The average person eats when they’re hungry. If they get hungry at night, they’ll go find something in the refrigerator. Then when they wake up the next morning and don’t feel like eating, they’ll skip breakfast and head off to school or work.

Unfortunately, if you’re serious about change the look of your body, this pattern of instinctive eating isn’t going to work out very well. The body responds best to a tightly scheduled eating program. Consistency is the most important factor to apply to any diet when the goal is to lose fat.

When you commit to eating 6 small meals spaced approximately every 3 hours apart throughout the day, your metabolism remains stimulated. If you go off schedule and skip a meal or wait too long before the next feeding, blood sugar levels can drop. Then, when you eat that next meal, blood sugars can elevate too much and some of those calories might be stored as fat. Keeping a consistent eating schedule allows blood sugars to remain fairly stable.

Eating 6 meals a day, every day, and sticking to similar types of food providing a balance of quality proteins and complex carbohydrates will promote positive changes to your physique. Your metabolism will stay stimulated, helping to reduce body fat. The important point is to stay on schedule and keep your calories in check.