Who here eats 6 (small) meals a day?

Seamoan87

And what is/are your workout regimen? I feel that as I start to workout more, I'll probably need to be eating 6 small meals but I can't fathom the idea. I've done it before and it feels like I'm always eating and sometimes I'm not hungry enough to eat that much. And I'm just curious to see how everyone else does it.

Clarecbear82

I don't due to not having time but would be interested to know if it works for others

_GlaDOS_

You don't have to eat that often. It only matters that you hit your calorie goal and eat back your exercise calories (especially with a goal of only 1200 per day). I tend to eat every 2-3 hours, but that's only because I'm hungry and I like to eat. I also have a lot more calories to eat. :flowerforyou:

hush7hush

I'm ALWAYS eating. Not really meals, though. Like an apple, then a piece of string cheese, then an egg, etc. All day. Mainly because for work I sit on my *kitten* for eleven hours a NIGHT, and am always wanting to be eating.

MoonShadow_1au

I did this under a PT and found my idea of 6 "small" meals was way off. The aim was to gain weight in muscle and at the same time reduce fat. I ended up gaining weight in both muscle and fat.

The "small" size was described clearly to me (I just could not eat that little). Esentially your own fist is the measure, each of the 6 meals should have 1 fist of carbs and 1 fist of protein. (note: no mention of fat is intentional as that apparently does not matter !! )

Sounded easy to me too !!

The other side of this argument is why 6 meals? And do you really need 6 meals? The theory is that by spreading out the food intake you are less hungry and still getting the correct amount of calories. On the other hand I have MFP friends who are following intermittant fasting (they only eat once a day after 5:00pm) with good results.

My advise, if you are up for 6 meals a day try it, but keep a close eye on your weight and % body fat. I could see myself drifting back to fat !!.

With the 6 meals a day regieme I was working out with 3 Weights sessions and 3 cardio sessions a week (one rest day). Never doing cardio on weights days. Also cardio days were intense 20 min workouts no more. The idea was to trash my muscles and have a week of recovery per muscle group.

ruby_red_rose

I eat 6 meals - breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, mid-afternoon snack, dinner, evening snack.. My meals are ~300 calories, and my snacks are ~100 calories. It works out very well for me because I get hungry all the time. And I work out once a day, 60 minutes of cardio 5 times a week, and 25 min of strength training 2-3 times a week.

Seamoan87

I did this under a PT and found my idea of 6 "small" meals was way off. The aim was to gain weight in muscle and at the same time reduce fat. I ended up gaining weight in both muscle and fat.

The "small" size was described clearly to me (I just could not eat that little). Esentially your own fist is the measure, each of the 6 meals should have 1 fist of carbs and 1 fist of protein. (note: no mention of fat is intentional as that apparently does not matter !! )

Sounded easy to me too !!

The other side of this argument is why 6 meals? And do you really need 6 meals? The theory is that by spreading out the food intake you are less hungry and still getting the correct amount of calories. On the other hand I have MFP friends who are following intermittant fasting (they only eat once a day after 5:00pm) with good results.

My advise, if you are up for 6 meals a day try it, but keep a close eye on your weight and % body fat. I could see myself drifting back to fat !!.

With the 6 meals a day regieme I was working out with 3 Weights sessions and 3 cardio sessions a week (one rest day). Never doing cardio on weights days. Also cardio days were intense 20 min workouts no more. The idea was to trash my muscles and have a week of recovery per muscle group.

hmmm That seems complicated. But I do have the intention of upping my workouts once I get a more consistent gym schedule. I tend to do 30mins of cardio than lift weights for all parts of my body.

it_be_asin

I need to eat that frequently (or more often), but if it doesn't work for you don't force it. For me it's a tool for managing satiety, but if your satiety is better managed eating less frequently, then go with it.

skywa

I eat 5 times a day. I eat more in the morning and before a work out though. I think the best way to go about it is to eat medium sized breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and then snack in between.

I think it helps keep my stomach small so i don't over eat regardless of the situation (ie. im at a restaurant with family).

Everyone's different though. As long as you stay within your calorie range it doesn't really effect your weight loss.

Nyxks

I have 2 planned meals a day (breakfast and lunch) other wise the rest of the day is grazing as the mood strikes me to do so (50g of carrots here, 30g of celery, 4 oz of milk, etc) I track it all and more times then naught I'm still having to for a snack on myself before bed to even hit 1200 never mind the 1800 my dietitians set for me.

