And that's if you're lucky. Some people mistakenly believe that if they stop eating altogether or limit their meals to once a day, they will lose weight in half the time. But usually such experiments lead to nothing but stress and health problems.
It is advisable to eat every 3-4 hours. This improves fat burning, prevents the release of excess insulin into the blood, allows leptin (a hormone that regulates energy metabolism) to work its magic and control appetite and metabolism. It also keeps the balance of the production of cortisol, the stress hormone, under control.
Don't skip breakfast! Our grandmothers were right when they said that the day should be started with a good hearty breakfast. It gives you the energy to start a long, rewarding day. If you skip breakfast, very soon the feeling of hunger catches you by surprise and you begin to interrupt the feeling of hunger with everything that comes to hand. And in offices, you usually come across sweets and cookies.
Do not eat three hours before bed. Eating before bedtime raises body temperature, increases blood sugar and insulin levels, and decreases melatonin and growth hormone production. All of these factors affect sleep and the natural fat burning that occurs when we sleep. In addition, poor sleep leads to the fact that we may overeat the next day.
If it so happens that you have time to eat before bedtime, it is advisable to eat light food with a low and high content.
Start your day with protein. To improve appetite control, it is best to eat protein at breakfast and leave carbohydrates for lunch or dinner. Tomato omelet is a great quick breakfast!
Never start strength training on an empty stomach. For these activities, your body needs energy to get optimal results. But cardio can be done 30 minutes before meals.
This does not mean at all that you need to fill up right before training. Just do not start exercising if you have not eaten anything for a long time and you have a feeling of hunger. Before the workout itself, you can have a snack with bananas, nuts or dried fruits - high-calorie, quickly absorbed, provides the necessary energy and relieves hunger.
Focus on food. While eating, it is undesirable to be distracted by something that does not concern your lunch. Concentrate on your main activity, experience all the flavors, finally relax and rest. Your lunch is an island of peace and tranquility in the midst of the stormy ocean of a working day.
Proteins come first. With meals, eat protein foods first, and then everything else. Proteins send a signal to your brain that your body is full. Thus, you will eat exactly as much as you need.
Drink alcohol after meals. If you decide to have a drink with dinner or any other drink, it is better to do so after you have eaten, rather than during. Alcohol after meals increases the production of hormones that control appetite and digestion.
And if you decide to drink white wine in the evening - keep in mind that it increases your appetite and the chance that you want to eat is very high.
For many people, their diet is governed by appetite. What is appetite and how to relate to it?
The question often arises: how to suppress appetite? It has been shown that fractional nutrition (5-6 times a day) suppresses the excitation of the food center. In this case, sometimes one apple or a glass of kefir is enough. In order not to stimulate the appetite, one should not eat spicy and salty foods and alcoholic beverages must be completely excluded. Alcohol not only poisons the body, but also has a powerful, appetite-stimulating effect.
So, increased appetite can be harmful to health, but its complete absence is also undesirable. This often suffers from small children, whom loving mothers and compassionate grandmothers endlessly stuff with something "tasty". As a result, the child loses his appetite, and the frightened parents, instead of realizing it, try to feed him continuously.
Eating with an appetite is always a pleasure. It takes time to develop appetite. Eating breaks are essential. V childhood they should be shorter than mature.
What should be these breaks? How much and what should you eat during a given meal? In other words, what should be the diet of a healthy adult.
The diet is based on four basic principles.
- Regularity of food
- Food fractionality during the day
- Rational set of products
- Physiological distribution of the amount of food by its meals during the day
Meal times
The main criterion that determines this time is the feeling of hunger. It can be identified by the following sign: at the thought of unattractive food (for example, the image of a piece of stale black bread) saliva appears, at such a moment the tongue mostly needs food, not the stomach.
