Leaving home in the morning without eating breakfast, working through lunch with only herbal tea in hand, fasting all day in preparation for a celebratory meal in the evening — skipping meals like this, especially on a regular basis, is likely to undermine your weight-loss efforts.
“Hunger can be a powerful trigger to eat and overeat,” says dietitian Molly Gee, RD, MEd, of the department of medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
If you skip one meal, by the time you arrive at the next you are probably going to choose larger portions of the wrong types of food, and you may not be fully aware of this effect even as you eat that larger meal. Gee says to maintain good energy levels and feel full, you should eat every four to five hours.
Weight Loss: The Meal Most Often Skipped
“It’s difficult to get in all the necessary nutrients without including breakfast,” says Gee.
Despite the benefits of breakfast, even something small and light, it is the meal that is most often skipped. A healthy breakfast — whole grains, protein, and fruit instead of a cheese Danish or bowl of sugary cereal — helps get your metabolism off to the right start and has been proven to keep feelings of hunger in check, making it easier to stick to your diet for the rest of the day.
As an example of the benefit of regular meals, Gee cites results from studies of data from the National Weight Control Registry that showed people who successfully lost up to 72 pounds and then maintained their weight loss for five years or more were more likely to eat breakfast and to maintain a consistent eating pattern across weekdays and weekends than those who did not maintain their weight loss.
And it’s not just your weight loss that is at risk when you skip meals, but the weight of your family as well. A recent study of the health and diet habits of 2,500 pairs of teenaged twins, siblings, or half-siblings showed that those whose family skipped meals were more likely to be obese or overweight.
Weight Loss: Why Are You Skipping Meals?
If you have a regular eating routine, you probably won’t want to skip a meal. However, there are many reasons why people skip meals. Untangling those reasons could help get you back on track:
- Snacking. Mindless snacking, which includes having calorie-laden drinks such as sodas, may mean that you are not hungry at meal times. A study of snacking behavior found that those who snack on the run, at night, while watching television, or off and on all day are also likely to skip a meal. Snacking is also tied to being overweight.
- Convenience. With busy schedules it can be easy to skip a meal or put off eating. If this is your dilemma, try to keep healthy grab-and-go foods around for those too-busy moments.
- Belt-tightening. A recent survey of people who lost their homes due to foreclosure found that three out of five had skipped meals because of the cost of food. Find out about low-cost meal planning and other resources to help you eat healthfully and regularly.
Weight Loss: Making Up For a Missed Meal
Although nutritionists frown upon frequent meal skipping, times will come up when skipping meals is unavoidable. Here’s how to do it so that you continue to meet your weight-loss goals:
- Don’t make it a regular habit.
- Make sure you keep your daily caloric and nutrition intake levels steady and balanced over the remaining meals of your day.
- Instead of skipping a meal, increase exercise length or intensity if your daily calories are creeping up above your goal.
- Prepare for being hungrier than normal at the next meal and have a plan for what you will choose to eat.
Over the long haul, skipping meals will likely hurt your weight-loss program. The best bet is to develop healthy eating strategies that keep you on track.
Learn more in the Everyday Health Weight Center.