Times to eat?

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whisperfitandhealthy
whisperfitandhealthy Posts: 66
in Health and Weight Loss
How can I eat meals at better times? for instance, most days I'm awake at 5-6 AM and tend to eat then, but by 8-9 I'm hungry so I eat. Then I try holding off until dinner..and at that time I'm starving and that's when everything goes to hell. I eat pretty healthy for the most part so it's not the food i'm eating, it's the times I'm eating.

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  • Vigilance88
    Vigilance88 Posts: 95 Member
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    Eat more than 3 times, whenever you want, as long as you stay below your cal limit.
    No point to restrict yourself for 9 hours during the day, it would be hell for me :p
  • CallMeCupcakeDammit
    CallMeCupcakeDammit Posts: 9,377 Member
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    Why are you not eating during the day? As long as you're staying within your calorie goal, eat when you're hungry. You feel hungry because your body wants fooooooood. Feed it.
  • GertrudeHorse
    GertrudeHorse Posts: 646 Member
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    I generally eat every three or four hours. After five hours without food I get hangry!
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
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    I skip breakfast and eat a big lunch and a big dinner and that keeps me full all day. You'll find that if you don't eat breakfast, you don't get hungry as early.
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    I ate a pre-run snack at about 6:30am, breakfast after my run around 10:30. Lunch at 1:30, have snacked this afternoon, dinner will be around 6-ish.....still under cals for the day, might even have a snack before bed if I feel like it.

    I always eat this way and have had great success with weight loss. No need to go 9 hours without eating, or keep to just three eating times per day. It's pretty much calories in/calories out.
  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,074 Member
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    If I have breakfast, I'll usually eat it around 8. Then I might have a small snack around 10, then have my lunch between 12-1PM, and then another snack before dinner. Try smaller meals to keep you full. Skipping from breakfast til dinner is going to spell out trouble.
  • Eoghann
    Eoghann Posts: 130 Member
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    Eat when you're hungry.

    It sounds flippant but it's the truth. Your body tells you when it needs some more sustenance. So eat when you are naturally hungry, just control the portions.

    Snacks can be a good thing if you pick the right ones.
  • LKPMiller
    LKPMiller Posts: 6 Member
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    I was on Robert Ferguson's diet free life/food lovers program for a long time. Basically, I learned to eat more often -- 2 1/2 to 3 hours between meals and snacks. (Starting within 30 minutes of rising was/is the hardest rule.) Yeah, that's at least six times a day!! And it's counterintuitive; it makes no logical sense (if your logic is limited to "calories in-calories out.") But it's really effective--stoking the metabolic furnace. I only stopped that program because I was so tired of eating all the time!! Now that habit is coming back as I'm trying to make better food choices, AGAIN.
  • navyrigger46
    navyrigger46 Posts: 1,301 Member
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    I skip breakfast and eat a big lunch and a big dinner and that keeps me full all day. You'll find that if you don't eat breakfast, you don't get hungry as early.

    This is true for me as well, If I eat breakfast I'll be hungry before lunch, but if I skip it I can quite easily go until lunch time.

    Rigger
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    I portion my food out for the day with the amount of calories that is my goal and then I eat whenever I have the opportunity and/or feel hungry.
  • AwesomeGuy37
    AwesomeGuy37 Posts: 436 Member
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    I generally eat every three or four hours. After five hours without food I get hangry!

    Same for me.

    If I eat dinner at 8PM, then I'm going to eat again at midnight. It's not cheating to eat at night. If you have trouble fitting your calories into meals on the fly.. then plan ahead by doing your diary early.
  • melimomTARDIS
    melimomTARDIS Posts: 1,941 Member
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    I eat at the following times-

    breakfast at 7:00 am

    Quick snack at 9 (I keep this to 100 calories)

    Lunch at 11

    Snack at 2ish

    Dinner at 5:30

    Dessert immediately following dinner so 6?