Seamoan87

I eat 5 times a day. I eat more in the morning and before a work out though. I think the best way to go about it is to eat medium sized breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and then snack in between.

I think it helps keep my stomach small so i don't over eat regardless of the situation (ie. im at a restaurant with family).

Everyone's different though. As long as you stay within your calorie range it doesn't really effect your weight loss.

I'll probably do that. Snack when I can.

FoxyMcDeadlift

I eat two meals. Although really, the second is a mass post gym graze until what i've cooked is ready. They're both at least 1,000 kcal

kouzzzz

I am always eating. 3 meals and lots of snacks. Only healthy ones of course.

PBJunky

Meal frequency is irrelevant unless your are an athlete

rkr22401

I graze/snack all day long. I never let myself get hungry. About every 2-3 hrs I'll have something small...a yogurt, a hand full of almonds, a piece of fruit, some cheese, a small meal. My total daily calories stay around 1280. I've lost almost 25 pounds over the holidays and my stomach has not so much as growled once.

I eat a small breakfast as soon as I wake. I pack a variety of small snack containers to take to work daily and if I even start to get a hint I'm about to be hungry I grab a snack. I eat a small dinner with the family.

It has kept me from cheating or binging by keeping my blood sugar stable all day long.

emmab0902

Metabolically and for fat loss it is better to eat in a smaller window of time. The 6 meals a day thing is a myth that is propagated over again, but science actually shows health benefits are greater when you eat for a shorter period in a day. Look at some of the leangains and intermittent fasting research

I lost ZILCH eating frequent meals, and since I have switched to eating the same number of calories but over a shorter period of time, I have lost 9lbs.

Goldenbast

I have recently started eating 6 meals, about 3 hours apart. I also exercise periodically throughout my day because I am too out of shape to sustain long singular sessions. So far I have found that I am more energetic, feel better overall and am never hungry. I got out of the habit for a while and my energy levels went way down and the good feeling was gone as well....I started again a few days ago and have already noticed a small weight drop and once more I am feeling happy, energetic and just good. I am going to keep doing this to see where it takes me.

rkr22401

Depends on the individual. If eating frequent small meals prevents blood sugar peaks and valleys and keeps you from being hungry, you are less likely to binge or grab something less healthy out of convenience.

Before I started grazing, I'd be starving when I got home from work. Then I'd eat more than I otherwise would. Now I get home and eat just enough to last me through the evening or maybe I'll grab another small snack in the evening after a workout.

This is not a myth and is not only for athletes. Like I said, I've lost 25 pounds over the holidays without going hungry, so it is at least effective for me.

Kamalka

I have a real breakfast (>500 cal), light lunch (300 cal) and normal dinner (500 cal). My healthy snacks (carrot, banana, oats, egg, canned fish) between them and fruits after dinner allow me to get a ighter dinner. As soon as I think "I would like to eat something", I put something in my mouth. That is more between 3PM and dinner. I started this to get rid of fat: if my body is not hungry, he does not stock anyhing. But the majot benefits are that I used to get hungry for 3-4 hours and would then jump on chocolate, biscuits or would have double portion dinner. Since I eat these haelathy snack, I lost 13 pounds eating exactly the same food on my meals, only getting rid of chocolate (it was dark Belgian Chocolate).

That means I am actually on diet while nobody sees it...I just eat normally, changing hungry feelings into satiaty. Carrots work great for me but I could not eat more than I do now. I also noticed that I used to concentrate eon my protein level to exercise but that since I try to increase carbs and keep a normal level of proteins I had more energy during my cardio. This drives me to the conclusion that the method of fasting/increasing meals/increasing proteins/increasing carbs/... vary very much with your lifestyle and your starting point: I have for example a very easy to handle muscle mass but tend to have problems with fat, I sit all day long in front of a computer but got 2h intensive cardio workouts...I like the idea of healthy snack and real meals...but would not decrease the amounts I have at the moment for the following 2 decades

aurie024

I snack all day (on healthy things) and when I do I notice the weight loss. I sit all day for work so if I eat a big meal it's torture. So I break it up and eat something small every 2 hours or so!

snailrunner

If you research the role that insulin plays in your body, and then understand why it is called 'the fattening hormone', the last thing you will want to do is keep eating! It is better to eat three times a day, or try intermittent fasting...if you are always feeding your body, why will it burn fat?

capriciousmoon

I eat when I'm hungry. I try to make sure most of my meals are things that could work on their own as snacks so it's easier to just eat however much I need, whenever I want.

