Is it okay to snack all day with no real meals?

Veriee

Hi!

I've been finding it difficult to plan portable, balanced and yummy meals. So I end up snacking, and I know it's calories in vs calories out but something about eating bars/nuts/other munchy stuff seems counterproductive. I'm at school from 10 am to 10 pm Monday and Wednesday (yes, there's a salad bar and cafeteria with healthy options, but if I ate my meals and snacks from there I'd be spending around $30 through out the day; and that's if I'm being fiscally cautious.) Then I'm at work Thursday, Friday and Sunday from noon-9. Luckily here we have a fridge! But I can only bring so much lol. It's not uncommon for me to go my school/work days without a meat or vegetable Anyone with similar schedules/life styles just munch all day (while still tracking calories, of course)?

ninerbuff

CICO for weight loss/gain/maintenance. If you're looking for better health though, you SHOULD be trying to reach your daily macro/micro nutrient goals. How you do that doesn't matter (meals or snacks).

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

rnohou2010

Conventional wisdom would be to eat 3-5 meals per day, but hey, whatever works for you. Everyone's different. I'll probably catch some flak for this response.

malibu927

As long as you're eating under maintenance, you'll lose weight. Is it possible to pack some quick meals or leftovers to heat up (assuming your school's cafeteria has a microwave, like mine does) when you have a chance?

Monklady123

Yes you can just snack all day. Just be sure you're snacking on nutritious food. Sometimes I eat like this if I'm working all day then have a meeting or church activity or on-call hours (at a local hospital)... I pack stuff like:
-- hard boiled egg
-- raw veggies
-- hummus
-- guacamole (individual packs of Wholly Guacamole)
-- yogurt
-- nuts
-- fruit -- you can buy canned fruit if you don't want to deal with fresh or if it's not in season, just be sure to buy the kind packed in juice not syrup. But also remember the juice has calories if you're going to drink that too.
-- salads
-- beans
-- lunch meat
-- peanut butter

None of that needs to be refrigerated except maybe the lunch meat, so I might eat that for lunch (no need for the refrigerator between when I leave home and when I eat it). I'm a substitute teacher during the daytime so depending on what kind of job I have I might only have 20 minutes to eat, go to the bathroom, check emails, etc. (teachers are saints by the way...) so I'll just snack throughout the day -- when the kids are at lunch, when they're at gym or art, at dismissal, etc.

jakegold

I eat six meals a day, almost every two hours. So small snacks throughout the day would probably also work.

jgnatca

Diabetics must eat on a schedule but you have no such restriction. Snacks add up quickly. Log them.

Kalikel

It's okay with me!

rileysowner

As long as you stay within your calorie goal the number of meals makes no difference. Frankly, if I snacked all day I would keep eating far over my goal, but if it works for you, go for it.

ashbee03

I don't see it being a problem as long as your snacks have nutritional value.

RodaRose

You are 100% fine