6 meals a day is a lie. Your metabolism won't slow down.

pullright

I just want to say that a lot of people on here have been told the myth down the years that your metabolism will slow down if you don't keep eating. The fact that people keep eating is the reason why obesity is epedemic. The diet and food industry want people to keep eating so they can sell their products. Have a look at intermittent fasting for the truth on weight loss.

kelika71

I can't vouche for the metabolism, but I can vouche for what missing a meal will do to my blood sugar. Therefore, I do the 5-6 meals and it works to keep my sugar numbers in the normal range now.

NeuroticVirgo

I can't vouche for the metabolism, but I can vouche for what missing a meal will do to my blood sugar. Therefore, I do the 5-6 meals and it works to keep my sugar numbers in the normal range now.

diddo. I think it has more to do with keep you away from binging than it does your metabolism. If you eat more small meals a day, you won't feel like your starving and chow down on 1000 calories worth of food in one sitting.

eillamarie

Women's metabolisms are different than men's metabolisms first off. Secondly, if you eat very small meals many times a day you will have a constant source of energy and will avoid the after lunch and 3 pm slumps. Every body is different, but a lot of ppl trying to lose weight or have a healthier lifestyle find that eating small meals throughout the day is better than 3 larger meals.

Guys can usually get away with just 1 or 2 meals a day, women not so much.

Also, when your body has to digest food you burn more energy, and if you're eating small meals throughout the day that means your body is burning energy at regular intervals and doesn't really have a chance to slow down. If it is being forced to deal with large quantities of food at a time it is more likely to store some as fat, where as if it only has to deal with a small amount of food at a time it is usually able to handle everything.

randyv99

Come on people! Doesn't anyone vehemently disagree or fervently agree. He's challenging the very foundation of some ideologies here!

I tried intermittent fasting and it actually wasn't bad.

4lafz

Lie is a strong word. I agree with previous posters and it WORKS for me :-)

MacMadame

There isn't a lot of evidence to support the idea that many small meals increases your metabolism over a few bigger meals. If the food is the same, the work to digest it is the same.

However, I don't think this makes the advice to eat 5-6 meals a day a lie nor do I think it's the cause of obesity. It's a personal preference thing. If it works for you (and it definitely works for me) then it makes sense, but if it doesn't work for you, then don't do it.

But don't tell me not to do it just because it didn't work for you!

cmw72

I just want to say that a lot of people on here have been told the myth down the years that your metabolism will slow down if you don't keep eating. The fact that people keep eating is the reason why obesity is epedemic. The diet and food industry want people to keep eating so they can sell their products. Have a look at intermittent fasting for the truth on weight loss. .

I disagree .. I used to eat one or two meals a day, but those meals were a couple thousand calories each ... at least.

These days, I tend to eat small portions of healthier food every couple hours during the day, and it keeps me from getting overly hungry.

Chrissun

I don't know what researchers have found. I don't know what's best for everybody or if there is one way of eating that is best for everyone.
I've found that eating 200-300 calories every 2-3 hours works for me. I don't "pig out" or feel overly hungry. Just like exercise, find a healthy way to eat and live that you can stick with. The best exercise is one you like enough to do and stick with. Who cares how good it is to run if you only do it once a month? If you'll take a walk for 20 minutes everyday that's much better.
If I eat 3 bigger meals, I snack more and over eat.

Good reminder to not just believe everything you read. Be healthy!

AdamATGATT

Is been much happier since the switch to six smaller meals a day. It's so much easier to track my calories and I don't feel like I'll go over my calories as easily. It allows a lot more flexibilty in the way to add calories throughout the day since there are more meals to use to adjust.

I gained weight doing the more food at less meals strategy. It's now coming back off the other way.

lordofultima

I pretty much disagree. Your body is only able to burn so much food, and if you stuff your face with all the food you're supposed to eat for the day, all at once, the excess will be stored as fat. Fireplace analogy. Put a giant log in a fireplace and it chars up, doesn't burn completely, and is a waste. Throw little scraps in the fire one at a time, and they burn right up.

Same amount of food is going into your body, you're just putting it in 6 smaller scraps, then one giant sum of calories. No real evidence that it boosts metabolism, but if it works it works...and from my own testing it definitely skyrocketed my fat loss. I also feel horrible and bloated after eating a large meal, and my belly pushes out to its limit. I feel full and I have energy when I space my meals out over 6-8 periods, but not overly full like the 2-3 meal plan.

kelika71

If blood work is ordered and fasting is needed, I'll do so then. I've said it many times, to each their own on what someone chooses to do for themselves. For myself, I won't do the fasting or skipping meals. I watched my father fast himself into a grave! I won't do it.

Analogies? Think of a car. Sure, you can drive past the recommended 3000 or 5000 miles for an oil change. You run the risk of nothing happening until you change it or having to pay more out of pocket. I prefer a well oiled vehicle that's running optimally.
My body seems to be the same way, so I'll stick with 5-6 meals, instead of risking more health issues and spending more money.

lordofultima

If blood work is ordered and fasting is needed, I'll do so then. I've said it many times, to each their own on what someone chooses to do for themselves. For myself, I won't do the fasting or skipping meals. I watched my father fast himself into a grave! I won't do it.

