A stressful schedule can make you forget the last time you had a snack, let alone a meal. That said, some people miss meals in the form of intermittent fasting, a way of dieting in which you can eat anything you want, but only over a particular period of time.

Skipping meals the right way, also called intermittent fasting, can have amazing health effects, such as weight loss. Yet these are two very different things: skipping a meal and intermittent fasting.

Skipping meals to deny or punish yourself-or that you're too distracted to eat-is different from fasting to control cravings and practice mindful eating. In general, neglecting eating has harmful effects on health.

Is it worth-skipping dinner?

Dinner is one of the most important meals of the day since it gives the body enough nutrients and stamina to conduct all the body's functions properly, so when you miss your dinner, you end up feeling lethargic and weak, which can further disrupt your sleep cycle.

Interestingly, consuming a balanced meal and managing a healthy distance between dinner and sleep will potentially help you lose weight and improve your metabolism. In reality, this further helps to develop good immunity.

According to nutritionists and fitness experts, it is not at all a good idea to skip a meal or any other meal of the day just to stay in shape. In fact, it just makes you feel more hungry, and you end up eating two meals and miss one. In addition, this affects the metabolism and contributes to unnecessary bloating.

Portion management and balanced eating are therefore more important for a sustained healthy diet. In reality, fad diets can help you lose weight, but they're not a safe way to handle weight in the long run.

What happens when you skip a meal?

First, your blood sugar drops, which interrupts your ability to think straight. The brain needs glucose to operate effectively, and if there is not enough glucose for the brain to use, the body does not function fully.

Skipping meals can also slow down your metabolism, which can induce weight gain or make it difficult to lose weight.

Mind the gap

A healthy gap between dinner and sleep can improve your metabolism and give your body plenty of time to break down food molecules and absorb nutrients. This further helps to maintain a healthy cycle of weight loss.

In order not to skip dinner, practice planning your meals ahead of time. This also helps to prevent over-eating on the next meal.