ATTENTION: FREQUENCY OF FOOD
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d090882
Posts: 148 Member
Please answer briefly:
1. High frequency of meals x 6 times meals boosts metabolism? It makes me hungry.
2. Intermittent fasting & Eating 2 meals a day is better?
3. Is breakfast important?
4. How to control hunger?
5. Long-term weight loss?
1. High frequency of meals x 6 times meals boosts metabolism? It makes me hungry.
2. Intermittent fasting & Eating 2 meals a day is better?
3. Is breakfast important?
4. How to control hunger?
5. Long-term weight loss?
2
Replies
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Eat what suits you. Hungry? have something to eat. If you are trying to lose weight then make sure you eat fewer calories then you burn. Everything else is personal and trial end error.
Personally I have breakfast, lunch, and dinner, then snacks when I need during the day. Ive done both 6 small meals throughout the day, and only having 3 meals spaced 5hrs apart. I hated being tied in. So now I just eat when im hungry, stop eating when I feel satisfied (its that point when you are no long hungry, but dont feel full) and make sure I eat less than I burn. Ive lost over 40lb doing it that way and kept it off for 5 months.
Basically anyone can say X is better or Y is the best, but thats what works for them. you have to do you.2 -
For me, the best is three large meals and one snack, with the first meal coming around 9 or 10 am. For me, the best plans include fiber, fruit, and a little fat at every meal. That makes me feel the most satisfied and like I've had a "real" meal.
You may find that something completely different works for you. Play around with it and see what keeps you happy and makes following your food plan relatively effortless.2 -
I personally have 5 meals a day that are around the same size and reasonably easily spaced. This works well for me as it fits my lifestyle and prevents me from feeling hangry. For others this could be a recipe for disaster. Only you can work out what is best for you through trial and error. The only relationship meal timing and freqency has on weight loss is which method works best in keepinh you most compliant with sticking to your calories. This is very individual.2
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I believe you're after tips to lose weight. Please accept that complex issues need some context to be understood correctly. Eating is a complex issue. But it's not complicated. Weightloss is outright simple. There's money and excuses to be made from making simple things complicated, so we like that.
You can't "boost" your "metabolism". Metabolism is the rate by which you burn energy. You burn more energy when you're more active, and when you weigh more. Muscular people also burn more than people of the same size with less muscle. When you burn more energy, you become more hungry. When you're hungry, and there's food, it's hard to not eat, even if you want to lose weight, if you need to lose weight, because that usually indicates that you like, or are used to, eating too much.
Opposite advice to attain the same results, should give you a warning that both advice is BS. They could be both right, but not without proper context.
Fasting is not eating. We try hard to eat all the time, but we don't eat while sleeping, yet. Calling not eating for a few hours, something more fancy than not eating for a few hours, and claiming that it's particularly beneficial and/or difficult, is a fraud.
Most humans find extremes really attractive, but they're usually not sustainable. Eating in a way that is as easy as possible for you, is the best for you, if you want to lose and maintain weight. Humans can thrive on a wide range of diets and meal schedules, though, as long as their dietary needs are met, and quite extreme setups can be sustainable as long as they find the regimen reasonable - necessary with a good reason - for instance, if you have an illness that requires cutting out certain foods, or a work situation that makes it difficult to eat during the day.
Breakfast is the first meal of the day. Eat breakfast whenever you want, and anything you want for breakfast.
You're not supposed to control hunger. You're supposed to eat enough so you're not starving yourself. Normal hunger is to be expected and tolerated. Even with the "perfect" diet, you will still have cravings. Some of those cravings will dissipate when you eat enough and well and food you like, but you will still be exposed to enough food cues so that you need a good barrier against eating too much. A good personal meal schedule and set of food rules, and a sensibly stocked pantry, is a good barrier.5 -
High frequency of meals x 6 times meals boosts metabolism? It makes me hungry.
The metabolic effect of food is related to the total quantity of food (and to a small degree what kind of food - protein has a higher TEF), not how you divide up the total.
My natural eating pattern is 2 or 3 meals and 2 or 3 snacks a day.
Not surprisingly the amount of overall food eaten has the biggest effect on my hunger.
Intermittent fasting & Eating 2 meals a day is better?
For who? It's very personal.
The 5:2 version of IF suited me when I lost weight. Other people hate it.
Is breakfast important?
No more important than any other meal of the day except when I'm doing a very long cycle ride.
How to control hunger?
Eat enough (avoid excessive deficits).
Everyday deficit leads to a build up of hunger (for me) so avoiding that helped me be successful.
Different foods have different impacts on hunger for different people - experiment. Starchy carbs are my most satiating food.
Long-term weight loss?
Habits, motivation, commitment, honesty, self-awareness of strengths and weaknesses, long term view not deflected by short term setbacks.
5 -
The answer to questions 1-3 is do what works best for you. Eat however many meals when you want within your calorie goal.1
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Please answer briefly:
1. High frequency of meals x 6 times meals boosts metabolism? It makes me hungry.
2. Intermittent fasting & Eating 2 meals a day is better?
3. Is breakfast important?
4. How to control hunger?
5. Long-term weight loss?
1. A myth. Eating activates the digestion process only. For some people this style of eating is better for others it makes things harder.
