Can skipping meals help me lose weight?

Losing weight can sometimes be complicated. The amount of food you eat, the type of meals you cook and even the drinks you have can all play a role in how much weight you lose. Even with all of these factors, there is only one rule you need to follow to lose weight: create a calorie deficit (burn more calories than you eat) with a combination of calorie reduction and exercise.

If cutting calories is your key to losing weight, it would be safe to assume that skipping a meal each day would help you shed pounds, right? Wrong.

Studies have shown that people who skip meals (specifically breakfast) end up eating more throughout the day than those who don’t. This means that if you skip breakfast, you’ll unconsciously (or purposely) make up for it by eating more throughout the day.

When you skip meals you’ll obviously be a lot hungrier. When you get hungry you start to get cravings and how often are cravings for diet-friendly foods such as brown rice and tuna? Skipping meals will lead to unhealthy and high-calorie binges that will ultimately increase your calorie intake.

Instead of skipping meals, increase your physical activity level by exercising twice a day. This will help you burn more calories and speed up your metabolism for the rest of the day. You can also eat smaller meals and replace high calorie foods with lower calorie options.