Leading a more sedentary lifestyle could ruin your diet, too...people don't realize that when they quit exercising, they have to adjust what they eat to compensate if they want to keep healthy and keep their figure. Even walking 15 minutes a day away from work/school, etc, on your own time, is a good way to start balancing out your health needs.

So we are told that we should be eating 6 small meals a day...wouldn't that include a mid-morning snack??? Also, how is the time difference between breakfast and lunch any different than the time difference between lunch and dinner??? I typically eat breakfast at 7:30 and lunch at noon. That is 4.5 hours. And then the time between finishing lunch, 12:30, and eating dinner at 5:30 is 5 hours. Almost the same amount of time between meals! But yet snacking in the afternoon is ok. This article is ridiculous!

Eat when you are hungry. Don't listen to all the conflicting advise from "experts".

I think it depends on what you are snacking on between meals. I recently lost 54 pounds and hit my goal of 160 pounds by changing the way I eat, what I eat, and my activity level.

I eat six times a day...

1. Breakfast: Usually cereal with 1% milk.
2. Mid-Morning Snack: One full orange.
3. Lunch: Turkey, tuna, or grilled chicken sandwich.
4. Mid-Afternoon Snack: One green apple.
5. Dinner: Chicken, fish, or meat with salad/veggies.
6. Night Snack: Fresh berries, green apple, or other fruit.

Activity...

• 1 hour of exercise (cardio or light weights) 4 times a week.

I've never felt better and am the healthiest I have ever been in my life. I don't suffer either. I treat myself every now and then on the weekends but don't go overboard - taste everything, eat nothing. I also don't cut out carbs which your body needs for energy. It all depends on what you are willing to do to get and stay healthy.

If you have breakfast at 6am, a snack at 10am is not unreasonable, with lunch at 12:00 noon. As long as it is a healthy snack and helps maintain your energy and sugar levels you should listen to your body.

The 'study' doesn't mention how many of the women kept the weight off. I'll bet the ones who didn't snack in the morning and lost 11% of their body weight were more likely to gain the weight back than the ones who snacked and lost 7%, but as we now in the diet industry, it's quantity not quality that's important. We're constantly told to lose weight and when we gain it back, do something else to lose weight. Being able to keep the weight off doesn't put money in the pockets of the diet gurus.

I cut out my morning snack and I have gained weight.

I'm really tired of diet related articles during the holiday season.

Basic fact #1: No diet, slush, pill, smoothie will cause a healthy weight loss.

Basic fact #2: If you exercise 3-4 times a week for 2.5 hours every month, year after year and you eat sensibly you don't have to ever include diet in your vocabulary.

If for some reason I bottom out after breakfast I will eat a sensible snack I don't worry about it because I apply #2 above. Aerobic and weight training will maintain a healthy weight. I absolutely hate quick fixes and diets which are sold and pushed during this time of year. They are unhealthy. Get out and exercise.

Quick weight loss is dangerous and not effective. A person who loses 40-60 pounds quickly and does not exercise muscle groups will get that weight back on and more.

The other reason I don't like this article: diabetics have to eat small healthy snack between meals.

All these diet ideas just pours more money into diet companies from desperate people. Sign up at a club, and exercise 3-4 times a week and forget about diets. I snack when I want to and I maintain my weight very well.

http://www.skyhighway.com/~turtleway/Articles/expectations.html

$40 billion dollars a year Americans pay to the diet industry. I had to look it up-and that is totally ridiculous!

Get out and exercise for your sake and save money. My gosh. What is wrong with people. Aeorobic and weight training, 3-4 times a week for 2.5 hours, month after month, year after year-DO IT! I am so so tired of seeing obese people crying about what diet they need to take to lose weight-and they never lose it BECAUSE they want a quick fix and can't get their lazy asses up to go exercise.

As a health professional I have become more blunt with people relating to weight. Either exercise, lose the weight through exercise or suffer the consequences of Type 2 diabetes and coronary disease. Lose the weight through exercise or die. That simple. I'm done coddling people-if people got out and exercised the diet industry would just fold. The solution is that simple-get out and move.