Anyone sick of 6 meals a day??

My goodness, sometimes I'm glad I eat that often, but lately (and many times before) I just get SO TIRED OF PLANNING/bringing food with me etc. So I would like to hear from people who eat 3 main meals a day, what you eat and how you feel about it, and if it's successful for you! thanks :flowerforyou:
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  • TurtleTape
    TurtleTape Posts: 254 Member
    Who says you have to eat six meals a day? I eat two to three. Eat what works for your needs and your body. Eating six meals a day would be a complete disaster for me.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    Two meals a day here. Six is hard to comprehend. I would be sick having to eat all day long.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,962 Member
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-27422547

    I prefer three substantial meals and no snacking.
  • Cati321
    Cati321 Posts: 35
    Two meals a day here. Six is hard to comprehend. I would be sick having to eat all day long.

    Yes and that's exactly how I feel! and it's so expensive too...
  • Faye_Anderson
    Faye_Anderson Posts: 1,495 Member
    My goodness, sometimes I'm glad I eat that often, but lately (and many times before) I just get SO TIRED OF PLANNING/bringing food with me etc. So I would like to hear from people who eat 3 main meals a day, what you eat and how you feel about it, and if it's successful for you! thanks :flowerforyou:

    It doesn't matter how many times you eat. What matters is how many calories you consume in a day.
    You can eat 20 meals or 1 meal, doesn't matter.

    Yeah, this. My diary is open and we have a similar calorie goal but it is full of junk (today especially) hasn't stopped the number on the ticker keep moving :flowerforyou: :drinker:
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
    As above.
    I eat between 1pm and 9pm generally, as it helps keep my calories under control.
    Some days that's been 500 calories early, than 3700 in the last hour (as I did exercise earlier as well as weights).
    Others I just graze between that time.
    I eat whatever I want to eat t the time that fits my macros - generally I get a varied enough range of fruit and veg in with 'what I want'.
  • Icandoityayme
    Icandoityayme Posts: 312 Member
    I eat 3 times a day and if I feel like I need to eat more, I do but keep it in my calorie goal.
  • Cati321
    Cati321 Posts: 35
    Who says you have to eat six meals a day? I eat two to three. Eat what works for your needs and your body. Eating six meals a day would be a complete disaster for me.

    I've done both types of eating before, and I just get heartburn really easily if a meal is too big which is why I've broken meals up a bit more. But then I don't really feel full :/
  • laurie04427
    laurie04427 Posts: 421 Member
    OP, Eat how ever many meals is comfy for you. I always get starving every 3 hours. That's the only reason I've always eaten a bunch of meals a day.
  • JoJoVan96
    JoJoVan96 Posts: 26 Member
    I tried the whole eating 5-6 minimeals a day...didn't work for me. I'm better off with 3 meals a day, and I usually have a small snack right before bed. I eat a TON of food at my meals (recently began a vegetarian diet), and I seem to be more satisfied after a meal, and stay fuller longer. It took a lot of trial and error to figure out what worked for me. :bigsmile:
  • Zombierawr
    Zombierawr Posts: 95 Member
    I only eat 3-4, depending on when I get up and how late I am up. It is truly a matter of understanding my own body. I know that I function best when I have had 1,000 calories by 5 PM, though I am starting to feel fine on 800 I still obviously eat after that, but I learned that if I had less before 5 pm, I would overeat in the evening out of hunger. I also make lunch my biggest meal.

    I tried the whole 5-6 meals a day, but like you said, the planning sucks. I just keep a good bit of snacks around my apartment and work area in case I do get hungry, but usually I am fine!
  • jenny24012014
    jenny24012014 Posts: 83 Member
    I have three meals a day;

    - breakfast is usually cereal with milk (250ish calories)

    - lunch is either mini pita bread with smoked salmon and cream cheese, something eggy on toast, mushrooms and toast, soup (250ish calories)

    - dinner is a normal family dinner (e.g. spaghetti bolognaise, chicken pie) which is anywhere from 400 to 800 calories.

    Then sometimes I have snacks of fruit, nuts, yoguhrt or oat bar things depending on how many calories I have left over.

    It's fine for me usually though I've been pretty bad the last few days because we got a takeaway on Friday night then I made a load of banana bread yesterday and felt compelled to eat it all.
  • spoiledpuppies
    spoiledpuppies Posts: 675 Member
    Kind of. But while I was losing, I only ate 3 meals--no snacking. Since reaching goal (or a bit under it), I've been working with a trainer on building muscle. He's awesome, and I've had great results. I pretty much do as he tells me. While he said that the world will not come to an end if you pack a few meals full of more calories, our bodies are better able to utilize food that is spread out. (For example, 30g of protein per meal.) If I ate bigger meals, I'd be overloading my macros at each one with the benefits going to waste. And he advises 30g of protein a couple of hours before bed to help my muscles rebuild overnight.

