I received the following in a newletter,and thought that I would share it with all of you fellow LCers~
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Can you say "yo-yo dieting"? And it can wreak havoc on your body. A better alternative to starving yourself or skipping meals is to feed your body healthful foods more frequently throughout the day. By eating frequently, you speed up your metabolism due to something called the thermic effect of foods. You see, nutrient-dense foods tend to be more complex. Take proteins for instance. It takes more energy for your body to break proteins down and use them than it does for simpler foods like sugars.

The thermic effect of proteins is the highest of all foods. After eating protein, your metabolic rate will increase by approximately 17 percent to 20 percent. In other words, if you eat 100 calories of protein 17 to 20 calories will be used just to digest the protein! By comparison, the thermic effect of carbohydrates is typically around 10 percent while fat is just 5 percent.

Plus, by eating complex food more frequently--every three hours while awake--your body will better utilize the nutrients you consume because the nutrients are in appropriate quantities to easily break down and use. Too many nutrients ingested at once tends to "over-load" your digestive system, so many valuable nutrients "escape" or are converted to fat.

Frequent, healthy feeding also helps to stabilize blood-sugar levels, which in turn reduces hunger and cravings, puts the brakes on fat storage and reduces the feeling of sluggishness that accompanies big meals. The take-home point is this: eating several small, balanced meals each day is the fastest and most painless way to lose fat and gain muscle tone

Thanks for the information. For those that weren't quite sure how it works that article has really made it crystal clear.