Weight Loss Article - Missed a Meal?

"Well, it's over. I missed a meal. Should I eat two?"

It's certainly not over, in fact, don't even worry about it! There will be times when you simply can't find the time or opportunity to eat and other times when you might simply forget. While may weight loss programs revolve  around consistent eating practices, it is not the end of the world if one of those meals is missed. When it happens, remember the following advice and carry on as usual. It's not quite the catastrophe you think it is.

The best laid plans...
If you have been on a diet program for any length of time, you are probably convinced that eating frequent small balanced meals is better for enhancing nutrient absorption, maintaining a constant blood sugar level, controlling your insulin level, and reaching your goal weight.

Ideally, these frequent small balanced meals should span over the most active part of your day and take place every two to two-and-half hours for best results. Try to never go more than three hours between meals because your blood sugar level would start dropping very quickly.

Sometimes, the three hour window passes without a meal and this is where panic can set it. Whether you forgot or got stuck in a meeting, you weren't able to eat one of your meals. Should this happen, don't worry about it. Certainly don't make it a habit, but if it happens once in a while, it won't damage your progress.

The side effect of healthy eating...
Most of the advantages of the methods you will learn through diet programs can actually turn into disadvantages if many meals are missed. Because your body is no longer accustomed to hypoglycemia (when your blood sugar levels start to drop), you may begin feeling light-headed and somewhat aggressive when hunger sets in. This reaction can actually be traced to our ancestors who had to hunt for a meal when they were hungry (an adrenaline peak is triggered by hunger, and this in turn makes a person more aggressive).

Well, I can't hunt for my food, so what do I do now?
You will want to eat as soon as you can, but do NOT try and compensate for the missed meal by eating twice as much at the sitting. You should rather try and spread the calories of the meal you missed over the remaining ones. Try to resist the old cliche of having eyes bigger than your stomach and remember that it takes about twenty minutes for the sugar contents of your meal to raise your insulin level back to normal levels.

If you missed the meal that precedes the last one, your action will depend on your weight goal. If you are trying to lose weight, just eat your final meal for the day as usual with that meal's recommended calories. Try and do this in the evening nearest to the time when you will be less active. If instead you are trying to gain or maintain your weight, simply add half of the calories of the missed meal to that of your final meal for the day.

So cheer up! Missing a meal doesn't mean the end of the world or your weight loss campaign. By following the above guidelines, the situation can be handled very simply. Just make sure that you aren't repeating this behavior to the point where you end up missing several daily meals. This repeated deviation from your regimen would defeat the entire purpose of these programs and could damage or even reverse your progress.

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