2. There is no universal better. There is only a personal better.
3. There is no universal important. There is only personal important.
4. Experimentation.
5. Not really a question. Please re-phrase.
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I have just about tried everything - from 7 small meals a day, to 3 large and 3 small meals, 1 large and 4 small meals but long term none of those options were sustainable for me. I seem to be that ordinary person who is happy with 3 meals a day. My breakfast usually has the lowest calorie contents (a fruit and some yoghurt or an egg with mushrooms or grilled tomato). Lunch is also on the small side, but dinner - since it is eaten with the whole family - easily tops 1.000 calories. To date I have not found a long term way to eat less calories during the evening hours.0
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neugebauer52 wrote: »I have just about tried everything - from 7 small meals a day, to 3 large and 3 small meals, 1 large and 4 small meals but long term none of those options were sustainable for me. I seem to be that ordinary person who is happy with 3 meals a day. My breakfast usually has the lowest calorie contents (a fruit and some yoghurt or an egg with mushrooms or grilled tomato). Lunch is also on the small side, but dinner - since it is eaten with the whole family - easily tops 1.000 calories. To date I have not found a long term way to eat less calories during the evening hours.
Hi. I am unclear about the bolded part. Are you going over your calories because of the big dinner or are you concerned about eating that much in the evening? If it is the latter you can eat your calories anytime you want that is comfortable.
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Use the scientific method on your n=1 to do the science for you personally. That's how science works. It looks like you've begun finding your own answers with questions 1 and 2.
Scientific studies can provide the bigger picture for larger populations but it's still a process of asking questions to head toward the answers.
Weight loss and control are ultimately n=1 using the basic ideas presented by scientific studies and then experimenting to find what works for you within that.0 -
Find a way of eating that works for you. Big meals help me more than snacking, personally, and delaying breakfast as long as possible. And I need a good balance of protein, fat and carbs to feel satisfied.
But we're all different.0 -
Please answer briefly:
1. High frequency of meals x 6 times meals boosts metabolism? It makes me hungry.
2. Intermittent fasting & Eating 2 meals a day is better?
3. Is breakfast important?
4. How to control hunger?
5. Long-term weight loss?
1. Not good for me either. I eat 3 main meals (sometimes only 2 on weekends when breakfast and lunch combine) and small snacks usually twice per day
2. not for me - see above.
3. For me - yes. Especially on working days when i dont get my lunch break till 1:00 and I feel faint and nauseous if I go that late without any food. Small breakfast and then small mid morning 'on the go' snack works for me
4. For me - eating regular meals - and also the source of calories. eg 2 pieces of toast fills me up for breakfast - i doubt same calories in jelly babies would.
5. yes, that is the goal for most people here. And maitenance after getting there.
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Please answer briefly:
1. High frequency of meals x 6 times meals boosts metabolism? It makes me hungry.
2. Intermittent fasting & Eating 2 meals a day is better?
3. Is breakfast important?
4. How to control hunger?
5. Long-term weight loss?
Like others have said, it's all individual and you have to experiment with what works best for you. But to answer your questions:
1. I eat 3 meals a day and don't snack between meals. I tried the 6 small meals thing and it didn't work for me. I never felt full, was always a little hungry.
2. IF doesn't work AT ALL for me, but my husband has been doing it for years and swears by it.
3. Conversely, I have to eat breakfast. I can skip lunch, or even dinner if my schedule demands it (as it sometimes does), but if I don't have breakfast it's like I'm stuck in first gear all day.
4. For me, an eating "schedule" keeps me from getting overly hungry. I know the times I'll be eating and what I'll be having at each meal. Fat works the best for me to feel full, but for my husband it's protein. So I may put an extra 5 ml of olive oil on my salad, but my husband will go for an extra piece of chicken. Again, varies by individual.
5. Not really a question, but consistency and discipline are the keys. At least they have been for me.0 -
Well, to be fair, you didn't ask "science" this question. You asked people on an internet message board, all of whom will have different opinions. If you want to see if there are any scientific peer-reviewed studies on this subject, you will probably have to do your own research.5 -
Please answer briefly:
1. High frequency of meals x 6 times meals boosts metabolism? It makes me hungry.
2. Intermittent fasting & Eating 2 meals a day is better?
3. Is breakfast important?
4. How to control hunger?
5. Long-term weight loss?
1. Doesn't boost metabolism, but makes some individual people happier (more satiated).
2. Only if it makes the individual person happier/more satiated or more able to control calories.
3. For some people, yes. For others, it's important to skip it and save those calories for later. Experiment to find what works for you.
4. Figure out what satiates you. It's individual. Some need more protein, some more fats, some more volume (usually fiber-containing low-calorie veggies, but not always), some need carbs. Some need to graze on small amount of food across the day, some need one big meal, others are best off with something in between. Experiment to find what works for you.
5. All about calories, at a technical level. Anyone who ignores nutrition and exercise is ignoring health and sustainability, though. Also, see #1-4. If you can't stick to your calorie goal the overwhelming majority of the time, you can't lose weight. Do-ability is individual, but really important.3
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