Mini-Meals are important to fueling great workouts and losing FAT. Starving is NOT the way you lose weight at PNP. Let's look at a recent article regarding eating mini-meals.
"Most of us are accustomed to having two to three meals a day. However, studies have suggested that grazing - eating smaller amounts of food more frequently - can make it easier to control your weight, particularly as you age.
Besides making it possible for you to continue to get into your blue jeans, mini-meals have some added health benefits. Research has shown that they are better for cholesterol and blood sugar control, and thus protect you, respectively, from heart disease and type 2 diabetes - two diseases also linked to obesity.
"Anything you can do to stack the deck in your favor, I'm all for it. Just do it sensibly," says Joan Carter, a registered dietitian and an instructor with the Children's Nutrition Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine. Experts say if you're trying to lose weight, eating less but more often may take the edge off your appetite so you don't wind up feeling ravenous and tempted to binge on fast food.
But there's more to it than that. Research has suggested that older women burn fat from large meals less effectively than younger women but equally well from smaller meals. Body fat typically doubles between the ages of 20 and 60. Researchers believe that your fat-burning ability drops because of hormonal changes.
In a 1997 study at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, older women, had higher levels of glucagon, a hormone that triggers the release of sugar into the blood - the opposite effect of insulin. With more sugar available to fuel body processes, women burned less fat."
Mini-meals also increase the thermic effect of food (TEF).TEF is the energy expended by our bodies in order to consume (bite, chew and swallow) and process (digest, transport, metabolize and store) food. Up to 10% of our daily calories are used to digest the foods we consume. By utilizing mini-meals you stoke the fat burning furnace repeatedly throughout the day, burning calories, and feeding your muscles.
Another great article from bellaonline stated...
"Did you know that every time you eat, the thermic effect of food (digestion) boosts metabolism? Maintaining body functions accounts for 60-75% of your daily caloric expenditure. Other factors affecting metabolism include activity (occupation and lifestyle) which accounts for 20-30% of daily caloric expenditure and digestion (the thermic effect of food) which accounts for 5-10%. The more often you eat the more calories you burn.
According to Jay Williams, author of the 24 Hour Turnaround, a 160lb sedentary woman who eats twice a day only burns around 140 calories digesting food but can increase that number to 300 calories in 24 hours just by eating 5-6 mini meals of less than 500 calories every 3 hours. And it doesn't stop there, in six months the same woman can increase the number of calories burned digesting food to almost 400. In addition, Williams writes that 16 hours without food puts your body into starvation mode, also known as the fat storage zone. If you're eating dinner around 6 p.m. and not eating again until 12 p.m., everything that you give your body at that point, whether it's a piece of fruit or a candy bar, will get stored as fat until you get back on a regular eating schedule.
If you hate counting calories, restricting foods and are inconsistent with exercise, eating mini meals every 3 hours is a great way to increase your daily caloric expenditure without much effort. Another advantage is that eating smaller meals more frequently cuts down on cravings, binges, and low energy levels, plus it boosts fat burning like you wouldn't believe. After only 1 month of eating 5-6 mini meals daily most clients I train are able to drop anywhere from 4-8% body fat because less food is being stored as fat when on a regular eating schedule. Sounds unbelievable but calipers don't lie and neither do baggy clothes. For those who are exercising hard and consistently but not seeing results eating this way can make you or break you."