    Evening snack ( usually a cup of tea, Hershey kiss, or other under 50 calorie thing)

    I get hungry during the day, and eating bigger meals doesn't help me. I am always hungry after breakfast, no matter what. So I count my cals and eat breakfast twice.
  • melimomTARDIS
    melimomTARDIS Posts: 1,941 Member
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    I also preplan my diary in the morning before I've eaten anything.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    I guess my typical day is

    Eat at 9am

    Eat at 11:30am

    Eat at 3pm

    Eat at 6pm

    Eat at 7:30pm

    Eat at 10:00pm


    This varies all over the place though, basically I just eat.
  • pita7317
    pita7317 Posts: 1,437 Member
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    This all depends on the person and your daily situation.
    I eat breakfast between 9-10 am.
    A light lunch 12-1.
    Dinner 5-6.
    Can't eat more than that per day.
    Prior to MFP I was eating dinner only most days.
    But this works much better for me, losing weight and feeling much better.
    Not eating all day was causing dizziness, low energy, etc.
    No brainier.
    Lots of water helps too.
  • DeterminedFee201426
    DeterminedFee201426 Posts: 859 Member
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    If I have breakfast, I'll usually eat it around 8. Then I might have a small snack around 10, then have my lunch between 12-1PM, and then another snack before dinner. Try smaller meals to keep you full. Skipping from breakfast til dinner is going to spell out trouble.
    same exact way my eating pattern is
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    I was on Robert Ferguson's diet free life/food lovers program for a long time. Basically, I learned to eat more often -- 2 1/2 to 3 hours between meals and snacks. (Starting within 30 minutes of rising was/is the hardest rule.) Yeah, that's at least six times a day!! And it's counterintuitive; it makes no logical sense (if your logic is limited to "calories in-calories out.") But it's really effective--stoking the metabolic furnace. I only stopped that program because I was so tired of eating all the time!! Now that habit is coming back as I'm trying to make better food choices, AGAIN.
    LOL "Stoking the metabolic furnace." People still believe that nonsense?
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    I was on Robert Ferguson's diet free life/food lovers program for a long time. Basically, I learned to eat more often -- 2 1/2 to 3 hours between meals and snacks. (Starting within 30 minutes of rising was/is the hardest rule.) Yeah, that's at least six times a day!! And it's counterintuitive; it makes no logical sense (if your logic is limited to "calories in-calories out.") But it's really effective--stoking the metabolic furnace. I only stopped that program because I was so tired of eating all the time!! Now that habit is coming back as I'm trying to make better food choices, AGAIN.
    LOL "Stoking the metabolic furnace." People still believe that nonsense?

    Personally I don't believe that nonsense but I still end up eating 6 times a day because for me that's what I feel best on. Different strokes for different folks. I don't think people who eat 2 meals a day are doing it wrong.
  • Josalinn
    Josalinn Posts: 1,066 Member
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    I was told to "eat to prevent being hungry" so I have a big breakfast at 7:30 which is mostly protein so i stay full till lunch. Today I ate half my lunch at noon, 1/4 more at 4:30 and the rest at 7:30. I'll eat dinner at 10:30 when I get home and then have my "bednight snack" of icecream....yummy!
  • cordianet
    cordianet Posts: 534 Member
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    How can I eat meals at better times? for instance, most days I'm awake at 5-6 AM and tend to eat then, but by 8-9 I'm hungry so I eat. Then I try holding off until dinner..and at that time I'm starving and that's when everything goes to hell. I eat pretty healthy for the most part so it's not the food i'm eating, it's the times I'm eating.

    Are you actually hungry at 5-6am? I get up about 5:30 most morning and used to eat around 6 cause everyone said "you're supposed to", even though I realized I wasn't really hungry then. When eating that early, it was really hard to make it through the day, even if I snacked as some others are suggesting. (Plus snacking was fraught with other dangers for me but I digress...)

    Now I actually wait till 8:30 or so to eat breakfast (when I'm actually hungry), and find I do much better overall. Now I can easily go to noon or later without starving, and since I'm not having to snack, I can eat a more normal sized lunch. The net result is I often go all the way to dinner with over half my calorie allotment left, and without feeling starving hungry.

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