Only eating when hungry or eating on schedule...

donyellemoniquex3
donyellemoniquex3 Posts: 2,384 Member
edited January 6 in Food and Nutrition
Which do you prefer ?

Replies

  • kmekate
    kmekate Posts: 1
    My trainer has me eating small meals every 2.5 hours throughout the day. I have an alarm set on my phone to go off at 7 a.m. (when I wake up), 9:30 (when I get to office), 12 (lunch), 2:30 (snack), 5 (before the gym), 7:30 (normal dinner time). I've been doing this for the last two weeks and my weight is finally moving on the scale again. He says we have to keep the metabolism burning. Not to eat a lot, "just keep it rollin" in his words.
  • tjs616
    tjs616 Posts: 51 Member
    Schedule. If I let myself get too hungry, I find I make worse choices and have more trouble with portion control. The schedule helps me stay focused and I have a target calorie goal for each meal that I like to stick to. Works for me!
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    Personally? The old me would say on schedule as my eating habits were never good enough to rely on the "only eat when hungry" or "only eat when you feel like it" mentality. I've gotten much better about things in the 2ish years I've been on MFP, and can now estimate my foods/intake with reasonable accuracy.

    That said, often times my workouts screw with my desire to eat... so I still schedule meals and log stuff periodically to make sure I'm on track.
  • AddieOverhaul
    AddieOverhaul Posts: 734 Member
    I eat when I'm hungry...although I do make an effort to eat a decent breakfast even if I'm not hungry because I find otherwise I will feel hungry and peckish all day and end up eating more.
  • allthenamesaretaken1
    allthenamesaretaken1 Posts: 98
    Schedule. I tend to eat more at night if I dont eat on a schedule.
  • Erienneb
    Erienneb Posts: 592 Member
    I eat when I'm hungry. Which conveniently tends to be the same times every day. Or close enough.
  • annasensei
    annasensei Posts: 39
    I find that being on a schedule works for me so I don't get those nasty cravings. I teach high school, so the days are pretty much the same. I'm slightly dreading being on break, with no set schedule, and being in the house around all those holiday temptations.
  • kristen6022
    kristen6022 Posts: 1,923 Member
    Schedule. If I ate when I was hungry, I'd eat ALL THE TIME!
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,237 Member
    I kind of graze continually throughout the day (not a lot of calories consumed in total though), so I'm kind of eating continually. But, I get hungry at night-and that's when I eat the bulk of my calories for the day. I consume actual meals when I'm hungry-I don't really stop eating during the day for long enough to get hungry.
  • mmsilvia
    mmsilvia Posts: 459 Member
    I try to eat 5 times a day (3 meals & 3 snacks) ~ but, when it comes to when I eat I listen to my body & eat when I am hungry.
  • Sarahbara76
    Sarahbara76 Posts: 601 Member
    I eat when I'm hungry...although I do make an effort to eat a decent breakfast even if I'm not hungry because I find otherwise I will feel hungry and peckish all day and end up eating more.

    ^^^ this is me exactly!! I have to be working out intensely to lose weight tho..otherwise I stay smallish looking but get kinda flabby
  • FitBeto
    FitBeto Posts: 2,121 Member
    If I ate when I am hungry I would run out of food.
  • Car0lynnM
    Car0lynnM Posts: 332 Member
    Both. I eat on a sort of loose schedule of small frequent meals, but if I'm hungry in between, I find a healthy, small snack to nosh on.
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    schedule. level of hunger is not an accurate guide for me . sometimes i'm too busy to realize i'm hungry other times (most times :laugh: ) i want to eat all the food.
  • deannakittygirl
    deannakittygirl Posts: 228 Member
    both: weekdays at work I have set breaks so I eat when I have a break. on weekends I do more of a eat when I am hungry type plan
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
    Personally? The old me would say on schedule as my eating habits were never good enough to rely on the "only eat when hungry" or "only eat when you feel like it" mentality. I've gotten much better about things in the 2ish years I've been on MFP, and can now estimate my foods/intake with reasonable accuracy.

    That said, often times my workouts screw with my desire to eat... so I still schedule meals and log stuff periodically to make sure I'm on track.

    I'm very similar to this.

    If you're brand spanking new to all of this and are completely out of whack with your eating habits, there is something to be said about forcing yourself into a schedule or routine.

