The detrimental effect of going hungry...

Please consider this very important tip as I think it affects all of us. Whether your aim is to lose body fat, get fitter or change shape through enhanced muscle tone, you should never EVER feel hungry. If you are hungry you really should eat something. There seems to be a big trend of us eating lunch and then eating nothing else until we sit down for our evening meal which could be anything up to 4-7 hours later!

By this time, your blood-sugar levels will have plummeted and relatively minor issues that present themselves will probably feel like the world has ended! That is the severity of the effect of the low blood sugar levels. In conjunction with this, Cortisol, our body's natural stress hormone will have released from the Adrenal glands and will be crashing round your cells attacking your lean muscle tissue and encouraging the process of lipogenesis (fat production). In general, you will feel pretty rough and worn out.

Solution

Between 2:30-4pm (dependant on when you consume lunch) go and find something to eat. I know this is not easy because our sandwich bars close at 2pm, but why not buy a second smaller snack for later in the day when you are there, or pop to the supermarket and grab a bag of hazelnuts, walnuts or cashew nuts and thrown them in some Greek yogurt? Perhaps you may need to buy a commercially designed protein / energy bar - but watch the carbs, its protein and healthy fats that your body needs at this stage in the day not refined sugars.

In addition

If you are having trouble sleeping at night, it may just be that your stressful journey home on an empty at 4:30pm-6pm has elevated Cortisol levels so high that it takes all night for the levels to normalise. Now then, given that Cortisol is required to get you out of bed in the morning and break your sleep, it might just be a good idea to make the time to consume that high protein, high fat, low carb snack at 2-4pm.

Thinking that you don’t have time is basically telling yourself you are not worthy of eating that snack. Look after your body and it will more than repay you in your ability at work and on the pitch!