To eat or not to eat?

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Replies

  • terracotti
    terracotti Posts: 101 Member
    I eat 4-6x a day, I tend to either overeat or eat too few with 3x a day eating schedule.
  • tabinmaine
    tabinmaine Posts: 965 Member
    I do not force myself to eat every few hours but I do force myself to eat enough calories for the day. I have learned the hard way as well, that if I under eat one day, I will stay famished all day long the next. I also can tell a difference in the way I look if I have not eaten enough.

    A spoon fulls of some type of nut butter, sunflower being my new favorite, always does the trick.

    And I will also say, it has been my experience that if I do eat something every 3 hours or so, it does make a difference in my metabolism. So things that may work for some may not work for others and vice versa. I have also experienced starvation mode in the past, so remember sharing your experience, not your opinion is what matters the most.

    Many who follow Lean Gains would argue with that.
    Believing that you are making a difference in your metabolism by eating every few hrs is false. Metabolism does not increase with meal frequency.


    BWHAHAHA, do you think I care if you argue with me or not? Sitting on line on a forum arguing with people is idiotic to me so caring what you think is not my style.

    BTW, I have 19% body fat, I am 44.

    Lets just say that my energy level and my over all feeling of good is accompanied by eating more often. But if you would like to argue that fact, by all means, carry on. I have better things to do wit my time. :flowerforyou:

    You are one of those CRAZY ones aren't you ? ...... I can see it in your eyes...... *shaking my head*
  • crazy4lulu
    crazy4lulu Posts: 822 Member
    i eat when im hungry. i dont eat when im not hungry. i lift hard and heavy and i do an hour of cardio 6 days a week along with my weight training. i take in a specific amount of calories a day and i dont eat back my exercise calories!! i am 43 years old and am training for my mext figure competition in April. i am solid muscle and im damn proud of the fact that i weigh 183 lbs. you have to find what works best for you!!! plain and simple. and if anyone would like to argue with me on this.... BRING IT ON!!!!!:wink:
  • witchy_wife
    witchy_wife Posts: 792 Member
    From what I have read, your metabolism is slightly revved up whenever you eat something. But that it's linked to what type of food or more particularly the calories in the meal. Eating 5-6 times a day will slightly raise your metabolism each time, but not for very long as to eat that often and lose weight you would need to eat fairly low calorie meals.

    Eating a bigger meal of more calories a couple of times a day will raise your metabolosm slightly for a longer period of time. So over the course of 24 hours there really isn't much difference.

    Keeping blood sugar level is something different and I haven't read up on that.

    I'd say whatever works for you!
  • Dave198lbs
    Dave198lbs Posts: 8,810 Member
    i eat when im hungry. i dont eat when im not hungry. i lift hard and heavy and i do an hour of cardio 6 days a week along with my weight training. i take in a specific amount of calories a day and i dont eat back my exercise calories!! i am 43 years old and am training for my mext figure competition in April. i am solid muscle and im damn proud of the fact that i weigh 183 lbs. you have to find what works best for you!!! plain and simple. and if anyone would like to argue with me on this.... BRING IT ON!!!!!:wink:

    you look awesome

    how many cals you eat a day?
  • ashumeow
    ashumeow Posts: 151 Member
    even when your not hungry do you still make yourself eat something to ensure that your not going too long without fueling your body?? I try to eat every 2.5 to 3 hours either a healthy meal or small healthy snack to help keep my metabolism going, and sometimes I eat eventhough I am not hungry and I'm wondering what are all of your methods when it comes to not being hungry?

    I eat 4 to 5 meals a day. Make sure u eat healthy small meal and give less priority to healthy snacks. There are low calorie ones like yogurt or some salad or one brown bread or any one fruit which might balance your metabolism.
  • Dave198lbs
    Dave198lbs Posts: 8,810 Member
    From what I have read, your metabolism is slightly revved up whenever you eat something. But that it's linked to what type of food or more particularly the calories in the meal.

    if "slightly" means an amount that doesn't make any difference than maybe. Many of the popular magazines like Men's Health, Women's Health, Oxygen, People, and those types are still putting out this outdated and incorrect information.

    When you read those articles try to find the source for the claims. Many never cite any studies and simply say that the author is a fitness or nutrition expert
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    From what I have read, your metabolism is slightly revved up whenever you eat something. But that it's linked to what type of food or more particularly the calories in the meal. Eating 5-6 times a day will slightly raise your metabolism each time, but not for very long as to eat that often and lose weight you would need to eat fairly low calorie meals.

    Eating a bigger meal of more calories a couple of times a day will raise your metabolosm slightly for a longer period of time. So over the course of 24 hours there really isn't much difference.

    Keeping blood sugar level is something different and I haven't read up on that.

    I'd say whatever works for you!
    It's strictly related to calories. TEF averages about 10% of your calories. If you eat 3 meals of 500 calories each, your TEF is 150 calories. If you eat 5 meals of 300 calories each your TEF is 150 calories.

    As for blood sugar, barring a serious medical issue like diabetes, your body is remarkably efficient at keeping blood sugar perfectly steady, regardless of how often you eat. Even a full 24 hour fast maintains perfectly steady blood sugar levels, as your body does an excellent job of converting stored fat to glucose to keep blood glucose levels from dropping.

