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One of the determining factors when I’m considering taking someones advice – and this is soapplicable to fat loss or as I prefer, Body Gain is: Does that person have the results I’m seeking?
Obvious right?
When it comes to the subject of today’s tucker show: Meal Skipping, the super-vast-majority of the time, people that regularly meal skip do not have the results that I (and they!) want.
It’s that simple. The meal-skipping-doesn’t-work proof is in the pudding… that’s the pudding the meal skipper will nibble away at all night after skipping dinner… or after having a light-weight-low-value salad for lunch… or after having no time for breakfast.
In contrast, the super-vast-majority of the time, people that do have the results that I (and they!) want do not resort to meal skipping.
The meal-planning-and-eating-works proof is in the body, the energy and the efficiency of those that do it.
However skipping meals is one of those frustrating things that I see even my lovely-loyal-ong-term clients do. People who are hugely successful in their career, educated, intelligent and stillthey fall into the meal skipping trap.
By ‘fall’ I mean stroll right into because this is absolutely a trap you can avoid.
Perhaps this is tough-love-Tuesday however it makes me think of the metaphor: “Why buy a dog and bark yourself?”
If you hire a professional – ME – or even if you choose to listen to my podcast regularly (thank you!) well I’m here to give you the advice that works – and I have the results – so why wouldn’t you take it??
Because some of us just need to see something works and that’s incentive enough to do it and some of us need to understand WHY something works I’ve got those ‘whys’ for you today.
Let’s roll with: 3 Reasons Why Meal Skipping Doesn’t Work:
One). Most people skip out of convenience or laziness or deprivation rather than as a planned strategy such as intermittent fasting. As such there is no consideration to the meals before and after the meal you skip. Or perhaps I should say no beneficial consideration.
You skip breakfast in favour of some extra snooze-time… skip lunch because you’re snowed under at work… and skip dinner because you demolished a bag of chips and some liquid-sugar drink on the way home after missing lunch.
In contrast planning a 16 hour fast after cheat day (as I do each Monday) and knowing what you eat for a normal lunch and a normal dinner AND sticking to that – without Now-I-Deserve-Make-Up-Food – is a whole different matter.
It’s a planned strategy, executed with volition. Implemented to help your body recover from a planned slightly more excessive quantity of food the day before rather than to punish your body for an unplanned emotional binge-fest.
Two). Most people experience the “I deserve demolish” after a skipped meal. In the same way that you can’t out-train a bad diet, that meal you mindlessly demolish as you get crazy-outta-control-hangry and arrive starving at that anything-goes food stage is likely going to account for a whole lot more calories and a whole lot less nutritional value than the clean, nutritious, planned meal you skipped!
I’m the cleanest eater I know.
However, once I get to irrational-hangry-Kate even though I’m not ever going to rip into a packet of TimTams (I know I’m abnormal!) or wake up next to last nights lousy-choice-left-overs cheap-easy-greasy pizza with the lot (!) I am still highly capable of demolishing 2-3 meals worth of ‘good food’ in a sitting… and too much good food is still too much good food!
Three). Eating regular nutritious planned meals is a keystone habit that you will build other positive habits around. Meal skipping sacrifices that habit and puts your other positive habits in jeopardy too.
You’ve been there right?
Sleeping in => skipping your omelette for breakfast => grabbing a muffin for morning tea => working through lunch => feeling too exhausting and staaaarving for gym after work => and grabbing take-out on the way home.
I talk about keystone habits in the #170 show as those most effective actions that when added to your daily and weekly routine will form the foundation from which your other positive habits grow.
There’s no right or wrong however these are my top 5 keystone habits:
- 7-8 hours SLEEP.
- Plan and then consumeNUTRITIOUS MEALS consisting of fibrous veg + quality lean protein + good fat and plenty of water.
- Incorporate at least20-30 minutes of PHYSICAL ACTIVITY daily.
- PLAN your day to come the night before.
- Consciously practice GRATITUDE daily.
Think of regular nutritious meals as a result multiplier. It’ll work in either direction though…
EATING Regular Nutritious Meals, lets your body know it can trust you to feed it good food regularly – it doesn’t need to store fat for that next period of starvation. It fuels you with consistent, reliable energy to put towards work, play and exercise. It maintains your sexy, metabolically active lean muscle mass.
It focus’s your mind on abundance and what great fuel to give your body.
SKIPPING Regular Nutritious Meals, lets your body know there’s a battle going on. Who know’s when the next meal is coming? It saps your energy, withers your willpower and causes cravings for easily digested quick-UN-fix processed foods. In no time it’ll sacrifice your sexy, metabolically active lean muscle mass.
It focus’s your mind on restriction and what you can ‘get away with’ or how to punish your body.
If you agree the results for meal skipping sound pretty hugely Unappealing let’s make today actionable.
I’d love you to pick just ONE repeat offender time in your week when meal skipping happens and it’s happening out of convenience or laziness or deprivation rather than as a planned strategy.
Today’s action step is to plan the meal to have instead of skipping.
Perhaps it’s the double omelette you make at breakie and take half for lunch or maybe it’s the extra dinner you make Tuesday night as you always get home super late Wednesday night.
If you’re after some easy ideas I’ve got you covered in show #132, Turn 3 Mass Cook-ups into 9 Different Meals and also show #157, 5 Minute (One Hand!) Meals.
That’s it for today. Thanks so very much for taking the time to join me, I’ll be back tomorrow with the Wednesday Weigh-in show where I’ll cover: Stress Levels and Stomach Fat.
If you liked this you’ll also like: How to DUMP Measuring to Naturally Lose Weight.
If you’re yet to share the Healthification love – just click here to zip over to iTunes and leave an honest rating and review. It’d help me out big time. With gratitude, Kate.