You might be dabbling in intermittent fasting, or just find that you are too busy and miss a meal occasionally. You may be thinking that skipping meals will help you to lose weight . But there are several reasons that skipping meals may not help with weight loss and is bad for your health. Let's look at some of these.
Poor blood sugar control
When you skip a meal, your blood sugar can drop. For diabetics and those with hypoglycemia this can cause serious issues, but it can lead to blood sugar drops for anyone. And when you do eat again, your blood sugar will rebound and potentially rise more than it should. Skipping meals also increases your risk factor of developing pre-diabetes.
Irritability
The drop in blood sugar levels that occur when you skip meals can make you irritable. But it can go beyond feeling “hangry” and lead to mood disorders. It can also make it harder to concentrate.
Anxiety
Skipping meals can also trigger more serious mental health issues like anxiety and depression. A 2018 study found that adolescents who skip breakfast were more likely to experience stress or depression.
Low blood sugar can also cause your body to increase its production of cortisol which can make you feel more stressed.
Slower metabolism
While occasionally skipping meals doesn’t affect your metabolism, repeatedly skipping meals can cause your metabolism to slow down to conserve energy. If you’re not consuming enough calories your metabolism will slow to compensate for the lack of fuel.
Hormonal Imbalances
When they are working correctly your hunger and satiety hormones (Ghrelin and leptin) do a good job of telling you when to eat. But when you start to ignore these cues by skipping meals, your body responds by adjusting these levels so it’s harder to know when you are really hungry or full.
Low energy
Food cravings
The blood sugar drop and the hormone imbalances that results from skipping meals can lead to food cravings. And these cravings are often for unhealthy foods like refined carbohydrates and sugar. Your body is looking for energy so you’ll tend to crave the fastest sources of energy.
Disordered eating patterns
Not following your hunger cues and skipping meals is one form of disordered eating but skipping meals can lead to worse eating disorders like binge eating disorders.
Digestive issues
Skipping meals can also lead to digestive issues. The anxiety caused by skipping meals, coupled with succumbing to poor food choices often leads to constipation or diarrhea. You can also feel nauseous if you wait too long to eat.
Nutrition deficiencies
Skipping meals often leads to poor eating choices which means you can develop nutritional deficiencies. If you’ve skipped a healthy meal and replaced that with a high carbohydrate snack when you finally give in you’ll likely be low on some key nutrients that your body needs to function properly.
How can you avoid skipping meals
If you want to avoid skipping meals it helps to plan ahead:
Plan your meals for the week so you know what you should be eating
Plan around work and other activities to make missing meals less likely
Bring lunch (and perhaps a healthy snack) with you to work so you can avoid skipping lunch or having to use the vending machine when you don’t have time to go out for lunch
Carry healthy snacks with you. Keep a few protein bars for those “just in case” times link to your energy bar page
Get into the habit of eating smaller meals more frequently
I can help
My holistic weight loss plans help to keep you satisfied and energized. You want to feel amazing as you lose weight and not cause a ton of other issues in the process. I never recommend fasting or skipping meals for these very reasons. Book a free call to find out how I can help.
Warm wishes,
Vicki Witt | Clinical Nutritionist | Holistic Coach | Reiki Master | Certified LEAP allergy therapist Over 25 years of successfully helping you achieve optimal health and weight loss 🍏| www.vickiwittweightloss.com
About Vicki:
Vicki Witt is a Clinical Nutritionist, Holistic Health Coach, and Reiki Master. She has been practicing over 25 years and specializes in holistically customizing diet and lifestyle plans to each individual for weight loss and hormonal control. Her clientele often report they feel the best they have ever felt and wish they had started sooner. One of the USA and Australia's top Nutritionists, she has won multiple awards for her services in the industry.
Certified and Registered Nutritionist