5 meals pery day the way to go?

If you prefer to do so and if you like it the go on. It will not have any effect on your weight loss or muscle gains tho, that all is just a myth. It's all about calories in vs calories out, that's it.

Personally I ate 1, or sometime 2, big meals a day and then fast for 18 - 20h. It gives me more energy that way. But if you like to ate more then dividing all your calories by 5 might give you that illusion that you ate more. But there is no physical benefit, only psychological.

IF not optimal for muscle gain but great for weight loss!

Your body is a fine tuned engine and just like any engine, it needs fuel to operate. If you body thinks you are starving it, it will hold on to everything you put into and burn the good muscle. If you feed the engine and let it burn the fat, you are doing to your body what it needs. I gained 3 pounds one week eating 900 calories and following week I went to 1400 calories and lost 6 pounds.

If you eat 5 or 6 times a day, you are giving your body fuel and you are not hungry as you are eating every few hours. First thing in the morning, try to eat protein, cuz you body has been feasting on itself all night long and now it is looking for nourishment.

Just a thought. There are good calories and bad calories. Low carb and high protein is best. Lay off the bread and pasta. Feed the beast.

Some people like eating a small meal every couple of hours. Some people prefer the classic three-meals-a-day routine. Some people go the IF route and consume all of their calories in a relatively small window, then fast for the remainder of the day.

What should you do? Whatever you want. There's no inherent advantage to eating a certain number of meals or eating at certain times of the day. Just do what works for you.

Yes, yes, yes, by eating 5 meals a day you trick your metabolism into high gear. Your metabolism picks up to get rid of the extra meals your putting into your body. Keep in mind that you are eating 5 small meals. Worked well for me.

How bout, eat one MASSSSSIVE crumb at the beginning of the day that way your metabolism doesn't slow down, then consume 1 calorie per 1 minute until you reach your goal, keeps the machine in high gear! Everybody knows dis!

I would highly recommend it as it has helped me not binge! If I am not hungry, I am less tempted to eat convenience foods. I can easily turn down the snacks my family loves, and I don't feel I am missing out.

I think it helps to curb hunger and cravings, which helps prevent over eating or snacking on things you shouldn't. Also, keeps your metabolism steady.

you absolutely can substitute a meal with a shake or something small like a piece or fruit, or yogurt cup. The key thing about the 5 meal a day thing, is that they are SMALL meals or snacks.

Have fun discovering whatever works best for you though!

I am one of those people who never feel hungry in the morning. Yet, all my life, I have heard, "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day." If and when I eat breakfast, I get terribly hungry after about three or four hours, and then the rest of the day is a struggle trying to balance hunger and small snacks.

Then, I chanced upon this video: http://documentaryheaven.com/eat-fast-and-live-longer/ . It literally changed my life! I followed my education with more reading from leangains.com. For the first time in my life, I was listening to someone who spoke my language! Even if you don't want to follow any one what these resources say, I recommend you check them out.

Eating within a 4 hour window, I changed myself from being an aging, paunchy elderly reason to having the body of a person in his mid-twenties. I can now squat 120% of my body weight (ATG), 5 sets of 5 reps, deadlift 170% of bw, 1 set of 5 reps, and am well on my way to run my first 5K this September. Here is a before/after shot: http://i.imgur.com/bPm2Bmv.jpg . The after shot was taken about a month ago. I have made additional progress since then.

So, do I malign eating several small meals throughout the day? I do not. If it works for you, that is what counts. For me, IF has been the best thing ever! And I have read and read and read about this. Do I believe in the "myth" of the starvation mode? I do not. I respect your right to believe in it if you do, but I scoured the research literature. There is just NO credible research confirmation on the impact of long fasts on metabolic rate slowdowns. It takes more than 72 to 96 hours of hard fasting for metabolism slowdowns to even begin. For many people, it takes longer. We use the word "starvation" too easily. I was born in India (but have spent most of my life in the US), and I have traveled all over the world. Starvation, in my view, does not cause people to retain fat. In fact, moderated fasting has a whole host of hormonal benefits on the body; the body evolved over millennia to do just that -- live with starvation.

In the end, I think that IF helps me enormously to maintain a caloric deficit. Add to that, I try to clean very, very clean. Are there additional benefits of IF? IDK. But, for me, this is the path. I do not even call it a diet. For me, it is a lifestyle choice!

Good luck to you all.

I feel better when I eat at least three meals over the day. Before, I always skipped breakfast, I was in a love and hate relationship with my lunch and I splurged for dinner. I then reevaluated, introduced breakfast (light, mind you, but still breakfast), don't skip lunch any more and my dinners are still satisfying. Since this is usually below my calories goal, I snack in-between.

hey-I do this to help with keeping my blood sugar stable in addition to helping with food cravings. I still get pretty bad ones sometimes, but having more, smaller meals definitely helps.

However, like most people have said, you have to do what works the best for your body and schedule. I have a flexible schedule, so I have time to eat like this. You might not be able to fit that into a more structured schedule.

The most important thing is to watch WHAT you are putting into those meals. You need to pay attention to the calories, yes, but more importantly that you are eating the correct portions of the correct foods. Whole, non-processed, high protein meats and vegetables are the best. You need like 2-3 servings of fruit a day (I eat a serving in the morning, a serving after work out and _sometimes_ a serving with dessert. Cause I have a sweet tooth.) If you are eating this way then you will be healthier.