If you have not eaten for about 3 hours, your body senses that it is going into starvation mode, reducing the metabolism rate, while increasing the production of fat-depositing enzymes. The means that you will not be burning as many calories as is normal, that you won't be as mentally or physically alert, and that more of your next meal will be stored away as fat.
If the starvation reflex starts working after 3 hours, then you can beat it by eating every 2 hours. This is a great way to burn more calories. A person who now eats 2-3 times a day can burn about 8-10 pounds a year more when he or she shifts to eating 8-10 times a day. This assumes that the same number of calories are eaten every day.
Jeff, When you eat every 2 hours, which “meals” become your big meals, and which are smaller? I’m thinking about how I can stay with my family’s routine of eating an evening meal together. If that one is pretty big at 6:00, what would be a typical menu for 8:00 and 10?
How late should the last meal be before bedtime?
Thanks!
Brent