You might think that what you need to do to get all of the essential nutrients necessary for your day is to eat three square meals full of hearty macros and wholesome micros. You may believe that you’re doing what’s best for your body by eating as much as you can all at once, but, in fact, you’re doing a lot more harm to yourself than you think.
When I was a passionate “health nut” so to speak, I remember being so driven to look and feel my best that I drove myself down a path of destruction. I was either eating too much, not eating enough, or giving up and just not eating at all. I was a mess.
Whenever I stuck to my plan of three big meals a day, I’d step on my scale that week and notice that I’d gained a pound or two. Desperate to lose the weight, I would instead eat three small meals the following week as a way to “balance my diet out.” But what I didn’t realize was that this wasn’t balance; this was self-sabotage. Okay, maybe a little over-dramatic, but it did get pretty bad. Sometimes, when I was gaining too much, I would starve myself for a day or two just to get back to my ideal weight.
At the time, I didn’t even think twice that my dieting habits were unhealthy. I thought that by changing up the amount that I eat every day was what a “balanced diet” consisted of. Then I learned exactly what my problem was.
I needed to eat a lot, but not so much at once. That was a trick I was taught by my nutritionist.
The best way to lead a healthy, balanced lifestyle is to turn those three big meals a day into five to six small meals. You should always get a lot of healthy vegetables, nuts, poultry, fish, and whole grains every day, but the key is to spread them out throughout the day so that you don’t have too much, nor do you have too little — you eat plentifully yet just enough to stay at a healthy weight while feeling healthy, full, and satisfied.
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