How often do YOU eat to get results?

MeShika

I'm doing a "Biggest Loser" contest through my job til November, and would like to lose about 30lbs doing it. With this being said, it has been calculated that I eat 1200 calories a day, but am curious, how often do you realistically eat a day and WHAT DO YOU EAT BETWEEN MEALS!?!? I really want to get a handle on this whole thing, so I can get my own routine. Can you help?

SideSteel

I'm doing a "Biggest Loser" contest through my job til November, and would like to lose about 30lbs doing it. With this being said, it has been calculated that I eat 1200 calories a day, but am curious, how often do you realistically eat a day and WHAT DO YOU EAT BETWEEN MEALS!?!? I really want to get a handle on this whole thing, so I can get my own routine. Can you help?

Meal frequency should be based entirely on your lifestyle and personal preference.

There is no metabolic advantage to consuming food more frequently. Choose whichever method makes it easiest for you to hit your nutritional/calorie targets by end of day.

Madux1818

I'm doing a "Biggest Loser" contest through my job til November, and would like to lose about 30lbs doing it. With this being said, it has been calculated that I eat 1200 calories a day, but am curious, how often do you realistically eat a day and WHAT DO YOU EAT BETWEEN MEALS!?!? I really want to get a handle on this whole thing, so I can get my own routine. Can you help?

Meal frequency should be based entirely on your lifestyle and personal preference.

There is no metabolic advantage to consuming food more frequently. Choose whichever method makes it easiest for you to hit your nutritional/calorie targets by end of day.

Sidesteal, welcome back!!!!

SideSteel

I'm doing a "Biggest Loser" contest through my job til November, and would like to lose about 30lbs doing it. With this being said, it has been calculated that I eat 1200 calories a day, but am curious, how often do you realistically eat a day and WHAT DO YOU EAT BETWEEN MEALS!?!? I really want to get a handle on this whole thing, so I can get my own routine. Can you help?

Meal frequency should be based entirely on your lifestyle and personal preference.

There is no metabolic advantage to consuming food more frequently. Choose whichever method makes it easiest for you to hit your nutritional/calorie targets by end of day.

Sidesteal, welcome back!!!!

Thank you

marcenepea

LOL I'm also doing a Biggest Loser challenge at work. It end the beginning of Nov. I try to eat anywhere from 1300 - 1700 calories a day depending on how hungry I am. And I just eat when I'm hungry. The first time I started I tried sticking to 1200 or less and was miserable. This seems to work alot better for me, however everyone is different. Find what works best for you and keeps you motivated. Good Luck.

SherryTeach

Definitely the frequency of food intake is a personal preference and has no effect on weight loss, but my personal preference is to eat practically constantly. If I stretch my breakfast out far enough. . . fruit, yogurt, cereal in a snack bag. . . I practically run into my morning snack. . . trail mix, string cheese. . .edamame. . . which then practically runs into lunch. And so on.

It works for me and I never let myself get hungry. I always have "safe" food with me for an emergency because my biggest issue is getting ravenous and then eating whatever stale donuts I might find in the teacher's lounge! I'm a teacher, and yes, my students know I have food on my desk all the time.

MeShika

LOL I'm also doing a Biggest Loser challenge at work. It end the beginning of Nov. I try to eat anywhere from 1300 - 1700 calories a day depending on how hungry I am. And I just eat when I'm hungry. The first time I started I tried sticking to 1200 or less and was miserable. This seems to work alot better for me, however everyone is different. Find what works best for you and keeps you motivated. Good Luck.

Thanks for the encouragement!

klsdwn

You do what's best for YOU! You do not have to work out six times a week like I do. I'm not an expert AT ALL just a girl trying to be healthy and do what's best for my body! Good luck to you!

vsetter

When I was eating 1200 calories, I ate 6 times per day. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were usually around 300 calories each, Snacks in between were about 100 calories each. But I will agree with marcenepea --- it is really rough to stick to. And it is really hard to get proper levels of fiber and protein when eating that little bit of calories.

