6 meals a day is a lie. Your metabolism won't slow down.
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I just want to say that a lot of people on here have been told the myth down the years that your metabolism will slow down if you don't keep eating. The fact that people keep eating is the reason why obesity is epedemic. The diet and food industry want people to keep eating so they can sell their products. Have a look at intermittent fasting for the truth on weight loss.
I totally agree with you and from what I've read IF is also very healthy for you I mean how do you think our ancestors ate I'm sure it wasn't 6 times a day.
Which ancestors are you referring to?
The ones that had to hunt for food and didn't have it readily available for 3 meals a day every day let alone 60 -
I personally believe that the notion of eating more than 3x per day is a crutch. You may get grouchy, cranky, or get headaches, but it's just because you have trained your body to eat that often. If you are eating the right foods you really don't need to eat that often. Once you let, say 5 hours go between meals and keep doing that, the headaches and low blood sugar should stop. Since this is a "lifestyle change" how feasible is it to go your whole life eating 5-6 meals per day? That's crazy! I think it's funny how people complain that they dont have time to exercise or prepare food yet they buy into eating that often. I find my meals much more satisfying when I haven't eaten in at least 5 hours, and even more satisfying after a 24 hour fast. The OP didn't mean to create trouble - we all have our own opinions and whether they are based on personal experience or science or both we are entitled to them.0
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Same here!0
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I'm a fan of Martin Berkham - Leangains website, Lyle Mcdonald - Body recomposition website, Brad Pillon - Eat stop Eat website. Check em out people! Don't listen to the stuff they write about in Mens/Womens health mags. It always contradicts itself. The diet industry aims to confuse so they can sell you more 'magic' diet solutions.
Why are you on a site like this then? While MFP doesn't outwardly promote eating several smaller meals a day, it does recommend it (see default food diary settings).
It doesn't recommend it at all, those settings are there just to show you that you could have more than just the three meals if you wish in my opinion.
It is the calories in -v- calories out that determines weightloss, not the amount of meals you eat per day. I reinforced this by eating only three meals per day and lost all my excess weight.
Too much emphasis is being placed on metabolism here. The metabolism will never come to a complete standstill, the day it does is the day you die.
It is about time people got stuck into a healthy living plan and quit constantly thinking about grub, because that is what you are doing if you eat numerous meals per day, you are constantly planning for the next piece of food to go into your mouth.
Six meals per day, for me, would have been a definite no-no, this was a life changing plan for me, not just a weighloss one, therefore I started as I meant to go on, even after I reached my goal.
I also do a lot of sport and like to have at least a two hour break between eating and exercising, I am completely against exercising just after eating and if I were to eat six meals per day (apart from having measly portions due to only having been on 1200 calories per day = 200 calories per meal?!?!?!?!) I would not have enough hours in the day to fit in work, eat and exercise - my whole life, in fact, would have revolved around food - not a good thing when it is that food that I am trying to cut down on.
So why is it completely impossible for smaller meals or snacks to not be a way of life? I ALWAYS have snacks, whether its yogurt or fruit or some sort of baked chip or something. And it's not disturbing or difficult and I don't constantly plan the next piece of food. When you get into the habit of snacks you tend to just have stuff around and available, so its not difficult. I don't think its necessarily fair to say that eating several smaller meals or snacks simply to assuage hunger is not conducive to a lifestyle change. Yes, if I was planning snacks and eating them just because I felt I should that might suck. But there are plenty of people who have said they do this because they are HUNGRY. I've lost almost 80 lbs while snacking away since January. And I don't feel like bringing a yogurt to the office to eat at around 10 is disruptive or not sustainable.
