30 Day Paleo: Day Twenty Nine – Skip Meals When You’re Not Hungry

Looking to make healthier choices? Perfect! This is Day 1 of 30 of my 30 Day Paleo Plan. For more information on 30 Day Paleo as well as 30 Minute Paleo, check out the get started page. Post each day on your 30 Day Paleo journey to Twitter or Instagram and show me by tagging me with @dranthonygustin — get after it! 

Today will be a pretty easy day to implement. Simply do not eat if you’re not hungry. This “trick” is called intermittent fasting and has been used for years to increase fat loss, improve energy levels, increase lifespan and reduce inflammation. Our ancestors surely didn’t eat three times per day, on the clock, when they were hunting and gathering. We don’t always need to either.

Importantly, you don’t need to RESTRICT what you eat in any way. Rather, intermittent fasting only involves adjusting the window of time in which you eat. For example, if you normally eat three meals spaced out over 12 hours, instead decrease to two larger meals over the course of 6-8 hours. EAT THE SAME AMOUNT. The point is not to cut your overall intake, because consuming too little food overall will cause your body to respond negatively – it will trigger hormones that lead to fat accumulation and decreased energy. Keep the same amount of food, just condense the window in which you eat.

One common method to skip meals is to skip breakfast and break the fast later in the day. This is a simple way for many people to shorten the consumption window.

Not into skipping breakfast? You can still keep fat burning going by consuming only fat in the morning. Butter and coconut oil in morning coffee has become quite a popular thing recently. You can also keep the great taste of pure coffee and just eat your coconut oil and/or butter on the side.

When you eat a good helping of properly sourced fat in the morning, your body recognizes the energy boost (so you’re able to get your day going) while continuing to rely fat as an energy source as it did overnight (read – burning body fat).

However, fasting isn’t something you need force because it sounds like a good choice. If you’re hungry, listen to your body and do what it is asking. If you had a large, high fat meal the night before and your carb intake is fairly low, you probably won’t be extremely hungry in the morning anyway. The whole point of this day is to become more in tune with what your body is asking you.

Note- If you’ve suffered from any type eating disorder, this is not going to be the best option for you. Get going with great choices for now!

If you’re not hungry for breakfast this week, skip meals!