I now eat more and have so much more flexibility. I would focus on increasing your activity rather than being strict to 1200 calories. 1500-1700 calories is so much more manageable (and better for your long-term goals).

Just my opinion --

Debbe2

Honestly I focus on eating when I am hungry. I also try to focus on minimizing eating out of boredom and emotional eating. That's the best approach I've found. With that being said I enjoy breakfast and so that's a given for me. Everything else depends on the situation and preference for the day. Some days 2 or 3 meals and other days 4 to 6 small meals or snacks. I keep hearing that change is good when it comes to our bodies but not sure that's proven or opinion. Anyway good luck on your challenge!

Helloitsdan

I'm doing a "Biggest Loser" contest through my job til November, and would like to lose about 30lbs doing it. With this being said, it has been calculated that I eat 1200 calories a day, but am curious, how often do you realistically eat a day and WHAT DO YOU EAT BETWEEN MEALS!?!? I really want to get a handle on this whole thing, so I can get my own routine. Can you help?

Meal frequency should be based entirely on your lifestyle and personal preference.

There is no metabolic advantage to consuming food more frequently. Choose whichever method makes it easiest for you to hit your nutritional/calorie targets by end of day.

^^This.

With that said if you are consuming 1200cals+eating back exercise calories, sometimes its easy to skip breakfast and start eating after 1pm. You'll have larger meals that way....if you prefer.

You are eating back exercise cals.....right.....?

MeShika

^^This.

With that said if you are consuming 1200cals+eating back exercise calories, sometimes its easy to skip breakfast and start eating after 1pm. You'll have larger meals that way....if you prefer.

You are eating back exercise cals.....right.....?
[/quote]
Okay, so I don't always take care of eating the back exercise calories. I guess I didn't really consider it. But okay, I'll start. Thanks for that insight!

bulbadoof

I eat when I'm hungry. I find that smaller frequent meals stave off hunger better than bigger meals with a lot of time between them. I know it doesn't physically accelerate my weight loss - it just helps me control my hunger better.

When I'm hungry and I'm trying to conserve calories, I'll reach for some fiber with a glass of water. A few leaves of spinach, a serving of vegetables, half a slice of whole-grain bread (whichever grain you prefer), a handful of raspberries, you get the idea. It'll satisfy your stomach between meals and snacks for under 50 calories every time.

12774

1 chobani yogurt

2fruits

1 , 100cal snack

1 Kellog protein strawberry drink

breakfast is my smallest meal, lunch my largest

AlexandraLynch

Well, 300-500 for three main meals. Between the second and third, and after the third, I throw in a 150-200 calorie snack, and one day a week I very deliberately eat at least 2000 calories. It confuses my body, and if I have a persistent chocolate brownie sundae craving, I just have to wait til Monday to have it. If I need to go over due to life issues, then I do so and get back on track tomorrow, but by and large that doesn't happen.

Usually I cook, so I'm either eating freshly made or leftovers (leftovers are usually breakfast) but I do keep frozen Lean Cuisine's around for times when I need to eat and am too tired and sore (I have fibromyalgia) to do more than push buttons on the microwave.

For snacks, I favor a little cheese and a few crackers, a yogurt, or a small cup of ice cream. I do not feel deprived when I am watching TV and eating ice cream every evening. (grin)

jacksonpt

I'm doing a "Biggest Loser" contest through my job til November, and would like to lose about 30lbs doing it. With this being said, it has been calculated that I eat 1200 calories a day, but am curious, how often do you realistically eat a day and WHAT DO YOU EAT BETWEEN MEALS!?!? I really want to get a handle on this whole thing, so I can get my own routine. Can you help?

Meal frequency should be based entirely on your lifestyle and personal preference.

There is no metabolic advantage to consuming food more frequently. Choose whichever method makes it easiest for you to hit your nutritional/calorie targets by end of day.

This.

