Tips on snacking/small meals

Annamarie3404

I am switching from the traditional 3 meals a day to 5 or 6 small meals throughout the day. I'm having a little trouble coming up with small meal ideas. Does anyone have this type of diet, and if so, what is your menu like in a typical day? My main objective is to lose 20 lbs by June. I was hoping to look at someone's menu and see what they eat
Thanks.

Clobern80

Honestly, why not take what you normally eat in the 3 meals and split it up into 6? Eat half of your breakfast, then the other... same with lunch and dinner. Seems that may be the best way.

Otherwise, just make smaller portions of each of those meals and throw in snacks in between. There aren't any specific recipes, you just need to utilize the food you make in a way that splits it up or make only half of that specific recipe. You may end up eating the same thing more than one day, but it really is the best way I can think of.

kommodevaran

Why do you want to eat 5 or 6 instead of 3 meals a day?

Annamarie3404

kommodevaran wrote: »

Why do you want to eat 5 or 6 instead of 3 meals a day?

Because a LOT of people lose weight by eating more frequent and smaller meals throughout the day. For me, it's a long time between meals if I only have 3. I never eat at the exact same time every day.

AnvilHead

Annamarie3404 wrote: »

kommodevaran wrote: »

Why do you want to eat 5 or 6 instead of 3 meals a day?

Because a LOT of people lose weight by eating more frequent and smaller meals throughout the day. For me, it's a long time between meals if I only have 3. I never eat at the exact same time every day.

A LOT of people lose weight eating only one or two meals a day too (Google "Intermittent Fasting"). Meal timing has absolutely nothing to do with weight loss. Here's a great thread discussing it, with links to peer-reviewed studies showing that meal frequency/timing is irrelevant.

lorrpb

Eating more frequently won't in and of itself make you lose more weight. But it definitely can help reduce cravings, increase satiety, increase energy, and stabilize your glucose. Try to have a little protein and a little carbs each time you eat. I like protein shakes with fruit blended in, fruit & cheese, PB on rice cake or toast, dried fruit & nuts, yogurt, etc. Be diligent about tracking your calories while making this transition because it can be easy to consume more than you think you are.

shrcpr

Agree that it's not necessary but I eat this way because it's my preference and I hate feeling full. My diary is open but will likely be absolutely no help, though, because I exist mainly on protein shakes, bars, yogurt, and eggs. I'm just not a foodie (before someone gets snarky and asks why I'm trying to lose weight it's because I drink too dang much).

Some suggestions for around 300-350 calories.
6 oz. chicken breast or fish on low-carb tortilla - add in some berries (love berries because you can eat a lot of them for not a lot of calories) or other fruit or vegetable (broccoli is another favorite)
Low-carb tortilla with 2 tbsp. peanut butter
Three scrambled eggs with 2 tbsp. bacon bits
McDonalds egg mcmuffin
Jack in the Box Chicken Fajita Pita
Arby's classic roast beef
Greek yogurt (5.3 oz container) + 28 grams (1 oz) raw almonds

Disclosures: I'm only saying low-carb tortillas because I like them better. And, weigh the PB, bacon bits and nuts because it's super easy to go over with those. I'm not advocating anyone following my way of eating because it's probably not the healthiest. Which is why I take vitamins. Ignore all the wine and whisky in my diary, which I'm really, really trying to cut down on.

lorrpb wrote: »

Eating more frequently won't in and of itself make you lose more weight. But it definitely can help reduce cravings, increase satiety, increase energy, and stabilize your glucose. Try to have a little protein and a little carbs each time you eat. I like protein shakes with fruit blended in, fruit & cheese, PB on rice cake or toast, dried fruit & nuts, yogurt, etc. Be diligent about tracking your calories while making this transition because it can be easy to consume more than you think you are.

Agree with that bolded part above - plus, unless I log right away I can't always remember what meal I'm on. I'm never really full and never really hungry.

allyphoe

Why are you trying to change up a diet (in the sense of "the kinds of foods you eat") that makes you happy and works for you, when you know the actual cause of your weight gain is something else entirely?

If you keep crashing the car because you put your foot on the accelerator too hard and too long, you don't buy a car with better brakes.

