Eating 5x a day?

MelissaPhippsFeagins

OP - don't argue with your mother about it, it's not worth it; just do what works for you. For me, I lost to what my doctor called the perfect weight for me (just this Wednesday in fact) by eating 4-6 times a day. I added the 6th one at maintenance because I was still losing and needed a place to put more calories. I've been at my perfect weight for 3 months now eating this way. I don't argue with anyone about it; I do what works. (I was also a binge eater before finding this pattern that works for me.)

Snacks for work: I keep Kind Bars, Luna Bars, and Greek yogurt granola bars at my desk and cherry tomatoes and cucumbers in the fridge at work. Take a peek at my diary if you'd like, but I am on vacation this week so the snacks are different...check last week for a representative sample.

deksgrl

Follow your plan your way. Don't argue with your mother, but don't follow her advice either (when it is bad advice anyway)....

As others have said, it doesn't matter how often you eat as long as over all your calories are appropriate. If it helps you to keep from overeating at the next meal, then that is good.

I typically eat 3 meals a day and not a lot of snacks, and that didn't prevent me from gaining weight when I was eating too much in those 3 meals.

smanning1982

I always eat 2-3 normal meals (sometimes I eat breakfast, sometimes I don't) and I snack all freaking day long! I usually even eat a fidgsicle or frozen snickers ice cream bar right before bed. As long as you weight and measure everything and log it accurately and stick to a caloric deficit you will lose weight!

MrsG31

Yup.....sometimes mothers do not know best. After all, they are people, and they get misinformation, years of habit-making under their belts, and make mistakes - just like we all do. My own mother sounds like yours when it comes to dieting information she has chosen to believe.

Exhibit A: I was speaking with my mother about another (elderly) family member that doesn't eat enough every day, sometimes not even making it to 1,000 calories. (there are so many factors involved here that I am not going to get into) My mother balked at this because said person is already so tiny and doesn't need to lose any more weight (which I never said the person had done), but how she should probably be eating that much since she is so fat, blah, blah, blah.....which I responded by saying "No Mom, or you'll end up passing out and I'll have to take you to the hospital." She disagreed and I did not bother trying to educate her because she does not want to hear logic and truth; she just wants to complain.

Edited to add snack ideas: I also work a 9-5 and eat 5, sometimes 6 times day. I don't eat clean or anything, but I have seen results since I started MFP last year. I snack on Fiber One 90 calorie bars, Special K 90 calorie bars, baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, apples, clementines, cheese sticks, peanut butter & apples, sweet potato chips, popcorn, strawberries & blueberries, rice crisps (those flavored ones), yogurt..and occasionally junk, such as Cheez-Its (because Cheez-Its are from heaven and can't be wrong).

Try not to let your mom stress you out too much...trust me, it will get easier to just let her stuff go in one ear and out the other, and just remember it is her way of trying to help, to show love, but it doesn't mean you have to do as she says.

tigersword

Neither of you are right.

Meal timing is completely irrelevant. You don't have to eat 5 times a day, but you also don't have to limit yourself to 2 meals per day.

Cardio is great for weight loss, as is heavy lifting.

MrsG31

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"Well, hey, then more power to ya!

Do what works, by all means. I just know that most don't respond well to that, in my experience. And many who do respond well to a point quit before long. if a person has pituitary, thyroid, or insulin/blood sugar issues, they'd definitely run into problems."
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Actually, people with insulin/blood sugar issues do best at eating at regular scheduled meals and snacks throughout the day to help keep their BSL even. I think you are getting hung up on the word "meal" when most of us who say we eat more than 3x a day are including snacks in between full-on meals.

Edited- There were too many quotes and I think deleted the wrong ones.....please forgive me.

MomTo3Lovez

"Well, hey, then more power to ya!

Do what works, by all means. I just know that most don't respond well to that, in my experience. And many who do respond well to a point quit before long. if a person has pituitary, thyroid, or insulin/blood sugar issues, they'd definitely run into problems."

Actually, people with insulin/blood sugar issues do best at eating at regular scheduled meals and snacks throughout the day to help keep their BSL even. I think you are getting hung up on the word "meal" when most of us who say we eat more than 3x a day are inlcuding snacks in between full-on meals.

Edited- There were too many quotes and I think deleted the wrong ones.....please forgive me.

^^ Thank you I was about to say the same thing, as my mom is a diabetic and there is no way she would be able to eat 1-2 meals a day with nothing else in between, she has to be on a strict schedule with her eating every few hours to keep her levels good and she is by no means overweight she has lost weight by doing it.

OP basically what pretty much everyone else has said do what works for you, if having 3 meals and 2-3 snacks is what helps you not binge and youa re within your calories go for it, if they are good choices then who cares. I myself go with 3 meals and 2-3 snacks depending on how hungry I am and what my calories look like and I am losing just fine.

And one of the suggestions that was mentioned was really good, keep track of your food daily and show her what you are doing, maybe it will help and maybe it won't but you won't know until you try it.

