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6 Meals a day to loose weight

Are you still stuck in the three-heavy-meals-a-day rut? Do you think that the six-meals-a-day routine is not meant for you?

If your answer to both questions is yes, then don't worry you are not alone. Technically, how many meals you eat in a day doesn't matter, but how you spread your total calorie consumption in the day does affect your food habits. Research has time and again proved that those who eat six small meals a day are more successful at eating healthy and losing unwanted weight. Let's understand why.

Why is it important to eat six mini meals in a day. More than 95% of overweight individuals are in the habit of eating three square meals a day. Because these meals are infrequent and ill-timed they tend to be heavier and low on nutrition. This affects metabolism quite adversely. Across on the six mini meals side though, your meals will be timely and nutritious as they will be part of a carefully planned daily menu. For instance, a healthy and well-portioned breakfast followed by five moderately sized meals spread through the day will keep your metabolic rate healthy. It will also keep your hormone levels stable and regulate your blood sugar level, burning more calories. Irregular eating patterns and skipped meals are the main reasons why people cannot lose weight.

Stay away from the word 'snack'. Think of snacking, and the immediate images that the word conjures up in our minds are those of fried chips, chocolates, sodas, candy bars and every other unhealthy food under the sun. It is not snacking itself, which is bad for us but the junk and convenient yet unhealthy foods associated with it. The right way to snack is to invest in healthy foods that you can eat without guilt. These snacks are what make up the in-between meals in a six mini meals a day meal plan. Make each meal an opportunity to eat a well portioned and nutritionally balanced meal, which includes lean protein, complex carbohydrates and healthy fats.

'More is less' is the new mantra for eating healthy. The health bonuses of eating more of mini meals in a day are many. This will help you in adding a greater variety of foods to your meal plan, thus helping you meet your daily nutritional needs.

If you hear nutritionists say that to lose more you have to eat more, don't be alarmed. What they mean is that healthy weight loss involves eating healthy meals more frequently in clever portions. No wonder then that most successful weight loss warriors eat a lot more than those who are stuck in a weight loss rut.

Never starve yourself for long durations. By eating three meals in a day, which are set apart too far you tend to, unknowingly, drop your blood sugar levels. When this happens, there is a sudden urge to reach for unhealthy snacks in order to satisfy the cravings. Instead, grab a quick healthy high-carb or lean high-protein snack, which will keep your stomach full until you find your next balanced meal. The trick here is to stay away from eating loads of unnecessary unsaturated fats and calories.

Still not convinced? Here are three more reasons why you should eat 6 meals in a day.

- It will keep you away from overeating and automatically help you maintain your portion sizes.
- Eating smaller and healthy meals will also help you fight the risk of lifestyle conditions, such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and hypertension, which are all linked to unhealthy meals.
- This dietary routine will also help in maintaining your body's muscle tone, because it will feed amino acids and nutrients to your muscles at frequent intervals, especially when combined with exercising.

Choose power-packed healthy meal combos. The buzz word here is diversity. The more diverse your meals, the more you are likely to balance your proteins, carbs, and fats. Here are some power packed combination ideas:

- Spinach is already quite healthy, but when you combine it with an avocado, it becomes even healthier. Research suggests that healthy fats in avocado enhance the fat-soluble carotenoids in spinach.

- Seasonal fruits. A handful of almonds and other dried fruit.

- Vitamin C when combined with eggs is the most powerful supporter of iron absorption. Vitamin C makes the iron up to 6 times more soluble, which means that you can use 100% of the iron you munch, keeping fatigue-causing anemia- at bay.

- A large bowl of skim milk and whole grain cereal. Add your favourite fruit to it.

- A tiny sized bran muffin along with raisins and a medium-sized glass of skim milk.

- One egg, whole wheat toast, and a glass of orange or apple juice.

- One whole wheat roti combined with steamed chicken and stir-fried vegetables.