The Timing of When You Eat Meals Is Paramount

A new study conducted by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem shows that the timing of when you eat is much more important than what you are actually eating. That means that if you take the time to really plan out your meals and when you will be eating them there is a lower chance of you gaining weight from that food, and you could even reduce your weight over time because of that careful planning.

The Study

In the study three different groups of mice were kept on different schedules and given different amounts of food. There was a group of mice given a random amount of fatty food at random times. There was another group given a random amount of low-fat food at random times. The third group was given a regulated amount of food so that they had the same amount of food every day, and they ate that food for the same amount of time every single day.

Over the course of the 18 week study the body weight of each of these groups of mice was monitored closely. Out of each of these three groups the high-fat group with a regulated eating schedule ended up having the lowest body weight in the end. They beat out the group of mice eating a low fat diet on an unregulated basis.

Burning the Fat

Unlike in most high-fat diets, the fats weren't stored in the mice on the regulated eating diet. Instead the fats were burnt up in between meals so that the mice felt full between their feeding times.

The Takeaway

The message of this study isn't that you should starting eating fatty foods if you want to lose weight. The message is that if you take the time and plan out all the meals that you are going to eat, so you are getting roughly the same calories at the same time every day, your body will adapt to that schedule and you will probably lose weight as long as you are eating a reasonable number of calories.

Taking the time to regulate when you eat will pay off more than most people realize, and as long as you are willing to spend the time to make it happen you will be thankful of the results that you receive.
If you keep this in mind when you are creating your eating schedule you should be able to improve your overall weight loss even if you aren't able to make dramatic changes to the food that you are eating on a regular basis.