Anyone doing 6-meals/day?

varula
varula Posts: 13
in Getting Started
Greetings,
I've had nutritionists suggest 6 small meals/day and I know that other weight loss plans (HCG and even lap bands) operate on this rule. I've tried everything except this so I'm giving it a shot. I could use some guidance, but it seems like you just divide your daily total by 6 (ie: 300 cals/ meal roughly for 1800/day) and focus on meals high in protein in early part of the day.

For me, I know I"m going to have trouble stopping at "small" meals. The 4th of July weekend full of parties, etc is also going to be difficult. And my calorie goal is 1200, which means 200 calorie meals....or a couple 300's and some 100's....

Just looking for others who eat this way. How do you manage. What tricks do you have to keep meals small, etc. Need some support.
thanks
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Replies

  • maryjay52
    maryjay52 Posts: 557 Member
    i usually have 5-6 meals a day.. its a pain in the rearend to plan because its timely if you document everything .. i try to balance it all out in the am so i dont have to deal with anything during the day and can pack stuff to go out on the road with me /..for me it works
  • Jenn728
    Jenn728 Posts: 683 Member
    I am trying to do this. I had a trainer a while back who told me to eat 6 times a day and have a carb and a protein at each meal. I didn't always nail it but I tried. Here's what a typical work day was for me:

    7 am: atkins shake
    10 am: oatfit oatmeal & boiled egg
    1 pm: chicken salad
    4 pm: banana & peanut butter
    7 pm: meat and veggie
    sometimes I'd have a protein drink after workout or if I want a sweet

    I would usually come very close to 1200 calories a day.

    I am trying to get back into this routine...today is the first day back at it. So far so good.
  • Pirate_chick
    Pirate_chick Posts: 1,216 Member
    Sort of. I eat six times per day but really only have two meals. I have never been much of a breakfast person so I make a green smoothie in the morning (fruit, greens of some kind, and a liquid, generally unsweetened almond milk) , a snack(generally 100grams of grapes and a cheese stick) , lunch (normally leftovers from the previous evening), an afternoon snack (carrots, or grapes again, and a cheese stick) . Dinner (it varies but it's a full meal with starch, veggie, and protein), Evening snack(depending on my mood it's either sweet or salty, or both. My fav is an ice cream sandwich 150 calories of awesome deliciousness :bigsmile: ) .
  • swalberg0625
    swalberg0625 Posts: 98 Member
    The key is to plan out your meals. I do food prep on the weekends and pack my lunches for the day at work. I always know what I am going to eat at work before my day starts.

    I have always been more of a grazer so I am not sure how to successfully transition to this way of eating. I eat throughout the day so I don't get hungry as often ( I fall victim to late night snacking quite often). When you plan meals you should know about how many calories you are consuming for each planned meal. If you want a larger meal, have a smaller snack. The calories don't have to be 300 for each meal. You could do 400 for breakfast 100 snack 300 lunch 200 snack...ect you get the idea right!?
  • scubamaja
    scubamaja Posts: 24 Member
    I am doing this: Eating all 3 hours!!!!!

    8:00 am Breakfast: low sugar apple-oatmeal, cinnemon, flaxseed, truvia and mixed with bit of water
    11:00 am Snack: frozen fruit mix smoothie with a little bit water & 0.25 scoop of WHEY Strawberry protein powder
    2 pm lunch: lettuce, tomatoes, tuna/salmon, cheese, low sugar dressing; dannon light greek yogurt
    5 pm Snack: Proteinshake; WHEY protein powder( love strawberry) 0.75 scoop plus almond unsweeten vanilla milk 30cal (before my gym keeps me running)
    8pm Dinner: protein (chicken/ steak plus veggies) and yes a glass of sangria ; )

    Thats aprox. 1400cal/day, spice up your lunch with graved salmon on 90cal flatbread and lowfat creamcheese..mhhh so good. Snacks can be changed up with a nice chocolate protein bar ( I am a chocoholic, that helps!) or whatever you like max 200cal. Important notice: calculate before eating, prepare your food before work to resist all those little evil devil office cookies, keep track in your head and do your workout. Every-body, literally, is different. I just changed up my cal intake from 1200 to 1400 cal with high protein, low carb...no hunger/ no cravings- feeling great now and see daily sucess. Try it!
  • abbyblackcft
    abbyblackcft Posts: 23
    1) Figure out what your metabolic type is. If you need help message me.
    2) Calculate your calories, based on your current activity level
    3) Divide that number by 5 or 6
    4) Cook your meals for the week and divide them up. Include a protein, carb, fiber and healthy fat into each.
  • kbolton322
    kbolton322 Posts: 358 Member
    I eat 5-6 times a day... it all depends on how I feel after my run at night.. I eat breakfast 7am snack bout 9:30 or 10 depends on what I have going on at work... lunch at 11:30 pm snack is sometime between 2and 4pm.. then dinner at 6ish...

