How many meal should I have per day

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andrewchater1988
andrewchater1988 Posts: 6 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm currently eat breakfast , lunch , and tea but I not meeting my calories goal any tips
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  • Artemiris
    Artemiris Posts: 189 Member
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    Eat more meals or eat bigger meals. As long as you reach your calories it does not matter in how many meals you divide your food.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    However many you want. If you aren't meeting your goals but want to keep to those three, add in some calorie dense items.
  • SingRunTing
    SingRunTing Posts: 2,604 Member
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    However many works for you is the right amount.

    I do the best with three larger meals and one evening snack. But I know others who do better with six small meals a day. You really need to do some trial and error.
  • mydade
    mydade Posts: 14 Member
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    The general rule is to eat five meals a day. Those five meals should include 3 bigger ones and 2 snacks. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are considered bigger meals and snacks are: the one between breakfast and lunch and the one between lunch and dinner. The most important rules of all is you stick to the saying: have your breakfast like a king, have your lunch like a prince, and have your dinner like a poor man. In other words, breakfast should be the richest meals of all. Eat less for lunch and dinner. For a snack, take small portions, for example fruits and nuts. If you feel like 5 meals a day are too much for you, you don't have to include snacks in your plan. But never skip breakfast.
  • hamlet1222
    hamlet1222 Posts: 459 Member
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    I find the traditional 3 main meals + afternoon tea does the job.
    This is my typical eating plan, which I find allows me to hit my macros and calorie goal without too much hunger or low blood sugar 'shakes':
    8 am Breakfast - cereal, coffee, protein shake - 500 calories
    10:30 am Cappuccino - 100 calories
    12:30pm Lunch - soup+roll/baked potato + beans/sandwiches - 300-500 calories
    4pm - porridge + tea/coffee - 100 calories - this is critical, if I miss this then getting to 7:30 for dinner is a real struggle, and I really feel hunger and shakes coming on.
    7:30pm - dinner - pizza, pasta, fish, beef,... 400-600 calories
    10pm protein shake (if below protien target) - 100 calories.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    mydade wrote: »
    The general rule is to eat five meals a day. Those five meals should include 3 bigger ones and 2 snacks. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are considered bigger meals and snacks are: the one between breakfast and lunch and the one between lunch and dinner. The most important rules of all is you stick to the saying: have your breakfast like a king, have your lunch like a prince, and have your dinner like a poor man. In other words, breakfast should be the richest meals of all. Eat less for lunch and dinner. For a snack, take small portions, for example fruits and nuts. If you feel like 5 meals a day are too much for you, you don't have to include snacks in your plan. But never skip breakfast.

    This is all personal preference. Dinner is always my biggest meal, and there are many who don't eat breakfast.
  • gramarye
    gramarye Posts: 586 Member
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    mydade wrote: »
    The most important rules of all is you stick to the saying: have your breakfast like a king, have your lunch like a prince, and have your dinner like a poor man. In other words, breakfast should be the richest meals of all. Eat less for lunch and dinner. For a snack, take small portions, for example fruits and nuts. If you feel like 5 meals a day are too much for you, you don't have to include snacks in your plan. But never skip breakfast.

    Not accurate. I skip breakfast on occasion, and only have a small breakfast most days -- a big breakfast is just wasted calories to me, because unless it's particularly heavy (we're talking 800-1200 calories worth of food) I'm still going to be hungry again at 10:30. It's a lot more important for me to ensure that I have adequate fat and protein in the breakfast, which I find works to keep me from getting ravenous.

    OP, meal timing is whatever works for your body, schedule, and mental health. I do a small breakfast and a small or medium lunch, because I want at least half (if not more) of my calories left for the evening. I cook heavy dinners, go out with friends, that sort of thing. It works for me.

    Adding snacks to the day can help pad out calories. Eat full-fat versions of things. There are lots of ways to meet your calorie goals, if you find you're not hitting that number.
  • kissedbythesunshine
    kissedbythesunshine Posts: 416 Member
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    You're needing more calories?...a couple of bites of peanut butter will do the trick.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,707 Member
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    However many you prefer. If calories are your issue, than eat more calorie dense foods.

    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
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  • shellygw
    shellygw Posts: 33 Member
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    I am very new at this but have noticed that I have more trouble fighting my cravings if I allow myself to get 'too' hungry. My best days are when I have something every 2-3 hours. Bigger meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and something small in between. Not having any problems staying within my calories and am now fine-tuning my choices to meet my nutrient goals (way under in iron-usually 1/2, and way over in sodium).
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
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    Somewhere between 1 & 10.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
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    mydade wrote: »
    The general rule is to eat five meals a day. Those five meals should include 3 bigger ones and 2 snacks...

