A shapely sexy figure and flat abs is a dream that every girl sees. They work out, give up junk and follow healthy diet. Do all girls do that? No, they don’t. In an attempt to lose weight or inches quickly, often many people are seen fasting. Little did they know that skipping meals is no time saver and can pose bigger problems than they imagined. When skipping meals becomes a habit or a part of a dieting plan, it has serious long-term implications on the body like development of some chronic conditions or even gaining weight instead of losing.
Here are scary things that might happen if you skip meals regularly:
Low glucose level: Your blood glucose level rise after meals. It remains constant if you don’t exercise (hence recommended to work out if you want to control the level). A long gap of fasting causes your blood glucose level to fall, leaving you feel sleepy, tired and exhausted. Mind you, glucose is the source of energy for blood.
Low metabolism: Low glucose means low metabolism. Its simple. A low metabolism leads to dip in energy, imbalance in body and metal activity and improper eating patterns as you tend to eat more the next time.
Poor performance. As scary as low metabolism sounds, equally scary is poor performance. Not only you become physically slow but also mentally you are unable to concentrate and make quick decisions. Hampers your professional and personal life majorly!
Overweight: Those who skip meals to reduce weight, rather tend to gain weight. If you eat less number of times you typically should, your brain signals you to eat more when you get food loading your body with calories which are not required at that moment. This leads to slow digestion and bloating of stomach. Ouch!
May lead to diabetes or excess calories: Ignoring the hunger pangs of your body will drain all glucose of your body leading to low level of energy and high stress. It’s your body’s natural tendency to hog sweets or junk food to replenish the loss of glucose. This also happens when stress level is hgh. So, this leads to excess of sugar or calories in your blood. So much for skipping meals yeah?
Acidity: You may experience acid reflux or nausea if your stomach is empty for too long. An old long habit of staying hungry may cause heartburn, acidity or dry cough. Skipping meals gets scarier hence.
Brain drain. The brain’s exclusive fuel, glucose, is compromised within four to six hours if you have not eaten. That’s because the glucose stored in the liver as glycogen, runs out during this time period. The liver is like a traffic cop for blood sugar. When blood glucose dips too low, the liver converts glycogen into glucose and releases it into the blood. But if its glycogen has been depleted, the body turns to less efficient fuelling methods resulting which you start to feel anxiety, depression, have mood swings or always hungry.
Bad breath: Your tongue produces saliva as you chew food. Long breaks of skipping meals make your tongue dry and create a breeding ground for bacteria, hence causing bad breath. Remember, the same happens when you fall ill?
Few tips to stay healthy and lose weight without skipping meals.
- Eat small frequent meals instead of one large meal. Recommended to eat in an interval of every 2-3 hours
- Include fruits, veggies and whole grains in your food. Chuck junk for good. Replace refined/processed sweets with natural sweeteners like dates or fruits.
- Water intake should be 8-10 glasses every day.
- Drink water before meals, not during meals. Avoid drinking water immediately after meals.
- Exercise daily for atleast 30 minutes. Hitting the gym is not possible we understand. So go for brisk walk, ditch the elevators and take stairs or exercise indoors.
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