AnvilHead

lorrpb wrote: »

Eating more frequently won't in and of itself make you lose more weight. But it definitely can help reduce cravings, increase satiety, increase energy, and stabilize your glucose. Try to have a little protein and a little carbs each time you eat. I like protein shakes with fruit blended in, fruit & cheese, PB on rice cake or toast, dried fruit & nuts, yogurt, etc. Be diligent about tracking your calories while making this transition because it can be easy to consume more than you think you are.

For some people (re: the bolded). Personally, I find that eating multiple small meals leaves me hungry, unsatisfied and cranky all day long. I'd rather eat a small breakfast (or sometimes no breakfast at all other than a cup of coffee), decent lunch and big dinner than snack/graze all day long. Nibbling on small quantities of food all day makes me feel more like I'm "dieting" than eating in a way that's sustainable and satisfying for me.

Bottom line is that timing doesn't matter. Eat in whatever pattern creates the best satiety and adherence for you. If that's 5, 6, 8 meals a day, great; if it's one huge meal a day, that's fine too. Given equal calories, the results will be the same.

lulalacroix

AnvilHead wrote: »

lorrpb wrote: »

Eating more frequently won't in and of itself make you lose more weight. But it definitely can help reduce cravings, increase satiety, increase energy, and stabilize your glucose. Try to have a little protein and a little carbs each time you eat. I like protein shakes with fruit blended in, fruit & cheese, PB on rice cake or toast, dried fruit & nuts, yogurt, etc. Be diligent about tracking your calories while making this transition because it can be easy to consume more than you think you are.

For some people (re: the bolded). Personally, I find that eating multiple small meals leaves me hungry, unsatisfied and cranky all day long. I'd rather eat a small breakfast (or sometimes no breakfast at all other than a cup of coffee), decent lunch and big dinner than snack/graze all day long. Nibbling on small quantities of food all day makes me feel more like I'm "dieting" than eating in a way that's sustainable and satisfying for me.

Bottom line is that timing doesn't matter. Eat in whatever pattern creates the best satiety and adherence for you. If that's 5, 6, 8 meals a day, great; if it's one huge meal a day, that's fine too. Given equal calories, the results will be the same.

+1

Dreysander

I can't do the small meals thing. Tried it for a while and yeah, it makes me crankypants. So I have my 2 / 3 meals a day and feel satisfied.

retrdartist

my nutritionist said .. 5-6 small meals a day... I found eating 3 regular meals and having 2-3 protien shakes at snack time worked best for me... also I usually had sugar free jello or cottage cheese as the 6th meal as a night snack.. before bedtime if needed

cwolfman13

I have three primary meals per day and then small snacks mid morning, mid afternoon, and early evening. my snacks are usually some berries in the morning, apple mid afternoon, and cheese in the evening.

ilex70

I eat pretty much like that. My diary is open. Some of my meals are pretty repetitive, protein bar sometimes with string cheese, apple often with almonds, late snack of Greek yogurt or popcorn. Usually my bigger meal is dinner. When I was working it used to be lunch because I went out for lunch a lot.

WeaselbeanzMum

lulalacroix wrote: »

AnvilHead wrote: »

lorrpb wrote: »

Eating more frequently won't in and of itself make you lose more weight. But it definitely can help reduce cravings, increase satiety, increase energy, and stabilize your glucose. Try to have a little protein and a little carbs each time you eat. I like protein shakes with fruit blended in, fruit & cheese, PB on rice cake or toast, dried fruit & nuts, yogurt, etc. Be diligent about tracking your calories while making this transition because it can be easy to consume more than you think you are.

For some people (re: the bolded). Personally, I find that eating multiple small meals leaves me hungry, unsatisfied and cranky all day long. I'd rather eat a small breakfast (or sometimes no breakfast at all other than a cup of coffee), decent lunch and big dinner than snack/graze all day long. Nibbling on small quantities of food all day makes me feel more like I'm "dieting" than eating in a way that's sustainable and satisfying for me.

Bottom line is that timing doesn't matter. Eat in whatever pattern creates the best satiety and adherence for you. If that's 5, 6, 8 meals a day, great; if it's one huge meal a day, that's fine too. Given equal calories, the results will be the same.

+1

I'm the same, breakfast is only coffee for the same reason.

Totally support the sentiment that it doesn't matter, ultimately, so long as the calories are within target.

If 5 or 6 meals suits you, then fantastic! The only advice would be to make sure you don't lean too heavy on processed instant snack foods. If possible, try and pre-prepare a fridge of nutritionally balanced snacks so you hit all your food group needs and don't start running into protein or vitamin defiencies.