Intermittent Fasting vs. 6 Small Meals per day

rugare

Here is a question for you: Let's say you are trying to cut body fat percentage. (Not necessarily lose weight on the scale.) Which leads to better results? Intermittent Fasting vs. 6 Smaller Meals per day (timed nutrition throughout the day)

Assuming the following:
-Total caloric intake remains the same regardless of when you eat.
- Macro ratio remains the same regardless of when you eat.

I keep reading conflicting information about which leads to greater results. Some sources say that intermittent fasting basically kills your metabolism. And some sources say that ingesting protein after a weight workout is very important for building/maintaining muscle while doing a "cut".

However, I find it MUCH easier to stick to my calorie and macro goals when I do intermittent fasting. I am constantly thinking about food when I am eating smaller meals more frequently and never feel satisfied. But am I destroying my metabolism or throwing my body into starvation mode? What does the research say?

Unknown

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MikePTY

99% of the info you find online is just noise. "eat within your calorie deficit, hit your macro targets, in whatever method is best for you" doesn't fill a whole lot of space on blog pages. So there is a lot of talk out there that exists to fill space and make things more complicated than it needs to be.

When I first did weight loss 8 or 9 years ago, 6 meals a day was the hot trend. There was all sorts of benefits promised with it. Now IF is the hot trend. All sorts of benefits promised with it. The truth is they are both ways of eating that will work well for appetite control for some and not others. So if IF works best for you for appetite control, I would certainly continue with it, and block out the rest of the noise.

sardelsa

Whatever you can stick to best to keep you in a deficit and macros is most important. Perhaps also a way of eating that also gives you better workout performance (especially lifting to retain muscle and lower your bodyfat in a cut).

I wouldn't worry about IF lowering metabolism.

kimny72

Metabolism is actually not nearly as easy to mess with or rev up as the diet industry would have you believe. It's just a myth that helps them sell stuff. Same with starvation mode.

Just choose a way of eating that makes it the easiest for you to stick to your calorie goal and have energy for your day. For some people that's eating in a short window. For others that's three square with no snacking. For others that's a bunch of mini meals throughout the day. :drinker:

liz0269

IF can work great. It doesn't work for me. I have a very sensitive system and it's too stressful for my body.
I like to graze. I am losing weight and I feel good.
That's the best method - the one that works and you feel good.

Terytha

Those two things are identical in results assuming you have that deficit and stick to them.

Whichever is most comfortable for you will work best.

pierinifitness

A couple years ago, results of a credible research study were published that reported the effects of eight weeks of time-restricted feeding (16/8) on basal metabolism, maximal strength, body composition, inflammation, and cardiovascular risk factors in resistance-trained males.

Among the study's findings were:

(1) A significant decrease in fat mass was observed in the Time Restricted Feeding (TRF) group.
(2) Fat-free mass and maximal strength were maintained in both groups
(3) Lower triglycerides in the TRF group
(4) Blood glucose and insulin levels decreased significantly in the TRF group
(5) Reduction in inflammation in the TRF group
(6) Total testosterone and IGF-1 decreased in the TRF group

I read the study in detail, not just some internet article, and found it to be convincing. Of course, one can find studies reporting less-convincing outcomes so it's up for the reader to decide. Also note the study participants were experienced resistance-trained males so whether the results would hold up for the coach-potato crowd will have to the subject of a different study. It's how the researchers stay gainfully employed.

Here's a link if you'd like to do your own investigation. Again, I read this from top to bottom.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5064803/

If I've mentioned this before with you present, my apologies but we have an Intermittent Fasting Group here at MFP and the content is constantly being updated. You may be interested in what's posted there.

Like you, I do better with IF than with little meals scattered throughout the day. To each his or her own, we need to find out what works best for us and this has to be self-discovered and not what someone else has to say. I like to say that "All roads lead to Rome." in our fitness, health and wellness goals. May you find your sweet spot road. Wishing your the best.

nocgirl72

I’m doing 16-17 hr IF because it’s the only way I can teach myself self discipline that I can’t eat all day.

pierinifitness

Thanks for sharing @nocgirl72, see that you're from Gilbert, the current home of The Honky Tonk Man. You ever bump into him at Wal Mart? IF is a discipline builder that's for sure. Discipline is a necessary attribute to have in your fitness toolbox when chasing goals. Keep up the good work.

MarcinTamborski

Hi, I am new to the forum, and using MFP for few months now consecutively, I wanted to try the IF idea, therefore I have a question, is there a way to track feeding/fasting time in MFP or alternatively do you know if MFP will introduce a feature allowing to track the IF, ex. time between last meal recorded for a given day (or diary finished) and first meal recorded next day?

J72FIT

The one that you can stick to and makes your life enjoyable is the one that is better...

J72FIT

pierinifitness wrote: »

IF is a discipline builder that's for sure. Discipline is a necessary attribute to have in your fitness toolbox when chasing goals. Keep up the good work.

If you think about it, so is spreading out your six small meals a day, lol!

pierinifitness

@MarcinTamborski, there are several apps out there that do that. I use the Zero app and like it.

Do a Google search and you’ll find it. Right now it’s free and fully-functional without paying extra for premium features.

lemurcat2

J72FIT wrote: »

pierinifitness wrote: »

IF is a discipline builder that's for sure. Discipline is a necessary attribute to have in your fitness toolbox when chasing goals. Keep up the good work.

