Are you confused about when to eat on The 17 Day Diet?
Well, when you eat is actually really important. Let me explain…
When I was a resident, I developed some bad eating habits, such as
eating out of boxes and having lunch whenever I could grab it, like at four in the afternoon or even midnight.
Now, I’ve learned that eating too late in the day makes losing weight harder. That’s why it’s important to be mindful about WHEN to eat.
In a study published in the International Journal of Obesity, researchers found that the later you eat your lunch, the more difficult it is to lose pounds. Plus, it increases your risk of getting diabetes.
Late eaters had a lower insulin sensitivity, meaning their bodies weren’t metabolizing blood sugar well. When this happens it can lead to weight gain and diabetes.
There’s a lesson here: eat a regular pattern of meals throughout the day. Do this every day, so your body gets use to eating at the same time.
The moral of this study is: no late lunches, and don’t skip meals!
The 17 Day Diet allows you to snack between your main meals. That’s a good thing.
Here’s When To Eat…
I want you to eat something every three hours. So, the next time I ask you when to eat…the “right” answer is less than 3 hours ago.
Research shows that folks who don’t eat for three hours or longer have more body fat than regular snackers.
If you go too long without eating, or if you skip meals, your body senses that food is scarce, so it clings to its energy reserve, which is fat.
Then when you finally eat something, insulin shoots higher than normal in an effort to process the calories coming in. At that point, a fat-storing enzyme called lipoprotein lipase increases too, and starts packing away the newly eaten calories as fat.
Never fall prey to the myth that skipping meals will help you get skinny.
Just the opposite: it will deter your efforts to burn fat, impair your appetite regulation (which might lead to bingeing) and undermine your metabolism.
In fact, it’s one of the singles biggest things that’ll cause your weight loss to stall. So, don’t deprive yourself of food – eat up!
It’s also important that certain foods are eaten earlier in the day than others.
That’s why I recommend that if you’re trying to lose weight, to eat all fruits and carbs before 2pm.
If you eat these items too late in the day, instead of being used for energy, they’ll be stored as fat. So, if you’re trying to shed excess weight, avoid carbs and fruit after 2pm.
When to Eat: Plan Ahead
The best way to make sure you know when to eat is to plan ahead and have a team to support you in creating the perfect schedule that’ll work for YOU!.
