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- The Best Time To Eat?
Do you ever ask yourself, “When should I eat?”
You may have heard one of the following in popular media:
🗣️ Breakfast is your most important meal of the day.
🗣️ Eating carbs at night causes weight gain.
🗣️ You must “feed your muscles” within 45 minutes after your workout.
Are these statements TRUE? Should you focus on “WHEN should you eat?”
First: Follow your physical hunger cues (stress, emotion, boredom, etc. can be tricky and influence your eating).
Eat when your body (and grumbling stomach) tells you it’s hungry.
Some of you may get lightheaded or “hangry.”
Either way: Unless you’re training for a “fitness competition” and trying to get extreme lean body outcomes, listen to hunger.
👉🏾 Eating enough quality calories is the first and most basic priority of good nutrition.
Nutrition timing matters… but not that much.
If you are successful at maintaining a reasonable daily calorie deficit (400-500 calories), you will lose weight.
Bottom line: It doesn’t matter when you eat those calories.
Practical tip: Get to know WHAT MAKES YOU TICK.
For many, a protein-filled breakfast helps them eat less the rest of the day. For others, breakfast is optional.
👉🏻 When you become more AWARE of your eating habits and make adjustments, you get better results.
So what? You have a BUSY DAY AND WEEK to handle!
Maybe you’re tired of thinking about eating. Make it easier on yourself.
BEFORE you think about WHEN TO EAT, be consistent with these 4 things first:
How MUCH are you eating?
✅ Recommendation: If you’re trying to maintain or lose weight, eat until satisfied (80% full), instead of stuffed.
If you’re trying to gain weight and/or muscle, eat balanced meals and snacks until full.
HOW are you eating?
✅ Recommendation: Eat slowly and mindfully.
WHY are you eating?
✅ Recommendation: Eat when you’re physically hungry, rather than when you’re bored, stressed, peer pressured, or triggered by hyper-comforting foods.
WHAT are you eating?
✅ Recommendation: eat minimally-processed proteins, carbohydrates, healthy fats, and plants as much as you can.
Are you doing all the above, CONSISTENTLY?
✅ Recommendation: Shoot for 80-90 percent consistency with these 4 things before moving on to………..
WHEN are you eating?
✅ Now you can experiment with intermittent fasting, macronutrient cycling or targeted workout nutrition.
For elite athletes, figure competitors, or weight-classed pros looking to maximize every fraction of muscle gain and lose every ounce of fat, yeah, nutrient timing counts.
But, only once they are consistent with the other aspects of eating first.
Most of us should focus on the HOW MUCH, HOW, WHY and WHAT questions about eating.
Keep eating better!
Mark Dilworth, PN1-NC, CDS, NMH, LWM
Nutritionist, Dietary Strategies Specialist, Specialist In Nutrition For Metabolic Health and Lifestyle Weight Management Specialist