    I just got back to logging my foods everyday but I preplan my foods on sundays and have it sitting in my fridge to just pull out each morning before work...

    my meals are bout 300 cals give or take a little bit my snacks are bout 150 cals each give or take...
  • MzNeecie
    MzNeecie Posts: 107 Member
    I do six meals a day but that is b/c one I like to eat :) and two it helps me to not get so hungry that I end up eating junk.

    I don't consider it as planned since I am pretty boring and predictable and can eat the same foods practically every day but since I know what my cal goals are each day depending on if I work out (most times I must) I will just do a rough draft in my head or on a post it and then alter it as I go.

    I tend to eat a little lighter snacks after breakfast and lunch to make sure I can have my after dinner meal. Some times I have so many calories left and am so tired of eating I just leave them. Not sure if that is a good idea or not but that has happened.

    Feel free to check out my diary its open. hope that helped
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
    How long have you been doing 1,200 calories? Switching to a low calorie diet AND 6 small meals might be too much change at once. I could never do 6 small meals.
  • Sely74
    Sely74 Posts: 1
    Hi,

    I have been doing six meal a day for a month now. It's not as hard as I thought it would be. I find that planning my meals at least the day before works better for me. Are you working out regularly? If so, then I think your calorie goal is too low. You can calculate your Basal Metabolic reate (BMR) on this site to find out what your calorie intake should be based on your activity level. You can also calculate your protein and carb per meal requirements.

    For me, what's worked is to have a protein and carb at every meal. Carbs mostly being fruits - sometimes rice/bread/quinoa at lunch or dinner. I do veggies mostly for my meal #3 and meal #5. Salads, carrots, steamed broccoli, zucchini, peppers/onions, etc. If I do corn/peas or a higher carb veg I add a more fiberous veg with it.

    Here's an idea and what I'm eating today
    7a - protein shake and banana
    9:30a - greek yogurt (low carb) with almonds in it
    12p - salad with chicken, cucumbers, and tomatoes
    3p - hard boiled egg and strawberries
    6p - pork chop with steamed broccoli and quinoa
    9p - apple and peanut butter

    I hope that's helpful!
  • MissHolidayGolightly
    MissHolidayGolightly Posts: 857 Member
    I eat six times I day when I get into the M&M jar at the office.

    It helps some people to feel satiated eating smaller meals more frequently others like fewer large meals. Your meals don't all have to be the same size, either. You can have two main meals and three or four snacks in between, for instance. You can lose and maintain either way, just depends what makes you feel best.
  • michellesz
    michellesz Posts: 429 Member
    I'm in maintenance so I eat more calories per day but even when I started here, I would pretty much follow the process of eating 6 meals per day. Breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack. This is awesome & I find that I rarely ever have hunger pangs as I am always comfortable and never starving or craving. Break it down however you are comfortable. If I personally ate one or two heavy meals only per day, I would need a nap :laugh:
  • DWBalboa
    DWBalboa Posts: 37,259 Member
    Yes ma’am, take a look see at my log if you’d like to see how I usually manage it. I should add the caveat that I have three meals and two heavy snacks with a third light late snack.
  • CorlissaEats
    CorlissaEats Posts: 493 Member
    Not really doing the six meals a day thing but I do eat about 6 times a day just to get all my required calories in. Breakfast, second breakfast at work, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner, and bed time snack. If I can eat all my daily calories then I skip the bedtime snack. Food is fuel, eat enough at all that jazz. :flowerforyou:
  • Arleigh7
    Arleigh7 Posts: 150 Member
    I started working with a new trainer 3 months ago and have gone to 6 meals a day for the past 3 months and dropped another 20 lbs even though he had me decrease the amount of exercise I was doing (he felt I was over doing things and ultimately it was counter productive. I would argue with him but he was right. I feel tons better and many aches and pains are gone or greatly reduced).

    I do 1 egg with 6 egg whites and spinach

    then 1/2 cup oatmeal with one scoop protein powder

    then 200 grams of chicken or turkey and 100 grams of brown rice or 200 grams of Quinoa

    2 Siggis plain yogurt and apple

    Protein drink after my workout

    300 grams of fish, with unlimited amount of steamed vegetables


    This has really helped my fitness and weight loss as I've lost fat but maintained most if not all of my muscle.