This is what I was implying. I think the say really is to eat 6 times a day, not 6 actual meals a day, because some of them are snacks. Since I started doing this, and I don't eat late, my weight loss has picked up drastically. It really works!0 -
I agree we all have to find what works for each person. I have done both ways, at this point it is what ever is going to work for me. But I do find, if I have smaller meals during out the day, that I'm not as hungry.0
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I eat 2 meals a day. Big ones because I love to eat. Keep them below 1200 cals each and the weight has fallen off. Macronutrients are majority lean protein, then fibrous veggies for carbs. I then make the rest up with chocolate or beer if I feel like it. I can now see my abs and have been doing this for 8 weeks and have lost 5 kilos. My strength gains have increased with my weight program. My metabolism hasn't slowed like I stated in the original post and I don't have to worry about preparing six little meals every day. To all the people on here who have been agressive to myself and others for expressing an opinion that is based in science should consider the results I get myself and advise my clients.0
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Um, maybe to track food? That's really all MFP does. Everything else is just a suggestion or a convenience.Why are you on a site like this then?
(The "why are you on MFP if you don't do X, Y or Z" argument is a pet peeve of mine. This is a site to track calories. How you consume those calories and how many you consume is up to you, not the site.)
Well, no, that may be all YOU are doing but everyone is different. I pack my cooler every weekday morning with my lunch and my snacks. Whether I eat them as one meal or 20, it's the same amount of food and the same amount of thought.It is about time people got stuck into a healthy living plan and quit constantly thinking about grub, because that is what you are doing if you eat numerous meals per day, you are constantly planning for the next piece of food to go into your mouth.
It's really how many calories you eat in a day compared to your calorie expenditure that counts. For some people, it works better to spread them all out throughout the day and for others it doesn't. But its' really a personal choice matter, not a "this way work and this way doesn't" matter. Because both ways work and both ways are a lifestyle and both ways can be healthy. At the same time both ways don't work and both ways can be unhealthy. It just depends on context.0 -
It always was an oxymoron to me that you have to eat a lot, to lose weight.
It just doesn't make sense.
The models who are stick thin don't say their secret is "I eat a ton during the day."
It's because they don't eat at all or very little.
But then again, I have been told that not eating is a bad thing for a person's health.
But so is eating a lot.
Anndd ... this is where dieting gets to be confusing. Lol.0 -
It always was an oxymoron to me that you have to eat a lot, to lose weight.
It just doesn't make sense.
The models who are stick thin don't say their secret is "I eat a ton during the day."
It's because they don't eat at all or very little.
But then again, I have been told that not eating is a bad thing for a person's health.
But so is eating a lot.
Anndd ... this is where dieting gets to be confusing. Lol.
The only thing people are discussin here is how often to eat, not how much total. The people who eat throughout the day don't eat "a ton", they just eat smaller meals and snacks.
Actually, the research shows that not eating for sustained periods (16-24 hrs) can have a number of positive effects, even going beyond losing weight. It even lowers cancer and heart disease rates and increases lifespan in animals tested.
The most important thing is having a calorie deficit at the end of the week. If you want to lose 1lb a week, then you need a calorie deficit around 3500 calories as a general rule. How you do it is up to you. Personally, I vary my intake every day depending on whether I'm working and/or training on a given day, but the goal is to have slightly more than a 3500 calorie deficit at the end of the week.0 -
I just want to say that a lot of people on here have been told the myth down the years that your metabolism will slow down if you don't keep eating. The fact that people keep eating is the reason why obesity is epedemic. The diet and food industry want people to keep eating so they can sell their products. Have a look at intermittent fasting for the truth on weight loss.
Pull Right I think the reason so many people have become offensive to your statement is due to the fact that instead of saying that you can also eat just two meals a day and loose weight, you completely state that eating 5-6 meals a day will make you fat. Which in turn again is wrong...
You can eat two meals a day or 5-6 meals a day and loose weight, its not about how often you eat but how much you eat and what kinds of foods. Two meals a day might work for you but for others it might make them hungry and start to binge eat or feel like snacking on crap more...
Maybe you should have just phrased it better...0 -
You mean the hunter-gathers who snacked on nuts and berries all day while hunting? :laugh:Which ancestors are you referring to?
The ones that had to hunt for food and didn't have it readily available for 3 meals a day every day let alone 60 -
You mean the hunter-gathers who snacked on nuts and berries all day while hunting? :laugh:Which ancestors are you referring to?
