Eating 5x Day Weirdness

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  • RaeBeeBaby
    RaeBeeBaby Posts: 4,245 Member
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    avygyaru wrote: »
    Oh but you guys, seriously. This was just a post to see if the 5 small meals/snacks thing generally makes people hungrier or if I am just obsessing.

    Since this is a big change for you, it's understandable that you would be thinking about food a lot more (what you called obsessing). Before, you just ate what and when you normally did and didn't think about it that much. Give it a few weeks and see how it goes. You spent the time and money to go to a dietician, so give that advice some time to see if it will work.

    I believe that people's metabolisms and meal timing are very subjective. Not everyone is the same. Personally, I eat many times throughout the day (5-7 times). I actually eat a pretty substantial amount BEFORE working out because I have more energy for the workout. I've been told all kinds of things - I'd "burn more fat on an empty stomach" being the main advice. Might be scientifically accurate, but I tried it a few times and ended up feeling dizzy with a bad headache, so that didn't work for me. Like you, my husband is a big coffee drinker and doesn't normally eat before lunchtime. He's thin and fit, so that has been working for him so far. However, lately he's been having some stomach issues and has wondered if it might be due to so much coffee on an empty stomach. He's experimenting now with eating a smallish breakfast mid-morning and cutting back on the coffee a little. Baby steps to see what works.

  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 Member
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    avygyaru wrote: »
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    Is there a specific reason why your dietician recommended that you eat five times a day?

    I have never had good results with eating more frequently -- it just makes me more hungry.

    Because I literally have coffee in place of food all day. "That cup could have been your hummus & veggies. That cup could have been an orange..." With the way I exercise, I should be losing weight so she wants me to work on my metabolism naturally since I have no known disorders.

    Weight loss has nil to do with meal frequency and everything to do with eating at a calorie defict. Track/weigh your food, eat how you choose, stay in a defict and you will lose weight.

  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
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    Meal timing is not important at all. Focus on calories.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    I eat many small meals during the day as @cwolfman13 does and as you are trying to do, OP. Frequent timed meals is something many diabetics do to help keep their sugars normalized.

    It is true that all that eating can consume you sometimes. I have some tips that might help.

    - pick snacks in the 100-200 calorie range that includes a little protein, fiber, and fats. I have a list in my blog linked below. This will keep you full.
    - Get snack size zip locks and pre-portion your snacks so you don't have to think about it as much.
    - To create a calorie deficit one main meal is lighter. I picked lunch. I would have a salad or a soup.

    It does take some planning to try this new way of eating but I promise it does not have to eat up the rest of your life.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/jgnatca/view/mid-day-snacks-722504
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,136 Member
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    avygyaru wrote: »
    jemhh wrote: »
    avygyaru wrote: »
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    Is there a specific reason why your dietician recommended that you eat five times a day?

    I have never had good results with eating more frequently -- it just makes me more hungry.

    Because I literally have coffee in place of food all day. "That cup could have been your hummus & veggies. That cup could have been an orange..." With the way I exercise, I should be losing weight so she wants me to work on my metabolism naturally since I have no known disorders.

    Are you drinking coffee all day and then in the evening eating a bunch?

    Yep. I always thought I could just not eat early so I could have what I want when I get home. Clearly, I thought wrong lol. People keep saying CICO but it's more than that.

    No, it isn't, at least not in terms of weight loss. It is in terms of sticking to a calorie goal, but what I see is you "thinking" you are in a calorie deficit because you drink coffee all day and only eat at night, and that the exercise you do means you should be losing weight.

    First, unless you are tracking everything you eat and drink including anything you may add to your coffee, you don't know. By tracking I mean actually measuring portions, not just estimating. Ideally that would be using a digital food scale for all solids and volume measures (measuring cups and spoons) for liquids. Choosing entries like "Apple, medium" are a complete waste of time as what you may consider a medium apple could be a large one. That is why weighing food is recommended here.

