How Many Meals for Best Results?
Replies
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Jbach,
As many or few meals as fit your needs.
If you are eating 6 meals a day and it's working, why do you think 3 meals would work better for you? In my opinion- if it ain't broken, no reason to fix it.
On weekdays, I eat six smaller meals a day. On the weekends, I tend to eat three meals a day plus a desert. This just seems to work for me.
Meal timing and/or size has zilch to do with weight loss. It's calories in/calories out.
An article spiked the topic for discussion. It had said that eating many small meals kept insulin up, which might not turn on fat burning enzymes. I have always thought that calories in calories out made sense, but I tend to overanalyze and second guess and constantly think the fat burning processes can be somehow enhanced through timing of meals, macros, ratios, and such.
I don't think calories in and out is the answer when trying to build or maintain muscle while burning fat. A diet of twinkies or just salads would not help me keep the muscle. Lots of sweets could spike insulin. I would need higher protein amounts, but, you are right, I would have to keep the calories consumption lower than calories burned to burn fat. Assuming calories are lower, this article said 3 hours later the gyclogen from meals would be metabolized, and the next two hours would be for fat burning. Then, you have a meal, again.
Is there any truth to the amount of time a body would metabolize the sugars in the blood stream, which then turns on the hunger response?
Calories in/out is the answer to weight loss. Maintaining muscle comes from lifting weights. However, I believe that it is normal to lose some muscle while losing weight/fat (someone, please correct me if I'm wrong).
The remarks I put in bold above are myths. Meal timing has nothing to do with anything when it comes to weight loss or maintaining muscle.
Yes, you are so right. If you want to lose weight, eat whatever you want as long as calories are at a deficit. Grab some donuts. If you want to lose only body fat, however it matters where your calories come from. No myth there.
I eat plenty of ice cream and other things along with plenty of whole foods. It's not 1 extreme or the other. Seems like many people like you can't grasp the meaning of middle ground.
Also, you don't understand the way insulin works based on your earlier post. I suggest you keep reading.
Sorry, you couldn't grasp the point.
We all know 3,500 calories = 1 lbs of bodyfat. If your desire is not to lose muscle, but rather only body fat, would it not stand to reason that you may want to have a decent amount of protein in your diet?
Yes our goal is to minimize lbm loss but when we are obese we will lose some, it's a given. The body has adapted to carrying around all that weight and now it will adapt again.
The leaner we are the smaller the deficit coupled with adequate protein and proper trainer will minimize lbm loss
Thank you for putting more info in, and my apologies if I come across wrong. How much of a deficit is too much? How does one calculate just the right deficit to be eating at? I hear if I consume too few calories, my metabolism will slow down. Right now, I eat 400-600 less than my BMR and burn around 800-1000 in exercising. Will my metabolism slow down or speed up?
From what you are saying, it depends on my leanness. Is there a formula to work off of? For example, if I were x % of body fat, is there a percentage I can go off of to determine the correct caloric defict?0 -
This content has been removed.
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This content has been removed.
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Jbach,
As many or few meals as fit your needs.
If you are eating 6 meals a day and it's working, why do you think 3 meals would work better for you? In my opinion- if it ain't broken, no reason to fix it.
On weekdays, I eat six smaller meals a day. On the weekends, I tend to eat three meals a day plus a desert. This just seems to work for me.
Meal timing and/or size has zilch to do with weight loss. It's calories in/calories out.
An article spiked the topic for discussion. It had said that eating many small meals kept insulin up, which might not turn on fat burning enzymes. I have always thought that calories in calories out made sense, but I tend to overanalyze and second guess and constantly think the fat burning processes can be somehow enhanced through timing of meals, macros, ratios, and such.
I don't think calories in and out is the answer when trying to build or maintain muscle while burning fat. A diet of twinkies or just salads would not help me keep the muscle. Lots of sweets could spike insulin. I would need higher protein amounts, but, you are right, I would have to keep the calories consumption lower than calories burned to burn fat. Assuming calories are lower, this article said 3 hours later the gyclogen from meals would be metabolized, and the next two hours would be for fat burning. Then, you have a meal, again.
Is there any truth to the amount of time a body would metabolize the sugars in the blood stream, which then turns on the hunger response?
Calories in/out is the answer to weight loss. Maintaining muscle comes from lifting weights. However, I believe that it is normal to lose some muscle while losing weight/fat (someone, please correct me if I'm wrong).
The remarks I put in bold above are myths. Meal timing has nothing to do with anything when it comes to weight loss or maintaining muscle.
Yes, you are so right. If you want to lose weight, eat whatever you want as long as calories are at a deficit. Grab some donuts. If you want to lose only body fat, however it matters where your calories come from. No myth there.
I eat plenty of ice cream and other things along with plenty of whole foods. It's not 1 extreme or the other. Seems like many people like you can't grasp the meaning of middle ground.
Also, you don't understand the way insulin works based on your earlier post. I suggest you keep reading.
Sorry, you couldn't grasp the point.
We all know 3,500 calories = 1 lbs of bodyfat. If your desire is not to lose muscle, but rather only body fat, would it not stand to reason that you may want to have a decent amount of protein in your diet?
Yes our goal is to minimize lbm loss but when we are obese we will lose some, it's a given. The body has adapted to carrying around all that weight and now it will adapt again.
The leaner we are the smaller the deficit coupled with adequate protein and proper trainer will minimize lbm loss
Thank you for putting more info in, and my apologies if I come across wrong. How much of a deficit is too much? How does one calculate just the right deficit to be eating at? I hear if I consume too few calories, my metabolism will slow down. Right now, I eat 400-600 less than my BMR and burn around 800-1000 in exercising. Will my metabolism slow down or speed up?
