3 meals or 6?

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  • herblackwings39
    herblackwings39 Posts: 3,930 Member
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    It's personal preference. If you have the time to fit 6 meals into your day and enjoy smaller meals/snacking it might work for you. If not you can eat fewer meals with higher calories per meal. It's what works for you.
  • justal313
    justal313 Posts: 1,375 Member
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    Generally I have 3 meals and 3 snacks. Some days I will have a giant lunch or giant breakfast and skip a snack, sometimes skip 2 snacks. But as a rule meal, snack, meal, snack... keeps me from ever feeling hungry. I still come under my calories for the day but some random days I'm over on fat or sometimes over on protein. If I ever come over on carbohydrates it's because I have a big race the next day and I'm doing a poor mans carbo loading.

    But almost never do I skip dessert. Milk and cookie(s) help me sleep. It's probably all in my head, but my head needs to go to sleep dammit.
  • jacalennejax
    jacalennejax Posts: 97 Member
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    I vary from day to day. Usually if im at work - I have a good 4-6 meals a day. If it's the weekend, I'm less careful with my calories and i might have 1-3 meals. I know i like to snack at night when i get home. So those night i usually have like 7 meals lol. If i'm going with family or to a party, i skimp on everything becseu i know those big meals will have a lot of calories. I have already lost a bit over 80 pounds since January. So i'm not sure it matters THAT much.
  • PippiNe
    PippiNe Posts: 283 Member
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    I'd advise you to eat the same number of meals you will when you reach your goal and move to maintenance. If you will be a 3 meal a day + 1 snack person then, do the same now. I think it's just easier if you keep your same mealtime routine, just making adjustments for the different size portions, etc.
  • ValerieMartini2Olives
    ValerieMartini2Olives Posts: 3,024 Member
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    I have to eat more than 3 times a day. I have to eat more than 6 times a day. I cannot eat a large meal. I have to break it down and snack all day. I'm NEVER hungry and always satisfied.
  • totallydelirious
    totallydelirious Posts: 10
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    My hang-up is having a fat tummy. I'm pretty slim, but my tummy hangs out, which i think is normal, but that's the first and almost only place i put on weight (other women put it on on bums and legs, i gain on tummy), i know eating expands your stomach, so there's part of me that wants to eat 6 small meals a day so my tummy won't stick out as much.

    BUT i also think eating should be sociable. At uni, my housemates eat 3 meals a day, with my boyfriend he eats 3, my family eat 3. So if i try to eat 6, i can't eat with any of them ever. It's way too anti social. I enjoy being able to sit with my housemates and eat a meal, and i love cooking with my boyfriend, and at home we eat every meal as a family together.

    So for me? 3 is best.
  • __Di__
    __Di__ Posts: 1,639 Member
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    Hi, I've been told different things about how many meals to eat a day. What's better, six small meals or 3 big meals? I was told to split my total calories/fat/protein/carbs by 6 but it's way too hard to plan meals with such specific macros.

    Any advice?? I'm trying to plan my meals but getting stuck with macros.....

    It makes no difference, the only important thing is, if you are trying to lose weight, you use up more calories than you have taken in. If you are trying to put weight on, you take in more calories than you burn. If you are trying to maintain your weight, the amount of calories you take in must match the amount you burn.

    Today, I have had two meals, tomorrow I will have three. The amount of meals per day does not matter to your goals, only the calorie amount.
  • nads1012
    nads1012 Posts: 55
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    It doesn't matter -at the end of the day, but it matters if you have a sweet tooth or you are a girl with certain cravings at certain times of the month.
    If you eat small meals more regularly you have less of a chance to REALLY crave a pack of cookies/biscuits, because it's likely you've just eaten. And if you are controlling your calories then it's never long till your next meal, so you might get a bit hungry, but you won't starve.

