Metabo-what? It's midnight and I'm HUNGRY!

Just the other day my mom was saying, "If only I could stop eating at night." Every night since she was a little girl, my mom gets up just a few hours after laying down and has a snack - nothing huge, just a little treat like a tiny bowl of cereal, a small cookie, something a little sweet with a little crunch and always some milk. I admire here ability to have "just a little." Just a little is not something I can or have ever been able to do. For example - as a girl, I was a bit of a sugar addict and when given say, a box of chocolates for Christmas or Valentines Day from my dad... well, let's just say it was gone in 60 seconds. Then, I'd go looking for more like a bloodhound on a trail... right into my sisters room and polish hers off too. While I can sit back and blame them for contributing to my sugar addiction :P, I can also genuinely thank them for great metabolism genes.

Regardless, I realize there are people out there who can and do in fact understand and can successfully accomplish moderation. So, if you eat late at night, will you gain weight? In my mom's case, NO. BUT, if you are one of those who is eating SEVERAL bowls of cereal late at night or if you haven't eaten all day and then come home and gorge on a huge meal late at night... well, you are in fact going to gain.

Here's the deal with your metabolism... it's not just genetic. And, you CAN change the way you metabolize food. Metabolism is a term that not only refers to how your body converts food into fuel but also how efficiently you burn that fuel. Of course, not everyone burns calories at the same rate. Age, sex and the proportion of muscle you have AS WELL AS heredity all make a difference. Some people just burn calories at a slower rate than others.

Here's an interesting and surprising fact from Colette Bouchez on WebMD: The more weight you carry, the faster your metabolism is likely running. That's one reason it's almost always easiest to lose weight at the start of a diet, and harder later on, nutritionist Molly Kimball, RD says: "When you are very overweight your metabolism is already running so high that any small cut in calories will result in an immediate loss." Then, when you lose significant amounts of body fat and muscle, your body needs fewer calories to sustain itself, she says. That helps explain why it's so easy to regain weight after you've worked to lose it.

So, to maximize your metabolism, the best thing to do is eat more often. Small and frequent meals (say, 200-300 calories 5-6 times a day) help keep your metabolism kicked into high gear which means you'll burn more calories WHICH MEANS you will lose weight!

If you skip breakfast and lunch then have a huge meal late at night, your metabolism isn't functioning at all and your body goes into "starvation mode". Then, your body wants to keep every calorie you just snarfed down and you'll actually end up gaining weight.

So - as I always say - EAT. Pack a Z-bar for emergency snacking. I never leave home without a snack - just ask my boyfriend. Every morning, oatmeal. Packed in my Bikram Yoga Memphis tote bag for later: yoga clothes, a kombucha tea and Z-bar for me, hard boiled egg and low fat string cheese for Gregg. Happy snacking!