Analogies? Think of a car. Sure, you can drive past the recommended 3000 or 5000 miles for an oil change. You run the risk of nothing happening or having to pay more out of pocket. I prefer a well oiled vehicle that's running optimally.
My body seems to be the same way, so I'll stick with 5-6 meals, instead of risking more health issues and spending more money.

Yay, I love analogies!

kelika71

If blood work is ordered and fasting is needed, I'll do so then. I've said it many times, to each their own on what someone chooses to do for themselves. For myself, I won't do the fasting or skipping meals. I watched my father fast himself into a grave! I won't do it.

Analogies? Think of a car. Sure, you can drive past the recommended 3000 or 5000 miles for an oil change. You run the risk of nothing happening or having to pay more out of pocket. I prefer a well oiled vehicle that's running optimally.
My body seems to be the same way, so I'll stick with 5-6 meals, instead of risking more health issues and spending more money.

Yay, I love analogies!

lol

trachnurse

I have to say that 6 meals a day is working very well for me! I am now off of my diabetes meds, and doing great! If I forget to eat, my body releases too much glucagon and my blood sugar rises, whereas if I eat every three hours when awake, my blood sugar is very good! So maybe for some this method isn't optimal, for me it is working better than anything I have tried. Fasting just raises my blood sugars because then my body releases too much glucagon, and I have to battle it back down.

Bluediesel

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/140205-how-to-lose-weight

yvonnej1

I just want to say that a lot of people on here have been told the myth down the years that your metabolism will slow down if you don't keep eating. The fact that people keep eating is the reason why obesity is epedemic.

I disagree with you making a blanket statement like the one above. It is not how many meals a day you eat that will make you put on weight but the type of foods you are eating and calories consumed. Like others have said you can easily go over your calories in one or two meals a day and equally stay under your calories by eating 5/6 meals a day, or like I do 3 'proper' meals and snacks in between. For me this works as I do a fair bit of exercise and healthy snacking keeps my energy levels up as well as boosting my fruit and veggie intake. I used to only eat 2 meals a day, skipping breakfast as I couldn't face eating in the mornings but that was when my weight was slowly creeping up. Now I feel hungry in the mornings and ready to eat, I guess it is what your body gets used to. I agree that overeating is never a good thing but eating small healthy meals often does work for a lot of people on here.
As always what suits one person will not suit another. I am glad you have a system that works for you, may you keep seeing the results you are aiming for.

fitgirl4life

You sound like some sort of fanatic with your "it's a lie" statement. What is your background? How long have you studied nutritional science? Do you think world-renowned nutrition and bodybuilding experts like Tom Venuto are "liars"? I immediately get put off by statements like this!

I don't see any credentials or a convincing arguement why anyone should believe your statement.

I ate 3 meals a day for 30 years and was fat. When I started eating smaller meals, 5 times a day, I lost a lot of weight, look great, and lost 5% body fat. So it worked for me, it wasn't a "lie".

jaded_rose

I've gotten use to eating 4 small "meals" a day and 1-3 small snacks depending on how hungry I am. Most days I only eat 1400-1600 (before exercise) and that covers all my daily calorie intake. I know how I feel when I miss a meal and don't think its healthy for me because more often then not I will beng the moment I get to food.

how often you eat a meal also depends on how much you intake during that meal too.

ickybella

Come on people! Doesn't anyone vehemently disagree or fervently agree. He's challenging the very foundation of some ideologies here!

I tried intermittent fasting and it actually wasn't bad.

Are you actually trying to start a forum argument?

P.S. I eat several times a day and have lost almost 90 pounds in total. It can work for you, if what you're eating is healthy.

Lyadeia

You sound like some sort of fanatic with your "it's a lie" statement. What is your background? How long have you studied nutritional science? Do you think world-renowned nutrition and bodybuilding experts like Tom Venuto are "liars"? I immediately get put off by statements like this!

I don't see any credentials or a convincing arguement why anyone should believe your statement.

I ate 3 meals a day for 30 years and was fat. When I started eating smaller meals, 5 times a day, I lost a lot of weight, look great, and lost 5% body fat. So it worked for me, it wasn't a "lie".

My thoughts exactly.

I don't care if eating 5 meals a day raises my metabolism or not. That doesn't even matter to me. What does matter is that when I eat smaller more frequent meals, I am less hungry throughout the day, my blood sugar is regulated, and I tend to eat less calories, less sugar, and less fat. Before I started losing weight, back when I was 191 pounds, sometimes I only ate once a day. Funny how I started to eat more meals and dropped to a low of 126. I would like to get back to where I was, and it was my own personal laziness that made me bounce back. But since starting here with MFP, I have lost weight and if you peek at my diary, even if it's not filled out completely, you see it has 5 meals listed...

So in short, eating 5 meals a day keeps me healthy by helping me reduce calories, fat, and sugar...and this motivates me to exercise more...and exercise raises metabolism...so IMHO, those 5 meals do raise my metabolism, even if it is in an indirect way.