5-6 meals / day. - anyone have success with doing this?

I have been doing this for two years. it works.

But really, the reason I eat five or six times a day is because that is how frequently I get hungry. Satisfying hunger keeps me from getting TOO hungry and then overeating.

I eat about five times a day for this reason. It works for me, but it probably wouldn't work for everyone. Follow your body.

Everyone is different and 5-6 meals per day didn't work for me as it left me hungry between each meal resulting in more calories in. Therefore, I went to Intermittent Fasting which has a ton of health benefits. Basically, I eat between 11am to 7pm. I am never hungry in the mornings anymore and I no longer have late night snack urges. Due to the fast, I fill up easily and can have large meals if I choose. As far as metabolism goes, 5-6 meals per day will enhance your metabolism no more than 2 large meals per day will. The "keep the furnace burning" is total B.S. and propaganda. Your metabolism changes in relation to the size of the meal so small meals barely have in impact on it and large meals affect it largely. Growth hormone is released after about 14 hours of fasting, once again boosting metabolism. Studies also report that Intermittent fasting allows you to lose 90% fat rather than 75% fat on a eat often schedule. So if keeping muscle is important for you, IF is the way to go. If being healthy, IF is the way to go. The first few mornings sucked but after about 3 days, I no longer have hunger pains all morning long. As a matter of fact, I have to remind myself to eat because it is "time" . 5 - 6 meals a day leaves me hungry all day long and that does me no good whatsoever.

I changed my food diary labels to reflect time slots instead of meal names. Now I can look back and see what I ate when instead of putting snacks at the end when I might eat them through out the day. This has helped me identify what I'm eating in the evening, when often I'm eating because I'm bored instead of because I'm hungry.

I eat often, I don't know whether to call it small meals or call it snacking. This keeps me from being hungry and helps me stay under my calorie goal for the day. There are people on this site who claim to eat 1 meal a day and very little to nothing the rest of the day. You have to do what works for you. It's your daily intake that matters.

For normal people meal timing has no significant impact and eating many small meals to boost your metabolism is a myth. What I mean by normal people is not competition body builders or elite athletes or people with special dietary needs or illness like diabetes.

I have found it to work for me - very small portions ever 2 -3 hours so I'm never hungry, never feel deprived. I do eat a pretty big breakfast first thing in the morning with lots of chopped onions, green pepers, mushrooms, spinach, 1/2 cup of egg beaters and sometimes a small potato chopped up in it too, other times a little bowl of oatmeal with it. The fiber and protein helps me stay full longer. Then the rest of the day is 1/2 an apple, a light cheese stick, a bunch of baby carrots, a lite yogurt, an ounce of nuts - all spreadout through out the day. Dinner is usually a vegie and piece of meat - a chicken breast or a pork chop. I lke to "graze" though out the day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VzA9A4cdHU

I have tried several meals a day but I like the 3 meals a day and have done so for the last several years.

I am not a body builder (olympic lifter, not olympic rank though) but I like Vic Costa, he is a natural body builder and has had 3 meals a day for 10 years.

I am doing the same thing JBdowns mentioned. I'm only into week 2 but i really like 5 meals a day. It has been hard at work so i just have a protein shake. I noticed my blood sugar is much more stable this way.

I tried the 5-6 meal a day thing twice and did not find any success in weight loss, portion size management or anything. I just found myself eating all day and gaining all kinds of weight. I find that I eat a few times a day and do not allow myself to eat past 7pm - no matter what. That's a hard fast rule for me. I have found some success with it. I find I am actually eating better through the day, I feel better, I do not have the mid-day crash around 2pm that I used to have and I have a better diet and eat less of the "bad stuff." It has been pretty amazing. Good luck to you and do what works best for you and your body. Different bodies and different solutions. Good luck and rock it!

Everyone is different and 5-6 meals per day didn't work for me as it left me hungry between each meal resulting in more calories in. Therefore, I went to Intermittent Fasting which has a ton of health benefits. Basically, I eat between 11am to 7pm. I am never hungry in the mornings anymore and I no longer have late night snack urges. Due to the fast, I fill up easily and can have large meals if I choose. As far as metabolism goes, 5-6 meals per day will enhance your metabolism no more than 2 large meals per day will. The "keep the furnace burning" is total B.S. and propaganda. Your metabolism changes in relation to the size of the meal so small meals barely have in impact on it and large meals affect it largely. Growth hormone is released after about 14 hours of fasting, once again boosting metabolism. Studies also report that Intermittent fasting allows you to lose 90% fat rather than 75% fat on a eat often schedule. So if keeping muscle is important for you, IF is the way to go. If being healthy, IF is the way to go. The first few mornings sucked but after about 3 days, I no longer have hunger pains all morning long. As a matter of fact, I have to remind myself to eat because it is "time" . 5 - 6 meals a day leaves me hungry all day long and that does me no good whatsoever.

