What is better, several small meals or 2-3 big meals a day?

flippy1234

Hi there, What do you think is a better option for losing weight, several small meals a day or 2 to 3 larger meals in a day? Or does it just depend on the person?

Unknown

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DeguelloTex

Yeah. Whatever you want.

zyxst

Eat however often you want, just eat at a calorie deficit and you should lose weight.

Kalikel

Whatever you like. A bunch of little meals works much better for me. I'm never hungry (or stuffed) and it's way easier to work in a bunch of different foods when I have a bunch of little meals, so it's easier to get more vitamins and minerals.

But three-a-day is every bit as good for weight loss as five, six or ten.

flippy1234

Thank you all!

Lourdesong

Depends on the person, and for any person it may just depend on the day.

For me I eat many smaller meals - most of the time. But sometimes small meals won't cut it, and less frequent larger meals does better for me. And sometimes reserving 90% of my calories for the evening is what I need.

Things like this don't need to be set in stone.

OneHundredToLose

I do smaller meals and a couple snacks throughout the day and then a bigger dinner, but that's just so I don't feel hungry throughout the day.

Azurite27

It depends on the person. Whichever keeps you from being too hungry all day long and helps you stay within your daily calories. Personally I prefer to eat smaller portions more frequently, both when I was losing and now that I'm maintaining.

lemurcat12

Whatever you like. I prefer the traditional 3 meal pattern, personally.

Werk2Eat

For me, One big meal at dinner time and one big snack at bed time.

sashayoung72

Lourdesong wrote: »

Depends on the person, and for any person it may just depend on the day.

For me I eat many smaller meals - most of the time. But sometimes small meals won't cut it, and less frequent larger meals does better for me. And sometimes reserving 90% of my calories for the evening is what I need.

Things like this don't need to be set in stone.

Yeah like if you know you are going to have a really big meal at a restaurant then that's when I will eat very little during the day

47Jacqueline

Whatever your prefer. I am best with three meals a day. Otherwise I feel all I'm doing all day is eating.

cwolfman13

meal timing and frequency is largely irrelevant to weight management.

tomatoey

Doesn't matter.

I like three meals plus an evening snack, because I hate prepping or thinking about food for most of the day, also dislike never really being hungry or really being full. Also dislike going to sleep too hungry. So there you have it

MrsCaitlinBeltran

As almost every other poster has said, I think it totally depends on preference.

For example, I prefer to graze throughout the day. I prelog my food--breakfast, lunch, dinner--the night before on MFP, but rarely do I actually eat them in a formal meal manner. I'll eat parts of the "meals" throughout the day. Occassionally, I'll eat one big meal if I'm going out to eat (so as not to go over my calorie allowance), but 90% of the time I graze.

rollerjog

what ever works best for you, i like 3 or 4 meals a day, as long as you get your calories in every day

PinkPixiexox

Whatever works for you
Your body isn't bothered unless it's getting fueled adequately.

Personally, I stick to 3 meals per day and a couple of snacks if necessary. There are some people that swear by eating 5 or 6 small meals - but I just don't have the time to be eating that often (oh, if only )

dubird

TL;DR answer: Whatever works best for you.


Longer answer: number of times a day you eat doesn't matter as long as the sum total doesn't exceed your daily calorie limit. If you wanted to eat 10 small meals a day, that would be fine as long as you split up your calories accordingly. Don't like eating breakfast? It's ok to skip it, that means you have a larger lunch or dinner. Don't like eating more than twice a day? If it works for you, that's fine. IF? Again, if it works for you, go for it. What you should do is look at your day and figure out the times you get hungry and adjust accordingly. For me, I have the same breakfast and keep my lunch under a certain limit (on normal days), so I have extra for dinner with my husband and a late snack since I stay up late. That works for me. It might not work for you. Figure out the times you get hungry, then divide up and set a calorie limit for those times accordingly. It may take some trial and error until you find a pattern that works where you don't get hungry outside of your normal eating times, but once you do, it's surprising how easy it makes things.

M30834134

I share the notion expressed above - the frequency does not matter. As my personal choice, I eat 4 times per day as it fits my schedule

Need2Exerc1se

flippy1234 wrote: »

Hi there, What do you think is a better option for losing weight, several small meals a day or 2 to 3 larger meals in a day? Or does it just depend on the person?

It depends on the person. Some people need to eat often to control blood sugar levels, but if there is no medical reason it all comes down to personal preference.

My preference is one small meal and one large meal per day.