    So yes, I'm eating pretty much all day long, but I've mostly gotten used to it. (As a dietician described to me too: think of them as 6 snacks--all of them--rather than 3 meals + snacks. Then they're more evenly distributed calorie and macro-wise.)

    I'm all for people doing what works for them based on goals. My own approach changed based on changing goals.
  • shabaity
    shabaity Posts: 792 Member
    I eat 2-3 meals and then a few snacks. With my work and class schedule I'd never have the time.
  • Cati321
    Cati321 Posts: 35

    It's fine for me usually though I've been pretty bad the last few days because we got a takeaway on Friday night then I made a load of banana bread yesterday and felt compelled to eat it all.

    Hahaha I made a tonne of rusks today for my boyfriend and felt compelled to eat them too :P and I'm meant to be wheat intolerant, meh :D
  • TurtleTape
    TurtleTape Posts: 254 Member
    Who says you have to eat six meals a day? I eat two to three. Eat what works for your needs and your body. Eating six meals a day would be a complete disaster for me.

    I've done both types of eating before, and I just get heartburn really easily if a meal is too big which is why I've broken meals up a bit more. But then I don't really feel full :/

    I'm a bit of a binger. I like being able to eat a whole lot of food all at once, so eating one small meal to tide me over until my one large meal works really well for me...once I can train my body to handle the schedule(as opposed to just binging every meal).
  • sparklefrogz
    sparklefrogz Posts: 281 Member
    My goodness, sometimes I'm glad I eat that often, but lately (and many times before) I just get SO TIRED OF PLANNING/bringing food with me etc. So I would like to hear from people who eat 3 main meals a day, what you eat and how you feel about it, and if it's successful for you! thanks :flowerforyou:

    I typically eat three meals a day. What I eat = protein + veggies + a bit of fat at every meal. Usually I have dessert after supper, but sometimes I have a midmorning snack instead. It's successful for me; I grew up on the "three squares a day" schedule and never was much of a snacker. My meals are typically 4-5 hours apart.

    When I tried to eat more but smaller meals, I never felt full and was always rummaging around for more food. (Constantly grazing and thus overeating.) When I tried intermittent fasting/eating once per day, I ran into digestive issues and couldn't ignore the hunger.

    It takes a little bit of time to find what works for you, but just experiment with meal size and timing and notice how it affects your hunger and energy levels. I know I like much more substantial breakfasts than many people do, larger lunches than most, and smaller suppers. My energy and hunger levels stay more consistent, and I stay more alert and focused throughout the day.
  • Cati321
    Cati321 Posts: 35
    My goodness, sometimes I'm glad I eat that often, but lately (and many times before) I just get SO TIRED OF PLANNING/bringing food with me etc. So I would like to hear from people who eat 3 main meals a day, what you eat and how you feel about it, and if it's successful for you! thanks :flowerforyou:

    I typically eat three meals a day. What I eat = protein + veggies + a bit of fat at every meal. Usually I have dessert after supper, but sometimes I have a midmorning snack instead. It's successful for me; I grew up on the "three squares a day" schedule and never was much of a snacker. My meals are typically 4-5 hours apart.

    When I tried to eat more but smaller meals, I never felt full and was always rummaging around for more food. (Constantly grazing and thus overeating.) When I tried intermittent fasting/eating once per day, I ran into digestive issues and couldn't ignore the hunger.

    It takes a little bit of time to find what works for you, but just experiment with meal size and timing and notice how it affects your hunger and energy levels. I know I like much more substantial breakfasts than many people do, larger lunches than most, and smaller suppers. My energy and hunger levels stay more consistent, and I stay more alert and focused throughout the day.

    So what would you eat for breakfast that's so filling with the 3 macros? :)
  • Cati321
    Cati321 Posts: 35
    I only eat 3-4, depending on when I get up and how late I am up. It is truly a matter of understanding my own body. I know that I function best when I have had 1,000 calories by 5 PM, though I am starting to feel fine on 800 I still obviously eat after that, but I learned that if I had less before 5 pm, I would overeat in the evening out of hunger. I also make lunch my biggest meal.

    I tried the whole 5-6 meals a day, but like you said, the planning sucks. I just keep a good bit of snacks around my apartment and work area in case I do get hungry, but usually I am fine!

    That's exactly the same as me, if I eat less than 1000 by 5pm I feel awfully dizzy/grouchy and just wanna raid the cupboard when I get home...
  • amunet07
    amunet07 Posts: 1,245 Member
    I eat 4-5, I don't feel as hungry that way and do not blow my diet on a big dinner or cravings. they say eating like this helps your metabolism and keeps you from having big ups and downs.
  • michikade
    michikade Posts: 313 Member
    I have 2 real "meals" but take snacks with me - nuts, carrots and other veggies, grapes or apples, etc. my snacks aren't usually planned but if I take nuts I'll shave a couple calories off of my evening meal to compensate for the larger calories as opposed to veggies.
  • marciaholland77
    marciaholland77 Posts: 85 Member
    During the week I eat 3meals and 2 snacks. On the weekend it varies ....
  • Small and multiple meals is better because it gives time for the body to digest the food. I actually eat 3 meals a day, and I have been looking for ways to increase the number of meals. My meal quantities also increase into the night, and so dinner is the biggest meal for me, which is also bad since you shouldn't eat big meals at the end of the day.

