Everything we eat does something for us, or to us. We are all eating to maintain a specific size, what size is determined by how much and what foods we eat. A lot of people make the mistake of skipping meals or going on extreme diets which cause the body to actually go in a panic mode and it ends up slowing down fuel burning ( metablolism) and looks to our muscles for added energy. Some people make the mistake of eating an abundance of anything because they think the 30 minutes on the treadmill 3 times a week will make up for it. In both extremes the body has no idea what to do so it stores fat.
It is so important to understand food, and digestion when atempting to change your eating styles. It is like knowing to put gasoline in your car for fuel rather than alcohol or peanut butter. How our body works with food is specific NOT hit or miss.
We digest food, good wholesome nutrition, roughly at 3 hour intervals. If you are eating the right foods and feel hungry an hour or 2 later, you are not eating enough. ( I mean real hunger people, not when you open the fridge door over and over looking for something to do) and if 4 or 5 hours go by and you have not felt that twinge of hunger, you are eating too much at one time.
An important step right now, for people who are looking to change is discover what amount of calories your individual metabolism needs. You can find out more about that on so many sites, but here are a few:
http://www.weightlossforall.com/calculate%20cals.htm
don't want to do the math? try here
http://www.shapefit.com/dailycalorie-calc.html
and another
http://www.caloriesperhour.com/index_burn.html
Now take one day and consider how many calories you normally eat, when you feel hungry and when you do not. Now if you are saying " But Moe, I am not hungry when I wake up, in fact I am not hungry till lunch or even later" then something is very wrong with your metabolism and you need to eat MORE! Remember it is not always about eating less. Yes people ( that's right I said YOU PEOPLE) who skip meals can still be gain weight, in fact MORE WEIGHT because their body dines on muscle stores while they feel proud they have not eaten yet....hence fat is stored and muscle destroyed.
So, today if you are trying to change and have no damn idea where to start, this is an excellent starting point.....time to EAT!!