    Hope this helps
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
    I have frequent snacks, to deter me from getting so hungry I get derailed from my plan when it's mealtime. My diary is open for ideas, but I doubt anyone would be much interested since I'm eating a boring competition prep diet.
  • tanycialecroy
    tanycialecroy Posts: 1
    I did this a while back and actually lost a lot of weight. It was part of this "6 week body makeover" thing I bought. You eat about every 2-3 hours. 1st meal is like 2 oz protein and 1/2 cup fruit (so I would eat a couple slices of turkey/chicken lunchmeat and 1/2 a banana), 2nd mean is the same, 3rd meal (lunch) is 3 oz protein, 1-2 cup veggies, and 1/2 cup carb (ex: chicken breast, green beans, and small plain (no butter/cheese) baked potato), 4th mean is 3 oz protein and a choise b/t 1/2 cup carb or 1-2 cups veggies, and 5th meal is same as the 3rd. There were also some snacks allowed (like this sort of frozen applesause mixture). Fruits allowed ONLY in the am.
  • mklove1984
    mklove1984 Posts: 3
    Like many of the others, I'm not eating 6 "meals" a day, but I do have a snack of fruit or wheat crackers and hummus or cheese mid morning and then more fruit or cottage cheese and home made granola mid afternoon.

    Do I feel like a hobbit most days? Yes. However, it keeps me from getting hangry during the day.
  • RaspberryKeytoneBoondoggle
    RaspberryKeytoneBoondoggle Posts: 1,349 Member
    yeah, me. I eat at least six meals a day, sometimes it's just half a sandwich, and I do it because it's a habit I have. I don't know if there is a special benefit for this, and I sometimes think that I might eat a bit less in the day if I stuck to less meals.
  • Imataloss88
    Imataloss88 Posts: 5 Member
    I'm with Jenn728. I eat 5 to 6 meals a day and follow about the same meals as she posted. I've only been doing it for a little over 2 weeks so I don't have that much experience with it yet but I feel so much better and I'm not hungry (which is a huge plus). I believe it's the higher protein and lack of sugar crashes but I'm no expert. I think you have to find what's right for you. Give it a try and see how you feel. You can modify and tweak it after trying it for a week or two. I do recommend you plan ahead. That's been key for me. I plan for the whole week and prep the meals in advance. I already know what I'm eating as each day comes. I even fill out my diary with all the foods for my day in the morning and not as I eat them. I like it because it takes the guesswork out of what the heck I'm going to do for my next meal and trying to decide if it fits in my meal plan. Good luck!!
  • binxle
    binxle Posts: 2
    My goal is about the same as yours and I eat this way.

    I usually have a ~300 calorie breakfast, lunch, and dinner with smaller snacks between lunch and dinner and after dinner. Logged in advance the day before really helps keep this in check. I feel full all day but it took a week or so to get used to it. Once you get used to eating less and more frequently as a trade off you might even like it better - I really like snacking, haha. :-)

    With the 4th of July coming up, I would log the meals you eat that day in advance and be realistic. You might want to keep your dinner at 500 calories and choose to trade off earlier meals for frequent snacks until you go to your barbecue or party, or whatever you have planned.

    Good luck!
  • keegan2149
    keegan2149 Posts: 65 Member
    I try to do this whenever I'm possible. The theory is that if you eat in such a way that your blood sugar is at a constant level you'll avoid the spikes that cause your body to store calories as fat as well as the dips that trigger hunger cravings.

    When I do it I still eat 2 - 4 main meals of about 400-600 calories (I'm a 200lb man so your calorie counts may be different) Then 3 - 4 snacks or smaller meals of 100 - 300 calories depending on what I've eaten that day. These consist mostly of natural foods, like trail mix, granola, veggies and fruit. I also try to drink a low-carb, high-protein meal replacement shake or two.

    I've never been that fond of veggies so it took some getting used to. I started out by downing a can of spinach as my last meal every day. The protein in the shakes and the fiber really helps to control hunger throughout the day. It was hard to change my habits though. 3 months went by before it felt normal to eat this way, but I stuck with it. My coworkers eventually got used to me showing up with a stack of plastic containers every morning. GL!
  • DWBalboa
    DWBalboa Posts: 37,259 Member
    I have frequent snacks, to deter me from getting so hungry I get derailed from my plan when it's mealtime. My diary is open for ideas, but I doubt anyone would be much interested since I'm eating a boring competition prep diet.