From what you are saying, it depends on my leanness. Is there a formula to work off of? For example, if I were x % of body fat, is there a percentage I can go off of to determine the correct caloric defict?
Why have you decided to eat below your BMR?
What is you supposed TDEE?
How many calories are you consuming per day?
What is your training regimen?
Thank you for the link.
Not being too knowledgeable about the best approach to losing body fat and maintaining lbm, I am falling back on Army days when we were deprived of calories for training, and I lost a lot of weight. Is it bad to eat below BMR? I don't know. Would it slow my metabolism down?
I just figured out what TDEE is. BMR is 2200, so I am eating only 200 below BMR.
TDEE is 3355.
Consuming 2000 per day (or less, sometimes, because I am not hungry with all the protein)
Training: weights heavy 5x8-10, then 40-50 minutes of cardio at anerobic threshold. 6 days per week.
I found a site called scoobyworkshop, and it says I should be about 2600 calories until I drop 5 lbs. is this a good site to use?0 -
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I can't comment on Scooby since I don't frequent that site but many others find it useful.
Rather than simply having someone tell you a blanket statement like "Never eat below BMR" I thinks it's best to look at the individual and ask:
What are the protein requirements for the individual?
What amount of dietary fat? I don't like following the while 20% of daily calories approach. Let's say you calculate calories then you set them way to low, 20% of that could very easily be far off. I lean towards .4-.45g per lb of bodyweight but there is no rule that you can't go higher.
What level of carbs are you comfortable with considering lifestyle, training, what foods you enjoy eating etc. Some like lower carbs, others 150g and I personally know some that can have them close to 300g. I like to hold mine around 175-200g.
Add all those factors together then consider if the amount you got will lead you to have an overly restrictive diet, is it sustainable and are you able to meet your overall needs including getting in your vitamins and minerals.
As far as how large the deficit should be it's all really about where you requirements fall and how much you can handle mentally and physically.
Heavy training would really fall under 1-5 rep range. 8-10 is hypertrophy. Cardio is fine but you need to allow yourself adequate recovery time. Pushing hard all week all the time can lead to injury, especially if your nutrition is poor.
You will have metabolic adaptation over time, we all do. It's inevitable. Worrying about that now is giving yourself an unnecessary headache. The slowdown may fall anywhere between 17-20% but it's not this crashing of a metabolism like so many will cry about. Most of those people just don't know what they are doing to begin with so how can they judge there metabolism efficiency. The things you read that are legit are people that step on stage, then prep for another event, lower calories, step on stage and it becomes a vicious cycle. (Note: Anyone reading this if you want to reply with starvation mode crap, save it. Take it somewhere else or PM me and I'll tell you what I really feel).
Thank you for your insights and directness. I have learned a lot. I can't train heavy 1-5 rep range, right now. It is too hard on my joints. I am over 400 in my bench, again, but it is way too soon. Plus, I don't want to be a power lifter. Just want to get rid of the body fat. Maybe I should up the reps to avoid packing on more muscle. Right now, I've been putting on 4 lbs of muscle per week.0 -
This content has been removed.
-
I can't comment on Scooby since I don't frequent that site but many others find it useful.
Rather than simply having someone tell you a blanket statement like "Never eat below BMR" I thinks it's best to look at the individual and ask:
What are the protein requirements for the individual?
What amount of dietary fat? I don't like following the while 20% of daily calories approach. Let's say you calculate calories then you set them way to low, 20% of that could very easily be far off. I lean towards .4-.45g per lb of bodyweight but there is no rule that you can't go higher.
What level of carbs are you comfortable with considering lifestyle, training, what foods you enjoy eating etc. Some like lower carbs, others 150g and I personally know some that can have them close to 300g. I like to hold mine around 175-200g.
Add all those factors together then consider if the amount you got will lead you to have an overly restrictive diet, is it sustainable and are you able to meet your overall needs including getting in your vitamins and minerals.
As far as how large the deficit should be it's all really about where you requirements fall and how much you can handle mentally and physically.
Heavy training would really fall under 1-5 rep range. 8-10 is hypertrophy. Cardio is fine but you need to allow yourself adequate recovery time. Pushing hard all week all the time can lead to injury, especially if your nutrition is poor.
You will have metabolic adaptation over time, we all do. It's inevitable. Worrying about that now is giving yourself an unnecessary headache. The slowdown may fall anywhere between 17-20% but it's not this crashing of a metabolism like so many will cry about. Most of those people just don't know what they are doing to begin with so how can they judge there metabolism efficiency. The things you read that are legit are people that step on stage, then prep for another event, lower calories, step on stage and it becomes a vicious cycle. (Note: Anyone reading this if you want to reply with starvation mode crap, save it. Take it somewhere else or PM me and I'll tell you what I really feel).
Thank you for your insights and directness. I have learned a lot. I can't train heavy 1-5 rep range, right now. It is too hard on my joints. I am over 400 in my bench, again, but it is way too soon. Plus, I don't want to be a power lifter. Just want to get rid of the body fat. Maybe I should up the reps to avoid packing on more muscle. Right now, I've been putting on 4 lbs of muscle per week.
I thought I gained muscle but I should say LBMass, which is probably just water then. I apologize for being such a dumba$$. I used the wrong terms. I did learn from all your posts, thought, and so thank you for taking the time. I am sorry you feel it wasn't worth it. I appreciate it and all your help. Thanks.0
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