6 meals a day to 3 meals a day

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daydream_believer
daydream_believer Posts: 332
in Health and Weight Loss
6 mini meals a day was hard at first... because I used to eat six LARGE meals a day. however my body adjusted and I saw the weightloss using this new eating plan. i have maintained this weight now (even lost a small amount) for a few months and wish to do it in the long term. problem is my daily routine has changed because i got a new job which allows me to only eat 3 times a day.
my question is if i eat the same amount of calories (approx. 1700) in three meals as i would have in my mini meals.. will i see a weight gain of some sort since my metabolism isn't being 'spiked' every three hours? personal experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Replies

  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    Meal timing is irrelevent. It does not spike metabolism. The number of meals per day is a personal preference.
  • smash_runs
    smash_runs Posts: 12 Member
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    Calories in VS Calories out.
  • cdjs77
    cdjs77 Posts: 176 Member
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    Six meals a day doesn't actually spike your metabolism any more than three meals a day will. Studies which showed that six mini meals lead to weight loss only found that the weight loss was due to eating less overall. People who ate six small meals were less likely to snack throughout the day as the more frequent small meals would keep them satisfied. If you keep the same amount of calories, you should continue with you weight loss. The only problem would be that it may be hard to go from eating every 2 or 3 hours to every 4 or 5 hours without being hungry and wanting to snack. You may want to eat maybe 75-80% of your calories in your three meals and save the other 20-25% of calories for snacks to hold you over in between. I eat many small meals because I can't eat big meals without feeling sickly full and uncomfortable, so I don't think I would ever switch to three big meals, but doing so shouldn't hinder your weight loss.
  • Cr01502
    Cr01502 Posts: 3,614 Member
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    Meal timing is irrelevent. It does not spike metabolism. The number of meals per day is a personal preference.

    This.

    The amount of food you eat affects your metabolism as your body has to digest it.

    The timing of it is completely irrelevant.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Meal timing is irrelevent. It does not spike metabolism. The number of meals per day is a personal preference.

    this
  • acogg
    acogg Posts: 1,870 Member
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    I have lost most of my weight eating two meals a day, my largest meal is lunch.
  • LoraF83
    LoraF83 Posts: 15,694 Member
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    Meal timing is irrelevent. It does not spike metabolism. The number of meals per day is a personal preference.

    Quoting again because she's right!
  • MCLA4mom
    MCLA4mom Posts: 219 Member
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    I lost my weight eating 6 small meals a day. I was told by my doctor that it fuels the "furnace". I assumed he was talking about my metabolism. Whether or not he is correct is not the point. I will tell you what I know it did do for me. It gave me consistant energy through out the day and kept my blood sugars balanced (I was insulin resistant). It also kept me satisfied so I was not hungry and felt no cravings. I think that learning to manage your body's insulin pump by eating consistent healthy mini meals is a great way to get healthy.
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
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    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

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