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

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  • OneFitLady
    OneFitLady Posts: 28 Member
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    It takes a lot of planning and time to do the 5-6 meal a day for me. So being the type of person who would rather be downstairs exercising (yes, I'm a freak), I choose to concentrate of breakfast, lunch, dinner and if I wanna "graze" I just split up the meal in between.

    Also, another thing to consider is portions. I mean a meal should consistent of X amount of calories to fulfill the XY amount of daily calories needed, so by portion control you can spread out the calories into your 5-6 meals (make sense?)

    And lastly, if I eat all day long, I obsess about food and when the 2 hours is rolling around for my "dose" of food. Therefore, the traditional 3 meal a day works best for me.
  • scalpay
    scalpay Posts: 44
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    I wish! Alcohol hurts soooo much when my stomach flares.

    oh shoot, yeah dang. i like your ticker btw. first i was: why would someone have undies on their ticker and then i saw the sizes, made me giggle!
  • edorice
    edorice Posts: 4,519 Member
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    Eating through out the day (6 small meals a day) works for me. My blood sugar isn't going through peaks and valleys through out the day. I'm not one of those people that are crying at 3pm saying that they are STARVING.

    These are my truths:
    protein curbs hunger
    cinnamon tablets regulate blood sugar
    eating through out the day keeps me sane.
  • HerbieSue
    HerbieSue Posts: 288
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    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.

    Eat when you are hungry, eat healthily and don't eat too much. That's my mantra and it has gotten me to my goal and below! I have never believed in the 6 meals a day thing, or eat right when you get up.......... If you are not hungry, then why should you eat? I eat high protein meals and just don't find myself hungry between meals. But I do agree that everyone should do what works for them. I am just happy to read this post because I thought I was the ONLY one who didn't think eating 6 meals a day was a lot.

    Great debate, though, it's always good to share our opinions and successes! That's what MFP is all about!
  • jennylynn84
    jennylynn84 Posts: 659
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    So, there are plenty of studies that say there is in fact, no difference in your metabolism if you eat small meals throughout the day. HOWEVER there are also studies that say people who DO eat small meals throughout the day are less likely to be obese. This may be a causation vs. correlation problem, but the most common argument I have for it and why I personally snack a lot is that I am going to frickin' go crazy and EAT if I don't snack. Because I'm hungry.

    If you sit down to a meal ravenously hungry you are more likely to eat past your full level quickly - before your brain even goes "hey stop, you're full!" So while when you're counting calories and measuring portions it may not be a big of an issue (to all of us that measure portions BEFORE sitting down to eat), this can be a major benefit when you're trying to wean yourself off of constant logging and just maintain. In fact, I'm sure plenty of us recognize doing this overeating because they were hungry and their eyes were too big from our journey to our higher weights.

    Whether or not its true that your metabolism drops, it works for plenty of us. So it is STILL better for us and more of a benefit to our weight loss to eat several small meals. And whatever helps America not be so darn fat.....
  • lordofultima
    lordofultima Posts: 293
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    I think the solution here is to just understand your own body. If it works then keep doing it, but certainly there are more benefits to eating 6 smaller meals a day, other than the "unproven" metabolism boost. We're not talking about eating twice as much food, 6 meals a day has nothing to do with the obesity epidemic, overeating does. You can overeat with 1 meal, or 11 meals, it makes no difference.

    It sounds like the original poster is just trying to justify his own inability to eat 6 meals a day, and hey man if you lost weight doing what you're doing, congratulations and keep on truckin'. But don't rain on a parade with studies that oppose other studies, especially without citing sources. Studies are exactly that, studies. They're highly situational, hypothetical, and the only way to cut through them is to just learn some common sense, understand how your own body works, and you will then know the answers to your own questions. Studies could tell me to go jump off a bridge to lose weight, I'm not going to do it. Studies now tell us to eat twinkies all day to lose weight, no thanks studies!
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    42 replies? Man, somebody spit in someone's holy water.

    If I posted a topic that says "Jillian Michaels Sucks", I bet I could get 100....:devil:
  • kennedar
    kennedar Posts: 306 Member
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    If I dont eat every 3 hours or so, I become the biggest b*tch around. DH and I call it H-angry. Our marriage is dependant on me eating when I am hungry, or else he will get blown up at for no good reason. My diary only shows 3 meals - I combine everything that I eat in the morning into breakfast, lunch is all afternoon and dinner is all evening. I know what works for me. If eating 3 large meals a day works for you, then great! Do whatever works best for you!
  • IsMollyReallyHungry
    IsMollyReallyHungry Posts: 15,350 Member
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    42 replies? Man, somebody spit in someone's holy water.

    If I posted a topic that says "Jillian Michaels Sucks", I bet I could get 100....:devil:


    :laugh: :laugh:
  • AdamATGATT
    AdamATGATT Posts: 573 Member
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    If I dont eat every 3 hours or so, I become the biggest b*tch around. DH and I call it H-angry. Our marriage is dependant on me eating when I am hungry, or else he will get blown up at for no good reason. My diary only shows 3 meals - I combine everything that I eat in the morning into breakfast, lunch is all afternoon and dinner is all evening. I know what works for me. If eating 3 large meals a day works for you, then great! Do whatever works best for you!

    You and my wife! I try and keep some chocolate or something available, because if Trace is hungry, Trace is grumpy. Scary grumpy. :explode:
  • StrongHeart
    StrongHeart Posts: 294 Member
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    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.

