Managing your diet and physical activity can be a hard, balancing act, and many people struggle to find a plan that works and successful outcomes. This can make skipping meals feel like an enticing solution. While this may seem like a great idea at the time, skipping meals provides minimal benefits, if any and even be dangerous.

You’re more likely to overeat

While consuming fewer calories should, in theory, mean that you will lose weight, the reality is that many people overeat after missing a meal. With a significant spike in their hunger, they find themselves eating more calories than they normally would because they are overly hungry.

Instead of fully skipping a meal when you are trying to lose weight, consider a lower calorie meal option, like smaller portions or a meal replacement, that can support your efforts without such an extreme response.

Your blood sugar will be unregulated

Our blood sugar is an important part of our body’s system, and regulated blood sugar is an important part of a healthy body. If you deprive your body of food by skipping meals, your blood sugar can plummet and then spike when you eat again. 

This is a dangerous consequence for many people with health issues, especially for those with diabetes. There is no reason to put your health at risk which is why you should maintain a regular schedule of healthy foods.

You can experience irregular moods

Your blood sugar can have a significant influence on your mood and your ability to be able to regulate it. Therefore, if you deprive your body of key nutrients, you may begin to feel unbalanced, easily triggered and fatigued. This response is often directly related to your meal restrictions. 

If you have ever experienced hunger-induced anger, you know exactly what this strange feeling is like and likely won’t want to experience it again. Try having small, healthy snacks that have protein like nut butter, nuts, protein bars or eggs as a way to regulate your moods that are bursting with nutrients.

Your body is deprived of fuel

One very important point that is a result of restricting meals is that you are depriving your body of the necessary nutrients that you need. These nutrients provide your body with the fuel it needs to function and without this fuel, you may see decreased abilities. 

Feeling tired, unfocused and unable to harness energy can all be results of not eating enough and skipping meals. Instead of depriving your body of key nutrients, try reducing your portion size and increasing the number of small meals you eat. Instead of eating three large meals, consider five or six small, nutrient-rich meals.

Skipping meals seems like an easy fix to issues with weight loss. For those with a lot of willpower, this may seem like the perfect answer to their problems, but unfortunately, like many other easy answers, this one comes riddled with errors. 

While restricting meals will certainly lead you to consume fewer calories, it is very unlikely for it to provide you with the results that you are hoping for. Instead of skipping meals, try adjusting the other components of your health regimen to support your health and wellbeing.

Written by Mikkie Mills