The ones that had to hunt for food and didn't have it readily available for 3 meals a day every day let alone 6
Yep snacking on fruits and berries probably isn't the same as the type of 6 meals people eat today though :laugh:0 -
There are days when I can eat 6 small meals and there are days when 2 works for me. I just listen to my body. If I'm hungry, I eat. If not, I don't. I like to keep it simple that way
L.0 -
I agree 1 million percent. Look when someone is morbidly obese the first thing they do is to put you on a very low calorie diet. That means 800 calories or so and 3 times a day. Same thing with these lap band surgeries, all they do is they make you eat less!! almost 400 calories or so!! how come their metabolism doesn't slow down? I agree, that is not the best way, but I think we have just been trained to eat way too much. and it's not that complicated. you eat 3 meals a day, most people I know have a pc of toast for breakfast, a salad for lunch or 1/3 of a veggie sushi roll, and fish and veggies for dinner, and they drink alot. BUT they are super thin and very healthy. we don't need that much food or to constantly be eating to live. My mind doesn't understand fullness, but to most normal people, they just know when they are full, they don't need to eat.0
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Um, maybe to track food? That's really all MFP does. Everything else is just a suggestion or a convenience.Why are you on a site like this then?
(The "why are you on MFP if you don't do X, Y or Z" argument is a pet peeve of mine. This is a site to track calories. How you consume those calories and how many you consume is up to you, not the site.)
Well, no, that may be all YOU are doing but everyone is different. I pack my cooler every weekday morning with my lunch and my snacks. Whether I eat them as one meal or 20, it's the same amount of food and the same amount of thought.It is about time people got stuck into a healthy living plan and quit constantly thinking about grub, because that is what you are doing if you eat numerous meals per day, you are constantly planning for the next piece of food to go into your mouth.
It's really how many calories you eat in a day compared to your calorie expenditure that counts. For some people, it works better to spread them all out throughout the day and for others it doesn't. But its' really a personal choice matter, not a "this way work and this way doesn't" matter. Because both ways work and both ways are a lifestyle and both ways can be healthy. At the same time both ways don't work and both ways can be unhealthy. It just depends on context.
No, I just eat three meals per day and do not constantly think about food at all and now I am maintaining, I am mighty glad I never did get into the habit of several meals per day or worrying about metabolism slow-down.
I started as I meant to carry on and numerous eating throughout the day is precisely what got me overweight in the first place, there is no way I want to return to anything like that again.
I do understand people wanting to eat five or six times per day though, but for those not wanting to, but worried about their metabolism slowing down, just to let you know, it won't and I think this is precisely the thing the OP was getting at in the first place.
He wasn't saying you will grow fat if you eat lots of times in the day (but that's debatable when it comes to some people's calories in -v- calories out - too m anny calories = weight gain), he was just saying you don't have to eat several time in a day keep the metabolism speeded up.0 -
Well I don't trust what any of them (FDA, etc.) say. Tonight they announced they are pulling saccahrin from the harmful substances after telling people for 30 years to stay away from it. The fact is everyone has to find out what works for them. :ohwell:0
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Not a lie. What works for some people might not work for others.
You could even munch all day as long as you burn more than you consume.0 -
The initial posts has all sorts of logical fallacies...it can all come down to the following:
A calorie is a calorie. If you in a deficit, you lose weight. If you are in excess, you gain weight.
Doesn't matter when you eat. HOWEVER, some people prefer several small meals over few large meals because of preference. It all comes down to how your body responds (hunger/energy levels). I know natural bodybuilders that literally eat one full meal a day and maintain 8% bf. In the same regard, I know people that eat up to 8x/day and maintain similar bf%. It's all a matter of preference.0 -
I agree with all of the "voices of reason." Some days I eat my calories as 3 meals (or occassionally just 2) but most days I eat a snack meal once or twice a day, or simply spread a meal out over a long period of time because of my schedule. I try to avoid getting crazy hungry, and I keep most of my snacks within my overall plan. Our bodies will tell us how to eat if we can clean up all the static and learn to listen to them.
