Eating times....

I think for most people it doesn't matter when you eat your calories, as long as you are staying within your calorie goal during a 24 hour period.

Personally, I eat three small but healthy meals.... then spend most of my calories on snacking during the afternoon and evening. Works for me, but it would probably drive some people nuts! :laugh:

I've always been a consistent snacker; if I don't my blood sugar crashes and I get low energy and really cranky. Most of the guided programs I've been on with trainers say to eat small amounts every 3 hours, regardless of when you wake up or what your schedule is (I had to do some overnight driving and it was still every 3 hours). I'm not a doctor but I would think eating everything early on and then cutting yourself off wouldn't be too good for your blood sugar and energy levels.

I've always been a consistent snacker; if I don't my blood sugar crashes and I get low energy and really cranky. Most of the guided programs I've been on with trainers say to eat small amounts every 3 hours, regardless of when you wake up or what your schedule is (I had to do some overnight driving and it was still every 3 hours). I'm not a doctor but I would think eating everything early on and then cutting yourself off wouldn't be too good for your blood sugar and energy levels.

This is an excellent point. If you stop eating, your blood glucose levels will go down. When they get low enough, you'll probably suffer from it, and your body will start looking for other ways to keep it's glucose levels up. That most happens from it eating away at your muscles (not your fat), but it's a slow process. You won't be able to work out effectively when this happens.

I agree with the others that meal timing has no real effect on weight loss or muscle gains. Of course if you have some kind of medical issue or issue with insulin then it might not be ideal to go long periods without eating. Most healthy people can get used to long periods without eating though.

I would say that all day eating is not ideal as one giant meal is not ideal.

Guys, unless you have diabetes, when you eat has absolutely no effect on blood sugar. Your blood sugar stays amazingly constant throughout the day. Glucagon and insulin work together to maintain blood sugar levels. The only thing eating every couple hours does is ensure that insulin levels will remain chronically elevated (insulin is supposed to spike and drop, while glucagon drops and spikes, eating always causes insulin to rise, so eating constantly causes insulin to stay spiked constantly.)

Meal timing has no effect on weight loss or health. Heck, it was only a couple hundred years ago that the average person started eating more than one meal a day. And it was only a few thousand years before that that humans started regularly eating every day (before agriculture, humans ate every few days, whenever they could hunt and gather enough food.)

If eating one meal a day works for someone, I say go for it, more power to them, and I wish I could do that it would sure save on washing dishes

I eat more like the 5 + times a day, for several reasons. I believe that if I try to keep the size of my little meals down to 1 cup, that I won't want to go over that (when I overate I could eat several cups at a sitting, and then my tummy expected several cups at the next meal, too) now that I eat less I feel much fuller on less. For me, eating several smaller meals means I keep my blood sugar more stable, and that makes it so I don't end up "thinking" that I'm starving and go on an icebox rampage. Knowing that I can eat again soon makes it easier for me to be able to push away the plate I have in front of me, thinking that I might not have food for 24 or more hours makes me want to overeat. I try to wait for a REAL hunger clue (stomach actually growling, or feeling low blood sugar) before I eat so I don't eat from boredom, stress, frustration, anger, food addition, or {insert any reason at all here} (lol) and my body tells me I am hungry more than once a day (but that could be because I don't eat much in one meal).

As long as food in - energy out comes up a negative number, you'll lose weight....and as long as you feel good while you're doing it, you'll keep it off

I was just talking with a lady yesterday about eating more often and smaller amounts due to blood sugar levels.
This I will have to learn how to do or manage!! However, I need to start picking the healither foods too!!
Still want that junk food!!! Its so so bad for me and still maybe its just bordem or emotional eating not sure or both.
I will pay closer attention to these types of behaviors and types of foods I put into my mouth. Happy weekend everyone!