That said, I try to eat 4-5 times throughout the day. Eating more often helps prevent me from getting hungry, which prevents cravings and binges. It's not a metabolic thing, it just helps me stay in control.

xXKatrinaXx

I dont go by breakfast, lunch, or dinner. eat 6 small meals a day. 6AM, 9AM, 12PM, 3PM, 6PM, and 9PM. All about 300 calories. I heard it is good to eat like this (every 2-3 hours) because it is good for your metabolism.

LaNena01

BUMP

melaniecheeks

I aim for about 1200-1300 calories per day.

I'll have (roughly) 200-300 cals for breakfast, a 100 cal snack about 10 am, a 200-300 cal lunch, another 100-200 cal mid afternoon snack, then about 400 cals for dinner.

CyberEd312

This all comes down to personal preference... Your main goal is to get in your caloric intake and hit your macro's.... Beyond that if your exercising make sure you are eating your exercise calories if your calorie deficit has already been figured in through your MFP settings. Don't create to large of a calorie deficit, that can work against you over time. I would recommend a heart rate monitor if you have not gotten one already to better track your calorie burns. I consume 85% of my exercise calories per my Polar FT60 HRM. All that being said I am a Type 2 Diabetic so my meal frequency is based on that, so I have 3 Main Meals and 3 Snacks a day like I said you have to do what works best for you.... Best of Luck...

mcedes02

Honestly...it depends on my day! I tend to try to have about 4 hours between meals and have 3 meals a day. I occasionally have a very light snack (fruit or crackers or rice cake type snacks) between lunch and dinner. Depending on how early we do dinner I might have light snack before bed. I've had a lot of success w/keeping my NET between 1200-1400 and keeping my sodium 2200 or below. Portion control and food choices are where I feel is the 'secret' to eating is! Good luck!

Laddiegirl

Honestly the way I eat is based on my work schedule and my hunger. I eat breakfast at 9am, have a small snack at 12ish during my first break, lunch around 3pm, sometimes another small snack on my last break around 5-5:30pm, dinner when I get home around 8-8:30. Right now I'm given 1650 calories by MPF (my BMR is 1643) and I try to eat as close to that as possible (funny how learning how to eat right makes that seem like SO MANY calories, but when I didn't care I'm sure I easily blew past that daily!). I rarely eat any of my exercise calories, usually only if I eat out a lot.

I've always been a "grazer" so I feel most satisfied when I have 3 small meals and then 2-3 small 100-150 calorie snacks a day. I haven't had any desire to binge or go crazy and have never felt hungry since I've been dedicated on here. It works for me and I've steadily lost 2 lbs a week the last 8 weeks! Most importantly, I feel satisfied and not deprived of anything! Deprivation diets just don't work for me, what works better for me is working the things I like into a balanced day

But thats what works for me. I know other people that feel better/fuller with 3 larger meals or two small meals & a larger dinner, ect. You need to find what makes you feel satisfied and helps keep your motivation.

drusilla126

I eat when I'm hungry. Sounds stupid and rude to answer your question with that but it's true when I think about it. Sometimes I won't eat lunch, some days I won't eat dinner but I still eat a lot. Feels like I'm eating a little bit all day long sometimes. Best thing you can do is drink a lot of water.

Zangpakto

30 days? and you want to win this thing?

Easy.. do what I'd do for prize money... liquid fast the whole time, lose the weight, then ease back into solids and back to normal after I cash in my prize winnings... ka ching!

Try for whole supplements however...

While you can get full nutrition whilst doing this, it is going to seem hard to balance etc, but it can be done!

Futurelife - Balanced Nutrient Dense Energy Meal, 50 g - mixed with water is a cereal that is high in all essential minerals/vitamins etc, around 200c a pop, can have in shaker or normal bowl like a porridge, contains no wheat, gluten etc....

It is really tasty the strawberry one might I add...

If this liquid one aint for you, try paleo then...

Read up on it, and try the 30 day paleo challenge and see what a difference it makes and how you feel etc... It isn't a diet per se, but a way of living..

So whilst you can do a paleo diet, it isn't only about that... it is about training, how you sleep nutrition etc...