    Whose general rule?


    mydade wrote: »
    ...The most important rules of all is you stick to the saying: have your breakfast like a king, have your lunch like a prince, and have your dinner like a poor man...

    Many studies have proven that nutrient timing is irrelevant. Eat the appropriate number of calories in however many meals are best in terms of satiety and adherence (and performance, if you're an athlete - the one exception where timing has some degree of relevance).


    mydade wrote: »
    ...But never skip breakfast.

    ...unless you don't like eating breakfast, in which case it's perfectly fine to skip it. The metabolism works 24 hours a day and will happily accept and process food whenever you take it in. The hokum about breakfast "jump starting your metabolism" is exactly that - hokum. Many people practice IF (intermittent fasting), in which they consume all their meals within a 4, 6, 8, etc. hour window every day, and still progress fine in terms of weight loss, fitness and overall health. Your body doesn't know what time it is when you eat.


    To the OP - eat however many meals a day work best for you. If you're having trouble getting your calories in, eat larger meals or eat more often, whichever will get it done. It doesn't matter what time you eat them or how much you eat at each meal. Don't make it more complicated than it has to be.
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
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    I like 4 (3 + a small snack) because more than that involves way more planning & work than I'm up for, and fewer isn't comfortable (for me).

  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
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    If you need more calories, eat some nuts or make some bacon.
  • frankiesgirlie
    frankiesgirlie Posts: 669 Member
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    malibu927 wrote: »
    mydade wrote: »
    The general rule is to eat five meals a day. Those five meals should include 3 bigger ones and 2 snacks. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are considered bigger meals and snacks are: the one between breakfast and lunch and the one between lunch and dinner. The most important rules of all is you stick to the saying: have your breakfast like a king, have your lunch like a prince, and have your dinner like a poor man. In other words, breakfast should be the richest meals of all. Eat less for lunch and dinner. For a snack, take small portions, for example fruits and nuts. If you feel like 5 meals a day are too much for you, you don't have to include snacks in your plan. But never skip breakfast.

    This is all personal preference. Dinner is always my biggest meal, and there are many who don't eat breakfast.

    What she said:
    I'm the person that if I start by eating breakfast it makes me tired all day, plus I tend to obsess about food every waking hour. I tried the 5 meals a day and felt like when the 3-4 hour time came around and I was supposed to eat again that I still had food in my stomach from the last!!
    It's all a very personal thing, and as long as your calories hit your goal then it doesn't matter when you eat them. I also look at my weekly average for calorie net instead of daily because your appetite can vary so much day to day, and a deficit is a deficit whether it's over a days time or over a weeks time , and you will lose weight when eating at a deficit.
  • pondee629
    pondee629 Posts: 2,469 Member
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    How many meals? 2 to constant grazing, as long as you are under your calorie goal. You should keep tabs on your Macros, also
  • frankiesgirlie
    frankiesgirlie Posts: 669 Member
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    malibu927 wrote: »
    mydade wrote: »
    The general rule is to eat five meals a day. Those five meals should include 3 bigger ones and 2 snacks. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are considered bigger meals and snacks are: the one between breakfast and lunch and the one between lunch and dinner. The most important rules of all is you stick to the saying: have your breakfast like a king, have your lunch like a prince, and have your dinner like a poor man. In other words, breakfast should be the richest meals of all. Eat less for lunch and dinner. For a snack, take small portions, for example fruits and nuts. If you feel like 5 meals a day are too much for you, you don't have to include snacks in your plan. But never skip breakfast.

    This is all personal preference. Dinner is always my biggest meal, and there are many who don't eat breakfast.

    Outdated information.period.
  • frankiesgirlie
    frankiesgirlie Posts: 669 Member
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    Meant to say eating a big breakfast is outdated information. Time of day you eat your main meal is totally personal preference and has no bearing on weigh loss.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    Diabetics are to eat every few hours and their longest fast is from bedtime to breakfast. Diabetics should never skip breakfast. But as far as I can see around the globe, eating frequency is a cultural affair rather than a rule.

    If you are having trouble eating enough, try carrying around a couple of protein bars or nut snacks around with you during the day.
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
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    I prefer to eat a snack mid afternoon and then a HUGE dinner. That way i can go to bed full and i can eat a large portion of food at one time.

    Ultimately it's whatever works for you as far as hunger levels, energy levels, and whether or not you can maintain it long term. :)

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