Does meal frequency really not matter?

This site isn't for girls, you have to be over 18 to be a member.

"Girls aren't known for their willpower"? Spare me.

my opinion is that it affects different people in different way. E.g if i skip meal end end up to be really hungry, in the evening I could eat a horse- so I eat more after all (calories of day, not only dinner) but my boyfriend doesn´t have to eat all day and ends up eating the same amount of food as he would if he eat all day. However, when I was young I sometimes forgot to eat and ate only lunch at school (they gave us also food which remained, so quite big portion)- if it was 3 or 4 times in a row, my stomach hurt at night- but after that I was not hunger at all in the morning. I think my stomach was smaller, since then I felt great, had a lot of energy and wasn´t hungry at all. When I am thinking about it now, It was much more convinient. I eat 4-5 meals a day now and yes hunger is more frequent and bigger than it was.

no meal frequency does not matter at all.

Or you could look at what other people do;

http://www.simplyshredded.com/michelle-lewin.html

Meal 1: Oatmeal with Big Blend from Betancourt Nutrition
Meal 2: Ham with Swedish Crackers (Wasa)
Meal 3: Chicken Breast with Brown Rice
Meal 4: Pork Chops with Salad
Meal 5: Beef with Asparagus & Spinach
Meal 6: Salmon with Broccoli
Meal 7: Casein Protein Shake (Before bed)

Too much thinking involved :P

You're going to go far, sweetcheeks.

This site isn't for girls, you have to be over 18 to be a member.

"Girls aren't known for their willpower"? Spare me.

Uh yeah I'm 21. I didn't say girls aren't known for their willpower, I said a lot of women find it difficult to fast that long.

If you aren't going to answer my question or say something nice, then keep your trap shut. :noway:

Blimey someone got out the wrong side of bed today

There is absolutely ZERO scientific evidence proving the correlation between eating times and weight loss. ZERO. There are, however, studies which show how people that ate more frequently tended to SNACK LESS BETWEEN MEALS. Honestly, if we had to eat frequently, to "keep our metabolism burning...." we would have died off millions of years ago, when we would go days or weeks without eating.

Bottom line: If you tend to snack between meals, by all means, eat MEALS more frequently. However, realize that you are then keeping your insulin levels raised most of the day, which can cause some metabolic issues. Elevated insulin + prolonged periods = quicker and more stored fat!

Randall, FSF

http://vonblancofitness.com/the-truth-about-meal-frequency-and-nutrient-timing/

http://syattfitness.com/fat-loss/meal-frequency/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSLn0vGh5ZQ&index=5&list=LLS7kyY9hqClnfIYreR5xvpg

I work grave yard 12 hours shifts. Half of the week, I eat all my meals at night and the other half at regular times of the day. It doesnt make any difference.

This site isn't for girls, you have to be over 18 to be a member.

"Girls aren't known for their willpower"? Spare me.

Uh yeah I'm 21. I didn't say girls aren't known for their willpower, I said a lot of women find it difficult to fast that long.

If you aren't going to answer my question or say something nice, then keep your trap shut. :noway:

Blimey someone got out the wrong side of bed today

Nah. I just hate if someone judges me by my cover. They wanna be rude, I can be too.

Aye, I was equally as rude. I don't think it's helpful to use "girl" when you mean "woman" and I thought that the idea that women don't have the willpower to fast is just silly. Your OP was too "cool girl" for me to take seriously.

There is absolutely ZERO scientific evidence proving the correlation between eating times and weight loss. ZERO. There are, however, studies which show how people that ate more frequently tended to SNACK LESS BETWEEN MEALS. Honestly, if we had to eat frequently, to "keep our metabolism burning...." we would have died off millions of years ago, when we would go days or weeks without eating.

Bottom line: If you tend to snack between meals, by all means, eat MEALS more frequently. However, realize that you are then keeping your insulin levels raised most of the day, which can cause some metabolic issues. Elevated insulin + prolonged periods = quicker and more stored fat!

Randall, FSF

http://vonblancofitness.com/the-truth-about-meal-frequency-and-nutrient-timing/

http://syattfitness.com/fat-loss/meal-frequency/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSLn0vGh5ZQ&index=5&list=LLS7kyY9hqClnfIYreR5xvpg

This is incorrect - there is some scientific evidence that meal frequency timing, meal composition, and overall dietary macro composition affect metabolic function and weight gain/loss, especially for some disease states. However, it seems very secondary to the basics of weight loss which are to focus on calories consumed first and the amount of energy spent moving about and exercising. So meal frequency doesn't matter in the larger context of focusing on the major elements for weight loss. It doesn't mean there isn't evidence, it just isn't where one should be focusing.

Meal frequency matters in that it does sometimes affect how an individual adheres to a plan. Find the meal frequency or variations that you like, that fits your lifestyle and stick to it.

Frequency has no relevance. Eat at a deficit, lose weight. Keep it simple!

I find the same thing - when I fast I am less hungry and when I eat more frequent smaller meals, I am starving all the time. I am not sure how to answer your question, but just wanted you to know I noticed the same thing. I lose more when I do some sort of intermittent fasting. I currently fast for 18 hours and eat for 6. I do about (2) 24-hour fasts per month.

I eat all my calories by 11a most days (and I also don't work out the rest of the day). I have found if I have chunks of 12-18 hours where I don't eat I get hungry less. I can Not Eat for 18 hours easier than 3 lol If I eat frequently I'm more hungry.

I don't really like the idea of fasting tbh.
Going for long periods of time without food, "just don't seem natural".
I almost collapse if i go without food for about 3 hours! :laugh:
If you've only been doing the 24 hr fasting for a short time, i doubt if you'll gain loads if you bump back up to 5 times a day eating.

For me that's the interesting. I've been eating 5 meals my whole life...I've always eaten breakfast.

So one would think it's ingrained in me and I would be like you (wanting to faint after 3 hours without food Lol), but actually fasting that long comes really easily to me.

And I'm MORE hungry when I eat more often than I am if I'm fasting. Everyone's different hey

I think there are just natural variations in how people like to eat, plus a lot of it is probably cultural. I grew up with 3 meals a day as the standard, went through a phase in my teens where I didn't eat breakfast or lunch (I hated cereal and supermarket bread, and was too lazy to cook a hot breakfast or make a lunch that wasn't a sandwich, my mother didn't think she should enable me by giving into it and figured I could buy the hot lunch at school--which I thought was disgusting--or would start eating if I were hungry). Instead I had a snack after school and probably a bigger dinner. I neither gained nor lost weight. During college I went to all three meals because they were social events/breaks (at my college most people lived in the dorms), and for a while when I was working I skipped breakfast (when I'd struggle to get up and get to work) and then started buying something like a bagel (stupid) and eventually became a morning person and prefer a hot breakfast. (I still think cold cereal is unpleasant and don't eat it, and I'm still picky about bread, even though I'm otherwise not picky at all.)

Anyway, I'm sure it's more cultural than anything else, but to me eating 3 meals seems "natural" and I'm not hungry between meals (if I'm eating sensibly) but generally do wish to eat at my regular mealtimes. I can fast for a day without much hardship (for religious reasons, say), but wouldn't enjoy doing so regularly.

That aside, I suspect that longer breaks between meals at least from time to time is much more "natural" for humans than the 5-6 meal eating schedules that some seem to see as ideal, or even my preferred (and culturally based) 3. It would have to do with food availability.