    I had to look since you said "competition prep diet", pretty impressive.
  • looseseal
    looseseal Posts: 216 Member
    I've tried doing that before and for me, it just doesn't work. I always felt not full enough and was hungry and waiting around till I could eat again. For me, I'm better off eating a good b-fast (400 cals give or take), lunch, snack (if needed) and dinner that stick with me for several hours. I try my best to combine good protein (chicken, soy burgers, beef, eggs, etc) with good carbs (veggies, fruits, multi-grain wraps, brown rice, etc). If find that combo sticks with me much longer. Just my 2 cents.
  • itsbasschick
    itsbasschick Posts: 1,584 Member
    i have 5 or 6 meals per day, and it works very well for me. since i'm on 1200 net calories a day, that means about 200 calories per meal - if i go crazy and have 300, i do some extra walking to make up the difference. i do less than 25 carbs per most meals, sometimes between 15 and 20. i only eat foods i really love, and while before doing this i used to get frequent snack cravings, 5 to 6 really tasty meals seems to work as every meal is like a really great snack :)
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
    As far as weight loss goes, meal timing/size/frequency is one of those things where you have to find what works best for you. Your post seems to indicate that this is the last thing to try; it isn't. Try six small meals a day and see if it suits you. If it doesn't, try something else. Some people find that 3 square meals a day, no snacking works best. Others find that two, or even one large meal a day suits them best. Some people like to breakfast like a king and then taper their meals as the day goes on; for others, it's the opposite. You have to go with what works best for your energy levels, appetite, lifestyle and personal preference.

    For me, I couldn't do 6 small meals a day because when I've tried that, I found that I never really felt truly satisfied after a meal. I prefer to eat lightly at breakfast and lunch (or skip breakfast entirely) and eat most of my calories in the evening. The other thing about lots of small meals a day is that I never really felt hungry. Not only do I find that I enjoy my meals much more when I'm at least a bit hungry, I also think it's really important to learn to cope with feeling hungry. It always concerns me a bit when dieters are recommended to snack regularly so that they never feel hungry, in case they binge. Hunger is a very normal thing to feel. We shouldn't be scared of it. Anyway, that's just me. :smile: Just experiment a bit and find what works best for you. This is one issue where there isn't a one size fits all answer.
  • _lyndseybrooke_
    _lyndseybrooke_ Posts: 2,561 Member
    I do!

    Typical weekday/lifting day...

    5AM: Quest bar [160-200 calories]
    7:30AM: Protein shake [250 calories]
    8:30AM: Breakfast (bowl of oatmeal and coffee) [350 calories]
    12:00PM: Lunch (depends on the day) [200-250 calories]
    3:00PM: Afternoon snack (usually a hard boiled egg, Greek yogurt, and light string cheese) [200 calories]
    6:30PM: Dinner (depends on the day) [350-550 calories]

    I have one cardio day per week when I don't have a Quest bar before I work out and, on those days, I treat myself to a dessert after dinner. Lately it's been a 144 calorie s'more with banana slices.

    It all adds up to about 1650 calories M-F. I eat more on weekends, and it's not 6 scheduled meals like during the work week. I don't eat 6 meals a day because I think it'll help me lose weight. I eat 6 meals a day because I like to eat and I want to eat often.
  • imagerman
    imagerman Posts: 2 Member
    I'm post gastric sleeve surgery about 9 mos ago. I have to eat 6 small meals because of the new size of my stomach. I try to eat within 1000 calories daily, with 90-100 g protein. Costco carries an excellent whey protein drink called Premier Protein Shake valued at 30 g per container. I also eat 1 lean and green meal daily consisting of a protein meat such as chicken or fish and a green vegetable. Amazon carries some really tasty protein bars by the name of Quest and Rise. A little pricey but they get the job done. I also recommend vitamin supplements and a good brand is Bariatric Advantage.
    As a last resort, Medifast has an excellent program.
    6 meals a day requires a major change from your normal. Just get with it and stick with it for 14 days, then it will start to feel normal. Don't let your friends and associates influence you from your goal. Good Luck.

    Imagerman
  • dieselbyte
    dieselbyte Posts: 733 Member
    Meal timing/frequency is irrelevant to weight loss. It all comes down to calories in vs calories out. 6 meals a day, 3 meals a day, 1 meal - The only difference is personal preference. Individuals who eat 6 meals a day will lose weight due to a caloric deficit, not the fact that they are eating 6 meals a day. The whole "stoking metabolism" is a myth.

    For some, eating 6 meals helps mentally ("I feel like I'm always eating, and it's great") For others, like myself, 6 meals a day isn't anywhere near satisfying. Again, personal preference will dictate meal frequency. Good luck in whatever you choose.
  • ddkphotos
    ddkphotos Posts: 304 Member
    unofficially I eat approx 5 smaller meals a day...
    My daily goal is 1400 -
    breakfast is usually a smoothie at around 250 calories -
    morning snack around 150 -
    lunch around 300 -
    afternoon snacks around 200 -
    dinner and evening snacks is the other 500...
    this is all approximate - but I find I do better if I don't let myself get too hungry - at which point I tend to eat alot more... does that make sense?

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