Anyone sick of 6 meals a day??

2»

Replies

  • nicsflyingcircus
    nicsflyingcircus Posts: 2,862 Member
    I don't eat six times a day, that would annoy the crap out of me. Today is three meals and 1 snack (a hard boiled egg, just because I -had- to test the batch I just boiled, lol)
  • pinkraynedropjacki
    pinkraynedropjacki Posts: 3,027 Member
    I eat one meal every 2nd day. Where does it say you HAVE to eat 6 meals a day? I don't want my life consumed by food.
  • serindipte
    serindipte Posts: 1,557 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 eat two or three meals a day, depending on when I get hungry. Seems to be working so far. (And? I rarely plan ahead.. I'm a horrible procrastinator.)
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    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...

    Why would it be more expensive? You are eating the same amount of food whether you divide it up into 6 meals or 2 meals.

    I eat 3 meals and 2 snacks. My snacks are quick no-fix grab-and-go things like protein bars, hard cooked eggs, cheese, etc. I eat one mid-afternoon and one before I go to bed.
  • Missjulesdid
    Missjulesdid Posts: 1,444 Member
    I'm a big time snacker. I enjoy snacking. I plan for two main meals a day with 2 or sometimes 3 small snacks.. A "snack" could be a piece of fruit with half an ounce of cheese or 1/5 of an avocado with some lunch meat wrapped around it or maybe a hard boiled egg or plain greek yogurt with berries, or sometimes homemade kettle corn or an ice cream bar!

    Sometimes at the end of the day, I find I didn't eat my snacks. No big deal. I just don't eat them and let myself be under on calories. I don't worry about it because I know there will be another day during the week that I'll want a little bit extra.

    Also I don't eat breakfast. I used to force myself to but I found I was still just as hungry the rest of the day and eating breakfast just meant eating more calories. Now I just have my coffee and don't eat until I'm hungry at some point in the early afternoon. Really I just reached a point where I stopped listening to the "experts" and started doing what makes sense to me.
  • 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...

    Why would it be more expensive? You are eating the same amount of food whether you divide it up into 6 meals or 2 meals.

    I eat 3 meals and 2 snacks. My snacks are quick no-fix grab-and-go things like protein bars, hard cooked eggs, cheese, etc. I eat one mid-afternoon and one before I go to bed.

    More expensive because a protein bar is more expensive than adding beans to a salad you've already made (or something like that - bulking up a meal) - I like snacky type things when I do snack!
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    I prefer 3 meals, because I like regular-sized meals and the types of foods that would be part of a meal vs. a snack, usually (i.e., cooked). I would never ever comply with a 5-6 mini meal recommendation. I do sometimes do protein shakes because I can't eat anything before a run but sometimes want something before, and then eat more to complete breakfast afterwards, but I think of that as part of one extended meal instead of two separate ones. You should do what appeals to you and makes you feel best, given your heartburn issue. My diary is open if you want to see (it's not perfectly consistent).
  • SomeNights246
    SomeNights246 Posts: 807 Member
    I currently eat 4 main meals a day. Early in ED recovery, I did 6. Not because of the 'clean eating' thing (most of the time, when I see 6 recommended it has to do with 'clean eating') but because my body couldn't handle more than 300 calories in one sitting. Now, I do 4. I plan on working my way back to 2-3. That was the pre-ED amount of meals I had a day.

    Price is not affected at all. You are still consuming the same amount of calories, whether you have 6 meals or 2 (I should hope, anyway).. so, you are still spending the same amount on food. For example, when I had 6 meals a day, each meal would be about 300 calories At four meals a day, they can be between 300-500. Depending. The thing that sucks the most about six meals a day, is that it starts to feel like you spend all day eating. And if you have a busy day, this can be bothersome. When I was in class, it sure was. I felt like I spent the entire class mentally planning my third meal. Only to have to leave my second class and have my fourth.

    The biggest reason I prefer less meals is that the meals leave me feeling satisfied longer. Physically, not necessarily mentally. Pre ED days, less meals meant I had more time to spend on activities with family and friends that didn't involve eating. At 6 meals, every so many hours I'd be taking a break to find my next meal or asking if they wanted to stop by somewhere to grab a bite.
  • This content has been removed.
  • ianthy
    ianthy Posts: 404 Member
    I eat 3 meals and 2 snacks. Then if there are cals left and I feel like eating them I might have a late evening snack too! I actually like the routine and also the flexibility that allows me to trim a bit of each meal/snack if I am going out etc., I know that 2 or 3 big meals a day would not work for me. I really need to have something to eat every 3 hours, so if I am going to be out then i tend to take something with me so that I won't just grab a Danish or something. Is it boring - sometimes am i happy at my GW - always! For me it feels like a price worth paying.
  • zoeysasha37
    zoeysasha37 Posts: 7,088 Member
    I I eat when I'm hungry. If it's six meals, or three meals, or whatever. A calorie deficit is what matters, not how many meals per day
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    There are advantages to fewer meals. If you prefer to get in touch with your body's normal satiety signals, you need to occasionally get hungry enough to feel physical hunger and be able to eat enough to feel some fullness. With 6 meals you're kind of stuck letting the clock guide your eating, which might mean often ignoring your body's signals.