You can confuse the feeling of hunger with the following conditions: the stomach "sucks", "sucks" in the stomach, cramps occur. All this indicates the unloading of the organ after overflow, the needs of the stomach and the food center of appetite (a number of brain structures that coordinate the choice, consumption of food and initial stages digestive processing).
It is necessary to distinguish between the concepts of hunger and appetite when organizing the correct diet. Hunger indicates the need for energy, appetite indicates the need for pleasure. Hunger should be the right impulse for food, since the deceitfulness of appetite leads to excess weight.
Number of meals
The multiplicity of food or the number of meals affects the metabolism in the body. Factors to consider when determining the frequency of meals:
- age;
- labor activity(mental, physical labor);
- the state of the human body;
- work schedule.
Benefits of multiple meals (four meals a day):
Sample meal schedule
An approximate meal schedule might look like this:
- 7:00 - First breakfast.
- 10:00 - Second breakfast.
- 13:00 - Lunch.
- 16:00 - Afternoon snack.
- 19:00 - Dinner.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Breakfast should be rich in proteins, you can include in it, for example, eggs, cottage cheese or other dairy products, turkey sausages. If you cannot do without carbohydrates, include in the breakfast menu fresh fruit or some muesli.
Lunch should be light and low in carbohydrates. If you are not yet very hungry at this time, still try not to skip your second breakfast, but limit yourself to a glass of kefir or juice or some kind of fruit.
Dinner should be balanced and include a source of protein (meat, fish or poultry) and some healthy carbohydrates, preferably in the form of vegetables or grains. Some healthy fats from olive oil, nuts, or avocados will also help.
Afternoon snack may include carbohydrates, preferably only in the form of some kind of fruit, porridge or, at worst, a whole grain bun.
Dinner like lunch, it should be complete and well balanced. After supper comes the so-called "Danger Zone". Eating at this time is caused only by psychological, not physiological hunger. Only the desire to cheer yourself up can lead you to the refrigerator. If you intend to lose weight, never eat in the "Danger Zone".
Biorhythm is the secret of a proper nutrition schedule
The secret to a good meal plan is understanding how your body's internal clock is set. what are your biorhythms. Each person has its own definite pace of life and the readiness of the body to eat is directly related to the time at which a person usually wakes up when he starts active activity, when he rests and, finally, when he prepares for sleep. If you are used to waking up no earlier than 11 a.m., then you are unlikely to feel the desire to have breakfast at 11:30. However, by lunchtime your appetite will probably be quite good, and by dinner you will definitely arrive on time. Those who love to meet the sunrise with a rise, on the contrary, have a great appetite from the very morning, but they can completely forget about dinner.
Start your day with a protein meal. Breakfast should be rich in protein. This will help you get enough energy and be sure to delay hunger until your next meal. It is believed that it is best to have breakfast no earlier than 8 am and within 1 hour from waking up. If you wake up much earlier than eight in the morning, then drink a glass of water, do exercises, take a contrast shower in order to postpone breakfast closer to the specified time.
Eat at the same time every 3-4 hours. This will help control your appetite. To organize such a fractional meal, you can distribute in time the intake of the set of dishes that you usually eat for lunch, for example. First - the salad and the first course, after 3 hours, snack on the second course. Drink plenty of water during snacks. Water removes toxins from the body.
Lunch at lunchtime is an important part of your meal schedule. It is at lunchtime that you can afford the largest amount of food, because the average daily peak of gastric acidity is observed in the middle of the day. Lunch should be served before 3 pm.
Dinner no later than 8 p.m. Eating after 8pm overloads normal pancreatic function and blocks the release of melatonin, which is essential for sound, healthy sleep.
Calorie breakdown throughout the day
Preparation for a new day for the body should begin with a certain amount of energy. To work properly, a person needs calories. That is why the most useful and optimal diet will be one in which our body receives a little more than 70% of the total calories consumed for breakfast and lunch. And for dinner and intermediate snacks, less than 30% of the total remains. With such a food schedule, a person gets enough strength for his activities, without putting off excess fat during a plentiful evening meal.