    In short, how often you eat makes no difference, unless you have a specific medical condition that requires it. The number of meals you eat in a day is strictly personal preference and has no physical impact on health.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    From what I have read, your metabolism is slightly revved up whenever you eat something. But that it's linked to what type of food or more particularly the calories in the meal.

    if "slightly" means an amount that doesn't make any difference than maybe. Many of the popular magazines like Men's Health, Women's Health, Oxygen, People, and those types are still putting out this outdated and incorrect information.

    When you read those articles try to find the source for the claims. Many never cite any studies and simply say that the author is a fitness or nutrition expert
    And there's also my personal favorite, the deliciously vague "some studies say."
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    I do not force myself to eat every few hours but I do force myself to eat enough calories for the day. I have learned the hard way as well, that if I under eat one day, I will stay famished all day long the next. I also can tell a difference in the way I look if I have not eaten enough.

    A spoon fulls of some type of nut butter, sunflower being my new favorite, always does the trick.

    And I will also say, it has been my experience that if I do eat something every 3 hours or so, it does make a difference in my metabolism. So things that may work for some may not work for others and vice versa. I have also experienced starvation mode in the past, so remember sharing your experience, not your opinion is what matters the most.

    Many who follow Lean Gains would argue with that.
    Believing that you are making a difference in your metabolism by eating every few hrs is false. Metabolism does not increase with meal frequency.


    BWHAHAHA, do you think I care if you argue with me or not? Sitting on line on a forum arguing with people is idiotic to me so caring what you think is not my style.

    BTW, I have 19% body fat, I am 44.

    Lets just say that my energy level and my over all feeling of good is accompanied by eating more often. But if you would like to argue that fact, by all means, carry on. I have better things to do wit my time. :flowerforyou:

    I am about 20% body fat and 45 - so? I eat most of my calories at night. The fact that we are at that BF% is due to what we eat, not when we eat it.

    Intra-day meal timing is irrelevant to your metabolism, as has been discussed and shown already.


    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/meal-frequency-and-energy-balance-research-review.html
    http://www.leangains.com/2011/04/critique-of-issn-position-stand-on-meal.html
    http://body-improvements.com/resources/eat/#frequency
    http://www.leangains.com/2010/10/top-ten-fasting-myths-debunked.html

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3508745
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9040548
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17483007
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21475137
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19943985
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9155494

    Some of the above studies actually show it may be beneficial to eat later at night in fact.
  • Matt_Wild
    Matt_Wild Posts: 2,673 Member
    For 99% of people on this board it won't make a one jot of difference how or when you eat your calories, as long as you do.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    i eat when im hungry. i dont eat when im not hungry. i lift hard and heavy and i do an hour of cardio 6 days a week along with my weight training. i take in a specific amount of calories a day and i dont eat back my exercise calories!! i am 43 years old and am training for my mext figure competition in April. i am solid muscle and im damn proud of the fact that i weigh 183 lbs. you have to find what works best for you!!! plain and simple. and if anyone would like to argue with me on this.... BRING IT ON!!!!!:wink:

    Holy cr*p women, that is a nice LBM you must having going one there. You rock!
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    I do not force myself to eat every few hours but I do force myself to eat enough calories for the day. I have learned the hard way as well, that if I under eat one day, I will stay famished all day long the next. I also can tell a difference in the way I look if I have not eaten enough.

    A spoon fulls of some type of nut butter, sunflower being my new favorite, always does the trick.

    And I will also say, it has been my experience that if I do eat something every 3 hours or so, it does make a difference in my metabolism. So things that may work for some may not work for others and vice versa. I have also experienced starvation mode in the past, so remember sharing your experience, not your opinion is what matters the most.

    Many who follow Lean Gains would argue with that.
    Believing that you are making a difference in your metabolism by eating every few hrs is false. Metabolism does not increase with meal frequency.


    BWHAHAHA, do you think I care if you argue with me or not? Sitting on line on a forum arguing with people is idiotic to me so caring what you think is not my style.

    BTW, I have 19% body fat, I am 44.

    Lets just say that my energy level and my over all feeling of good is accompanied by eating more often. But if you would like to argue that fact, by all means, carry on. I have better things to do wit my time. :flowerforyou:

    I am about 20% body fat and 45 - so? I eat most of my calories at night. The fact that we are at that BF% is due to what we eat, not when we eat it.

    Intra-day meal timing is irrelevant to your metabolism, as has been discussed and shown already.


    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/meal-frequency-and-energy-balance-research-review.html
    http://www.leangains.com/2011/04/critique-of-issn-position-stand-on-meal.html
    http://body-improvements.com/resources/eat/#frequency
    http://www.leangains.com/2010/10/top-ten-fasting-myths-debunked.html

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3508745
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9040548
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17483007
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21475137
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19943985
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9155494

    Some of the above studies actually show it may be beneficial to eat later at night in fact.

    FTW! Nutritional timing is all about personal preference, complaince or gym performance. Nutritional timing is nonsense in terms of affecting metabolism.

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