Many meals with small portions

mkeenan

Hi, I'm new to myfitnesspal. I was wondering if the many small meals throughout the day works. I always feel hungry. Yes, I just started, but in the past when I limited my portions I was hungry too. Just wondering if 5 or 6 small meals works as well as 3 larger meals with small snacks. Also what size should these "small meals" really be? 200 calories? Please give me your thoughts!

mkeenan

mkeenan

Hi, I'm new to myfitnesspal. I was wondering if the many small meals throughout the day works. I always feel hungry. Yes, I just started, but in the past when I limited my portions I was hungry too. Just wondering if 5 or 6 small meals works as well as 3 larger meals with small snacks. Also what size should these "small meals" really be? 200 calories? Please give me your thoughts!

mkeenan

deanea

Oh my gosh, the only thing that got me through the 1200 calories a day was mini meals, could you imagine have three smalls meals a day to equal 1200, that would never have worked for me. I learned to eat all day from 100 calorie bites and up.!

Anne

dakoda

I eat 5-6 small meals a day ranging from 100-300 calories per meal. This really helps to speed up my metabolism and keep me from being hungry all the time. It will be hard at first, as any diet is, but eventually your mind and body will adjust to it.

mbaker1169

I am on day 4 of the mini meal plus exercise routine. My daily intake is about 1100-1200 calories. I actually eat 6-7 times a day. I absolutely love it!!! I have so much energy and am not getting that sickening hunger feeling all day anymore. My friend has been doing this for the past 8 months. She lost 56 pounds. She is my inspiration. I think you naturally consume less calories doing it ths way as well because the crazy cravings really tend to go away. Good Luck!!!

songbyrdsweet

I eat 4 meals a day plus a post workout shake...I've eaten 3 a day and up to 7 a day. It really doesn't matter how many you eat, nor how large or small they are. You should only have a 500 calorie deficit...so for instance, if you burn 2000 calories in a day, eat 1500. These 1100-1200 calorie diets are painfully low...it's no wonder you guys are hungry. You shouldn't be eating less than 10*your bodyweight in calories. What will you reduce when you reach a plateau? You can't live on 1000 calories a day safely.

dakoda

I eat 4 meals a day plus a post workout shake...I've eaten 3 a day and up to 7 a day. It really doesn't matter how many you eat, nor how large or small they are. You should only have a 500 calorie deficit...so for instance, if you burn 2000 calories in a day, eat 1500. These 1100-1200 calorie diets are painfully low...it's no wonder you guys are hungry. You shouldn't be eating less than 10*your bodyweight in calories. What will you reduce when you reach a plateau? You can't live on 1000 calories a day safely.

Yes, 1000 calories a day is low. However, 1200 is not. Standard diet programs recommended by medical professionals and nutritionists use 1200 calories as a foundation for developing meal plans. There are criteria that alter the number of calories a person needs to consume each day for weight loss. Examples include age, gender, basal metabolic rate, body size, exercise regime and certain medical conditions. Starving your body with too few calories causes your body to slow down its use of calories; hence no weight loss shows up on the scale. Consuming 1200 calories each day has been shown to be nutritious, yet allows for the calorie deficit most people require for losing weight.

DKR982002

Is 1200 calories a day enough for a man?

songbyrdsweet

I eat 4 meals a day plus a post workout shake...I've eaten 3 a day and up to 7 a day. It really doesn't matter how many you eat, nor how large or small they are. You should only have a 500 calorie deficit...so for instance, if you burn 2000 calories in a day, eat 1500. These 1100-1200 calorie diets are painfully low...it's no wonder you guys are hungry. You shouldn't be eating less than 10*your bodyweight in calories. What will you reduce when you reach a plateau? You can't live on 1000 calories a day safely.

Yes, 1000 calories a day is low. However, 1200 is not. Standard diet programs recommended by medical professionals and nutritionists use 1200 calories as a foundation for developing meal plans. There are criteria that alter the number of calories a person needs to consume each day for weight loss. Examples include age, gender, basal metabolic rate, body size, exercise regime and certain medical conditions. Starving your body with too few calories causes your body to slow down its use of calories; hence no weight loss shows up on the scale. Consuming 1200 calories each day has been shown to be nutritious, yet allows for the calorie deficit most people require for losing weight.

I am entirely aware of the criteria, which is why 1200 is low. My BMR, at 5 feet tall and 130 lbs, without the influence of my LBM or activity level, is about 1300-1400. Since most people are much taller than I am (lucky me), their BMRs alone would be higher than that. Unless you're completely sedentary, which no one on this site is, it's unnecessary to take such a cookie-cutter approach for eating 1200 calories. I'm on my way to becoming a nutritionist, so I take these things very seriously and I'm not just making things up to go against the grain. Saying 1200 calories is healthy while 1000 is not is too much of a generalization for so many different individuals because it assumes all people only burn 1700 calories a day and all of those 200 calories that make a difference are entirely nutritive.

DKR, 1200 would not be enough for a man unless you're a 120 lb, bed-bound man. You should find your BMR, then add to that all the activity you do in a day, from walking to exercise. Once you find out how many calories you've burned in an entire day, eat 500 less than that.

dakoda

Anything under 1200 is too low. As I said, it depends on a lot of criteria.

deanea

I eat 4 meals a day plus a post workout shake...I've eaten 3 a day and up to 7 a day. It really doesn't matter how many you eat, nor how large or small they are. You should only have a 500 calorie deficit...so for instance, if you burn 2000 calories in a day, eat 1500. These 1100-1200 calorie diets are painfully low...it's no wonder you guys are hungry. You shouldn't be eating less than 10*your bodyweight in calories. What will you reduce when you reach a plateau? You can't live on 1000 calories a day safely.

Yes, 1000 calories a day is low. However, 1200 is not. Standard diet programs recommended by medical professionals and nutritionists use 1200 calories as a foundation for developing meal plans. There are criteria that alter the number of calories a person needs to consume each day for weight loss. Examples include age, gender, basal metabolic rate, body size, exercise regime and certain medical conditions. Starving your body with too few calories causes your body to slow down its use of calories; hence no weight loss shows up on the scale. Consuming 1200 calories each day has been shown to be nutritious, yet allows for the calorie deficit most people require for losing weight.

I am entirely aware of the criteria, which is why 1200 is low. My BMR, at 5 feet tall and 130 lbs, without the influence of my LBM or activity level, is about 1300-1400. Since most people are much taller than I am (lucky me), their BMRs alone would be higher than that. Unless you're completely sedentary, which no one on this site is, it's unnecessary to take such a cookie-cutter approach for eating 1200 calories. I'm on my way to becoming a nutritionist, so I take these things very seriously and I'm not just making things up to go against the grain. Saying 1200 calories is healthy while 1000 is not is too much of a generalization for so many different individuals because it assumes all people only burn 1700 calories a day and all of those 200 calories that make a difference are entirely nutritive.

DKR, 1200 would not be enough for a man unless you're a 120 lb, bed-bound man. You should find your BMR, then add to that all the activity you do in a day, from walking to exercise. Once you find out how many calories you've burned in an entire day, eat 500 less than that.

You are right, everybody is different and this site is just a guideline, we need to make sure we are aware of all factors of healthy eating when cutting calories....however, I started in November with a goal of 10lbs. I reached my goal just before Christmas eating 1200 calories a day, losing approximately 1-2lbs a week. Now I am on maintenance which is 1580 cals a day without exersice.
So, the site was bang on for me with the caloric calculations for my weight loss at 1200 cals to start.