Eat more to weigh less

Every year from Thanksgiving through the New Year, millions of people in this country stuff their faces with all the flavors of the season. Many lose all control for the final weeks of the year, vowing to take off the winter fat they put on with radical dieting or skipping meals. They hope that they can correct their overindulgences. Yet, they know that they are doomed to fail. This is how it goes EVERY year.

Now, one sure way not to gain weight this holiday season is to simply eat less of what you traditionally have and be smart about what you choose to ingest. But if that’s just unrealistic for you, then here is something to consider — instead of binging your way through the holidays with huge mega-meals, consider eating smaller meals more often. Let me explain.

One of the biggest misperceptions people have about dieting is the number of times a day they should be eating. While eating “three square meals per day” sounds far healthier than eating “five to six small meals a day,” the former is actually a recipe for a metabolic disaster.

If you have a tendency to gain weight, what your body is doing is registering that during these long hours without food, it must find a way to conserve energy. Let’s say for example that you eat a classic meal schedule each day: breakfast at 7 a.m., lunch at noon and dinner at 7 p.m. Well, if you are at all metabolically inefficient (as most people with weight issues are), then your body reads this as “I need to conserve my energy for five hours after I eat breakfast, and then another seven hours after my lunch. That’s no food for 12 hours total throughout the day, not to mention the other eight hours we sleep. OMG … we are starving!” The result is a signal from our body to “HOLD ONTO THE FAT! We have hours and hours to go before our next meal!” This is obviously a bad signal for your body.

The purpose here is to create an environment of nutrients in your body that lets you have “permission” to let go of the fat. Permission to keep your body as revved up as it is meant to be. Simply put, if your brain and cells are washed in good nutrients (mostly protein and some “good” carbohydrates) that are taken in at frequent meals throughout the day, your body reads that you are not starving, and it is able to survive without holding on to the fat. In fact, you are giving your body permission to let go of the fat.

Notice that I called these eating episodes “meals,” and not “snacks.” “Meals” are what you plan to eat. They are intentional. “Snacks” are what you casually put into your body. They are “what you grab, what looks good, whatever is around when you get hungry.” I am an advocate of planned eating. By planning your food intake throughout the day — the what and when of your eating — you will eliminate the chance of sidetracking your diet. By eliminating snacking — i.e., impulse eating — you will better control your weight and nutrition.

Most of you have stumbled upon pictures of absurdly “ripped” body builders and have likely wondered how they got so lean. While they are an exaggeration of my point, they remain a great example of the benefit of eating small meals throughout the day. An average bodybuilder will eat many small high-protein, low-carbohydrate meals throughout day, followed by a wakeup call at 2 a.m. for a protein shake, and then at 5 a.m. for an egg-white omelet, etc. Their bodies are fooled into thinking they do not need to hold onto ANY fat whatsoever, using the constant intake of the right foods to release any existing fat from their bodies. That is why the starvation and super-low-calorie diets tend to only work for so long. Soon enough your body goes into survival mode and begins to actually store the fat, not get rid of it.

Portion control is also important. My patients spend a lot of time on this aspect, and it is the easiest thing to mess up on if you are not aware. It is vital to not use your stomach as a guide when eating. The rule to live by is simple: Eat with your eyes. LOOK at the food on your plate. Are they the right types of foods? Is it the right amount of food in the serving? When your “eyes” are OK with these judgments, then eat the meal and get on with your life. Don’t go for seconds. Don’t tell yourself that you can have “just a little bit more of this and that.” Your eyes were satisfied at the beginning of the meal. The foods and volumes were “OK” then. Don’t let your stomach get in the way and undermine your efforts now. Get away from the table and do something else. You are going to eat again in three hours, and the 20 minutes it takes to feel full is only a few minutes away.

So don’t be afraid of “eating more to weigh less” this holiday season — and going forward. The trick is small, structured, healthy meals throughout the day, rather than large “well-balanced” meals three times a day. This will tell your body that there is no reason to store fat and will eliminate the type of impulse eating that can lead to overeating and feeling like you have no control.

Dr. Michael A. Snyder, a bariatric surgeon at Rose Medical Center in Denver, is founder of Fullbar and leader of the Be Full, Eat Less movement.