The metabolism "lie" is really aimed at the old concept of severely cutting calories for a period of time to quickly drop several pounds. The problem then is the body learns to run more efficiently, so when the normal calories come back, as they almost certainly will when you have starved yourself for a week or two, the weight comes right brack, and brings friends. Temporary starvation diets are not effective for long-term weight-loss and maintanance.
The moral of the story is, find a plan that you can live with for the rest of your life, and then live it.0 -
YOU NEED TO EAT EVERY 4-5 HOURS! At least something little! Otherwise, your body starts its starvation mode..and well, that slows your metobolisim!
Read some books by a REGISTERED DIETICIAN!!! NUTRITIONISTS....not always trained!!!0 -
YOU NEED TO EAT EVERY 4-5 HOURS! At least something little! Otherwise, your body starts its starvation mode..and well, that slows your metobolisim!
Read some books by a REGISTERED DIETICIAN!!! NUTRITIONISTS....not always trained!!!
Total rubbish! I don't care what anybody says or who they are! If that were the case billions of people would have metabolisms that have come to a virtual standstill!
In MY OWN EXPERIENCE - for the bloody 1000th time - I have not found it to be true regarding starvation mode - I couldn't give a cat's bum about what they, the "experts" profess to be so either, I never once went into any such starvation mode and I can categorically state that the body will not do so after five hours - that is laughable to say the least.
How the hell do anorexics die from starvation then? They may not eat for days! They become malnourished, their bodies fall apart, but still the weight decreases.
Eating several times per day is good for some people but it is not a cast iron fact that by not doing so, the weight will not come off and this is the point I am trying to convey.
You can read as many books as you want, in fact, you can spend all day reading up on stuff, written by many people, but the real truth - FOR YOU - comes from your own real-life experience. What will be so for you will not, necessarily be so for another - in fact, I would go so far as to say that everybody else's experience or view should only be a guideline for yourself. Never, EVER, take another person's view as gospel, because it may not suit you as an individual.0 -
YOU NEED TO EAT EVERY 4-5 HOURS! At least something little! Otherwise, your body starts its starvation mode..and well, that slows your metobolisim!
Read some books by a REGISTERED DIETICIAN!!! NUTRITIONISTS....not always trained!!!
It slows your metobolism? Wow, I don't even know what that is. And here I've wasted my time worrying about my metabolism.
Oh, and you're completely wrong, btw. Just letting you know.
Can we PLEASE let this thread die?0 -
Man! I'm glad I didn't start this back and forth controversial thread, but since I'm here this is what I believe; The main way to loose weight is to take in less calories than we need to maintain our current weight on a daily basis. we could reduce the calories, or burn calories by exercise, or both, which is preferred. Now after saying that, I believe there are better ways to accomplish this to obtain the Best result, Yes I think eating serveral small meals a day often increases the metabolism, thus help burn fat, so 6 small meals would be better than 3 large meals, however if more calories were consumed by eating 6 small meals then the whole effort would be in vain. Also, keep in mind to loose fat and not muscle you need to loose slowly, no more than 2 pounds per week, Also keep a diet adequate in Protein, fat, and carbs, to maintain muscle. And I believe that alternating daily calories (more one day-less the next & so on) can help burn fat better by Not sending your body in a "ghost starvation" mode. Again, most anyone can loose weight by just cutting back on calories, But doing it Healthy verses non Healthy is the concern in my post. ~cheers~0
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Man! I'm glad I didn't start this back and forth controversial thread, but since I'm here this is what I believe; The main way to loose weight is to take in less calories than we need to maintain our current weight on a daily basis. we could reduce the calories, or burn calories by exercise, or both, which is preferred. Now after saying that, I believe there are better ways to accomplish this to obtain the Best result, Yes I think eating serveral small meals a day often increases the metabolism, thus help burn fat, so 6 small meals would be better than 3 large meals, however if more calories were consumed by eating 6 small meals then the whole effort would be in vain. Also, keep in mind to loose fat and not muscle you need to loose slowly, no more than 2 pounds per week, Also keep a diet adequate in Protein, fat, and carbs, to maintain muscle. And I believe that alternating daily calories (more one day-less the next & so on) can help burn fat better by Not sending your body in a "ghost starvation" mode. Again, most anyone can loose weight by just cutting back on calories, But doing it Healthy verses non Healthy is the concern in my post. ~cheers~
