How Eating Regular, Portion-controlled Meals is Better for Your Blood Sugar, Weight and Long-Term Health

SMART HEALTH KEY 1/12: Eat Regular, Balanced Meals with Controlled Portions

Trying to lose weight or improve your blood sugar, but constantly finding yourself starving between meals, overeating later in the day, or wondering why you can't seem to stick to a healthy eating plan?

You may think you need to eat less. "Let's rather skip breakfast, push through this mild hunger and "save" calories for later."

But a balanced diet isn't about eating as little as possible. And balanced meals aren't about depriving yourself until you can't take it anymore.

In fact, if you're regularly skipping meals in an effort to lose weight or control your blood glucose, you may be making healthy eating harder than it needs to be.

The Smart Health approach is simple: Eat regular, balanced meals in controlled portions. Eat mindfully, eat when you're hungry, and stop when you're satisfied.

Let's look at why this matters—and how to put it into practice.

Are you skipping breakfast to save calories?

You wake up, rush through your shower, make coffee, and head out the door.

Breakfast? No time.

Or perhaps you're deliberately skipping it because you're trying to "be good" and save a few calories.

A few hours later, you're sitting at your desk, struggling to concentrate and wondering why you're so tired. Your colleague is probably wondering why you're staring blankly at your screen. You may as well ask them to give you a little elbow nudge if you start nodding off in the next meeting. 😂

Your blood glucose is already low after an overnight fast. Starting your day without breakfast means you're heading into your morning without the fuel your body and brain need.

Breakfast is, in fact, the most important meal of the day.

A balanced breakfast is associated with easier weight loss, reduced risk of diabetes and heart disease, and sharper brain function. It is an undisputed fact that you should have breakfast—even fad diets will usually tell you that much.

But here's where the Smart Health approach differs: Your breakfast needs to be BALANCED.

Just grabbing a muffin and coffee isn't the same as giving your body a balanced meal.

Your breakfast, like your other meals, should contain balanced proportions of carbohydrates (preferably low GI whole grain options), protein (preferably lean/lower fat options), and fat (preferably good fat), as well as plenty of vetgetables or salad. This optimises your nutritional intake and helps keep you satisfied for longer.

A healthy, balanced meal will keep the average person satisfied for around 3–4 hours, but if you had a balanced breakfast, usually a fruit in-between breakfast and lunch will be enough until lunch. And that's exactly why regular meals matter.

If you eat a balanced breakfast in the morning, you should be ready for a balanced lunch a few hours later. After about six hours, your stomach will be empty and your blood glucose will be low again.

Skipping lunch doesn't make that need disappear. It simply sets you up for the late-afternoon hunger trap.

You know the one...

You're suddenly starving.

You grab whatever is quickest.

Then you arrive home ravenous, rade the pantry and/or fridge and often

Eat more than you intended at dinner, wondering why you seem to have so little control around food. The next morning you feel you can't eat, as you ate too much the previous evening and the whole process repeats itself.

This isn't a willpower problem.

It's often the predictable result of not eating enough—or eating an unbalanced meal—earlier in the day.

Think skipping meals will help you lose weight?

It won't. The idea that you can save calories by skipping meals is a misnomer.

Your body will prompt you to "catch up" later, which often leads to overwhelming hunger and overeating—frequently on the wrong foods.

This is one reason why people who eat irregularly struggle to lose weight. Irregular meals cause blood glucose fluctuations, and skipping meals before eating more later puts additional stress on the systems working to keep your blood glucose in the mid-range. It also causes the release of more insulin (a fat storer).

You don't win by starving yourself now and trying to make up for it later.

Unless you've had a bigger-than-normal snack for whatever reason, it simply doesn't pay to save kilojoules by skipping your next meal.

But what about portion sizes?

This is where mindful eating comes in.

Your brain has a hunger and satiety centre that helps regulate your energy needs. When you're born, this system is remarkably accurate.

