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The challenge of
eating a nutrient-dense diet that promotes healthy
weight and optimal fitness - while at the same
time trying to keep daily caloric intake at appropriate
levels for one's goals (usually fat/weight loss)
- can be one of the most difficult juggling acts
to master. In working with many clients with various
daily habits and patterns - I've realized that
a good number of people can benefit from "shifting
their calories" to accomplish healthy nutrition
and weight management.
Depending on the
time you wake up in the morning - starting your
day with breakfast may not be the ideal way to
kick off the fulfillment of your daily nutritional
needs.
Now, I know this
goes against traditional advice, but read on to
fully understand this approach.
I've worked with
clients in the past who have tried to eat breakfast
(in many forms and variations) first thing in
the morning, and they would find that doing this
made them hungrier the rest of the day and it
usually led to increased daily caloric intake
- enough to cause long term weight gain.
There are some people
who wake up relatively early and start the day
with breakfast and continue to eat relatively
well throughout the day. Often, these types of
people, although eating healthy foods, are taking
in too many calories in the span of a whole day
and either have trouble losing weight or continue
to gain weight.
Now for the caloric shifting part…
We will talk about
meal shifting to keep matters simple - but understand…a
meal is made up of calories.
A simple strategy
for those who find that keeping a lid on daily
caloric intake is a challenge - is to push back
the time that the first meal is eaten. Let's call
this meal breakfast, even though some people may
find it strange to call a meal eaten at 10:30
or 11 am, breakfast.
So, instead of eating
your normal breakfast at 6:30 or 8 am, you don't
skip it, you just push it back a few hours - toward
your normal lunch time. In effect, you are moving,
most likely, 300 - 500 (maybe more) calories and
taking them in at a later time, maybe 3 or 4 hours
later than normal.
Here is what
happens to most people who I coach with this method.
They find they are
not starving for a big lunch (which also gets
pushed back a few hours - to about 2pm (give or
take 30 minutes). Additionally, they are not ravenous
by dinner time, when most people self destruct
and do so until bedtime, by snacking after dinner.
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So, a result
of this meal shifting is a reduction in
'overactive appetite' - not a bad reduction,
but a healthy reduction - one that is very
helpful in preventing one from over-stuffing
the stomach and going beyond their daily
caloric needs.
Let's back
up a little - if dinner time food raids
are a challenge, then this meal shifting
can help you reduce that eating urge after
work and put you in a better position to
control the volume of food you put on your
plate and the number of calories you put
in your body.
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Ok - so, 'the shift'
is also helpful for people who snack every few
hours once they do start eating. By delaying when
you start eating in the morning - you also delay
the snack intervals you enjoy - and in effect
you may reduce your total daily snacks to 2 or
3 instead of 5 or 6 (including your after dinner
snack).
When all is said
and done, by days-end you will have taken in less
calories than you would have, had you started
with an early breakfast.
Common side effects
of this strategy are increased energy, less bloating
and stomach discomfort, better sleep patterns
and a few others. Hmmm - I wonder why?
There are several factors inside of this calorie
shifting strategy to be aware of:
The types of foods
you choose, the volume of foods you choose and
the realization that you need fewer calories than
you think you do to function optimally on a day
to day basis.
I also realize that
this may go against the "You'll shut down
your metabolism, by starving yourself" crowd.
But believe me, this is far from starving yourself,
very far. I tell you this firsthand, because it's
how I've helped many people take control of their
weight and it's how I manage my own daily nutrition
and keep my metabolism burning right along.
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Joey Atlas is the
author of Fatness
to Fitness, available on Amazon.com
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