If you think about it, so is spreading out your six small meals a day, lol!

Yeah, I would find 6 small meals a day a lot harder, so I guess it would build more discipline. I don't think making things artificially harder is a helpful approach -- there are many other ways to build discipline if it's a struggle -- so I think picking whatever meal schedule seems most appealing, easiest, and fits best into one's lifestyle is a good choice.

For me that's usually 3 meals per day, no snacking, although I often have days where I eat 2. Time between dinner and breakfast (or whatever one wants to call the last and first meals of the day) has never been an issue for me, but I can see why having a narrower eating window might make it easier for some (and lots of small meals might make it easier for others). I like eating 3 times a day and not between meals since that limits how often I tend to think about food or be tempted by something that is on offer at my workplace or whereever.

mmapags

I don't find IF takes discipline at all. It's my prefered way of eating.

earlandrew48

You have great advise here already. I've tried a multitude of different techniques. At the end of the day, what I found worked best was....having a good breakfast (8am) of about 450 calories. Having the 11am snack. Having the 2:30 lunch. The 500 calorie dinner at 7pm. If necessary, a small bag of peanuts at 9pm. With what I eat, the calories finish end of day at: 1500. Protein usually finished off at 175. Really, the most important science here is calorie deficit, calories burned through training, and what is eaten...ie...getting enough protein to keep lean muscle, through weight loss.

sijomial

Beware that "some sources" are purely regurgitating myths old and new that in reality have at best some slight basis in science but skewed in significance out of all proportion to the real world and the general population.
If you are striving to be elite then optimal is worth chasing but remember the actual difference in magnitude between optimal and good enough can be totally insignificant. "Better" needs to be quantified - 10% or 0.01% better?

The 6 meals a day thing seems to based on the assumed maximal rate of protein uptake, so to get a decent daily amount if you are limited to (for example) 30g you would need multiple meals - but ignoring that fact that the rate at which you process protein isn't really a limiting factor. You will just take longer to digest bigger doses. Enjoy that 12oz steak, the protein isn't going to wasted.

The "post training anabolic window" isn't just a short period. Plus the food eaten before your workout is also still being digested. Most reputable sources would suggest a mixed macro meal 2hrs before and after training would probably be optimal (caveat again that most people don't need optimal for their goals). You have stores of fat (frequently abundant!), glycogen (enough for 2hrs of intense cardio roughly) and even amino acids - you simply don't have to micro manage your intake to the degree that "some sources" suggest. Humans self-regulate perfectly well.

My advice would be focus on the big ticket items (calories in terms of rate of sensible weight loss, macros, overall healthy diet and quality of training) plus personal adherence which is very individual but hugely important. The perfect diet or eating pattern that you can't adhere to is useless.

Don't worry about your metabolism unless you have been medically diagnosed with a condition, don't believe in "starvation mode" - your body doesn't have modes, it doesn't predict the future.

Dvdgzz

At least 4 protein feedings per day are optimal for muscle gains if you're strength training. That being said, the most important thing by far is your overall calorie intake. At the end of the day, it comes down to what will make it easier to stick to your calorie goals.

WilmaValley

Great info!

whoami67

I would recommend doing whatever makes your body feel good and helps keep your healthy diet on track. I've tried both, as well as trying just eating when I get hungry or when it fits into my day. IF was an absolute nightmare for me health-wise. I still can't figure out why it had such a disastrous effect on my body when it really is just basically skipping breakfast. Most people seem to like it, but I've read it works better for men than women. Almost all studies of it are done on men.

I used to do the 6 small meals (or 3 meals/3snacks) a days thing years ago and it worked well except I was constantly thinking about food because it was always time to eat. But I was never hungry, or if I did get hungry, it would be time to eat again in a few minutes so I wasn't tempted to overeat.

The past few years, I've mostly just been eating when I want to. That means I eat a large breakfast mid to late morning and another large meal early evening. Sometimes I snack. That leads to me eating way too many calories.

The past few weeks I've been eating 6X a day after months of recovery from the IF nightmare and I'd forgotten how well that works for me. I should probably stick to it forever.

pierinifitness

Six small meals a day seems like a lot of work and mental bandwidth thinking about food, planning to eat, preparing meal, eating, cleaning up, thinking about how good or bad it was, thinking about the next meal, etc. it seems like an endless loop.

But, I agree do what is best for you. Find your sweet spot which may be a floating one.

Results in relation to goals is one way of determining if one has found their sweet spot, I found mine.

lemurcat2

pierinifitness wrote: »

Six small meals a day seems like a lot of work and mental bandwidth thinking about food, planning to eat, preparing meal, eating, cleaning up, thinking about how good or bad it was, thinking about the next meal, etc. it seems like an endless loop.

Some people love that pattern and finds it helps with hunger.

I have the same reaction you do (even though IFing also is not my current preference).

But that's precisely why I would need MORE discipline to do the 6 meals a day thing. And one reason I think it's better I don't. For me the IFing pattern doesn't really require any more discipline than how I naturally like to eat -- 3 meals, no snacks. I don't IF since I like eating in the morning, and like cooking and eating dinner at home. But for others that's not an issue, and they may prefer it.

There's no superior eating pattern overall, but may be for individuals at a particular time, and only the individual can figure out what it is, so no one can answer the question posed in this thread besides than OP.