What Really Happens to Your Body When You Skip Meals

When your car runs out of gas, where can it go? No where. When your cell phone runs out of juice, who can you call? No one. When a light bulb burns out, can the lamp still be used? Absolutely not.

Our bodies react the same way when we don't provide them with a proper source of energy. While these are great analogies for what happens to your body when you don't give it enough food, I can provide some personal insight because I've experienced the consequences of skipping meals firsthand. So I'll start with my own experience, and then I'll go into the science so you have a solid understanding of what really happens to your body when you skip meals.

My Story

I graduated college and entered "the real world." When I got my first part-time job in my field, I learned what it meant to work eight-hours straight in the fast paced world of my chosen career. The first week, I was out and about every afternoon, then running back to the office to meet a deadline, not even thinking about how I barely ate breakfast because my hair and makeup took precedence (of course), and skipped right past lunch in order to finish all of my work. That's the time I hit my downward spiral, starting a routine of skipping meals.

My body revolted, and let me tell you — "hangry" isn't just a word I use to describe my boyfriend when he gets into one of his moods. It's uncontrollable.

While I spent as much time at the gym as I could, building a strong, healthy body, skipping meals meant my body started to feed on my muscle. Slowly but surely, I felt a difference in my day-to-day attitude. I wanted to sleep more, I had frequent headaches, I felt tired all of the time, I wanted to go to the gym less and less. Not to mention, all of my clothes started to look like sacks draping over my body (although, Kayne would have been into it).

I still remember the day my baby sister came up to me and asked why my face was so white. This was mid summer and I'm full Italian, so there was absolutely no reason for it. I remember all of the times my boyfriend commented, saying I needed to "get some meat on your bones." When I used to look fit and athletic, and then I just felt weak and impaired… it took a toll on my mind.

I was miserable, but I couldn't figure out how to get my eating habits back on track and still manage my hectic schedule. I learned the hard way that my extra-grande-mocha-whatever-you call-it caffeine source could not fill the void of a well balanced meal. The worst part was that the longer it took for me to get my eating habits back on track, the more my stomach shrunk, which made it even harder for me to get the nutrition that I needed.

Getting back on track hasn't been easy. It takes will power and planning. I just hope that by reading this, you realize that skipping a meal is never the answer, whether you're trying to lose weight, or simply don't prioritize nutrition, as I did. The day you start skipping meals is the day your body will begin responding like this:

Unhealthy weight loss

"One of the most common misconceptions about skipping meals is that by skipping meals, you save on calories and ultimately lose weight. Unfortunately, it's not that simple," says Lindsay Salvatore, R.D., a dietician in southern New Jersey. When you skip meals, your body goes into shock, storing all food you consume and turning it into fat. And it starts with your muscle.

"Going long periods without any food can [also] cause muscle breakdown aka catabolism. Long term damage can be lowered muscle mass, which can increase fat stores, which can lead to a number of health issues," says Michael Doehla, a nutrition specialist with the National Academy of Sports Medicine. So, despite seeing weight loss, more fat is being produced to protect your body from the loss of muscle.

And then unhealthy weight gain

Unfortunately, once the damage is done, it's not just a quick fix. According to Salvatore, "when you start to eat normally again, you gain weight in the form of fat, so you're really setting yourself back." Skipping meals can lead to overcompensating and overeating, which according to a study published in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, means weight gain. The American Heart Association has found that it's common for those who skip meals during the day to eat larger meals in the evening, which can cause higher BMIs. Overeating also causes sugar levels to spike. Your body will crash instead of feeling better, like you think it will. The insulin response to bring your sugars back down to a healthy level causes it to overcorrect by bringing it down as fast as you brought it up.

Your brain turns into a fuzzy tv screen

You lose your ability to work properly, and can feel lightheaded and unfocused — seemingly out of no where. Your body needs essential nutrients to produce brain power, and without those sugars, electrolytes and sodium everything can get foggy. "Vitamins and minerals play a huge part in our everyday functions that without them we feel sick all the time with headaches or stomach aches or many other common ailments," warns Salvatore. "When you're tired due to skipping meals, you lack the mental motivation and physical motivation to be active and make healthy food choices. People who skip meals will often make up for calories in the form of unhealthy foods later in the day, only making them even more tired and unmotivated."

Who wants to look frail and pale?

You can't hide the fact that you have unhealthy eating habits, and according to an Australian study, those who skip meals consume way less vitamins and minerals as they need. Those vitamins and minerals not only help with weight gain and loss, as mentioned before, but they also provide the shine and bounce in your hair and the glow in your skin – among other things. If you're not eating enough fats and proteins throughout your day, your body can't even use some of the vitamins you may intake when you attempt to make up for skipped meals.

Queue potentially severe outcomes...

It's important to note that skipping meals in an effort to lose weight can potentially lead to an eating disorder. As you adjust to the day-to-day lifestyle of skipping meals, it rewires your brain and eventually it's no longer a priority to eat at all. "One skipped meal every now and then leads to a skipped meal every day, which leads to skipped meals multiple times per day. At some point anorexia may be diagnosed and the individual would have to undergo treatment to not only literally save their life, but to then work to repair their relationship with food," explains Doehla.