    Sorry to disagree with you, but I have to say that 5 to 6 mini-meals a day works for me. I've lost over 20 pounds eating that way.
  • mamagooskie
    mamagooskie Posts: 2,964 Member
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    I eat 3 meals a day with a snack between each......so I guess you could call that 6 "meals"......and my 112lbs lost seems to not be a lie so I'll stick to what works for me.
  • Ge0rgiana
    Ge0rgiana Posts: 1,649 Member
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    I do 3 meals a day + 2 snacks. The meals are about 300 cals each and the snacks are around 150, which comes out to 1,200. My math isn't perfect. My goal is 1,250 a day base, and I don't really like going under 300 for a meal. Anyhoo, I eat in this pattern because I do South Beach, and this is what's recommended. It really does help with my hypoglycemia. I don't know that this particular eating pattern has helped me lose weight (although SBD sure has!) in and of itself, but the balanced blood sugar it provides sure has made things easier. Any hypo can tell you that if your sugar drops you're eating anything and everything and it takes longer to feel full. Your brain is just telling you to eat in a desperate attempt to get that sugar level back up. That can sure lead to some extra pounds! :wink:

    Personally, I wouldn't consider any kind of fasting because of health issues. I don't claim that it's unhealthy for everyone. A big reason why there's so much debate about what's "right" and "wrong" in healthy eating and weight loss is that there are a handful of different metabolism types. Different people's bodies react differently to all this stuff. I have said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again a million times on these boards; you have to get to know your own body and how it reacts and then do what's best for you.

    Oh, and I would say that if you want to know the source of the obesity epidemic, you need look no further than restaurants and the processed foods that line grocery store shelves. At least, this applies to America and many other countries.
  • edorice
    edorice Posts: 4,519 Member
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    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 totally agree with you and from what I've read IF is also very healthy for you I mean how do you think our ancestors ate I'm sure it wasn't 6 times a day.

    Which ancestors are you referring to?
  • MacMadame
    MacMadame Posts: 1,893 Member
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    Which ancestors are you referring to?
    The mythical ones who ate exactly the way anyone wants to justify eating. ;)

    In reality, ancient humans ate many different ways. And the human body is remarkably adaptable. Pretty much any way of eating - amounts, ratios, timing - works for someone.
  • pullright
    pullright Posts: 18
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    I'm a fan of Martin Berkham - Leangains website, Lyle Mcdonald - Body recomposition website, Brad Pillon - Eat stop Eat website. Check em out people! Don't listen to the stuff they write about in Mens/Womens health mags. It always contradicts itself. The diet industry aims to confuse so they can sell you more 'magic' diet solutions.
  • LotusF1ower
    LotusF1ower Posts: 1,259 Member
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    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 totally agree with you and from what I've read IF is also very healthy for you I mean how do you think our ancestors ate I'm sure it wasn't 6 times a day.

    Which ancestors are you referring to?

    I think he is talking about cavemen times.

    They would eat when they could, which sometimes was not very often at all, once per day, if that.
  • pullright
    pullright Posts: 18
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    Hey I didn't mean to upset anybody. People get very emotional when it comes to their firmly held convictions being challenged. I'm everyone's friend on here. Maybe the use of the word lie was unnecessary but I wanted an intelligent debate so I used a headline grabbing word. You can eat 10 meals a day if you want but I am just challenging the notion of metabolism slowing down when you don't eat for a few hours. As well as the sites I listed below also check out the Warrior diet. Tom Venuto also explains this in some detail on his site. Keep an open mind. Peace!
  • eillamarie
    eillamarie Posts: 862 Member
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    I'm a fan of Martin Berkham - Leangains website, Lyle Mcdonald - Body recomposition website, Brad Pillon - Eat stop Eat website. Check em out people! Don't listen to the stuff they write about in Mens/Womens health mags. It always contradicts itself. The diet industry aims to confuse so they can sell you more 'magic' diet solutions.

    Why are you on a site like this then? While MFP doesn't outwardly promote eating several smaller meals a day, it does recommend it (see default food diary settings).
  • TateFTW
    TateFTW Posts: 658 Member
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    Hey I didn't mean to upset anybody. People get very emotional when it comes to their firmly held convictions being challenged. I'm everyone's friend on here. Maybe the use of the word lie was unnecessary but I wanted an intelligent debate so I used a headline grabbing word. You can eat 10 meals a day if you want but I am just challenging the notion of metabolism slowing down when you don't eat for a few hours. As well as the sites I listed below also check out the Warrior diet. Tom Venuto also explains this in some detail on his site. Keep an open mind. Peace!

    Searching out an emotional response will never foster intelligent discussion.

    As for what you're saying, well 5 days ago I would have whole heartedly disagreed. But then I discovered intermittent fasting 4 days ago, and having been following a LeanGains influenced plan for the last 3 days. I feel amazing, and have dropped 1lb already, when I wasn't even planning on trying to lose while trying the plan.

    I feel MUCH LESS HUNGRY than when I was eating 6 times a day. The biggest issue was later in the evening, when my hunger was unstoppable. Now it's a non-issue, because that's when I can eat as much as I want. I always enjoyed breakfast, but am not really hungry at that time. Now I just skip it and have water, then have a diet mountain dew for lunch to get the caffiene.

    It's definitely not for everyone. My wife tried it with disastrous results, but it's been awesome for me.

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