    Second, exercise is not for weight loss, unless it happens to produce the calorie deficit. Most people burn far less calories than they think they do when exercising. Also, the extra calories burned by exercising are often mitigated by a reduction in non-exercise activity, that is, people become less active the rest of the day; or people eat more calories because they think they are burning more than they actually are in their exercise. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with eating the calories one burns in exercise back, but often people will burn say 300 calories through exercise, then go have a muffin which is 400 or more calories meaning they have not actually established a calorie deficit through their exercise, but through their eating have shot right past the extra calories they burned exercising. By the way, that is why logging everything you eat is so important, see my first point.

  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,136 Member
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    avygyaru wrote: »
    Oh but you guys, seriously. This was just a post to see if the 5 small meals/snacks thing generally makes people hungrier or if I am just obsessing.

    It does for me because I prefer big meals. 2-3 big meals a day, while consuming the same number of calories, satisfies me far more than 5-6. Many small meals just leaves me feeling unsatisfied.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,136 Member
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    Since you are so sure CI<CO is not working for you, may I ask how many calories do you think you are eating in a day? How long, and how carefully have you been logging? Are you logging every single thing that is going in your mouth no matter how small the calorie amount for it might be? Are you trusting prepackaged meals to be the size they say they are, assuming your are eating prepackaged meals?

    Frankly, opening your food diary so people can see it may show where things can be tightened up to assure you that the calories you think you are eating are the calories you are actually eating.
  • cityruss
    cityruss Posts: 2,493 Member
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    I think a lot of people would benefit from actually learning a little bit more about "metabolism".

    http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/loseweight/Pages/how-can-I-speed-up-my-metabolism.aspx
  • annaskiski
    annaskiski Posts: 1,212 Member
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    I'm guessing the real issue is multiple 1000 calorie Starbucks type drinks instead of food.
    That's why the nutritionist wants her to eat an orange lol
  • annaskiski
    annaskiski Posts: 1,212 Member
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    That was an excellent article btw @cityruss ...It should be sticky'd somewhere...
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
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    avygyaru wrote: »
    Oh but you guys, seriously. This was just a post to see if the 5 small meals/snacks thing generally makes people hungrier or if I am just obsessing.

    I've never tried it but I think it would make me hungrier. And cause me to obsess over food too much as I typically eat only twice a day.

    But I think it is good to try different things if what you are doing is not working. I'd suggest giving this the old college try. Stick with it long enough to know whether what you are dealing with is just a natural aversion to change or if this also simply doesn't work for you. If it's not then try something else. Keep trying until you find what does work for you.

    Best of luck to you.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
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    annaskiski wrote: »
    That was an excellent article btw @cityruss ...It should be sticky'd somewhere...

    Agreed.
  • amyinthetardis1231
    amyinthetardis1231 Posts: 571 Member
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    A bunch of small meals never really worked for me. It was as much mental as physical but it just felt like a series of unsatisfying small snacks and I thought I was hungry even if I wasn't really. A couple of bigger meals makes me feel more satisfied in all ways.
  • avygyaru
    avygyaru Posts: 51 Member
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    This might be a long rant but I'm not sorry. Of all the comments on this thread, only about 6 people actually answered the question. That's sad and frustrating. It's sad that so many people feel the need to argue/debate metabolism and the diets of strangers who never asked in the first place. It's frustrating because I'm struggling to be polite with some of you.

    And not that my commitment is anyone's business, but if I wasn't serious I wouldn't be spending my hard-earned money on PCP & specialist co-pays and a bigger grocery bill. I am living proof that CICO based on TDEE calculators doesn't work for everyone. Only one person responding seemed to understand that. Medical professionals are telling me to eat almost 1000 calories less than those calculators. So despite all this tracking and weight lifting, I have gained weight following CICO. Not a lot, but enough to seek professional help for accurate numbers. And seriously, fueling my body with food instead of coffee all day is not something I would expect people on MFP to be debating. Do you actually care about health, of is it just a get skinny party? By the logic of some of you snarkier posters, I can starve all day and eat a disgusting ball of grease every day... because CICO. That's not healthy weight loss! Those are the ones who are definitely not just trying to help. You're just trying to be right and it's obnoxious.

