Meal Timings Have Varying Effects On Weight Loss!

A recent study conducted suggests there is a correlation between your meal timings and how effective your weight loss will be. As it turns out, meal timing is nearly as important as what you eat.

Firstly, if you were to eat a meal quickly after waking up, your metabolism rate will be raised for the rest of the day. If you decide to skip breakfast instead, your metabolism is forced to start conserving calories instead of burning them.

Additionally, by spreading your calories throughout the day also increases your metabolic rate as you are forcing your metabolism to remain high. This way, you also feel fuller for longer periods of time, getting less hunger pangs and urge to engage in binge eating.

Marta Garaulet and Dr. Frank Scheer, director at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, recorded the progress of two groups taking part in a 20-week long fat loss regimen. The first group ate lunch before 3 p.m. while the other group ate lunch after 3 p.m.

The researchers soon realized that the first group lost 25% more weight than people in the other group. The researchers did not notice any differences in weight loss based on the timings of when participants ate breakfast and dinner.

Other factors which can also lead to weight loss like exercise levels, foods taken and sleep patterns were controlled so that there was no significant difference between the two groups.

There are several possible explanations for these results. First of all, you have a biological clock which regulates the functioning of your internal organs. If you are eating a large meal later in the day when your metabolism is slowing down, those extra calories may stay with you longer than you will prefer. Another explanation cited is that participants in the second group had a smaller breakfast or no breakfast more often than the first group. The researches proposed that some people may be genetically wired to eat later in the day, which is probably the reason for the disruption of their internal organ timing.

The most important thing to do for your fat loss is to eat a large breakfast. You will ultimately consume fewer calories throughout the day and your metabolism will also be higher for the whole day.

If possible, avoid eating a large dinner, especially if you are going to bed not long after dinner. Instead, shift your calories towards earlier meal times. For example, consume more calories for breakfast and lunch and take less for dinner. Also, opt for fruits, vegetables, and lean meats at dinner. They are filling and low calorie options.