If you’ve been trying to reach your fitness goals, but you feel like you’ve recently hit a plateau, it’s important to start looking beyond what you’re eating. When you eat is just as important for reaching your goals and tracking your food is.
Circadian Rhythm
Meal timing can improve weight loss and boost your athletic performance because it affects circadian rhythms, which determines sleep, eating patterns, and digestion among many other things. When your circadian rhythm is thrown off, you can experience weight gain, digestive problems, and cravings for high-calorie foods.
Eating dinner earlier and not eating again until the morning can improve your circadian rhythm. Also, you should try to eat the majority of your calories before 3 p.m. It’s important that your mealtimes and bedtimes remain as consistent as possible.
Lifestyle
Meal timing isn’t the only thing that influences your weight—you have to also make changes to your diet. The best way to lead a healthier lifestyle is to take in nutritious foods, lower your stress levels, exercise regularly, and not to drink too much alcohol.
If you’re new to meal timing, start off by writing down when you eat and pay attention to the effects it has on your energy levels, sleep, mood, and weight.
