"Forget about lunch -- I just don't have time to eat today. Meeting at 11, dentist appointment at 12:30, daycare by 2:30 ­ there's just no time. Anyway, I'm watching my weight!" Sound familiar?

Whether you want to lose 15 pounds before your class reunion or five pounds before your sister's wedding, trying to restrict the number of calories you eat by skipping meals will often backfire. "Going too long without a meal often results in uncontrolled eating," says Anne Linge, registered dietitian at the University of Washington Medical Center-Roosevelt. "People who skip meals usually end up snacking throughout the day. Those snacks often contain more calories than a normal meal." Another danger of skipping meals is overeating at the next one.

Unhealthy weight-control practices, including skipping meals, were reported by a significant percentage of participants in a recent study of 1,000 men and women. In fact, 22% of the women and 17% of the men reported at least one unhealthy weight control behavior in the year preceding the study. While researchers found healthy methods of weight control within the study population encouraging, they expressed concern about the number of men and women using unhealthy practices. Skipping meals may actually work against the body's normal metabolic processes. When we start skipping meals, our bodies go into starvation mode, and the body becomes more efficient at using calories. In fact, people who skip meals typically burn calories 7 to 10% more slowly than those who don't. In people who skip meals and then overeat at subsequent meals, this change in metabolism makes it even harder to burn the extra calories.

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