Strange Eating Times

felcandy

Hello, its me again.

So, lately ive noticed my eating times get really really skewed. I work at a bakery from 6-1 every M-F. I noticed that I will eat at a normal time in the morning, around 9 or so, but then when I get off work, I'm not very hungry for lunch. My husband is sitting behind me reading this in Morgan Freeman's voice. And it is really awkward. I end up eating lunch at 3:30 or 4. Then at 10, when my husband gets home, we have dinner. On Saturday and Sunday I notice that we eat breakfast at 1030 and then lunch around 5pm. Then I am not hungry for dinner and sometimes end up being really low on my calorie intake because I don't feel like eating late at night. Sometimes I net about 900 calories, which I know is not a great idea. My daily calorie amount is 1590 and I try to exercise daily. Emphasis on try.

The point of this topic is that I do believe that a calorie is a calorie no matter WHEN you eat it, but is this a bad way to eat throughout the day? I would love to be able to eat 5 or 6 small meals evenly through the day, but that isn't feasible and I don't get very hungry between my meals unless I eat something like a bowl of spinach :P I don't know much about metabolism or rather what my metabolism is. I am pretty sure that timing my meals won't affect it, but should I try to stick to a more evenly spaced eating schedule even if I am not hungry? I don't want to be under 1200 so often, but I am finding it difficult sometimes to even come near my calorie goal.


Extra info:
I eat 1590 as 30% less than my TDEE for weight loss. I try not to eat less than 1200 a day, but sometimes I fall asleep before I even get hungry for more. I wouldn't kick myself for eating up to my TDEE, but I definitely don't want to eat more than that unless I work out ridiculously hard!

Edit!!!

I have been eating this way for 125 days (!!) and have not seen much change in my weight. I updated my ticker in January and I have not had any weight loss since then (but I have lost a few inches here and there)

BarackMeLikeAHurricane

Meal timing and number of meals doesn't matter

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11319656

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1905998

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9155494

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15085170

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8399092

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8383639

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21123467

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19943985

I only eat once a day and I've lost weight just fine.

EvanKeel

Meal timing and frequency offer no metabolic advantage. Changes in timing and frequency might help moderate eating behavior, and most greatly affect satiety, which can make a difference in the grand scheme of things. But it has nothing to do with your metabolism as such.

felcandy

i know that, that wasnt really my question. it was more of, how do i hit my calorie and macro goals if I eat at strange intervals and dont get hungry enough later on in the day? should I eat more at every meal? should I try to have a more strict timing?

EvanKeel

i know that, that wasnt really my question. it was more of, how do i hit my calorie and macro goals if I eat at strange intervals and dont get hungry enough later on in the day? should I eat more at every meal? should I try to have a more strict timing?

I guess I'm confused. I feel like you might be over complicating things. Eat what you can when you can? You seem to have a set calorie and macronutrient goal, but also have kind of crazy schedule. If your schedule is odd, you could try to account for that by planning and preparing meals in advance, for example.

This sounds more like a "Should I eat even if I'm not hungry?" post to me, but maybe I'm wrong?

felcandy

i think i am overcomplicating things. maybe i just want to post something for the sake of posting :P i'm just worried that the reason im not hitting my goals sometimes is that my eating schedule is weird. and when i do hit my goals, i feel almost guilty for eating which is never a good thing.

for example, yesterday i ate breakfast at 1030, then i had a yogurt about an hour later, then i ate a turkey sub at 530, then went to a movie and when i got home, it was 1030 and i needed another 750 calories to finish out my day.... so i cooked some fish and sweet peas and ate one and a half servings of fish and three servings of peas when i wasnt even hungry for anything.... i felt really crappy about it too, and i still hadn't hit that 750 calories i was aiming for.

dietkat

I have a bizarre schedule, too-- I work split shift at a gym, so I generally work from 6am to about noon, then return to work around 4 and stay until 7.30 or 8. Snacking's hard because I don't have a lot of time to do it when I'm at work, and when I'm home during my break, I'll just end up eating every hour.

What I've found works best for me is to eat at regular intervals. Doesn't matter if the times are "normal" or not-- just that I get food in me every four to five hours. Some people find every two to three hours works better, some every five to six. Just figure out what works for you. Then spread out your food over the course of those meals. (So I eat about 500 calories at four meals-- 5am, 10.00am, 3pm, and 8pm). It helps keep me from getting to a point where I'm either ravenous or trying to stuff extra food into me at the end of the day.