    I would spend more on 6 meals, too, because I would be grabbing bars and stuff. Who wants to prep and plate 6 meals a day?
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    Why is there so much hype as far as fitness or diet theories? You can find studies to support anything.

    Post a garbage one and see what happens :laugh: Mostly when people link "studies" it's more bro science or opinion pieces of someone they respect, not an actual peer review study. Sometimes even a good one may be refuted as being too old, or perhaps there's more recent information that overrides it, etc. Basically all "studies" aren't created equal.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    I technically subscribe to the three meal approach, but especially when home I eat all day, so.

    One comment that I read a long time ago about six meals on 1200 cals per day is that each meal would likely be so small, that it could potentially do little to nothing for satiety. Of course, it would be less of a problem if the total daily intake were higher
  • I eat 3-5 times a day. Some days I have a snack, or two others I don't.I use to eat six times a day but it's too time consuming.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    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...

    Why would it be more expensive? You are eating the same amount of food whether you divide it up into 6 meals or 2 meals.

    I eat 3 meals and 2 snacks. My snacks are quick no-fix grab-and-go things like protein bars, hard cooked eggs, cheese, etc. I eat one mid-afternoon and one before I go to bed.

    More expensive because a protein bar is more expensive than adding beans to a salad you've already made (or something like that - bulking up a meal) - I like snacky type things when I do snack!

    That doesn't make sense. You will eat the same things to reach the same calorie and macro targets. It shouldn't matter how many meals you divide them up into.
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
    It depends what else you're doing.
    If you're doing the six meals evenly spread out, some are likely to be when you're doing other things, like driving, sitting in a meeting and so on.

    Keeping some of the steak with potatoes from lunch back to munch on before your meeting probably isn't reasonable, so you need other easy choices - as above, like a protein bar or similar.

    If you're buying prepared food, often you can spend the same amount or less and get twice the calories for a single meal.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    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...

    Why would it be more expensive? You are eating the same amount of food whether you divide it up into 6 meals or 2 meals.

    I eat 3 meals and 2 snacks. My snacks are quick no-fix grab-and-go things like protein bars, hard cooked eggs, cheese, etc. I eat one mid-afternoon and one before I go to bed.

    More expensive because a protein bar is more expensive than adding beans to a salad you've already made (or something like that - bulking up a meal) - I like snacky type things when I do snack!

    That doesn't make sense. You will eat the same things to reach the same calorie and macro targets. It shouldn't matter how many meals you divide them up into.
    She said she wouldn't eat the same things.
  • I am talking about what is optimal for your body. Binging is certainly not good for the body, and similarily heavy meals are not good for the body either. Allowing enough time for your body to digest properly and absorb all the nutrients, is actually something one should try to achieve.
  • TurtleTape
    TurtleTape Posts: 254 Member
    I am talking about what is optimal for your body. Binging is certainly not good for the body, and similarily heavy meals are not good for the body either. Allowing enough time for your body to digest properly and absorb all the nutrients, is actually something one should try to achieve.

    Source? There are plenty of people who lose and are healthy on one large meal a day.
  • KimiSteinbach
    KimiSteinbach Posts: 224 Member
    I eat about only 2 times a day. I never eat breakfast and only eat lunch and dinner. Whatever works for you. :smooched:
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,254 Member
    I have coffee at 8:15ish, eat breakfast at around 10am, lunch around 1:30pm, dinner around 7pm and if I have snacks at all, they're either around 4:00pm or 9:00pm, but just as often, I don't snack.

    I don't have the time or the inclination to eat more than 3 meals a day, it doesn't fit with my work day or my desire to eat. I think it is pure personalpreference and I'm doing great eating 3 meals a day.
  • SeptemberLondon
    SeptemberLondon Posts: 151 Member
    I always eat a huge salad for lunch (approx. 350 calories). Lately, I've found that I'm so full after lunch that I don't want anything more than a protein shake at night. But that means I'm not getting enough calories and I work out 6x a week. I started adding more nutrient and calorie dense food to my salads - like walnuts, soynuts, dried fruit, proteins - and it's helped a lot.

    But I try to rely on protein bars only when I have no appetite or I'm out & need to eat.
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
    I am talking about what is optimal for your body. Binging is certainly not good for the body, and similarily heavy meals are not good for the body either. Allowing enough time for your body to digest properly and absorb all the nutrients, is actually something one should try to achieve.
    So you avoid fibre, yes?
    Because fibre impairs the absorption of nutrients, for a start. Something people trying to lose weight may find beneficial, of course.
    Oh and yes, sources for the rest, please. :)