Every time I hear someone say that he or she forgets to eat, it blows my mind. I could never forget to eat because I am so in tune with when my body needs fuel that my body reminds me that it is time to eat. Such fine tuning only comes with feeding the body properly with the right foods at the right times. I understand that most of us lead very hectic lives and that it can be difficult to stop everything just to get a meal in. But I do not understand how some people can work for 6, 8, 10 hours straight without a meal and feel no immediate physical repercussions from it. What about the churning, growling stomach? What about the impaired concentration or slump in energy? I get GROUCHY when I haven’t eaten my scheduled meals, and my body yells at me to eat.

Every time you skip meals, you prime your body to devour the most readily available foods, which in most cases means a trip to a fast food drive-through window. By this time, you are probably so ravenous that you will end up ordering far more food than you should. In all likelihood you will dip one hand into the bag of food while holding onto the steering wheel with the other hand, munching away rapidly and mindlessly, without allowing your body to respond to its satiety cues. If you make such fast food runs a habit, you increase the risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Why wreak havoc on your health by engaging in such behavior?

If you are prone to forgetting to eat regular meals throughout the day, do yourself a favor and reprogram your eating habits. Set a timer to go off every 3 to 4 hours to remind you to eat. When the timer goes off, don’t continue to work, but put everything down and make sure to eat a balanced meal. Pack healthy snacks and meals to take with you and make sure that you have easy access to them. Some of you may be wondering how many meals are ideal and when to eat those meals. If you can get 4 to 5 meals in per day, evenly spaced apart, you will optimize your energy levels and re-set your metabolism.