Not to be a jerk, but that's the problem. It doesn't really matter what you or anyone else thinks, because what people think has no effect on reality. It takes your metabolism at least days and usually weeks to speed up or slow down as a result of changes in intake. I can tell you that if you climb Mt. Olympus a magical purple unicorn will tell you the secret to lose 50 lbs. Doesn't mean it's true.0 -
Man! I'm glad I didn't start this back and forth controversial thread, but since I'm here this is what I believe; The main way to loose weight is to take in less calories than we need to maintain our current weight on a daily basis. we could reduce the calories, or burn calories by exercise, or both, which is preferred. Now after saying that, I believe there are better ways to accomplish this to obtain the Best result, Yes I think eating serveral small meals a day often increases the metabolism, thus help burn fat, so 6 small meals would be better than 3 large meals, however if more calories were consumed by eating 6 small meals then the whole effort would be in vain. Also, keep in mind to loose fat and not muscle you need to loose slowly, no more than 2 pounds per week, Also keep a diet adequate in Protein, fat, and carbs, to maintain muscle. And I believe that alternating daily calories (more one day-less the next & so on) can help burn fat better by Not sending your body in a "ghost starvation" mode. Again, most anyone can loose weight by just cutting back on calories, But doing it Healthy verses non Healthy is the concern in my post. ~cheers~
Thanks for your input as to what you "Think"!
Not to be a jerk, but that's the problem. It doesn't really matter what you or anyone else thinks, because what people think has no effect on reality. It takes your metabolism at least days and usually weeks to speed up or slow down as a result of changes in intake. I can tell you that if you climb Mt. Olympus a magical purple unicorn will tell you the secret to lose 50 lbs. Doesn't mean it's true.0 -
Man! I'm glad I didn't start this back and forth controversial thread, but since I'm here this is what I believe; The main way to loose weight is to take in less calories than we need to maintain our current weight on a daily basis. we could reduce the calories, or burn calories by exercise, or both, which is preferred. Now after saying that, I believe there are better ways to accomplish this to obtain the Best result, Yes I think eating serveral small meals a day often increases the metabolism, thus help burn fat, so 6 small meals would be better than 3 large meals, however if more calories were consumed by eating 6 small meals then the whole effort would be in vain. Also, keep in mind to loose fat and not muscle you need to loose slowly, no more than 2 pounds per week, Also keep a diet adequate in Protein, fat, and carbs, to maintain muscle. And I believe that alternating daily calories (more one day-less the next & so on) can help burn fat better by Not sending your body in a "ghost starvation" mode. Again, most anyone can loose weight by just cutting back on calories, But doing it Healthy verses non Healthy is the concern in my post. ~cheers~
Not to be a jerk, but that's the problem. It doesn't really matter what you or anyone else thinks, because what people think has no effect on reality. It takes your metabolism at least days and usually weeks to speed up or slow down as a result of changes in intake. I can tell you that if you climb Mt. Olympus a magical purple unicorn will tell you the secret to lose 50 lbs. Doesn't mean it's true.
Thanks for your input as to what you "Think"!0 -
never mind 0
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I'm in a hurry and can't read this entire thread right now, but it seems like the question is whether to eat 6 meals or 3 meals, some folks have a strong opinion while others don't have a clue, all I can say is for me 6 small meals work much better. lilly0
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Well for me, eating every few hours, has helped so far...I have lost weight in the past fasting but after the fast I would be so hungry I would binge thus ruining the effects. WIth a meal or snack every few hours I don't really (though I have) feel the urge to eat till I puke...
Though your statement was alittle over the top, I mean it really depends on what you are putting in your mouth for those 5-6 meals a day weather or not you are going to gain weight.0 -
Well I don't trust what any of them (FDA, etc.) say. Tonight they announced they are pulling saccahrin from the harmful substances after telling people for 30 years to stay away from it. The fact is everyone has to find out what works for them. :ohwell:
This is what I call "the new medievalism". This is also why someone like Snooki is now a celebrity.0
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