Health, Wellness and Fitness for People & Pets JUNE 2015 | Page 21
Distribute your calories equally among breakfast, lunch, and dinner. A skimpy breakfast, a hurried
lunch, and a huge evening feast is about the least energyefficient eating schedule imaginable. "What
do you need all those calories for if you're going to bed?" says Debra Wein, RD, cofounder of Sensible
Nutrition Connection in Hingham, Massachusetts.
"Anybody who's ever done justice to a Thanksgiving dinner knows that you get tired when you
overstuff," says Ann Grandjean, EdD, director of the International Center for Sports Nutrition in
Omaha, Nebraska.
Never, ever skip a meal. "Many women skip breakfast," Wein says. "And some may even skip lunch
because they think it will help them lose weight." But by skipping breakfast or lunch—or both—not
only are you depriving your body of calories just when it needs them the most, you're also likely to
compensate with a lethargyinducing pigout when you do eat. So much for weight loss! "And if you
keep skipping meals, the result over time is a general malaise," Wein says.
Eat five meals a day. The experts favor adding a midmorning and midafternoon snack to your daily
meal schedule, and downgrading your other three meals accordingly to keep your total calories where
you want them. This minimeal plan is a super energy booster because you're getting energy into your
body right when you need it, you won't be going too long between meals, and you're less likely to
overeat or undereat. "If you watch your portion size and take time for that midmorning and
midafternoon snack, you'll be surprised at how positively your energy levels are affected," Whittle
says.
Wein suggests the following energizing calorie allotments: If you're a fairly typical weightwatching
woman, your calorie count per day will probably fall between 1,400 and 2,000. If you're at the higher
number, shoot for 500 calories at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with midmorning and midafternoon
snacks at 250. If you're down at 1,400 total calories, your meals should be 400 calories each, with two
100calorie snacks.
*Julia VanTine and Debra L. Gordon are authors of aximum Food Power for Women
M
, the book
from which this article is excerpted.
If you're overweight, slim down. "Carrying around 10 or 20 pounds of excess weight in the form of
body fat is like dragging an anchor," says Wayne Askew, PhD, professor of nutrition and director of