But skipping meals regularly or overeating can disrupt those signals. The answer isn't to eat until your plate is empty. It's to eat until you are satisfied.

Many of us grew up with parents who insisted we finish everything on our plates. Sometimes quite threateningly so! But your parents didn't know when your body was full. You did.

There is no health reason to eat past your satiety level just because there's still food on your plate. The centenarians in the Blue Zones, especially the Japanse, have a saying that encourages them to eat every meal only until they are 80% full and not until they are 120% full, like people in Western countries. They eat little at a time (but never skimp on vegetables or salad) and stop when they are full. That's a habit worth paying attention to.

What if you get hungry between meals?

That's okay and normal. When you're getting used to smaller meals, you may feel a little peckish after 3–4 hours. That's a good time for a small snack to keep you going until your next balanced meal. You can also have tea or coffee in-beween, as well as plenty of water and other low kJ drinks.

You could have:

• A piece of fruit

• 2–3 dried fruits

• A handful of nuts

• A fruit or 2-3 dried fruits with a few nuts

• A cracker with a low-fat spread

But remember: it's a snack, not a meal. The goal is simply to take the edge off your hunger until your next balanced meal.

And here's the good news: It's much easier to keep your snack small when your previous meal was balanced and satisfying.

So, if you regularly find yourself desperately hungry between meals, don't immediately conclude that you have no self-control.

Instead, ask yourself: "Was my last meal balanced enough to keep me satisfied?"

That question will get you much further than beating yourself up ever will.

The Smart Health takeaway

Your body isn't asking you to eat as little as possible. It's asking you to eat well.

Eat regular, balanced meals.

Pay attention to your portions.

Eat when you're hungry.

Stop when you're satisfied.

And don't be afraid of a small snack when you genuinely need one.

Healthy eating isn't about constantly trying to outsmart your hunger. It's about learning to work with your body instead of fighting it. That is the Smart Health way.

This is just 1 of the 12 Smart Health Keys to long-term health. They're simple principles, yet life changing when you apply them!

Now take a look at Key 2 →

Scientific References:

Buettner D. The Blue Zones: lessons for living longer from the people who’ve lived the longest. The National Geographic Society, 2008.

Butland B, Jebb S, Kopelman P, et al (2007): Foresight tackling obesities: Future choices – Project report. Government office for Science, Department of Innovation. Universities and skills. London.

Geuegnon C, Mougnin F, Simon-Rigaud ML, et al (2012): Effects of an in-patient treatment program based on regular exercise and a balanced diet on high molecular weight adiponectin, resistin levels and insulin resistance in adolescents with severe obesity. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab, 37(4):672 – 679.

Herder R and Demmig-Adams B (2004): The power of a balanced diet and lifestyle in preventing cardiovascular disease. Nutr Clin Care, 7(2):46 – 55.

Price S. Understanding the importance to health of a balanced diet (2005): Nurs Times, 101(1):30-31.

Rossouw JE. The diet-heart hypothesis, obesity and diabetes. S Afr J Clin Nutr. 2015;28(1):38-43.

Seedat YK and Rayner BL (2012): South African Hypertension Guide 2011. SAMJ,102(1): 60 -83. 

Willcox, Bradley J, Willcox, D Craig and Suzuki, Makoto. The Okinawa program: How the world’s longest-lived people achieve everlasting health – and how you can too. Clarkson Potter, 2001.

Willcox, BJ, Willcox, DC and Suzuki, M. The Okinawa diet plan: Get leaner, live longer and never feel hungry. Three Rivers Press, 2005

AUTHOR: ELIZABETH (LIESBET) DELPORT - Registered Dietitian, M.Sc. Dietetics.

Liesbet Delport has over 40 years of experience helping over 10,000 people improve their health through practical, evidence-based nutrition.

After struggling with her own weight as a teenager, Liesbet learned that lasting health isn't about willpower or another restrictive diet. Her approach is simple: people aren't failing, the diets are. She helps people build a balanced, delicious way of eating they can actually follow for life.