Charles Runels, MD
Charles Runels, MD Let's consider Ms. Jane. She wakes up to prepare her children for school and herself for work. She's not hungry and she's in a hurry. So, she makes something for a children but she either eats nothing or has coffee with something sweet for energy on the way to work (or on arrival at the office).
She's very busy all day working. Perhaps she drinks a soda or coffee, perhaps water, but she eats very little. She's really not hungry and she's so busy she forgets to eat.
Then, she comes home and on the way home she becomes very hungry. She'd like to start that new exercise program, but she's too hungry and her child/cat/neighbor/goldfish/husband/boyfriend will crumble (or so she tells herself) if she doesn't jump through several hoops within about 2 hours of leaving work.
So, she goes home and feeds everyone, including herself. She over eats in calories but doesn't really eat that much food if you look at it on the plate (only an extra 330 calories for the day keeps her 30 pounds overweight).
Now, she's too sleepy and tired to exercise. She eats a bedtime snack and falls in the bed to manufacture more fat cells with the extra calories that she ate (any calories over what she'll burn in the 3 or 4 hours between arrival home and going to bed are "extra" since they're not needed for the amount of activity she does during those 3 or 4 hours). She produces high insulin levels and stores fat even though her total calories for the evening are only 220 to 660 more than what she needs (for an extra 20 to 60 pounds).
She's prone to eat too many calories and the wrong foods because of the extreme hunger that can come crashing in after working all day without eating. Her glycogen stores in her liver (restocked the previous night) ran out a few minutes before leaving the office (causing her to be snappy with her employees just before leaving).
To stay ahead of her hunger and eat only the calories required over the 3 hours following a meal, she would need to start eating as soon as she woke. But, how can she find the time to make breakfast and snacks and lunch and still care for her family? She doesn't want to eat breakfast anyway (remember...she's not hungry in the morning).
Having worked 12 years in the emergency room (where I would frequently find 6 ambulances parked at the door and the microwave took too long), I understand how to eat on the run. Let me share a few tips...
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