eating less vs 5 small meals a day

jess_goobie

Hi i have been eating very small portions about three times a day sometimes ill just have something for breakfast like toast with peanut butter then go to work and not eat again tell 4 when i cook dinner. I am not hungry at all and dont want to force myself to eat if im not hungry. Would I really be burning more fat if I ate some veggies and fiber throughout the day instead of my small breakfast and healthy dinner?? LESS food is LESS calories

FireEngineRedHead

Even if you aren't hungry, your body may be going into starvation more. Try some healthy snacks. BEWARE of the sharks this thread will bring.

jess_goobie

Even if you aren't hungry, your body may be going into starvation more. Try some healthy snacks. BEWARE of the sharks this thread will bring.

thanks i believe i will get a lot of those sharks hahah they suck!! I understand starvation mode but come on shouldnt your body eat all that fat i have then once the fat is gone go into starvation mode. Yeah im trying to think of healthy snacks. Im trying to stay away from fruit because of the sugar and i want something that i can throw in my bag and not refreg. Dont really have one at work.

Energizer06

Here's what I posted for someone else. You may find it helful.


I do not believe in a metabolism "reset" idea. It's not really scientifically feasible.

1. You can help boost metabolism by keeping it working more often. What eating more often does: increases thermogensis, fasting lipid and postprandial insulin profiles. Clinical Study: http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/81/1/16.full

2. Build more metabolic muscle. Lifting heavier (strength training) will assist in maintaining Lean muscle while on a caloric deficit. Since lean muscle burns more calories, your body will burn more while at rest, allowing the caloric burn to take place while you sleep.

3. It sounds like you just started...So water retention on some small lean muscle development may account for the scale. May take a couple of months to see new weight loss. Everyone is unique in the way their body adapts to new lifestyles.

So, my recommendation is to have a nice glass of red wine tonight and hit the weights tomorrow. Your body composition will catch up to you in time.

My theory: "Nutrition is a diet.....Nutrition with exercise is a LIFESTYLE" and "If your going to strength train, you may as well do it HEAVY"

Riemersma4

Great question. There are many elements to calories/nutrition/fitness....

I describe this effort in 3 phases:
QUANTITY: getting your overall calorie vs burn rate to the point you want to lose/gain weight
QUALITY: focusing on meeting your macro settings and thinking about food as FUEL
PRECISION: what I eat and when, micro nutrients, etc.

the main arguement for eating lots of small meals is keeping a semi-constant blood sugar level. If you eat fewer/bigger meals, that will spike insulin production which promotes fat storage to some extent. Many smaller meals also helps curb teh 'hungry' feeling but it sounds like you aren't feeling that.

I believe that the first thing for you is to understand what your calories in (food) vs calories out (BMR, exercise) and get that right. THis is QUANTITY/ Once you are there you can start to focus on QUALITY and then PRECISION.

Make any sense? Happy to talk in greater detail.

Good luck!

bagge72

Hi i have been eating very small portions about three times a day sometimes ill just have something for breakfast like toast with peanut butter then go to work and not eat again tell 4 when i cook dinner. I am not hungry at all and dont want to force myself to eat if im not hungry. Would I really be burning more fat if I ate some veggies and fiber throughout the day instead of my small breakfast and healthy dinner?? LESS food is LESS calories

It doesn't matter how many times a day your eat, as long as you are getting the calories you need, so if just a couple meals a day is working for you stick with it. You body will not go into some sort of crazy starvation mode because you didn't eat for an hour.

jess_goobie

Im trying to eat less cal than i burn exercissing so i get a negative # for the day. Drinking lots of water also helps with the not hungry feeling and keeping my goal in mind. That fiber bar i should eat is (throwing numbers out there) 200cal. I will have to run an extra mile to burn that off. Im not even hungry so why bother eating it. And I can just run my normal miles. Im not eating big meals when i eat. They are still small and healthy but only 2-3 times a day.

2EggsSeparated

Im trying to eat less cal than i burn exercissing so i get a negative # for the day.

I know i'm new here, but this has to be a troll, right?

auddii

Im trying to eat less cal than i burn exercissing so i get a negative # for the day. Drinking lots of water also helps with the not hungry feeling and keeping my goal in mind. That fiber bar i should eat is (throwing numbers out there) 200cal. I will have to run an extra mile to burn that off. Im not even hungry so why bother eating it. And I can just run my normal miles. Im not eating big meals when i eat. They are still small and healthy but only 2-3 times a day.

You should not be netting negative calories. In fact, MFP should be yelling at you in large red letters that what you are doing is unhealthy. Eat what MFP tells you for your daily goals. And yes, that means that you eat back your exercise calories. MFP already gives you a deficit to lose, so when you exercise, it creates a larger deficit. However, a larger deficit does not always lead to a larger loss. In fact, weight loss can stall if you aren't eating enough (yes, it sounds counter productive, but it's true). Plus, this is putting your body under great stress, which will also limit weight loss.

You aren't hungry because when you consume very low amounts of food, the body stops producing the hormones that make you feel hungry. From what I understand, people think that is an evolutionary reaction to "starvation periods" (your body doesn't want you chewing your own arm off, so it makes you think you're less hungry than you are).

Eat more. Doesn't matter how often, but make sure you eat all the calories you are supposed to.