    That's the psychology I use to trick myself anyway.
  • sobriquet84
    sobriquet84 Posts: 607 Member
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    as other people have said, it does not matter. sorry, but i just don't have the time or opprtunity to prepare and eat 6 meals a day. that thought is simply ridiculous for a lot of people and not being able to eat 6 meals a day doesn't mean that those that do have any kind of advantage over you. as long as you're hitting your macros and goals, it doesn't matter if you eat your food in 2 meals or 6.
  • highervibes
    highervibes Posts: 2,219 Member
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    I eat 3 meals, or more like 2 meals and snacks after dinner. Most of my 1800 calories are consumed after 1pm. I'd rather have an appetite with calories to use vs graze and run out of calories for the day. I seem to be hungrier when I'm always snacking too.
  • joyfulhappyheart
    joyfulhappyheart Posts: 63 Member
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    I TRY to eat 3 meals, plus two snacks. Some days I do really well, some day's I don't.

    My snacks are usually my 80 calorie greek yogurt/ with an apple, and a Victory protein bar.

    If my meals are too low in calories, or I did a huge workout, I will add in a protein drink too.

    I try not to beat myself up over it if I miss a few breakfasts.
  • TemikaThompson
    TemikaThompson Posts: 222 Member
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    I read something on here a few days ago... They stated that when you do eat 6 meals a day, your body tends to be hungry most of the time after a while. Where as if you only eat 3, your body will get use to that, and you wont feel so hungry all the time. Ive tried both, and I think I have to agree. I personally am sticking to the 3x a day with healthy snacks in between like fruits , veggies, or nuts if I start feeling really hungry or just need something.

    This is so true. Before starting mfp 2 months ago, I felt that i had to eat every 3 hrs but when I put away all the bad snacks and replaced them for healthy and then only ate 3-4 times a day (not on purpose) because I got really busy, I found that I really wasn't that hungry like I was before. Iused to stay hungry. At times I will eat some of my lunch until I'm satified and the rest for dinner just because. But I still eat my total number of recommended cals for the day or week.
  • crandos
    crandos Posts: 377 Member
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    Eat 6 meals to stoke the metabolic fire
  • ritchiedrama
    ritchiedrama Posts: 1,304 Member
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    I eat 1 or 2 meals a day, pretty much 2 though.





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  • Ang108
    Ang108 Posts: 1,711 Member
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    Hi, I've been told different things about how many meals to eat a day. What's better, six small meals or 3 big meals? I was told to split my total calories/fat/protein/carbs by 6 but it's way too hard to plan meals with such specific macros.

    Any advice?? I'm trying to plan my meals but getting stuck with macros.....


    I eat neither. I work three days a week from home and start at 6:00-6:15 am with just a couple of cups of coffee. By the time lunch break rolls around ( which here is at 2pm the earliest) I am off work and can leisurely cook and afterwards eat two meals. On the two days I go to the office I do 5:2 and eat my 500 calories in one meal at night. This works for me very well and I would say that you need to try and figure out what works for you.
  • Alpina483
    Alpina483 Posts: 246 Member
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    I tried eating 5-6 times a day, worked for me for about a week, then it felt like too much hassle. Sounds simple, just basically eating every normal meal in two parts, but it was not - dragging all these food containers along, etc.
    Try and see for yourself what works for you.
  • rummyqueen
    rummyqueen Posts: 153 Member
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    Just make sure you eat a healthy breakfast,that one is more important then snacks.light lunch and dinner,it depends on how hungrey you are and make sure you have portions.
  • ritchiedrama
    ritchiedrama Posts: 1,304 Member
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    Just make sure you eat a healthy breakfast,that one is more important then snacks.light lunch and dinner,it depends on how hungrey you are and make sure you have portions.

    Disregard this post, it has no substance and makes no sense.
  • trisH_7183
    trisH_7183 Posts: 1,486 Member
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    I seldom eat breakfast,but with lunch,dinner & evening snack,I can come close to my calorie goal.I keep high protein bars
    In case I need to eat a bit more.
  • TemikaThompson
    TemikaThompson Posts: 222 Member
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    Just make sure you eat a healthy breakfast,that one is more important then snacks.light lunch and dinner,it depends on how hungrey you are and make sure you have portions.

    Disregard this post, it has no substance and makes no sense.

    Agree. There is no "most important" meal. That's just a myth. When I went by that, I found that I was hungry faster when I ate breakfast when I wasn't hungry. Just eat your 1st meal when you are hungry or right before work and eat when your job gives you a lunch break and dinner and in between if you are hungry. Eat when you feel you "need" to eat.

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