200cal or less every 3hrs...

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amg5157
amg5157 Posts: 52
in Food and Nutrition
Ok...so my friend is telling me to do this...eat every 3hrs .. anything i want 200 calories or less and I will lose the inches that I have been trying to get rid of...

has anyone switched from just watching calories to something similar? Did it work better for you?

Replies

  • aippolito1
    aippolito1 Posts: 4,894 Member
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    No, that's not smart. Eating healthfully is the best way to lose weight. You can still lose weight by eating small meals (if you want them to be 200 calories or less, so be it) but I found I get hungrier more when I eat the same SMALL amount of calories every couple hours. I have to eat something with a lot of fiber and/or protein. I just spread out my caloreis however I think will keep me full best. Fruits are great for keeping you full, as well as low-fat string cheese, avocados on Triscuits, etc.
  • lilmissy2
    lilmissy2 Posts: 595 Member
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    That's kind of the same as watching calories except seems to be lower in cal than you would be recommended. That is, you are awake for 16hrs a day so if you eat every 3 hrs that's 5 meals = 1000cal. Seems it's still somewhat 'counting calories'. Just remember that when you are restricting food intake it's more important than usual that your food choices are high in nutrition. So 3 'less than 200cal meals' and 2 chocolate bars is not going to be healthy, for example.
  • Winter0916
    Winter0916 Posts: 80
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    I've done this and it works, but you get hungry quickier. And the only way it can be done is with eating a fruit every 2-3 hours. You shouldn't mix the fruits when you eat them, for example if you have apples, eat 2 but do not eat an apple and an orange. Problem with this is some fruits are HIGH in sugar and carbs so you have to be careful. Good luck
  • SarahAlt
    SarahAlt Posts: 44
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    I do something similar. I eat about every 3 hrs. but I don't count them 200 cals or less. I eat a healthy breakfast like a bowl of cheerios with some fruit and glass of milk. Then around 9 I have a snack of say.. yogurt or fruit or a spoonful of peanut butter. then I have lunch at 12 that's I guess normal lunch size (a sandwich and carrots or baked lays) and then later I'll have another snack similar to the one from the morning and then supper. I'm told it keeps your metabolism going. Besides, most doctors will tell you to have 5 small meals a day as opposed to 3 big ones. Eating every 3 hrs seems to be working out for me, but I don't measure each meals calories. I jsut know that my goal is 1270. Sometimes I don't even eat at the 3 hr mark or I skip a snack if I'm not hungry (which seems to be happening mroe and more lately). But I've been eating htis way for about a month and a half and I've lost 15 lbs. and 3 pants sizes
  • evanbeek
    evanbeek Posts: 42 Member
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    The deal with 200 calories every 3 hours is that it is only 800 calories in a 12 hour day, which could send your body into starvation mode and actually increase your weight. (1000-1200 seems to be the consensus on required calories to keep your body out of starvation mode.)

    Weight loss is just "burning more calories than you consume", so you can definitely lose weight just by watching calories, but you need to stay healthy too. When you set a goal at MFP, it will give you a set of numbers. Under "Your Diet Profile" you will see "Calories Burned From Normal Daily Activity". This is the number of calories that you can eat to "maintain" your current weight. If you eat more, you will gain weight, if you eat less you will lose weight.

    Using that information, you can decide how many calories per hour to eat and still lose weight. For example, my "maintain" calories are 2,570. To lose weight, I decided to eat only 1600 calories per day. So I broke my day into 5 meals of 300 calories each with a 100 calorie snack if I am feeling really hungry at some point.

    You can do the same thing. As long as your "maintain" calories are over 1000, you can lose weight, stay healthy and not have to exercise simply by eating 1000 calories per day. (4 meals of 250 calories, 5 meals of 200 calories, etc.)

    However, if your "maintain" calories are already under 1000, your only (healthy) option is exercise. : )
  • Alleghany
    Alleghany Posts: 200
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    I eat this way but only b/c I got used to eating this way when I was pregnant. I don't care if I go over 200 cals or not...I just look at the big daily picture of how many cals I have for the day. I don't find that it makes me hungrier & it works for me but everyone is different. I do think, however, that what type of cals you eat make a difference and your body knows it. A "100 cal pack" isn't the same as a whole food and your results won't be the same.

    Good Luck!
  • smile2010
    smile2010 Posts: 27 Member
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    :happy:
  • smile2010
    smile2010 Posts: 27 Member
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    The deal with 200 calories every 3 hours is that it is only 800 calories in a 12 hour day, which could send your body into starvation mode and actually increase your weight. (1000-1200 seems to be the consensus on required calories to keep your body out of starvation mode.)

    Weight loss is just "burning more calories than you consume", so you can definitely lose weight just by watching calories, but you need to stay healthy too. When you set a goal at MFP, it will give you a set of numbers. Under "Your Diet Profile" you will see "Calories Burned From Normal Daily Activity". This is the number of calories that you can eat to "maintain" your current weight. If you eat more, you will gain weight, if you eat less you will lose weight.

    Using that information, you can decide how many calories per hour to eat and still lose weight. For example, my "maintain" calories are 2,570. To lose weight, I decided to eat only 1600 calories per day. So I broke my day into 5 meals of 300 calories each with a 100 calorie snack if I am feeling really hungry at some point.

    You can do the same thing. As long as your "maintain" calories are over 1000, you can lose weight, stay healthy and not have to exercise simply by eating 1000 calories per day. (4 meals of 250 calories, 5 meals of 200 calories, etc.)

    However, if your "maintain" calories are already under 1000, your only (healthy) option is exercise. : )


    Do you eat your exercise calories back as suggested?
  • smile2010
    smile2010 Posts: 27 Member
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    BUMP
  • amg5157
    amg5157 Posts: 52
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    I kinda have an issue with eating enought calories that is the reason i started tracking my food. I'm hardly ever hungry and i get pretty busy and forget to eat sometimes.. yesterday was the first time i tried the eat every 3hrs on the hr and i had 6 meals but still only had about 600calories total for the day...and i did enough cardio/stngth training to burn about 500.....obviously i need to try to eat more! today it looks like i might hit the 1000 calorie mark if i stay up and have 7 meals.
  • hill242
    hill242 Posts: 412 Member
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    I don't think it's the magic solution to losing weight you're looking for. Check out this article:

    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/23/health/23really.html#

    "THE BOTTOM LINE: There is no solid evidence that six small meals a day instead of three will speed metabolism."

    And I agree with comments about this leading to too few calories per day. Make sure you're staying at or above 1200 net calories a day.

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