FAT LOSS MYTH SERIES – NO.2
Small, frequent meals help to speed up your metabolism so you burn more fat.
Fat Loss Reality
Some “experts” proclaim eating every 2-3 hours will increase your metabolism. Some say it without any scientific proof to back up their point while others base their opinion on the thermic effect of food (TEF). Without getting too technical right now, TEF refers to the amount of energy your body must use to process the food you eat. On average, 10% of the calories you consume are burned by processing them. Protein has the highest TEF followed by carbohydrates and fat has the lowest TEF. This idea was taken and assumed that the more frequently we ate, the more calories we burned by processing it all. But 10% of any number of calories will be the same whether we eat them over 6 smaller meals or over 3 bigger meals.
Let’s take two people, A and B, who consumed the same amount of calories in one day. A ate 6 meals and B ate 3 meals. Both ate 1800 calories, TEF is 10% so we multiply by 0.1 to get the calories burned processing each meal.
Person A – 300 x 0.1 x 6 meals = 180 calories
Person B – 600 x 0.1 x 3 meals = 180 calories
Same amount burned either way. You don’t need to eat one way or the other. Choose a meal frequency that fits into your lifestyle whether it is a couple meals a day or many. If you prefer the regimen of frequent meals then go for it, likewise if you prefer bigger, less frequent meals that’s good too. Whatever your approach is, just be consistent with it as irregular eating patterns may affect your metabolism.
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Tune in tomorrow for Fat Loss Myth Number 3