Good luck with everything! Feel free to add me if you want!

Edited to add: Make sure you keep up with your water intake too, that's just as important to stay hydrated might help with the binging too!

meganjcallaghan

I've never personally known a multiple meal eater to lose ANY serious amount of weight. I tried it years back and lost only water weight. Your body needs time to clean out the contents of your stomach, and no, you don't get away with just having caloric content in a surplus or deficiency since your body has to excrete insulin with each of those little meals, which is why some of the absolute fattest women just have a coffee and then a bagel and then some fruit, some pasta, and some fish, plus more fruit. And by the end of the day, they not only stay huge, but they always will because they just can't bring themselves to be hungry even for a little while, even if they do manage to eat somewhat healthfully.

We all need that "I'm full" feeling regularly. Plus, keeping track of the calories of 5 daily meals is very hard. I'd imagine that would be very easy to screw up.

surely you're joking. perhaps you hadn't read all the responses, but as i said.....i have always eaten multiple meals, it can in no way be described as an 'excuse to binge', nor is it inevitable that the food choices i make would be unhealthy simply because i spread what i eat out over several smaller meals throughout the day. weight loss has nothing to do with what you eat or when you eat, but how much you eat over the day. if what you eat equals more than what you use, you gain weight. the rest is irrelevant. obviously as you can see, your statement that no multiple meal eater would ever lose ANY serious amount of weight is completely unfounded and i am only one of many examples i'm sure.

grandmothercharlie

My question is, if you are 27 years old, what do you care what your mother thinks? Is she still doing your cooking and planning your meals? Do you live at home? If not, just ignore her. Particularly, if her criticism in some ways makes you so upset or depressed that you turn to food, you need to distance yourself until you can get on track and get a good regimen going. By the time my kids were in their teens, I figured that they should handle their own bodies without my input unless asked. They haven't asked and they are both slim and healthy. I think that your Mom is the real issue here. She needs to do her thing and let you do yours!

_lyndseybrooke_

Your mom is wrong. Then again, so are you (sort of).

Number of meals and timing of meals doesn't matter unless you are a diabetic or have other relevant health concerns. All that matters is calories in vs. calories out. If your calorie goal is 1500 and you eat one 1500-calorie meal per day and that's it, you'll still lose weight. You'll be hungry, but you'll lose.

HOWEVER, it's true for a lot of us that eating small meals throughout the day keeps us satisfied, meaning we're less likely to get really hungry and eat everything in sight. I eat three meals a day with two snacks, just like you're suggesting. I'm never hungry. When I was eating three larger meals per day, I was way more likely to eat something I shouldn't have and go over my calories for the day.

But no, snacking itself does NOT make you "fatter." As long as you're within your calorie goal, it doesn't matter if you eat 10 times a day or only 1. So, keep snacking if it helps you stay within your daily limit. Snacking is pretty much my favorite thing to do.

Also, who cares what mommy thinks? You're an adult. Have a mind of your own!

rileamoyer

If I may add my 2 cents!! I have been in maintenance since 2011. I usually eat about 6 times a day, but split my calories accordingly. I have a healthy breakfast, mid morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner, desert later in evening. I find by keeping meals small and adding the snacks I don't binge and I feel full after a small meal. Portion control with frequent fueling along with exercise is what worked for me. I used this site, consulted regularly with my Dr. - who is not a nutritionist, he stayed out of trying to tell me what to eat, just to work out, eat less and he monitored my blood (which I need to do anyway due to RA meds). I also arranged to have Body Comp scans on a dexa machine every six months to ensure my body composition was doing what I wanted. I found my energy level was much higher with more frequent 'meals'. I still don't get enough protein, but do pretty good most of the time. When actively losing I measured and packed my lunch and 2 snacks for work. If someone brought donuts, I skipped my snack and had 1/2 a donut. Drinking water is extremely critical also, helps flush everything for you. So---Work with your Dr, learn to ignore you mom's negative comments about you!!!!!! Some folks are just negative no matter what you do. Good luck!

mschicagocubs

Just eat ... and stay under your maintenance.

It doesn't matter how you eat, when you eat, why you eat ... as long as you stay under your maintenance you will lose weight.

While some people may binge if they eat a lot of small meals, another may binge if they eat too many big meals.

Find what works for you & stick with it. There is no right or wrong answer.

