A.

I got asked this question by a friend yesterday. He told me that he had cut his calorie intake down to about 1500 per day and was doing intensive cardio three or four times a week to try and lose weight.

He seemed shocked when I told him that he should be eating the full quota of calories for a man which is 2500 daily. The key to losing weight is not necessarily eating less, but what you eat and when!

The idea is to eat smaller meals of around 400-500 calories five or six times a day (300-350 calories per meal for women), instead of eating several large meals. Eating smaller meals more often throughout the day is beneficial provided that you choose the right foods.

Frequent Eating

Frequent small meals will speed up your metabolism, enabling your body to burn more fat. It will also give you more energy as it regulates blood sugar and insulin levels. More energy gives you the ability to do more exercise!

Eating the right foods more often will curb binge eating and cravings. If you eat every couple of hours you won’t feel the need to snack on chocolate or crisps. It also prevents the breakdown of muscle and this will help you to burn fat as muscle is a natural fat burner.

Less Calories, More Fat?

Believe it or not eating less calories can lead to more fat. If your body doesn’t get enough calories it will start to store calories as fat. When the body thinks it’s not getting enough food it stores calories and creates fat to prepare for the lack of food.

Eating less often throughout the day will encourage the eating of much larger meals to compensate, and you’ll probably end up eating more than your body needs, which means more fat!

Which Foods?

Of course eating five or six times a day will mean nothing if you’re not eating the right foods. Ensure that you eat plenty of lean proteins such as chicken or turkey breast and egg whites. Eat plenty of non starchy vegetables like broccoli, peppers and mushrooms and snack on nuts and seeds throughout the day if you’re feeling peckish.

Ensure that you don’t skip breakfast, as it really is the most important meal of the day! It will kick-start your metabolism and without it your body will go into a muscle wasting state. Try to avoid eating a few hours before bed as your metabolism is slowest at night.

Don’t Forget The Exercise

Almost forgot about the most obvious thing! No matter how good your diet is, you won’t lose weight without exercise. I always recommend a mixture of cardio and weights. People often overlook weights when trying to burn fat, even though building muscle is one of the best ways to burn fat, maybe even more so than cardio. Now that the preaching bit is over, the only thing left is for you to get out and do it! If you’re interested in losing weight and maintaining a healthier lifestyle then I recommend reading The Abs Diet: The Six-Week Plan to Flatten Your Stomach and Keep You Lean for Life. Check out my review here