Only Eat When You're Hungry or Three Squares?

rparkerslim

I am accustomed to eating three meals a day; my dietitian says 3 plus 2 snacks, and today my low carb friend said only eat when you're hungry! How can I get the recommended amount of protein plus veggies if I only eat when I'm hungry? Just eat meat? Is there an answer out there?

Violet_Flux

I concur with your friend. Eat to hunger. Don't force food in you. And the whole 3 squares plus 2 (or 3!) snacks just keeps your insulin elevated all day long and makes it harder for your body to burn fat. Paraphrasing Amy Berg here, but "eating more (often) to lose weight" is a dumb idea. IMHO.

With low carb your appetite can naturally drop and yes you'll eat fewer calories in those times, but there'll be other days when you're hungry, and you ought to just go ahead and eat. Stick to your macro ratios, but follow your hunger cues.

Sunny_Bunny_

Prioritize meat and make veggies a simple accompaniment.
If you find you’re not very hungry and are concerned about getting enough protein, you can choose leaner cuts for more protein density for the volume of food.

__Roxy__

When you get up in the morning, don't eat until you're hungry. That may be 9am, 11am, 2pm, whenever. Then, instead of grazing or snacking, have a proper calorie dense meal. Enough food to feel satisfied until your next meal. Eat to satisfaction. Then eat again only when hungry. If you're peckish or snackish between those meals, it means you need more fat or protein to keep you satisfied longer.

If you make your meals filling and calorie dense (fat and protein!) you will find that you do not need 3 meals plus snacks. That diet only makes sense for people who need to keep their bloodsugar up. With keto, spiking your bloodsugar is not desired. It's good to rest your digestive system.

rparkerslim

Thanks @River_Goddess !

rparkerslim

Thanks you guys! @Steph_Maks what are my macros?

kpk54

I lost my excess weight eating 3 square meals a day. It worked fine for me for weight and fat loss. Now I'm more inclined to eat when hungry though reminded that I'll be having dinner sometime around 8 or after. Seems like I ate all day yesterday. It's 7 pm at this time and I've not eaten yet except lots of decaf with half and half.

I'm not an advocate of snacking. I don't have a medical need for it and years ago, I "snacked" my way to 200+ pounds.

Violet_Flux

rparkerslim wrote: »

Thanks you guys! @Steph_Maks what are my macros?

Macros (macronutrients) are your carbs, protein, and fat. Eat to hunger, but focus on protein and fat, and keep the carbs down.

rparkerslim

Thanks @kpk54!

Xerogs

Typical day for me is to start out with a nice tall cool glass of water and some green tea. I usually don't eat until 11-11:30 am or so and try to make that my biggest meal of the day. Depending on the size of my lunch will dictate how large of a dinner I typically eat sometimes its just hibiscus tea and a protein bar other times I make something light. I try not to go past 1:00 pm without eating because I've done that before in the past when I lost track of time in my art studio and started to get a little out of sorts. For the most part I don't eat food from 7:30 pm until 11am the next day and do well.

Listen to your body 3 square might be right for you or modify it and see how you feel, that is what I did. Good luck

rparkerslim

xerogs1 wrote: »

Typical day for me is to start out with a nice tall cool glass of water and some green tea. I usually don't eat until 11-11:30 am or so and try to make that my biggest meal of the day. Depending on the size of my lunch will dictate how large of a dinner I typically eat sometimes its just hibiscus tea and a protein bar other times I make something light. I try not to go past 1:00 pm without eating because I've done that before in the past when I lost track of time in my art studio and started to get a little out of sorts. For the most part I don't eat food from 7:30 pm until 11am the next day and do well.

Listen to your body 3 square might be right for you or modify it and see how you feel, that is what I did. Good luck

Thanks for the suggestions! They are great; I will experiment with different options, and see which one works best for me!

mranlett

For me, eating is generally a social activity. Eating 3 squares makes it easy to mesh with other people's schedules and the social support is probably as important as your eating plan.

Also, if I ate only when hungry, I'd eat continually! ;-)

FIT_Goat

On average, I get in two meals a day. I think my ideal would be 3 meals with 30g+ protein at each, but I just don't find myself hungry in the mornings.

rparkerslim

mranlett wrote: »

For me, eating is generally a social activity. Eating 3 squares makes it easy to mesh with other people's schedules and the social support is probably as important as your eating plan.

Also, if I ate only when hungry, I'd eat continually! ;-)

I love it! You gave me my laugh for today!