We are pleased to announce that as of March 4, 2025, an updated Rich Text Editor has been introduced in the MyFitnessPal Community. To learn more about the changes, please click here. We look forward to sharing this new feature with you!

How often do you eat?

lilylovesyou108
lilylovesyou108 Posts: 8
edited January 29 in Food and Nutrition
I realize that I usually get hungry every 3 hours or so. It was never really apparent to me in the past few years, as I was in college, my eating habits were irregular, and I was just too busy or stressed to think too much about when I was hungry/when to eat. So by the time I usually did eat - I ate a lot, and I ate a lot of bad things.

Now that I'm working and I spend a great deal of time just sitting and reading (I'm a research fellow at the moment), I have been a lot more in tune with how often I really do get hungry.

Do you eat every few hours - smaller meals? Or do you eat a few big meals a day?

I'm figuring since I get hungry every 3 hours or so, and I have a pretty fast metabolism (generally because of my dad, and because of my age- I'm 22), that small meals every 3 hours makes sense for me.

So any feedback/stories? How often do you eat?

I'm also currently trying to lose weight right now.

Height: 5'0
Current weight: 138 lbs
Goal weight: 108 lbs.

Replies

  • MG_Fit
    MG_Fit Posts: 1,143 Member
    I practice intermittent fasting (leangains) 16:8. Meaning I fast for 16 hours and eat according to my macros 8 hours a day. This usually translates into a large lunch and dinner with snacks in between. I've had success using this method. That's not to say eating at a deficit won't cause you to lose weight either. This just fits my lifestyle.
  • WaylonGuitar
    WaylonGuitar Posts: 10 Member
    My inner meal clock works out to about 5 meals a day. I eat breakfast.. a mid morning snack... lunch.. Then a big break and then dinner and a snack/small meal around 9 pm. I'm very simple about my diet. I don't follow the stuff about "eat 10 small meals" and all that. I'm a calories in/out type of guy. But yeah. I eat about 5 meals based on when I get hungry and not letting myself get TOO hungry..
  • ameliaannakin
    ameliaannakin Posts: 344 Member
    I eat every 2-3 hours. I have breakfast at 9, a mid morning snack of an apple or pear at 11, lunch at 1, a yogurt at 2, a snack between 4 and 4:30, tea at 7 and a pre-bedtime snack at 8. Looking at it like that, I eat a lot ha!
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
    I eat one meal at night after I workout
  • csuhar
    csuhar Posts: 779 Member
    I usually break it into 4 or 5 "meals" but that's more a matter of practicality. My calorie goals are pretty high, and following the traditional 3-meal setup it would make it very difficult for me to cram enough calories into breakfast and lunch, both of which I eat at the office.
  • tmm_0127
    tmm_0127 Posts: 545 Member
    Usually every 2-4 hours, it really depends on when I get hungry and how hungry I get. I find that if I have small high protein / low cal snacks a day, I don't super stuff my face when I eat my actual meals.
  • glin23
    glin23 Posts: 460 Member
    I try to eat every 4-5 hours atleast.
This discussion has been closed.