    After some time passes and you get more in tune with your body, you can loosen up some of the constraints and go more by intuition; you will still have your food diary that you can look to, to see where you stand at a glance.
  • coolraul07
    coolraul07 Posts: 1,606 Member
    I try to eat 5 times a day (3 meals & 3 snacks)...
    :huh: <blows dust off of an abacus to check the math above>
  • FitFabFlirty92
    FitFabFlirty92 Posts: 384 Member
    I try to combine the two. If I know I'm under my calories and my appetite is weird, I try to eat at scheduled times so that I at least get in a breakfast, lunch, and dinner. If my appetite is okay, I just eat when I'm hungry and stop when I'm full, which generally means three meals a day and some snacks in between each.
  • lucasriggs
    lucasriggs Posts: 131
    I eat on a loose sort of schedule, I've programmed myself to know that being hungry isn't a such a bad thing that needs to fixed post haste.
  • bjshores
    bjshores Posts: 102 Member
    I would suggest eating on a schedule. For me I'm never really hungry and I run all day. It can easily be dinner time before I put food in my mouth or even drink water. I know that is horrible. I'm trying to do better by planning my meals for the next day. I was told you should eat your first meal within the first hour of you waking up. He told me to break down the word breakfast. WHen you go to sleep your body is fasting and by eating, you break your fast. I was told to eat something every 2-3 hours. For me it is better every 3 hours. If you are eating healthy, I've learned its hard to get in 1200 calories some days. While I'm at work it was hard to eat every 3 hours because it seemed like I was eating all the time. I would get so busy at work and never really finish the meal or snack.

    I think I will set a reminder to eat every three hours. We'll see if the scale moves then.
  • JustJennie1
    JustJennie1 Posts: 3,749 Member
    I eat when I'm hungry. I tried the "scheduled" eating and it was a PITA when I wanted to go some place because I had to make sure I remembered snacks
  • VelociMama
    VelociMama Posts: 3,119 Member
    I have to eat on a schedule or I will forget to eat all day long then have to cram all my calories into dinner and late-evening snacks just to hit my targets.
  • tiffanylacourse
    tiffanylacourse Posts: 2,986 Member
    I try to eat 5 times a day (3 meals & 3 snacks)...
    :huh: <blows dust off of an abacus to check the math above>

    ^^^ My EXACT thought! :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    Schedule. If I ate when I was hungry, I'd eat ALL THE TIME!

    :laugh: :laugh: Me too!
  • Natihilator
    Natihilator Posts: 1,778 Member
    My hunger IS my schedule, and that's the way I plan to eat once I reach my goal body so why not practice now? But also I work at home with my kitchen packed with all the right things at my disposal. If I had a lifestyle that had me constantly on the move throughout the day then I'd probably have to schedule meals in too. Thank god I don't :laugh:
  • Donica_Marie
    Donica_Marie Posts: 64 Member
    Eating every 2-3 hours keeps your metabolism going along with lots of water helps me stay at my 1200 daily calorie goal .
  • icimani
    icimani Posts: 1,454 Member
    My nutritonist/dietician suggest eating every 4hrs or so to keep my metabolism going. Due to some childhood history I'm not very connected to my body so I often can't tell when I'm hungry, so it wouldn't work for me to only eat when I'm hungry. So it's definitely a schedule for me - although it is a loose schedule.
  • Fred4point0
    Fred4point0 Posts: 160 Member
    I eat my meals by schedule. I preplan my food diary the night before or first thing in the morning and then eat every two or three hours. My last meal is consumed no later than eight pm. I don't like to wait until I'm hungry because I might over eat. This plan has worked well for me. I've been able to maintain my weight loss so far.
  • kalyn_QT
    kalyn_QT Posts: 273 Member
    schedule. because id rather schedule several small meals than eating when hungry. because if i get hungry enough i convince myself into having more than a regular portion size. i have days where i dont eat on schedule on purpose to make sure i can do it and still do well because i know i wont always be on a schedule. those days i really focus on moderation and control.
  • Cassierocksalot
    Cassierocksalot Posts: 266 Member
    I do kind of a hybrid. I have breakfast in the morning (either before I leave for work or as soon as I get there) and pack my lunch and snacks for the day, making sure they fit into my daily calories, and dinner's either already cooking or defrosting waiting for when I get home. I have my little lunch bag sitting here and that's what I get to eat today. Based on this, I finish my diary first thing in the morning, that way I can see what sort of wiggle room I have, or if I need to ramp up the calories. This is great this time of year when there are snacks laying around everywhere. I know if I can squeeze in a cookie or not, or if I have to take one home and get a bite of it before my husband devours it :tongue:
This discussion has been closed.

Categories