How many meals a day?

skvenus

Is it better to eat a small meal every 4 hours? I eat breakfast around 8-9, lunch at 12-1 and dinner at 5-6. Then maybe a banana and milk or dates later at night. Is that ok or should I eat differently to make sure I don't eat more? How about all of you? How often do you eat and have you found anything which works to help lose weight?

drmerc

Meal frequency does not matter, eat whenever you prefer to eat your meals

wellbert

If that's what you need to do to feel full.

Alex_is_Hawks

Meal frequency does not matter, eat whenever you prefer to eat your meals

^^This.

CindyBlakeGoble

I dont think it matters as long as you stay within your alotted calories....do what works for you....

taunto

If you're allowing yourself 2,000 calories a day (example) then you can eat all of the 2,000 calories in one meal. Eat them 400 calories each of 5 meals. Eat 2 big meals of 1,000 each. Doesn't matter.

I have done the 5 times a day thing myself and it is not bad. I felt more energized and it was a better routine for me. Scientifically there is no benefit, just something that suited me.

Then when I started fasting, I switched to 2 big meals of 1,000 calories each. It suited me then. My pants were still getting looser at a steady rate

tl;dr: eat whenever or however often you wish, just keep the calories and macros in mind

jesswait

Try out different things until you find what works best for you. I eat 6 small meals a day, because it helps me stay energized and focused throughout the day. Also I eat mostly dense vegetables, beans and grains I am too stuffed to eat more than a few hundred calories at time. Some people only eat once because they like having a load of calories at once. Eat whenever you are hungry, stay within your calorie range and watch your macros.

LeenaRuns

Try out different things until you find what works best for you. I eat 6 small meals a day, because it helps me stay energized and focused throughout the day. Also I eat mostly dense vegetables, beans and grains I am too stuffed to eat more than a few hundred calories at time. Some people only eat once because they like having a load of calories at once. Eat whenever you are hungry, stay within your calorie range and watch your macros.

This exactly. I eat 6x/day because that's when I'm hungry.

mercymarque

You should do what best for you. I like to eat breakfast lunch dinner and have two meal replacements throughout the day and 2-3 snacks between 100-150 cal. It seems like I'm always eating. I don't eat untill I'm full and drink only water before,after and during my meals. Eating more I never feel hungry and don't go over my calories and never too far under.

Chief_Rocka

An IV drip is your best bet

californiagirl2012

You can do this how ever you want. Think of it as a calorie budget for the day and for the week. It does not matter how many meals or what time they are, or how much time in between. Starvation mode is a myth when you have fat stores in your body (think about it, there is no such thing as starving fat people). You can skip any meal you want, if you want. It's all up to you. You can have 2-3 meals or 10, whatever feels right for YOU. No one way is better. Also you do not have to eat the same amount of calories every day. You can think of it as a weekly calorie budget. You can eat low some days and high some days. You can be flexible. You can find what is sustainable for you.

I found that less meals for me worked better and a longer time gap between dinner and breakfast the next day, but some days it worked for me to skip lunch, or breakfast, or dinner. I'm smaller and have a smaller calorie budget than bigger people so I had to find what works for me. I'm not an emotional eater and I don't binge so it works for me. I enjoy eating but it's also purposeful, I like to think about what I had the last meal and balance things in my next meal, keeping things in balance.

I am short, petite, small; my RMR is low compared to others. We are all different. There is no one size fits all. Even people my height and gender are different and some need more calories than I do. My doctor checked my hormone levels throughout my 60 lb weight loss journey (from obese down to 10% body fat) and everything was fine. I got stronger and stronger at the gym, my running and weight lifting strength improved even while eating on a significant calorie deficit. My DXA scan proved I did not lose lean body mass or go into starvation mode.

All that matters is a calorie deficit to lose weight: "Let’s say your total daily Calorie needs is 2,500 Calories per day. Let’s also assume the amount of calories you ate was only 2,000 calories. Your body simply makes up the difference with the calories from your body fat (and a few from some minor sources like your glycogen stores). 2,000 Calories from food + 500 Calories from Body fat = 2,500 Calories being used to fuel your metabolism. So you just ‘make up the deficit’ with the calories being stored in your body fat. (Hence the saying ‘creating calorie deficit’) So if eating less food than you need means you will use your body fat as a fuel source, it becomes easy to see why and how you lose body fat by eating less." -John Barban.

There is no mystery to weight loss, everyone thinks something is wrong, their metabolism is broken, they have low thyroid, they have menopause or whatever issue, they are as unique as a snowflake, whatever. I thought a lot of these things once too but once the doctor helped resolve the health issues for me I learned there is still no magic pill. Most people eat more than they need to and are not at good at estimating calories as they think they are. Most people have a lower BMR than they think they do. The only way to know for sure is to go to a lab and have it tested. It doesn't seem fair to have to eat less and feel a little hunger. It's hard to face the truth of it, very hard. It's not fun. It's drudgery at times. But if you learn to enjoy your smaller amounts of food (necessary to lose weight, since the reason we got fat in the first place was eating too much whether we knew it or not), and rejoice in your victories it can be done.

Too many changes at once can be hard on some people. I've always eaten healthy so it easy for me to simply eat less. Eating at a calorie deficit is hard on people; even a small deficit puts your body in a state of flux with hormones and such. Everyone is different. Some people can handle a deeper calorie deficit than others, this is not right or wrong, it just is. Stress in your life affects your hunger hormones; lack of sleep, fatigue, job stress, family stress, financial stress, etc. Add in emotional eating issues and it gets even more complicated. Most people can only handle so much change/stress at once, they try to do too much and fail. Sometimes it might be a better strategy to eat at maintenance and make some small changes first, it really depends on how much stress you are taking in at the moment.

Matt_Wild

Depends how much you have to fit in.

I have 6500 calories... its lots of meals LOL

drmerc

Depends how much you have to fit in.

I have 6500 calories... its lots of meals LOL

Mirin'

Sarauk2sf

FFS - wall of text. First 2 paragraphs would have covered it.


OP: eat in whichever way suits you best for adherence and personal preference. As has already been said, intra-day meal timing has no appreciable impact on weight loss.

monty619

just stay within ur caloric limit and eat when you are hungry.

willwillywilson

I do six smaller ones but only because I seem to be hungry otherwise. If you find you're hungry a lot with fewer meals and are more prone to snacking (like me) I'd try it out for sure.

BarackMeLikeAHurricane

I eat once a day, dinner.

Colorfan

I eat 6 times a day, small amounts. Keeps me from being hungry all day.

In my case, Im trying to cut calories in order to lose weight though, so since Im eating so much less than I was before cutting, eating multiple meals keeps me satisfied throughout the day.

Lady_Bane

I eat every hour to an hour and a half. Ahahaha. I am a hungry woman :P
I try to make the best choices every meal/snack though.
I don't eat heavy breakfast/lunch/dinners, I eat like 300 for bfast, 250 for lunch, and 200-250 for dinner. The rest is snacks....snacks are the secret to my diet happiness. I have to eat or Ill freak out and eat EVERYTHING if I wait too long

FredDoyle

An IV drip is your best bet

Larff :laugh: