A Meal Schedule to Get Fit at Last

It's no big surprise that which foods we eat and the amount we eat has a lot to do with whether we have a hot 6 pack or a beer gut. However, many people are surprised to hear that the time you eat and the number of times a day you eat matter a lot too. If you're going to get fit at last, you need to pay attention. This is one of the secrets of getting in the shape you desire.

What time you eat has a major effect on your results. Let's start at the beginning of the day. When you first wake up, your body has been without food for many hours. Your blood sugar level first thing in the morning is low, and you are running on stored energy. Once those reserves are used up, your body will turn to its next available source of fuel, your muscles! It's real tough to work out hard and focus on getting fit when you're groggy, hungry, and your body is breaking down your muscles for energy. You need to eat something nutritious as soon as possible after waking up. This gets your body fueled up and preserves your muscles.

Now you understand how important it is to eat soon after you wake up. This gets your blood sugar to the correct level (assuming you are eating healthy stuff) so you can function well and protects your hard-earned muscles. You'll feel better, function better, be able to work out harder, and preserve your muscles while shedding fat.

The quest to keep your blood sugar level stable also tells us how often you should eat. Within 3 to 4 hours of eating, your body digests whatever you ate and your blood sugar level will start heading down again. So you really should eat something every 3 hours or so (except when you are sleeping at night).

To eat every few hours implies that you're going to have to eat more than the standard three meals a day. For most people, that means five or six smaller meals a day, rather than three larger ones. Eating that frequently, starting from when you get up in the morning, means you don't have to go more than 3 to 3.5 hours between meals. Eat right at each of those meals and you will find that your blood sugar levels remain where you want them at all times.

One last thing. If your quest for better health requires you to eat five meals a day, you're going to have to eat less in those meals. An easy way to deal with this problem is to make the second and fourth meals into healthy snacks of just 100-200 calories, and cut back on the other three a bit. Following this pattern makes it easier for you to adapt. Eating a small healthy snack mid-morning and mid-afternoon isn't a hard habit to pick up. Doing so also leaves you less hungry at lunch and dinner than you used to be, so cutting back a bit on those meals easier too.

Eat this way for a few weeks and see what you think. Chances are you'll be a lot closer to getting as fit as you want to be. You can use this kind of meal schedule with your existing fitness plan, or you can take a look at this site's reviews of the best fitness and muscle building plans to help you get fit at last.