In the last post, we talked about the merits of routines, as it applies to workouts. It also applies to diet. However, we are not referring to what or even how much to eat. Rather, an eating routine specifically is about when to eat.

Ideally, you should eat 5 to 6 small meals a day. Of course, the busyness of life often does not allow us that luxury. The conventional three meals a day routine — breakfast, lunch and dinner — is feasible for almost all of us. Of the three meals, breakfast is the most important. The first meal of the day modulates our appetite for the rest of the day. In addition, eating protein after waking will give us the fuel and nutrients to sustain us for the whole day because takes the longest to metabolize. This controls mid-day hunger. Conversely, skipping breakfast is detrimental because we tend to overcompensate later in the day. The worse thing to do is to eat a lot of carbs before bed. Since our metabolism slows down when we sleep, those carbs are stored as fat.

Eating a hearty breakfast, moderate lunch and sensible dinner — and doing so at the same time each day — will create a routine that would help our body function optimally. So even if you happened to eat late the night before, get your diet back on track by eating breakfast the next morning.