An interval of 4-5 hours between meals will be the most optimal and physiological. And the time from the last meal to sleep should be at least three to four hours. Such a diet is able to replenish the energy costs of our life, and control appetite, without loading the human system with extra calories.
Following these principles of an optimal diet and rational intake of food, as well as the previous rules of healthy eating, will not only save your weight from extra pounds, but also keep it from unnecessary stomach problems and heart disease.
In this article, I will tell you how to properly consume foods during the day for weight / weight loss / healthy lifestyle.
And so, the use of foods that is on the mass, that for losing weight, that with a healthy lifestyle, has a general principle:
Correct healthy eating means - FRACTIONAL NUTRITION.
A fractional meal means eating very often (ideally every 2 hours), but little by little (in fractional portions) within the limits of the number of calories you need!
Ideally, you need to adjust so that meals are daily at the same time, well, for example: 8.00, then 10.00, 12.00, 14.00, 16.00, 18.00, 20.00, 22.—. see? Every 2 hours.
Fractional nutrition - will allow you to maintain a stable and high level metabolism in your body, which means more calories will be spent during the day (more energy will be spent, i.e. fat burning is accelerated), if you build up muscles, then the acceleration of metabolism accelerates the growth of muscles and all of - because fractional nutrition spins up your metabolism (your metabolism), i.e. all processes and syntheses in your body go much faster. Do you understand?
To implement "DP", you need to purchase food containers (and carry food in them, with you, everywhere):
Although, many, now, probably, have almost lost their money ... they will say: e-May, what is it, what is it that is necessary every two hours, they say, in fig it is necessary, I am a cow or something, etc. P.
However, I'm not kidding, you will need to accustom yourself to fractional nutrition within the limits of the number of calories you need, otherwise your metabolism will slow down, and fat burning will occur very, very slowly, up to a complete stop, or it will not happen at all. The choice is yours.
The rule is simple: the more often you eat, the faster your metabolism, respectively, in this situation, more energy is spent, and this helps to accelerate the burning of excess fat. The same applies to mass gain (muscle), only in this case, not fat loss is accelerated, but muscle growth.
What's more, fractional meals (frequent meals) are the best appetite control method. Knowing that you will eat every 2-3 hours, you will never have a desire to eat "from the belly", thereby you exclude "overeating". And most people eat 1-2-3 times a day and most often when they feel hungry. And hunger manifests itself due to a long break between meals. As a result, when a person is very hungry, he eats and eats everything, that is, he cannot stop, he wants and wants everything (in the end, he eats until, figuratively speaking, the belly does not burst).
It is not even necessary to explain to such a category of people that the feeling of satiety does not come immediately after eating, but only after a while (reference point, 20 minutes after the meal). They also do not need to explain that they need to eat slowly, chewing food thoroughly, because this is right, the body is much faster saturated, and a person cannot "overeat", but people ... grab it quickly, swallow it in pieces ...
In general, forget about the past 2-3 meals a day, join the new realities, fractional meals - that's what is good for your health, your figure and other things. Fractional nutrition is the key to your future success. Also learn how to properly absorb food (slowly, slowly, chewing food thoroughly).
How to properly distribute food throughout the day?
The second important component of our article, which I could not help but tell you about.
At the stage of losing weight (burning fat), I strongly recommend to focus on COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATES in the first half of the day (before 15.00) - after 15.00 focus on PROTEIN PRODUCTS!
This is done on purpose, for the reason that during the day, people, as a rule, are ACTIVE! Accordingly, energy is needed for this ( complex carbohydrates), actually due to activity it will be "spent", and in the evening, after work, study, etc. - PASSIVE (why is there energy? Sitting at a computer? Lying on the couch? the emphasis is on protein foods).
At the stage of mass gain, this rule may not apply (see the situation for a need).
