The number one thing i get asked is “What is a good meal replacement?”
There seems to be this belief that if you skip meals and eat less you will loose weight. Many people, mostly women, come to me complaining that they are hungry all the time and need a bar or protein drink to replace a meal. Some of them come to me with Dr.’s telling telling them to use snickers marathon bars to replace meals. There is something wrong here, and we need to first break this down.
First, recognize the fact that you are hungry as your body telling you you need to eat. Our bodies give us signals and we are supposed to recognize them and tend to them to make that signal or symptom go away. Our body doesnt just do this when it is hungry, but in many other ways. When we break out on certain areas of our faces it is because certain organs are not functioning. Everything happens in our body for a reason, and when things aren’t running smoothly the body will give you a symptom.
When it comes to eating food, our brains will never tell you you are full until you get the nutrients it desires. You can eat a huge bag of chips and still be hungry, but could not get through a bag of greens the same size, you would be full a lot sooner. If you are hungry all day long, and are NOT an active person, it is because you are not eating nutrient dense food and your body is trying to find what it is lacking. If you are constantly hungry and an active person, you are simply burning off what you are eating and need to eat more. This is not something that you should ignore.
Secondly we need to understand that skipping meals will NOT make you lose weight. It will in fact make you GAIN weight. Your body does not know that you diet. When you are scarcely eating and skipping meals it things that there is no food. You need to remember where and when our bodies were designed. We were gatherers, We would walk the earth searching for our food, and sometimes had to go without. Our bodies would recognize this, and hold on to every calorie we put in our mouths, so that we would not starve. You body works the same today. When you skip meals and do not feed your body when it needs it, your body will start to store calories. This will cause weight gain. Doing this day in and day out, your body will be in a constant storing mode.
When you consistently eat through out the day your body knows it is always going to have food, therefore it will just burn what you consume and will let go of the calories. Eating 6 small meals a day will keep your metabolism functioning. Try this:
When you wake up drink a big glass of purified water or a fresh green juice. Continue on with a well balanced breakfast. This is normally when i have my big green smoothie. Around two hours later, have a snack on a piece of fruit or a small bag of soaked nuts like almonds. I love snacking on apples. If you are more comfortable with a protein bar eat a very clean one, like one from Garden of Life, that is cold processed. Then enjoy your lunch. Try and keep it high raw. If you are eating a sandwich use Ezekiel bread or even a Portobello mushroom! Fill it with raw things like avocado, mushrooms, fresh peppers, greens and tomatoes. A few hours later enjoy another light snack. Enjoy your dinner, again with a high raw veggie content. Enjoy a nice dessert like chocolate avocado pudding!
Losing weight happens naturally when you give your body what it desires and you tell it there is a plentiful amount of food around. Please dont starve your body from what it needs and listen to it. It is speaking with you for a reason.
