Grazing is an effective weight-loss tool that doesn’t use any tricks, gimmicks, pills or “willpower.”
Grazing is simply eating five to six times each day, eating your daily calories in smaller portions. This results in less hunger between meals and subsequent overeating that adds pounds.
Grazing also helps address the blood insulin response to an inrush of calories after a long fast which promotes fat storage and weight gain. An example of this would be eating a large lunch after not eating since dinner the night before.
Eating less often does not equal eating less—in fact, it’s just the opposite.
Eating more often doesn’t mean eating more—in fact, it’s just the opposite.
Step #1 – Learn your daily calorie number for weight maintenance or weight loss. Read our article on daily calorie numbers, or visit the USDA website and download a copy of “Dietary Guidelines for Americans” to learn your specific calorie numbers, based on your age, gender and activity level.
Step #2 – Plan your daily eating the day before. Create meals and snacks the give you the foods you like and only the calories you want. Use nutrition labels to help you create meals that fill you up, without filling you out.
Create at least five meals and healthy snacks:
- Breakfast
- Mid-morning snack
- Lunch
- Afternoon snack
- Dinner
Step #3 – Eat whether you are hungry or not.
Obviously, if you’ve overeaten for breakfast, you don’t want to force yourself to eat a mid-morning snack or substantial lunch. However, skipping breakfast or lunch or a planned snack because you think you’ll save calories, may come back to haunt you later.
The purpose of frequent eating is to maintain your blood glucose levels throughout the day, keep your metabolism fueled and—most importantly—to prevent overeating.
If you eat 1,800 calories in three meals, you may not see much metabolic calorie-burning difference when you eat 1,800 calories over five meals. However, the main reason you should graze is to prevent the levels of hunger that cause overeating that cause weight gain.