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Best regards
Joey Atlas
http://www.ButtHipAndThighMakeover.com
The challenge of eating a nutrient dense, low calorie 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 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" instead
of just counting 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 as it applies to counting
calories.
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 (instead of calorie 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. Lets 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.
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.
Lets 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.
So, 'the calorie 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 based
fat-loss strategy to be aware of. The types of foods you
choose, the volume of foods you choose and the realization
that you need less 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, nutrition, body weight and
fitness - and it's how I manage my own daily nutrition and
my metabolism keeps burning right along. Most importantly -
it's something you can do too.
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Joey Atlas, MS - Exercise Physiology, is the Amazon.com
Bestselling author of 'Fatness to Fitness' and the Author
of the Ultimate Leg, Butt, Hip and Thigh Makeover, Home
Exercise Program for Women. Visit
http://www.LowerBodyMakeover.com for more free tips and
articles from Joey.