Ectomorph (left) / Mesomorph (middle) / Endomorph (right)
Anna Mironova
Reading time: 11 minutes
A A
There are a huge number of diets that allow you to lose weight. But for some reason, few people think that it is enough to competently and wisely approach the issue of nutrition, and no restrictions will simply be needed. There are certain rules that you should adhere to so that you do not cry on the scales later, and there are also. How to eat right?
Keep track of your portion sizes... In short, eat less! And at home, and at a party, and in public catering. Discard the heavy salad - replace it with a light one. And share the main dish with a friend.- Avoid large plates at home. Take a smaller plate. And add smaller portions, respectively. Remember that the body does not need as much food as you used to impose. Enough to make you feel a little satiated.
- We eat much more if we eat while watching a movie on TV.(a fact proven by scientists). Learn to think of eating as fueling your car. How much fuel do you need to get the car going? Refuel, and forward.
- Try to plan your menu at least a day ahead. Better yet, for the whole week. On the eve of the working day, think - what exactly will you feed your body? Save some yogurt and a couple of fruits to satisfy your hunger in a timely manner and not to run to the store afterwards for chips and chocolates.
- Once you've made your weekly menu, stick to it. Buy all products in advance. Glue your menu to the fridge and only eat what it says. Hide the "excess" products so that there is no temptation to grab a couple of Krakow bagels or a smoked leg before dinner.
- Drink plenty of water. This is the basis proper nutrition... At least one and a half liters per day (soups, juices, tea and coffee are sold separately).
- Be sure to have breakfast in the morning. Breakfast doesn't have to be heavy, but it does contain the nutrients that will keep you calm until lunchtime. Dairy and fiber are a must. Look.
- Strictly adhere to your diet. If there is still a couple of hours before lunchtime, and you just feel unbearable to eat, and you are ready to run for a hamburger, take an apple, pear or banana. Snack on a fruit - it will not bring harm, and the feeling of acute hunger will let go.
- Eat lots of vegetables and fruits. Every day. At every meal. The most useful green vegetables are Chinese cabbage, lettuce, arugula, broccoli, cucumbers, zucchini, celery, etc. It is they that contain the maximum amount of necessary vitamins and ensure the smooth functioning of the digestive tract.
- Avoid fruit in syrup(canned) and cheap fruit juices. Reduce your sugar intake with tea and coffee. If possible, replace sweets with fruits, candied fruits, dried fruits, dark chocolate.
- Minimize your salt intake. In some cases, refuse altogether. For instance, vegetable salad, seasoned with oil, will not suffer at all from the taste of the lack of salt. Again, the boiled egg can be eaten without salt.
- Eliminate the wrong carbohydrates(sugar, rice, flour) and enter healthy (fruits and vegetables, legumes, whole grain bread).
- Don't forget about fiber! The minimum amount per day is about thirty g. Look for it in whole grains and fruits and vegetables.
- Swap unhealthy fats for healthy ones- for nuts and avocados, olive oil and pumpkin seeds, fish, etc. Reduce, if possible, to zero consumption of red meat, whole milk products, as well as fried foods, cookies, margarine, etc.
Protein is irreplaceable. This is the source of our energy. Look for it daily in fish, beans, nuts, eggs, and tofu.- Vitamin D and Calcium(dairy products, beans, leafy vegetables) - nowhere without them.
- Avoid catering categorically... Cook it yourself! Not semi-finished products, but "first, second and compote." You can cook in advance and put in the freezer, this will save time. And money - and even more so.
- Eat high-calorie foods only in the morning.... In the second, only the lungs.
- During the day, try to burn more calories than you consume. per day. Start a notebook for the first time to see the "income-expense" of extra kg.
- Avoid fatty-sweet-spicy-salty.
- Any dietary restrictions are meaningless without physical activity. If you do not want to become an old woman ahead of time, then combine your proper nutrition with the right loads. Then your skin will not sag, and your muscles will not weaken.
