Frequent Small Meals

Nlongenecker

How many of you eat 6 small meals? I've heard of doing this. How do you like it? If I eat (6) 200-250 Calorie meals (factoring in exercise) I can be right at 1200 calories.

luv2ash

its been the secre to my success--is all I can say

skl1986

This is almost exactly how I eat. My breakfast tends to be between 200-300 calories (bowl of bran flakes with skim mile and frozen fruit), my mid-morning snack is between 100 - 150 calories, my lunch is around 300 calories (solid sized piece of protein - fish or chicken - with a vegetable, fruit and small starch), mid-afternoon snack is again around 150 calories, dinner is same as lunch, and the evening snack is the same as the other two snacks... works out well. Keeps my sugar levels in check; I'm not hungry all the time and I don't cheat as often.

Careful on dipping your calorie intake too low, particularly if you exercise as well. You don't want to put your body into starvation mode.

Best of luck.

Sarah

DrMan

Definitely the way to go. Keeps your metabolism up and helps fight cravings as you know that you get to eat again in 2-3 hours. My diary is divided up into hours, not meals which helps a lot as well. Smaller, more frequent meals is also the secret to my success.

oliveoil87

@Sarah. I do about the same and I love it. I am not hungry and I don't cheat often as well!

Jessica_Lo

I do this too and it helps me from binging since I'm never really ever super hungry but I'm never super full either. Check out my food diary if you'd like.

squeaktones

i call it grazing instead. but yes i eat small throughout the day except on weekends when my boyfriend is here. if it is a day where we have lots to do then i eat more because we generally eat out then.

formytwins

I do this also and eat about every 2 hours which can be about 7 meals a day for me? I am use to it now. I just need to add in more protein?? It works for me

feliciapeters

I kind of have to . Eating breakfast is important for weight loss & if i eat breakfast I'm STARVING all day. I eat something every few hours. Even between my little regular 5-6 meals I sometimes need a little "something", so i have a few carrots, a few cubes of cheese etc. Some of my meals are way more than 200 calories, but some are less, plus eating the exercise calories.

kimeister

I do this as well and find that I'm almost never hungry as a result. I used the extra slots available on the diary and set up Breakfast, Morning Snack, Lunch, Afternoon Snack, Dinner, 7pm snack. The last is the only one with a time because I prefer not to eat after 7pm; adding the time there is a great reminder. I keep meals around 350 calories and snacks at 100-200 calories.

NoExcuseTina

I started in January with eating 5 meals a day...then when I joined MFP I started watching the calories per meal...and it has helped. I rarely feel hungry (took about a week after joining MFP because I was eating so much before)...but now, I cannot eat as much (thinking my stomach shrunk) and it takes less food for me to feel full.

I was told by someone to not think of it as eating a meal...and this has helped ME...each time I eat, I try to eat 2-3 things together (might be an apple and peanut butter or rice chips and cashew butter, etc)...and I named the "meals" with times instead of breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks...this has helped because sometimes it is my 3-4 PM time that I am hungry and might eat 500 calories...anyhow, I started listening to my body! I am not completely strict with the times I eat, I use them as a guideline.

I definitely find eating more frequently helps ME to make better food choices! And those days when I am hungry an hour after I eat, I know I will be eating in about 2 hours, so I wait for my eating time! Hope this helps!

Feel free to check out my food diary for some ideas!

skl1986

@ForMyTwins - Consider a mid-day protein bar or protein powder mix as a supplement. I find these very helpful because it allows me to take in additional protein without a large food item... such as ANOTHER piece of chicken or fish.

FrenchMob

That's all I've been doing for over a year. It's a great way to stay satisfied, and helps stabilize blood sugar levels/insulin spikes. Not everyone has the option though depending on their type of work, etc.

Nlongenecker

So I've been trying this today. It's going pretty good so far. I am pretty hungry right now (well maybe I just want to eat instead of being really hungry), but I'm trying to get through it til 5pm.