Many people find themselves stuck in a weight loss dilemma: they feel like they gain weight whenever they eat, but if they skip meals or eat too little, they're left feeling weak and low on energy. Dr Neha Shah, obesity and weight loss specialist, co-founder of The Good Weight, explains how to nourish your body without compromising your fitness goals.

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Usually it's a big plate, heavy on carbs, because by then you're genuinely starving. And here's where it gets counterproductive — your insulin has to spike hard just to deal with that sudden glucose load, and because your system's still running on conserve, a chunk of that energy gets parked as fat rather than used. So eating isn't the villain in this story. The starve, then-binge pattern is.

Dr Neha suggested not letting the gap stretch too long. Four hours, roughly, is the ceiling before you eat something again. Not a full meal necessarily — a boiled egg, a glass of buttermilk, a small fistful of nuts. Skip too many of these small check-ins, and you'll walk into your next real meal too hungry to eat it sensibly. Move, even just a little, against resistance.

Whether your metabolism stays sharp or slows into a crawl over the years comes down largely to how much muscle you're carrying. Cardio alone doesn't protect that. Some form of resistance work does — even two short sessions a week move the needle.

Real hunger, the kind that shows up on schedule rather than out of stress or boredom, is information your body's giving you. Not something to override. The right balance was never eating less or eating more. It's eating consistently enough that your body stops bracing for the next gap.

Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.