According to the National Eating Disorders Association, many young adults end up with eating disorders after looking for an alternative weight loss option. As already stated, skipping meals is not a proper way of dieting or weight loss. A recommendation on the NEDA's website states that the AAP (The American Academy of Pediatrics) is, "discouraging dieting, skipping of meals or the use of diet pills; promoting a positive body image by promoting a balanced diet and exercising for fitness rather than weight loss."

So, if you just don't have time, make time — plan your meals in advance. If you want to lose weight, hit the gym, eat multiple small meals a day, give your body the nutrients and energy it's craving. You'll find the outcome makes you feel happier, energized, and gives you the results you want to stay healthy.

Your Fitness Level May Determine How Much You Sweat

People in great shape can actually sweat more.

If you’ve ever wondered why you’re always drenched in sweat at the end of a boot camp class while your friend is barely glistening, fret not. Your heavy sweating could be a sign that you’re physically fit.

Research shows that fit individuals, especially those who train for endurance sports like running and cycling, sweat sooner and more profusely than people who rarely get physical.

The primary purpose of sweat is to cool the surface of the skin, which helps to regulate body temperature, explained Dr. Carolyn Dean of the Nutritional Magnesium Association. 

“Sweat is one of the main ways of preventing your core temperature from climbing to dangerous or harmful levels,” she said.

The process goes like this: When you overheat, your body signals its sweat (eccrine) glands to start producing sweat on the surface of the skin. As the sweat droplets heat up, some of the sweat evaporates, effectively dissipating heat and leaving behind cooler liquid sweat.

As we move, the air around us works to cool the remaining water on our skin.

“When you’re fit, you’re able to work harder, generate more power, and sustain that power for longer time periods,” said Dean. “Most of this power output generates heat, [which] means you [can] generate a lot of heat in a very short period of time and for a longer duration.”

In other words, fit people sweat sooner and more because they develop a faster response that reduces their core body temperature as they heat up, said physical therapist and strength trainer William P. Kelley.

“Your body gets better at reacting to the increase in temperature, and [thus] begins cooling you sooner and more efficiently, so you can maintain a greater workload for a greater period of time,” he said.

People who have a low level of fitness, on the other hand, may stay drier during workouts than people with a higher level of fitness because they haven’t trained their bodies to recognize a high energy output and subsequently initiate the proper cooling response.

This isn’t a hard and fast rule, though: How much you sweat during any given workout depends on the amount of energy you’re exerting.

Regardless of your fitness level, if you’re exercising at an intense rate that pushes you close to your VO2 max (or maximal oxygen consumption), “the more heat you’ll create and the more you’ll sweat,” said Dean.

Therefore, someone who is less fit may start sweating sooner than a trained athlete when doing the same workout at the same pace (like running for 20 minutes at 10 minutes per mile). In effect, the less-fit person would have to exert more energy than a trained athlete would to complete the same exercise, and would thus reach their VO2 max much earlier, causing them to sweat more quickly.

If, on the other hand, a fit person and an unfit person are each working out to their individual VO2 max (let’s say that means 8 minutes per mile for the fit person and 10 minutes per mile for the less-fit person), logic follows that the fit person would sweat sooner because their body is more efficient at lowering their core temp. 

Another factor that influences sweating is body mass. Someone with a higher body mass has to work harder to perform the same task as someone with a lower body mass, Kelley explains. The greater energy exertion effectively raises that person’s body temperature and causes them to sweat more.

Dean also said overweight individuals can produce a lot of sweat from very low activity levels, like climbing a flight of stairs or taking a short walk.

“The core temperature of obese people is higher because fat acts as an insulator, so they sweat more to try to cool down,” she said.

Environmental factors also contribute to your sweat level ― anyone who has gone jogging in a humid climate can attest to that. 

“The higher the humidity, the greater the water vapor density already in the air, so more sweating needs to occur in order to get an adequate amount of evaporation for body cooling,” said Kelley.

High temperatures only contribute to the problem, he added, since hot air can’t cool the sweat on your skin as quickly as chilly air can.

A dip in blood sugar level can also lead to greater sweat levels, according to Dean.

“When blood sugar levels drop below normal, your adrenaline and norepinephrine kick in (fight or flight response), which causes sweating while exercising or at rest,” she said.

Fitness, body type and environmental reasons aside, there are myriad other factors that drive sweat rates. Dean says sweating can be a reaction to drinking alcohol or coffee, wearing restrictive synthetic clothing, or taking certain medications that affect your ability to tolerate heat. Other factors might include dehydration, menopausal hot flashes, an overactive thyroid gland, genetics, nerve issues or disorders, and skin diseases.

“[How much you sweat] is an important characteristic to learn about yourself to optimize physical performance and prevent heat illness,” said Dr. Robert Sallis, co-director of the Kaiser Permanente Sports Medicine Fellowship Program at Fontana Medical Center.

The important thing to remember? Replace sweat with water and electrolytes.

You can roughly calculate your sweat rate by weighing yourself before and after you workout (aim for 30 minutes to one hour of high-intensity exercise). A good rule of thumb is to drink 16 ounces of fluid for every hour you exercise if you lose about a pound after a gym session.

If you plan to exercise in hot or humid conditions, Sallis said, you need to know how much water to drink to avoid dehydration. If you can, break your fluid intake into smaller segments (like four ounces every 15 minutes) to stay hydrated early on, advised Sallis.