When we talk about a certain way to lose weight, we always have to talk about the truth. The reason why eating less and more meals can lose weight may be related to basal metabolism , because some friends will say that eating less and more meals can increase basal metabolism, and a high basal metabolism means more consumption.
So, can eating smaller meals more frequently increase basal metabolism? Will it be easier to lose weight if the basal metabolism is high? Next, let’s talk about related topics.
First: Weight loss and basal metabolism
In the process of weight loss, in addition to diet and exercise, basal metabolism may be another topic of concern, because some people always say that high basal metabolism will consume more and it will be easier to lose weight. Is that so? This is about the way calories are consumed.
1. Ways of calorie consumption
There are three main ways of calorie consumption, as follows:
- Basal metabolism refers to the minimum energy required to maintain life activities. Simply put, it is the heat consumption generated when we lie down and do nothing for a day. Accounting for more than 60% of total calorie consumption.
- Activity metabolism includes exercise consumption and non-exercise consumption. Exercise consumption is easier to understand, which is the consumption generated during active exercise. Non-exercise consumption refers to the consumption generated by the accumulation of every small activity or action in daily life. It accounts for about 30% of the total calorie consumption.
- Thermic effect of food occurs along with the eating behavior. Simply put, it is the consumption caused by digesting food, which accounts for about 10% of the total calorie consumption.
We can see from the way of calorie consumption that the reason why basal metabolism consumes more calories is because the consumption caused by basal metabolism accounts for a relatively large proportion, which is more than half. Therefore, many friends are thinking about how to achieve fat loss by increasing basal metabolism. So, is this the right thing to do?
2. The higher the basal metabolism, the easier it is to lose weight?
The higher the basal metabolism, the easier it is to lose weight? Before answering this question, let's first understand what factors affect basal metabolism, and then the answer will come naturally. The level of basal metabolism is affected by many factors. Apart from some uncontrollable factors (such as genetics), there are several factors that affect our basal metabolism, such as:
- Weight. The higher the weight, the higher the basal metabolism. So from this point of view, the simplest way to improve basal metabolism is to gain weight, but this is exactly the opposite of our goal of losing fat.
- Gender, men's basal metabolism is higher than women's, even if the weight is the same, because men's muscle content will be higher in comparison. Although this is a gender advantage, it also gives us a hint. If you want to increase your basal metabolism, increasing your own muscle mass is an effective and feasible method.
- age. As we grow older, our basal metabolism will begin to decline after reaching a peak. Starting around the age of 20, our basal metabolism will begin to decline at a rate of about 2% per decade. Of course, an important reason for the decline in basal metabolism is that we lose muscle as we age, and an important reason for muscle loss is that we use less muscle.
From the above three factors that affect basal metabolism, we can know that it is not correct to say that the higher the basal metabolism, the easier it is to lose weight, because the higher the weight, the higher the basal metabolism. And the reason why those thin people who we think do not gain weight are not because of their high basal metabolism. If we really want to find a reason, in addition to spleen, stomach and digestive problems, it is that they consume more non-exercise.
Second: Can eating smaller meals more frequently improve basal metabolism?
If you see the above content, you will immediately think of the answer, because from the perspective of factors that affect basal metabolism, the level of basal metabolism has nothing to do with the frequency of meals. In other words, eating smaller meals more often cannot improve basal metabolism.
However, if you are more careful, you may be able to see some relationships, that is, eating smaller meals more frequently seems to increase the thermic effect of food, because the thermic effect of food occurs along with the eating behavior. If we increase the frequency of eating, the thermic effect of food can be increased. Is this true? Not really. The reasons are as follows:
- The thermic effect of food is related to the total amount of food eaten, so the thermic effect of food is related to the total amount of food you eat throughout the day, and has little to do with the number of meals you eat;
- Thermic effect of food is also related to the diet structure, such as The thermic effect of food of protein will be higher, so the level of the thermic effect of food depends on what you eat;
- From the overall consumption ratio, even if the thermic effect of food is improved, it will not mean much to the overall calorie consumption, and can be said to be negligible.
So, in general, eating less and more meals cannot help you improve your basal metabolism, nor can it help you increase the thermic effect of food, so just eating less and more meals cannot help you achieve weight loss. Of course, if you can control your caloric intake throughout the day by eating less and more meals, so that the caloric intake is less than your consumption, the situation will be different. However, even so, eating less and more meals is not a good diet method. More on this next.
Third: Disadvantages of eating smaller meals more
From the perspective of fat loss, what we need to achieve is that caloric intake <>
1. It is difficult to implement
Simply put, our work, study and daily life have certain time constraints, and we cannot execute the eating behavior of eating less and more meals as we wish. In addition, eating less and more meals means more time for food preparation, which is difficult for the public to do.
2. Meating more does not mean eating less
Even if we have time to increase the frequency of our meals, eating more means increasing the timing of eating. When we face food, we are facing the temptation brought by food, so the amount of food we eat cannot be controlled. In other words, eating more can be done, but eating less is more difficult. Judging from the results, you may eat more calories due to eating more meals, so you will become fatter.
3. Summary
Generally speaking, eating small meals more often is more troublesome to prepare, and it also increases unnecessary eating opportunities, making you unable to control your appetite and eating more, resulting in uncontrolled daily caloric intake.
Summary:
In the process of weight loss, if you want your behavior to be effective, the most critical factor is to ensure that the caloric intake is less than the consumption. Otherwise, fat loss will be impossible. If you want the caloric intake to be less than the consumption, controlling your diet is a prerequisite. However, what you need to control when you control your diet is the total calories throughout the day. Intake, this is not directly related to how many meals you eat a day, so eating less and more meals will not help limit your daily caloric intake. Of course, it will not help you improve your basal metabolism and increase your caloric consumption throughout the day. Therefore, eating less and more meals will not help you achieve your weight loss goal. During the weight loss process, you do not have to force yourself to change your daily habits and choose different eating frequencies.
Author: October Zhixing