What is the right food for breakfast, lunch and dinner?
What you need to eat for breakfast
This energy recharge is the foundation of the whole day. Breakfast is not put on the hips and is converted into clean energy. Requirements for a proper breakfast:
- Rolls, sandwiches, toast and croissants - down with. They only tire the body, which after such a breakfast wants to go back to bed.
- Pulses for breakfast - too much ... An exception is buckwheat.
- The main part of breakfast should be fruit. Moreover, in the summer. In winter, you can replace them with dried fruits.
- Must be included in your morning meal yogurt, fermented baked milk or cottage cheese .
- Milk in its pure form for breakfast can only be consumed until six in the morning. For example, with cinnamon - it provides vigor.
- Perfect breakfast - fruit salad seasoned with yogurt or fermented baked milk. You can also add berries and nuts.
- For lunch, you can eat porridge (for example, oatmeal), a fruit and a small piece of dark chocolate.
What to eat for lunch
For the most part, we dine very quickly, not really thinking about what we eat, and throwing what is at hand "into the furnace". Because the work is waiting. And this meal requires a serious approach. And of course sandwiches for lunch are not at all suitable. On the extreme case, you can order lunch to the office or find a dining room with hot meals. Requirements for a proper meal:
- At lunch you can not limit yourself to food , but this meal should not occur after two o'clock in the afternoon.
- For the first one you can eat, for example, borsch, for the second - buckwheat side dish and two hundred grams of chicken breast. Don't forget about salad (only fresh vegetables) and yeast-free bread. On the third - compote or fresh fruit juice.
- Avoid smoked and fried meats for lunch ... Substitute steamed meat and lots of vegetables.
What should you eat for dinner?
How does dinner usually go? We gorge ourselves on everything and more (and certainly with dessert), after which we tumble down on the sofa in front of the TV to digest all this abundance of food. Moreover, while you come home from work, while you cook dinner, while you gather the whole family at the table, the hands of the clock are confidently selected by ten in the evening. As a result, we spend the night digesting food instead of resting. So how should it be? Requirements for a proper dinner:
- Dinner should be light. The optimal time for dinner is no later than four hours before bedtime. Preferably at six in the evening.
- For dinner you should not eat legumes - they should be eaten in the morning.
- The best dishes for dinner are stewed or raw vegetables ... Certainly not meat with chips and a huge piece of cake.
- Before bed, you can drink warm milk. , seasoned with a spoonful of honey - it promotes restful sleep and quick sleep.
The right menu for the day
Since morning:
A glass of water immediately after getting out of bed. Get yourself into this habit.
Breakfast :
- A couple of dried crispbreads.
- Fruit salad with yogurt.
- Or vegetable salad with vegetable oil.
- 100 g of cottage cheese (cheese).
- Tea, coffee, with milk.
Lunch:
- 100 g of berries (fruits).
- Natural juice.
Dinner:
- Soup (lean, fish, vegetable puree soup, or low-fat broth).
- About 150 g of fish, turkey or chicken (not fried). Baked or stewed. No "tasty" skins and crusts! For example, salmon kebab or turkey stew.
- Salad (only fresh vegetables!) With vegetable (olive) oil.
- Garnish - maximum four tablespoons. It is preferable to refuse it altogether, replacing it with a larger portion of salad. Or stewed vegetables.
Afternoon snack:
- 100 g of berries or fruits.
- Tea-coffee, juice or water. You can use low-fat yogurt. Take your pick.
Dinner:
- A couple of dried crispbreads.
- Any vegetables. It is better if you follow the "tradition": fresh vegetables and vegetable oil.
- 100 g of cheese or cottage cheese, plus a boiled egg.
- Boiled (baked) chicken (turkey) breast. Or boiled (stewed) fish.
- Drink optional.
And the most important thing to remember: we eat only to live, not vice versa.