Skip A Meal And The French Fries Will Get You

If you’re the kind of person who often misses meals or fasts to lose weight, your hectic lifestyle may be contributing to extra pounds on your waistline.  After a long period of not eating, your brain can shift into carb-craving mode, leading you to eat more calories while loading up on foods like bread and French fries.

Research at Cornell demonstrates that folks who haven’t eaten for 18 hours are more prone to indulging in high-carb foods, missing out on healthy foods like vegetables and downing more calories. In the study, people who started pigging out on fries after not eating all day ate almost 50 percent more fries than others and ate 20 percent less vegetables.  Their calorie total was also up about 20 percent compared to people who started their meals with vegetables.

When you’re very hungry, as you are after not eating for long stretches, you are much more vulnerable to cravings for carbohydrates. Give in to those cravings and your weight can soar. Better to eat more regular meals and snacks and stay out of the carb-craving danger zone.