I would like to see these studies you mention.

Okay:
3 days? My opinions are based upon factual studies. You asked for it, you got it! I am surprised you don't know more about fasting especially if you are trying to lose weight, coupled with a ton of information online from studies. I am surprised that you challenged me since you could have just googled it and got the answers. I can only assume that your theories are based upon "bro science".

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition states in this article (http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/86/1/7.full) that (1) decreases in blood pressure, (2) reduction in oxidative damage to lipids, protein and DNA, (3) improvement in insulin sensitivity and glucose uptake, and (4) decreases in fat mass are among the benefits of intermittent fasting.

First of all, I often do have to remind myself to eat my first meal of the day. I work from home so I don't have a bell that goes off telling me to go feed. Why would you not believe that? Have you tried IF? Didn't think so. After the first 3-4 days morning hunger goes away. Breakfast is what makes everyone so damn hungry at lunch. Skipping breakfast is healthy for me and many others.

Intermmittent fasting is generally 14- 36 hours at a time. Research shows that intermittent fasting can help prevent heart disease, cancer, diabetes and many of the diseases and disorders we see today. Our ancestors followed an intermittent fasting lifestyle for thousands of years, which means, your DNA is hard wired for this. Recent research shows that intermittent fasting sky-rockets HGH in women up to 1,300% and in men up to 2000%! It optimizes energy levels and turns your bodies metabolism into a "fat burner" so you can lose weight through normalizing insulin and leptin levels. Intermittent fasting can actually help you gain muscle mass. The metabolic response to fasting involves a series of hormonal and metabolic adaptations leading to protein conservation. An increase in the serum level of growth hormone (GH) during fasting has been well substantiated. (Effects of Growth Hormone on Glucose, Lipid, and Protein Metabolism in Human Subjects
Endocrine Reviews April 1, 2009 30:152-177).

A lower proportion of lean mass is lost in response to intermittent CR (90% weight lost as fat, 10% weight loss as fat free mass) (21–23) when compared to daily CR (75% weight lost as fat, 25% weight loss as fat free mass) (4,7–16).

Halberg N, Henriksen M, Soderhamn N. Effect of intermittent fasting and refeeding on insulin action in healthy men. J Appl Physiol 2005; 99: 2128–2136.

Michalsen A, Riegert M, Ludtke R. Mediterranean diet or extended fasting’s influence on changing the intestinal microflora, immunoglobulin A secretion and clinical outcome in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia: an observational study.

BMC Complement Altern Med 2005; 5: 22.

Heilbronn LK, Smith SR, Martin CK, Anton SD, Ravussin E. Alternate-day fasting in nonobese subjects: effects on body weight, body composition, and energy metabolism. Am J Clin Nutr 2005; 81: 69–73.

Johnson JB, Summer W, Cutler RG. Alternate day calorie restriction improves clinical findings and reduces markers of oxidative stress and inflammation in overweight adults with moderate asthma. Free Radic Biol Med 2007; 42: 665–674.

Varady KA, Bhutani S, Church EC, Klempel MC. Short-term modified alternate-day fasting: a novel dietary strategy for weight loss and cardioprotection in obese adults. Am J Clin Nutr 2009; 90: 1138–1143.





Other references:
1. Intermountain Medical Center. Routine periodic fasting is good for your health, and your heart, study suggests. ScienceDaily. 2011
2. Fernando M. Safdie, et. al. “Fasting and cancer treatment in humans: A case series report.” Aging 2009
3. Siegel I, et. al. “Effects of short-term dietary restriction on survivall of mammary ascites tumor-bearing rats.” Cancer Invest. 1998
4. Louiza Belkacemi, et al. ” Intermittent Fasting Modulation of the Diabetic Syndrome in Streptozotocin-Injected Rates” Internal Journal of Endocrinology. 2012
5. “Study finds routine periodic fasting is good for health, and your heart.” Intermountain Medical Center, 2011

Thank you for your attention.