DeliriumCanBeFun

I generally eat 5-6 times a day, 3 meals and 2 or 3 snacks. But I do it within my calorie goal and macros and it's working great for me. I have also found it really makes a difference to me in what I eat throughout the day too that determines how I will fare when I waiting for dinner to be ready and in the evening after, which are my most crucial times to avoid over eating. Learning how to deal with hunger is a very good thing, but it is important to keep yourself from getting too hungry and then going overboard. My diary is open if you're interested in seeing how I work things. I've had to pretty much cut out "treats" during the day because certain things are triggers. But I actually had a donut this morning and have managed to refrained from more, but it's almost lunch and I'm definitely feeling the effects of the empty calories. You just have to live and keep learning. It must be hard dealing with a mother like that while you're trying to make healthy changes for yourself. You'll have to learn how to deal with her, but try your best to keep her negativity out of your head. You are worthy and capable of everything you set your mind to

Heirgreat

There is no blanket statement that will fit every persons body-listen to your own body make good food choices and stay within your calorie allowance-being a mother I understand how sometimes she can love children so much and want to "think for them" but it's really necessary to remember they are separate human beings they need to make up their own lives and they can think for themselves. Good wishes and great job in your endeavor to be healthy

Iknowsaur

I try to eat 2-3 larger meals a day (whenever I feel like it, it doesn't matter if it's in the breakfast, lunch or dinner category. "Breakfast" is usually around 12:00 and "lunch" 4:00 or 5:00.) If I have calories left, I throw in whatever else I need to meet my macros and/or just add extra protein (yoghurt, nuts) and a treat (chocolate.) I also pre-plan, so I already know what I'm eating for the day and then I just have what I want when I feel like it off that list.

freddi11e

most of my calories come from snacks lol. i could not live without snacks. <3Snacks.

...otherwise i binge too. 3 meals isnt enough. constantly need something in my mouth.. especially since i'm gonna quit smoking on monday yiiiiikes.

earlnabby

I am another who needs to eat 5x a day, both to maintain blood sugar levels and because of hunger. My doctor told me that 5-6 meals is ideal but grazing over the course of the day can lead to problems (of course YMMV). I have a pretty set schedule: breakfast at 9AM, lunch at noon, snack at 3PM, dinner at 6PM and snack at 8 or 9 PM. I gained weight by grazing, eating too much, and eating the wrong things. Anytime I made an effort to eat actual meals I lost weight whether I was trying or not.

thankyou4thevenom

I just got into an argument with my mother about the benefits of having 5 small meals a day. Particularly, I've read that having the daily meals- bfast, lunch, and dinner with 2 small snacks in between helps keep you from binging. Well, she keeps nagging that snacking between meals is what's making me "fatter" and so today I felt that maybe I should cut snacks and eat only 3x a day. Today I wound up binging by dinner because I was so hungry. Granted, after looking back, I should have traded yogurt and protein bars for maybe veggie-protein based snacks instead but even when I brought that up, she insisted even eating vegetables alone is going to make me fat just due to the calories.

If eating small snack between meals is keeping you from binging, just continue to do so. Just make sure that you're counting those calories and it fits within your allowance. In that respect you are right. However the whole meal timing myth you've been reading about is just that a myth.
In her defense she's also right that if you over consume anything, even vegetables it will make you fat.

What the hell??? Her idea of losing weight is strictly cardio (cuz according to her, lifting weights makes women "bulky") and only eating one or two meals a day which I think is ridiculous. I am going to go see a doctor to get my blood tested for thyroid issues or PCOS, the latter which I have most of the symptoms for but she does not educate herself on this disease and won't take it seriously, saying that I don't really have it and use it as an excuse and simply eat too much. She looks at me in disgust when I eat more than twice a day and always mutters that I'll never lose weight if I continue to eat more than that. I feel that when I did used to eat only once or twice a day, I would binge like crazy and it may have shot my metabolism as well...

Well she's wrong, it's very hard for women to bulk up and in fact strength training is incredibly good for you.
Good luck with seeing the doctor.

My diary is currently spotty since I just came back after feeling down about my lack of success, but when I do use a food scale and jot down every ingredient in my food, clean or not, I usually only range from 1200-1800 cals a day and maybe 60-150 carbs. I eat mostly clean (I have the occasional slip up, I have a sweet tooth and I'm no food saint) and I recently upped my lazy 3x a week workout to 6x a week with HIIT and Pilates. I'm trying hard to believe I am doing everything I possibly can to get myself on the right track. I am so frustrated that my own mother is not supportive and just criticizes me and won't educate herself on health as it is today. Sometimes I don't think mother always knows best....

Don't worry about eating clean, worry about eating good food and hitting your macros. Also don't worry about her. Read a lot and make your own mind up. What works for some won't work for others and you need to find what's right for you.
It's hard but sometimes you've just got to tell family to shut up and get their nose out of your business.

alijpizza

I eat 7 meals a day:

Breakfast
Second Breakfast
Elevensies
Lunch
Afternoon Tea
Supper
Dinner

^ lol so awesome! ))

i have lost 72 lbs with all kinds of different methods and techniques over the last year and a few months, and have found that when i eat more often (but smaller meals) i am not as hungry and don't binge as much. i stumbled onto this discussion looking for reasons why eating more often would be more beneficial or harmful to fat loss goals. i'll repost if i find something substantial.

(p.s. elevensies is definitely the cutest meal of the day.)

edited to add that I'm trying to find out if there's a metabolic or fat loss benefit to more or fewer meals per day.