Do you eat 6 meals a day?

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  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    Why are you looking to try to eat 6 meal a day? Is it because it helps you hit your calorie target? Does it help with your energy levels? Is there a medical reason?

    If the answer to those last 3 questions is no, then there is no point unless you want to.

    I disagree. I eat six meals a day because it helps me psychologically manage my eating/hunger. I eat six meals a day of between 200-400 calories, depending on how much I've exercised and my calorie target for the day. The average meal is 300 calories. Sitting at my desk at work all morning can get tedious, and when there's cake or other things around, it's easier to resist them when I know that at 9:30 (I get to work at 7) or so it'll be time for my Builder's/Pure Protein bar. Same with my mid-afternoon snack. I eat dinner after the gym, and I'm typically ravenous by that point, but I usually want to eat something small again a few hours later in the evening, which is when I have my yogurt and some fruit. There are lots and lots of reasons to eat many small meals throughout the course of the day, and as long as the calorie count is moderate, there's no reason not to do it.

    OP, I try to eat a minimum of 20g of protein at each meal.
    I believe your reasoning falls under "you want to." Exactly what are you disagreeing with? That it's personal preference, and unnecessary if someone has no reason to do it? That, calories and macros held constant, it confers no advantage?

    There are just as many reasons to eat1 meal per day as there are for 6. It's completely personal preference. Honestly, 1 meal a day is probably closer to ideal, as that's how humans evolved to eat (eating more than once a day is an incredibly new concept, barely a few hundred years old.)
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    Why are you looking to try to eat 6 meal a day? Is it because it helps you hit your calorie target? Does it help with your energy levels? Is there a medical reason?

    If the answer to those last 3 questions is no, then there is no point unless you want to.

    I disagree. I eat six meals a day because it helps me psychologically manage my eating/hunger. I eat six meals a day of between 200-400 calories, depending on how much I've exercised and my calorie target for the day. The average meal is 300 calories. Sitting at my desk at work all morning can get tedious, and when there's cake or other things around, it's easier to resist them when I know that at 9:30 (I get to work at 7) or so it'll be time for my Builder's/Pure Protein bar. Same with my mid-afternoon snack. I eat dinner after the gym, and I'm typically ravenous by that point, but I usually want to eat something small again a few hours later in the evening, which is when I have my yogurt and some fruit. There are lots and lots of reasons to eat many small meals throughout the course of the day, and as long as the calorie count is moderate, there's no reason not to do it.

    OP, I try to eat a minimum of 20g of protein at each meal.

    Umm....try reading my post again...I know it was short, but you still seem to have missed the 'helps you hit your calorie target' bit. You also seem to have read somehow that I said not to do it, which I did not.

    ETA: eating too frequently makes it harder for me to hit my target, but its not about you or me - it's about what helps the OP hit theirs.
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
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    Meal Frequency has absolutely no bearing whatsoever on Weight loss or so called boosting your metabolism. It comes down to nothing more than personal preference period. I have Type 2 diabetes so my preference is to eat 3 Main meals and 3 snacks worked in between the 3 main meals. But again it comes down to what works best for you to get in your caloric intake and hit your macro's for that day...... Best of Luck........
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
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    I eat smallish meals and snack a lot. Keeps me from binging.
  • jenbear1980
    jenbear1980 Posts: 68
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    I think you should just eat when you want - ie when you are hungry (strange I know!!) :)

    I eat breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack but that's because I used to binge it so it stops me getting really hungry between meals so I don't eat junk.

    But it is obviously up to you when you eat!
  • IForlife
    IForlife Posts: 5
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    No. Just one big meal a day.
  • momzeeee
    momzeeee Posts: 475 Member
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    If you have a desire to eat 6 meals a day then sure, go ahead and try it. But it's a preference thing, like others have already stated. Smaller/more frequent meals are no better or worse than larger/less frequent meals.


    For me personally, I do 8:16 IF with a two meal/no snacking format. I break my fast at 11am with my largest meal of the day (1,000+ calories) and then I have a slightly smaller meal at around 6pm. I love the simplicity of this schedule and also having larger meals :)

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