    More importantly, thank you to those who just answered the question. Also, thank you to those who genuinely wanted to help by sharing what worked for them while eating this way. Since the general consensus is that it does make you hungrier and I'm not just neurotic, I will be trying 3 meals and 2 snacks. Thank you to those who know they don't know it all, noticed that I know I don't know it all either (which is why I'm seeing doctors). Seriously. I truly appreciate your feedback.
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
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    Medical professionals are telling me to eat almost 1000 calories less than those calculators.

    just because they are a medical professional doesn't mean that they are correct...case in point, I see many dieticians/nutritionists recommend endurance triathletes cut their calories down to sub-1300 in order to lose weight during race season...and then they wonder why they bonk, race times get slower etc...
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,136 Member
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    avygyaru wrote: »
    This might be a long rant but I'm not sorry. Of all the comments on this thread, only about 6 people actually answered the question. That's sad and frustrating. It's sad that so many people feel the need to argue/debate metabolism and the diets of strangers who never asked in the first place. It's frustrating because I'm struggling to be polite with some of you.

    And not that my commitment is anyone's business, but if I wasn't serious I wouldn't be spending my hard-earned money on PCP & specialist co-pays and a bigger grocery bill. I am living proof that CICO based on TDEE calculators doesn't work for everyone. Only one person responding seemed to understand that. Medical professionals are telling me to eat almost 1000 calories less than those calculators. So despite all this tracking and weight lifting, I have gained weight following CICO. Not a lot, but enough to seek professional help for accurate numbers. And seriously, fueling my body with food instead of coffee all day is not something I would expect people on MFP to be debating. Do you actually care about health, of is it just a get skinny party? By the logic of some of you snarkier posters, I can starve all day and eat a disgusting ball of grease every day... because CICO. That's not healthy weight loss! Those are the ones who are definitely not just trying to help. You're just trying to be right and it's obnoxious.

    More importantly, thank you to those who just answered the question. Also, thank you to those who genuinely wanted to help by sharing what worked for them while eating this way. Since the general consensus is that it does make you hungrier and I'm not just neurotic, I will be trying 3 meals and 2 snacks. Thank you to those who know they don't know it all, noticed that I know I don't know it all either (which is why I'm seeing doctors). Seriously. I truly appreciate your feedback.

    TDEE calculators are first of all based on aggregate information from very highly regulated studies of calories burned by people to give averages. Some people will burn more than the number the calculator give, and some will burn less, still others will be right on the number. TDEE calculators also are only as good as the information entered into them since they are a dumb tool that simply spits out a number based on the information they are given. That means, as people have already stated, there is no such thing as CICO based on TDEE calculators. They are but a starting point that gives an average number based on height, weight, age, sex, and activity level that for the vast majority of people will be close enough. If you want more accuracy you need to look at how your result match up.

    Having said that, in all this discussion, no where have I seen you state the number of calories you are eating and drinking. Even your initial post seems to focus more on the fact that you are not losing in spite of all the exercise you are doing. The issue in those sort of cases is almost always that a person is either over estimating how much they are burning or underestimating how much they are eating or some combination of the two. In a substantially smaller number of cases, the issue is that the person has the incorrect number of calories as a goal either due to them being an outlier (very rare) or due to an error in using the tools to get their calorie goal.

    Frankly, medical professionals may or may not be a help with this. Doctors in particular are often clueless about how to advise their patient on healthy weight loss or appropriate calorie goals. All one has to do to see that is to see the number of post I have see here where doctors are recommending severe calorie restrictions that are unsustainable long term. If you are seeing an actual registered dietitian (at least in Canada and the US where being an RD requires extensive education and certification) rather than a nutritionist, then the information should be good. Since you never told us your calorie goal, or anything else, we are sort of in the dark whether that 1000 less that the goal you currently have makes sense or not. However, as I stated earlier, for me eating 5-6 meals a day makes me miserable, I function far better on 2-3 larger meals a day, it will NOT affect your metabolism, nor, if calories are kept the same, will it affect your weight loss. Find the pattern of eating that works for you to stick to the calorie goal you have easiest.

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