Eating Less amounts more times daily

stewarm01

So what's the deal about eating less, maybe 300 calories every 3-4 hours? Has anyone tried this? Does it work? I've read this somewhere before.

AllTehBeers

3rd pimp of this thread in about an hour.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/529002-a-compliation-on-meal-frequency?hl=compliation+meal+frequency

Eating more often does not boost metabolism.

cramernh

If your daily intake is 1600 calories: whether you eat four small 400 calorie meals, or two 800-calorie meals, or 8-200 calorie meals, it doesnt matter....

Personally I would drive myself to insanity if I had to eat more than three, maybe four meals per day.. I just dont have that kind of time on my hands... too much to do at work, my music practice, etc...

JustJennie1

I used to do the small meals every few hours and it turned out to be more work than I wanted. It was a PITA when I went places because I always had to make sure I had snacks on me and I was constantly hungry.

fitQueenbeast

I do five small meals a day and it has been the best path for me. This works well for me and is a lifestyle I will choose to stick with. It really depends on the individual and what your goals are, but I do know the "experts" suggest the five smaller meals as opposed to three big ones.

cramernh

I used to do the small meals every few hours and it turned out to be more work than I wanted. It was a PITA when I went places because I always had to make sure I had snacks on me and I was constantly hungry.

Bingo!

Can you imagine what it would be like to tell a conference room full of Physicians, Surgeons and Management "sorry, I have to leave to go eat my 200 calorie meal"... that wouldnt go over so well..

SPNLuver83

Some ppl say to eat small frequent meals throughout the day (like you said) but you don't have to. It doesn't work for everyone. Like me. I like to sit and eat and 3 meals a day with maybe a snack works great for me.

Your metabolism will treat both the same, despite what others may say.

You just gotta do whats best for you.

denezy

I like snacks, but realistically I can only do it on the days when I am sitting in my office. I do try to give my body SOMEthing every couple of hours though. A piece of fruit at least.

My body prefers life like that. I get cranky on empty.

SoDamnHungry

Doesn't matter. Whatever method works best for you. Eat six meals a day or one meal a day.

alpine1994

I eat every 2-3 hours when I'm at work during the weekend. The weekend is typically 2 or 3 bigger meals. Works for me.

LoriBeMe

I get bored here at work and find that a light snack every 2-3 hrs. keeps me from binging at meal time.

Miiimii

I prefer eating just twice a day - just lunch and dinner (and sometimes have a dessert after dinner) and feel realy well this way. I'm not hungry in the morning so I don't eat. When I know I'm out for dinner, I save calories at lunch (having just a 200kcl lunch for exmaple) and enjoy eating a proper dinner in the restaurant - a whole pizza for example. Yummy!

I like it this way.

futfurd

I eat 6 times a day, but I am on a musclebuilders diet. The thought is that the consistant infusion of protein keeps you anabolic. I also find that I don't tend to overeat as much because I am not starving come meat time. that having been said when you miss a meal it doesnt take long for the headaches to start. You do become somewhat of a slave to mealtime, but with a little thought it isn't that inconvenient. Your meal can be a scoop of protein powder, or a handful of almonds. You don't have to eat a "MEAL" each time.
Hope this helps

Graceious1

I do this in the week and it works for me because I tend to use more energy here. Try things and choose what works for you.

escloflowneCHANGED

It does work, if your goal is to eat less and be full all the time, no matter how much I eat, it just seems like if I eat every 3 hours I stay full all day. Won't do anything for weight loss though.

mmapags

I do five small meals a day and it has been the best path for me. This works well for me and is a lifestyle I will choose to stick with. It really depends on the individual and what your goals are, but I do know the "experts" suggest the five smaller meals as opposed to three big ones.

Which "experts" would those be? I'm attaching a link from a PubMed study that shows in makes no difference. It's all preference and what works best for compliance. There is no metabolic or physiological advantage to eating more often, or less often or nutritional timing in general.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19943985

stewarm01

Thanks to everyone for the advice and information. This gives me something to think about.

nml2011

The six times a day eating (or 4+ etc.) craze has been proven not to have any difference over eating once a day.

If anything it will hinder weight loss / body recomposition in that you are constantly spiking your insulin and slowing down or stopping your fat burning.

newcs

I eat more frequently and aim for 200-300 for breakfast, 250-350 for lunch, 300-400 for dinner and then about 50-200 for snacks. I usually have breakfast, 2 morning snacks, lunch, 2 afternoon snacks, dinner and 2 night snacks. Every day I pack my breakfast, lunch and 4-5 snacks but I count that as 4-5 of 100 calories so in my head I count 50 calories as half a snack, 200 calories as two snacks, etc.

ETA: I don't do this for any reason other than that I really like snacking and I've found I'm more likely to stay within my calorie goals if I snack a lot in small quantities. It also works well for me because I have to eat before I get hungry. If I wait until I'm hungry, I get hangry and then I make poor decisions and usually blow through my calorie goal.

funpilot56

Excluding those people using this site for accountability, what do the 40% of Americans who are obese do when they only eat 2-3 1,000 calorie meals (read fast food) a day. What happens to the calories they don't burn because they are couch potatoes? Does their metabolism just utilze what they eat over time?

urloved33

When I had a personal trainer that is what he told me..eat less but more often (five meals daily) It worked for me