Weight loss- grazing/snacking vs meals

AmandaDanceMore

In an effort to find a way of staying within my calories goals, I'm reevaluating both the way I tend to prefer to eat and also my lifestyle and how that can impact my eating habits. I often feel I am happiest when I eat a little and often, rather than 3 squares a day. Or, maybe more accurately, one "normal" meal, and then graze the majority of the day. I've been really struggling to eat right when I try to aim for a breakfast, lunch, and dinner- I often end up at the end of the day a little short on calories, starving, and bingeing way past what I had left. Part of this is due to time constraints (I work odd hours and tend to be busy busy when not working). A lot of it is just bad planning and weak will power

AmandaDanceMore

For some reason my OP cut out a majority of what I said!

Has anyone had any luck with weight loss eating "snack based" vs "meal based?" I can see pros and cons, but would love some personal experiences.

quiksylver296

You can do whatever works for you, as long as you stay within your calories for the day. Seriously. If it's working, do it!

kommodevaran

I think it's smart of you to eat how you prefer to eat, instead of relying on willpower.

cmriverside

I agree, find the way you like to eat that keeps you happy and makes it relatively easy to stay within your goals.

I tried the snacky way and it totally didn't work for me - I was trying to get a good mix of C/F/P in each snack. I obsessed about the next feed. I was always a little hungry. I finally settled on two largish meals a day, morning and late afternoon/early evening. On exercise days I'll have room for a small (200 cal) snack midday and maybe a little dessert after the evening meal.

I have to feel full. Snacks made it so I never felt full.

YMMV.

tulips_and_tea

I am definitely much more of a snacker / smaller meal person. I don't like to eat large portions so I tend to eat smaller portions more frequently.

Do whatever works for you, but remember, it doesn't have to be 100% one or the other. The point of your exploration and experimentation is finding what fits with your lifestyle long term and some days you may need or want a couple large meals and sometimes you will prefer snacking. Just keep within your calorie goal for the whole week and you should be fine.

cwolfman13

AmandaDanceMore wrote: »

For some reason my OP cut out a majority of what I said!

Has anyone had any luck with weight loss eating "snack based" vs "meal based?" I can see pros and cons, but would love some personal experiences.

It's a personal choice...in and of itself it's irrelevant...it's whatever is going to result in you being consistent..consistency is the key to weight loss and weight management in general.

I personally prefer meals...

JeromeBarry1

I've lost 88 lb this year with my lunch based on the snacks available at work. See my diary. I'll divide a Kind bar into 4 sections and eat 1/4 of the bar each hour to get through half a day. Lately I've been dividing a pack of peanut-butter crackers into 6 hourly snacks to get through a day.

On my days off at home, I have a smaller breakfast and a bigger lunch with less snacking.

lemurcat12

kommodevaran wrote: »

I think it's smart of you to eat how you prefer to eat, instead of relying on willpower.

Yes, this. Paying attention to how YOU react to things is smart and one of the most important skills.

(I hate grazing personally, feel unsatisfied and overeat, but it obviously works for some and you should do what works for you.)

fidangul

Some days I have my proper meals other days I'll be snacking throughout the day with no set meal. And other day it'll be like 2 big meals and late night snacks.... none of these ways of eating have negatively effected my weightloss nor my maintenance. Stick to you calorie allotment and you'll be fine.

JinjoJoey

Stay under your calorie goal, find snacks that keep you satisfied. I've done this for the last year and lost 105lbs. I'll usually have a small bowl of cereal in the morning or a protein bar. I'll eat a small lunch or just a snack, in the late afternoon, like 1-2pm and then have a decent dinner when I get home but always save extra snacking calories. Some nights, I'll have anywhere from 600-1200 calories left after dinner and through the night, I'll have a couple bags of popcorn, another protein bar, maybe even more cereal. It doesn't matter how you do it, just stay under your calories and make sure however you're doing it keeps you satisfied and the weight will drop.

Kristi26

As others have said, do what works for you. I actually have coffee first in the morning, then breakfast awhile later. After that I have lunch followed by an afternoon snack. Then dinner and I end my day with dairy free ice cream every night ( I'm lactose intolerant). It works for me.

crzycatlady1

Meal timing /meal frequency is a preference thing and will vary between people. As long as you're hitting your calorie target then definitely do whatever timing works for you

AmandaDanceMore

Thanks everyone! I'm going to try and experiment with it over the next few days/week and see how I feel. On paper, it seems like a great idea. But we all know how that can go!

jgnatca

I eat much like you. Part of this comes from my diabetic training where I found my blood sugars stay better under control if I eat something small before I get too hungry. I try to keep my snacks at 100 calories and include protein for staying power. This could be a small cube of cheese, half a protein bar, a handful of edamame beans, or tuna and crackers.