    Currently I am maintainly it around 1200-1400 cals a day.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    My goodness, sometimes I'm glad I eat that often, but lately (and many times before) I just get SO TIRED OF PLANNING/bringing food with me etc. So I would like to hear from people who eat 3 main meals a day, what you eat and how you feel about it, and if it's successful for you! thanks :flowerforyou:

    I typically eat three meals a day. What I eat = protein + veggies + a bit of fat at every meal. Usually I have dessert after supper, but sometimes I have a midmorning snack instead. It's successful for me; I grew up on the "three squares a day" schedule and never was much of a snacker. My meals are typically 4-5 hours apart.

    When I tried to eat more but smaller meals, I never felt full and was always rummaging around for more food. (Constantly grazing and thus overeating.) When I tried intermittent fasting/eating once per day, I ran into digestive issues and couldn't ignore the hunger.

    It takes a little bit of time to find what works for you, but just experiment with meal size and timing and notice how it affects your hunger and energy levels. I know I like much more substantial breakfasts than many people do, larger lunches than most, and smaller suppers. My energy and hunger levels stay more consistent, and I stay more alert and focused throughout the day.

    So what would you eat for breakfast that's so filling with the 3 macros? :)

    For me it's Oatmeal.
    I'm weird I like to add a little bit of trail mix to mine, but the oats themselves hit all 3 macros.

    The container I have now, for 2 servings (80g):
    Calories: 300
    Carbs: 56
    Fat: 5
    Protein: 10
    and because I'm weird I add in a serving of trail mix:
    Calories: 150
    Carbs: 17
    Fat: 8
    Protein: 3

    That will usually keep me full from around 7am to about 3 in the afternoon.
  • sparklefrogz
    sparklefrogz Posts: 281 Member
    I typically eat three meals a day. What I eat = protein + veggies + a bit of fat at every meal. Usually I have dessert after supper, but sometimes I have a midmorning snack instead. It's successful for me; I grew up on the "three squares a day" schedule and never was much of a snacker. My meals are typically 4-5 hours apart.
    So what would you eat for breakfast that's so filling with the 3 macros? :)

    1. primarily, leftovers from lunch/supper the day before (meatballs with zughetti, hamburgers on portobello 'buns', beef parmigiana, etc).
    2. sausage link or patty with vegetables/fruit and a fried egg
    3. hard boiled eggs, fruit, yogurt
    4. ground meat skillets/hashes with vegetables
    5. omelets and frittatas with lots of goodies mixed in
    6. ocasionally, flat out dessert food like sweet crepes or pancakes with fruit syrup & whipped cream.
    7. rarely, entree salads (I typically have them for lunch instead, especially in summer when it's hot!)
    8. even more rarely, steak or pork chop + egg and veg. Mostly due to the cost involved.

    Breakfast usually clocks in at around 400-425 cals. Much more and I feel bloated; much less and I get hungry in 2 hours.
  • Orfygirl
    Orfygirl Posts: 274 Member
    Eating 6 meals a day would drive me crazy! Not to mention, I would feel sick all day long if I just kept forcing myself to eat. I found that I would feel sick all of the time and was gaining weight when I twas on the "you need to eat breakfast plan." Now I usually eat a small snack, today was an apple with peanut butter, around 2-3pm and then a large dinner around 7pm and then sometimes another snack around 9pm before I go to bed. If I get hungry earlier in the day then I eat something earlier but I always get my calories in for the day. It really is all about finding out what works for you. The way I break up my calories during the day will not work for everyone and vice versa.
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  • TurtleTape
    TurtleTape Posts: 254 Member
    Small and multiple meals is better because it gives time for the body to digest the food. I actually eat 3 meals a day, and I have been looking for ways to increase the number of meals. My meal quantities also increase into the night, and so dinner is the biggest meal for me, which is also bad since you shouldn't eat big meals at the end of the day.

    Currently I am maintainly it around 1200-1400 cals a day.

    Your body is going to digest the food no matter when you eat it. It isn't like your body says "oh, we ate a lot of food, ignore it while it goes through the digestive tract".
  • Cati321
    Cati321 Posts: 35
    Getting heart burn isn't "NORMAL" there is a problem there.

    I had a very serious problem with it a while back. Doctor put me on some paxil. It's 14 day treatment. It was over the counter. It changes how much acid you produce or something along those lines so you don't get heart burn.

    It's normal for me, it's a symptom of hypermobility (collagen disease) and it isn't curable, so I work around it! :smokin: