Eating every 2-3 hours a MYTH!??? WTH!

mslou5851

For the past 6 months I have been eating every 2 hours and have lost 20 pounds. I eat small amounts about 6 times a day. I don't deny myself a sweet if I really want it. I just don't pig out like I used to. The only thing I have given up is soda. It's a lifestyle change, not a diet.

happysherri

3 meals with a few snacks works for me

skinnyinnotime

I usually have 3 meals and maybe a snack or 2, depends when I'm hungry.

I could never be bothered with 6 meals a day, sounds like far too much bother.

Your body doesn't care whether you eat your cals in one sitting or spread throughout the day, the main point is how many cals are going in, not how often!!

welloiledmachine

Why not focus on WHAT you put in your body as opposed to WHEN. You should eat when you are hungry. Being healthy and fit should be our main goals. Focus on healthy food and a good workout routine.
So much stress goes into trying to lose weight and do the right thing. It's all pretty simple....eat less or work out more to lose weight. There is argument for and against every diet/lifestyle out there. You have to decide what works best for you because all of us are different and not everything works for everybody.

Chic

pcastagner

I'm pretty sure eating every 2-3 hours is something that actually happened, and not a myth

antjoanes

I believe the 6 meals a day thing came about years ago by body builders trying to eat crazy amounts of protein a day. Its easy to hit 300g of protein if you spread that over 6 meals in the day rather than 3 or 4 meals.

From what I have been reading this amount of protein is obsessive unless you're on steroids and working out like crazy and there are also lots of studies stating meal timing and frequency don't count, its total calories that count 3500kcal to lose a pound of fat, doesn't matter how you do it.

pcastagner

but it DID happen

jofjltncb6

That it happened:


That it has the benefits that proponents say it does:

WhisperAnne

I 2 big meals. Breakfast and dinner. And a small snack at lunch. I cant eat 6 times a day! I would eat to much. I don't know where these doctors get their info from..200 people is not enough scientific research to determine what the whole world needs you know?

just_Jennie1

I have done the small meals throughout the day and it was a pain in the butt. When my body got used to it I was hungry all the time. I had to pack snacks with me if we were going to be somewhere longer than a few hours and we weren't going to be near any place to eat. It sucked!

Now I eat when I'm hungry

spoiledpuppies

I would stick with whatever works for you, but I also heard recently (just from Jillian Michaels, so take that with whatever your opinion is of her) that eating so frequently is the worst thing you can do. I tend to have three meals with 1 snack for sure (usually in the afternoon) and sometimes another in the evening if I just need to eat more to meet my calorie goal. (I try to avoid "having" to eat the evening one though by planning my calories better through the day. I'm definitely not great at this yet, unless I know exactly what I will eat for dinner.)

blaznazn22

I had these same questions so I did some investigation and I've summarized what I found, below. If anyone wants links to the source documents or studies, send me a PM and I can provide them. So...in no particular order, what I've learned in support of eating multiple smaller meals a day:

1) Protein utilization - You cannot utilize more than ~30 grams of protein per meal for anabolic purposes. Protein consumed in excess of this amount is either used for its caloric value (not optimal because protein is a "dirty" fuel), or will be stored as fat. Individuals with protein needs in excess of 90 grams/day, and who only eat 3 meals/day run the risk of being in a continual protein deficit. The body will react to this by catabolizing lean body mass.

2) Excess thermogenesis of multiple meals - This is not a myth. It has been demonstrated that single, large meals are more efficiently processed than are multiple, smaller meals of equivalent caloric value. Another way of saying this is that it takes more calories to process multiple small meals. The difference in the caloric requirements is not trivial, and does effectively raise the metabolic rate of the individual eating multiple meals.

3) Fat storage - Larger, less frequent meals produce a greater insulin response, which results in increased fat storage.

4) Reduced time spent in energy deficit - This is related to the first point listed, but is slightly different. Consider that at any given time your body has a specific requirement for energy. It is less when you are at rest and more when you are exercising. Similarly, at any given time your body is receiving a certain amount of energy through nutrition. This level is high immediately following a meal and will taper off over time. Studies have shown that the less time spent during the day in energy deficit (and the avoidance of large deficits), the lower the amount of muscle catabolism the body will employ. Consider an extreme example of this: A person exercises hard in the morning, and eats one meal a day in the evening. Even if that meal is sufficient to cover the individual's daily caloric requirements, they will have spent most of the day in an energy deficit, catabolizing lean muscle mass, and they will spend most of the evening in a large caloric surplus, with a high insulin response, laying down fat. Think of this as reverse body recomposition. Now consider a person on the opposite end of the spectrum. They eat 5 small meals a day and they time their largest meals to be before and after their exercise period. This person can support both muscle growth and fat reduction. Ignoring that the frequent eater will have burned more calories as a result of the frequent meals, in these two example the two individuals will have engaged in the same amount of exercise and eating the same amount of calories per day, but by managing the amount of time during the day spent in extreme surplus or deficit, they will experience very different outcomes.

The slide below illustrates this. Eating Pattern 1 shows a person eating multiple small meals a day. Eating Pattern 2 shows a person eating three large meals a day. Eating Patter 3 shows a person eating one large meal in the evening. It's important to note that all three end the day at the 0 line, meaning that they all exactly covered their calorie requirements. However, each of them spent all of the minutes and hours during the day at various levels of caloric surplus or deficit. Studies suggest that Eating Pattern 1 is optimal for avoiding fat creation and muscle catabolism.


Anyway...that's what I've found, so that's my story and I'm sticking to it! :laugh:

bla bla bla bla...

are you a scientist, and have you done peer reviewed research proving your hypothesis in a credible journal or are you just spouting BS that you put together yourself using scientific sounding words? Im betting you're an armchair scientist.

Im not a scientist, Im just a regular guy who has no idea on how to lose weight efficiently, like everybody else here. However you're claim that eating 6 times a day will boost metabolism has been discredited by scientific peer reviewed research

http://ca.askmen.com/sports/bodybuilding_900/965_popular-metabolism-myths-part-3.html

Read the article and follow the research links. Eating twice a day and eating 6 times a day shows no difference in metabolism, rates, and has been proven with credible research that use a control to test the null hypothesis.

Also, by insulin being constantly released by eating 6 times a day would promote fat storage rather than burning it off. Insulin would see that there is a constant glucose supply in the blood stream and so wouldn't burn off the fat for energy.

Another reason 6 "small" meals a day doesn't work is that people usually end up over eating anyways because they have no idea how much a small portion is supposed to be.

dbmata

RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE!

FindingAmy77

eat every three hours or so. I don't care what one study says. For every so called expert's opinion or study is one that counteracts it. This is why you have to filter out the bs and do what works for you. Eating every few hours works for me right now so that is what I am doing.

SkepticalOwl

RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE!

This. This. This.

F00LofaT00K

It doesn't matter when you eat, it matters how much you eat. I can eat 2000 calories in one meal every day and I would still be losing weight at the same rate I have been by eating 3-4 smaller meals and a snack or two or three.

RunnerStephe

I eat 3 normal meals and 2 snacks. I eat when I'm hungry...not by the clock. I just stay within my calorie limits. My stomach doesn't know what time it is.

I'm about the same.