My exercise is mainly biking. I don't worry about doing anything special unless I'm going on a very long ride and will be out for a few hours, then I'll have a protein shake before and bring a snack.

sunkisses

Forget what everyone tells you about science and studies. Until you try it yourself, you won't know its affects on your body. If it seems unnatural to you, or like something you wouldn't want to do, then don't do it. You don't need a study to rearrange your food in such a way that it works for you.

It happens to work VERY well for me because I naturally want to eat in this way. I'm able to consume more calories than "allowed" on MFP for some reason. I broke my plateau by embracing this way of eating instead of forcing myself to have 3 large socially prescribed meals 3 times a day with snacks in between.

If you're going to start, just take the same meals you would have eaten for the day and break them into snack-sized portions. Same calories, different way of eating them.

My workout: Walking 5-6 days a week.

Silverkittycat

I agree with sunkisses -

Forget what everyone tells you about science and studies. Until you try it yourself, you won't know its affects on your body. If it seems unnatural to you, or like something you wouldn't want to do, then don't do it. You don't need a study to rearrange your food in such a way that it works for you.

Lately I've been eating 4/5 times daily. Some days I eat breakfast, some days I don't. Some days I end up snacking all day long and don't get a full meal in at all, on others I'll eat a large breakfast and won't be hungry again until later in the day. I don't have a set schedule for eating because my daily activities and level of hunger vary so much.

debilyn574

My personal trainer told me to do this and I thought he was crazy, but it works! I lost 22 lbs (have since gained a few back so I'm re-committing myself). It's important to eat something within a half hour of waking up to get your metabolism working again. My diet is roughly as follows:
6:45 wake up
7:00 oatmeal with fruit (1/2 or sometimes whole banana, 1/2 cup blueberries or strawberries) and walnuts (1 oz)
9:30/10:00 apple with almond butter
12:30/1:00 salad with turkey or grilled chicken
3:00 pear, pineapple, banana, or some other fruit
5:00 carrots
7:00 cardio and/or weight training
8:00 grilled chicken with veggies

Let me know if you have questions.

ElizabethRoad

It's important to eat something within a half hour of waking up to get your metabolism working again.

Your metabolism works all the time. There is no need to start it up again in the morning.

rkr22401

If you research the role that insulin plays in your body, and then understand why it is called 'the fattening hormone', the last thing you will want to do is keep eating! It is better to eat three times a day, or try intermittent fasting...if you are always feeding your body, why will it burn fat?

You've mentioned the key factor (insulin) yet somehow reached the exact opposite conclusion than the one to which logic should have led you.

Your body will burn fat because you are still consuming fewer calories than you are burning. By breaking these calories up into smaller more frequent meals you maintain your blood sugar levels flatter throughout the day.

Rather than eating a large meal that spikes your blood sugar then waiting hours until your next meal while your blood sugar levels and metabolism are dropping (leading to cravings, etc.), you continue to feed your furnace, keep the fire of your metabolism burning, and avoid hunger pangs and cravings.

DANCERPURPLE

BUMP

mnwalkingqueen

I was introduced to eating 6 small meals by a personal trainer to start my metabolism back up. I eat breakfast, mid morning snack, lunch, mid afternoon snack and dinner. I also drink my weight in ounces. My workout routine is weights and cardio every other day and the opposite days just cardio.

emmyvera

I eat 5 meals a day. Breakfast, Morning Snack, Lunch, Afternoon Snack & Dinner. Sometimes I have
an evening snack. (Which would be 6).

I usually work out before dinner or at some point in the evening. With my schedule, I don't have a set time every day.

I eat bigger breakfast, lunch and dinners. And then my snacks are smaller sized.
This keeps me fueled throughout the day. :happy:

Isrn2

I eat 5 meals a day usually ... 3 main meals and 2 snacks. I try to make my lunch the largest meal of the day and eat most of my carbs by mid-afternoon. My afternoon snack is usually higher in protein than my morning snack. Seems to help with the afternoon blahs. I also try not to eat dinner after 7 pm.

Workouts for me are early morning. It's just easier for me to get it out of the way before the day begins.