5-6 meals a day?

I recently started eating 5 x 300 cal meals per day, rather than the traditional Breakfast / Lunch / dinner...

It works a treat for me!!

I eat my first meal before I leave home, eat 3 meals at work, and then a meal at home in the evening. I have had problems I the past with bingeing, especially before dinner. My 3 meals at work I eat at about 10am, about 1pm, and 4pm. I have found that eating regularly has kept me feeling satisfied - and that 'need' to binge once I get home is gone - I am satisfied enough from my 4pm meal to get home and prepare a meal for the family without wanting to snack. Oh, and I don't ever feel like I'm starving, if I do feel hungry it is because it's time for another meal.

Different things work for different people. I am loving it, it is working well.

I do my best eating 5-7 'small meals' a day. I'd really call them snacks because they need to be <350 calories each for my BMR (lose a # a week) plan. In fact, once I figured out how to do this, I was never ravenous again. for me ravenous = hypoglycemic hangry. I've also noticed that when a homemade smoothie goes above 350 calories I then have an energy crash... so confirmation of <350 calories in each snack/meal, and i'll just consume that smoothie in 2 separate meals.

Trick is you need figure out snacks that work for you in your meal plans. Know in advance what you can snack on. Plus, know how many calories per snack that you can have, divide total calories a day you are allowed by 5 (or 7 in my case), and always stay within that calorie range with each snack. Then as you log food throughout the day, check your nutrition pie chart for proper ratio of protein/fat/carbs.

I keep a small snack baggie everywhere, in my briefcase, suitcase, vehicle, office desk, gym bag.
snack baggie is filled with almonds, sometimes peanuts. almonds are lower fat and peanuts are highest protein nut you will find Almonds give nice energy, while peanuts and whey protein give sustained energy. Frequently i'll keep a snack baggie of dark chocolate pieces (dark is low sugar) and snack on 1-2 TBSP (75-150cals dark chocolate). Dark chocolate was/is used in British and USA military rucksacks food packs as it's a good food source that satisfies appetite for very long times between meals (you just need control yourself, it always surprises me how some folks eat any chocolate like they were drinking beer... chug chug chug).

So on days I had sudden business meetings (they always delay going home), I had my dark chocolate as a snack to keep me energized til I got home. In my suitcase, for those last minute road-warrior trips, I always keep a plastic container filled with 3-5 servings of whey protein. I often bring a container with dry whey protein to the office, add water when I need that power snack.
I also keep a bowl of fresh apples, my favorite kinds, and grab a couple giving a quick wash/dry as I head on way out door. An apple a day is great, turns out the malic acid and pectin in apples break down fats too.

With the nuts, a snack baggie is really two servings, just eat one. if I'm having a ravenous day I can eat the whole thing and that's just fine as i'll focus on balancing out all other nutritional requirements for all remaining meals of the day. Guarantee it's better to eat the whole snack baggie of almonds than the energy crashes or ravenous crashes where i'll grab something really bad for me (too high glucose) or overeat.

yes yes yes! just what Connie said! ... eating small meal-snacks throughout the day really keeps your metabolism high, burning calories faster, and keeping your energy even and high throughout the day. you'll lose fat and your muscle tone will show much more quickly.

I'm 53, and as we age, both our digestion and metabolism slows down radically, along with a bunch of other hormone slowing/stopping. It becomes very important to eat those little snacks to rev the metabolism and improve digestion.

yes yes yes! just what Connie said! ... eating small meal-snacks throughout the day really keeps your metabolism high, burning calories faster, and keeping your energy even and high throughout the day. you'll lose fat and your muscle tone will show much more quickly.

I'm 53, and as we age, both our digestion and metabolism slows down radically, along with a bunch of other hormone slowing/stopping. It becomes very important to eat those little snacks to rev the metabolism and improve digestion.

Eating frequently doesn't boost metabolism.

I'm pretty inconsistent with my eating habits. I blame the shift work. Sometimes I only have time for three meals. I find that if I'm eating regularly, I don't end up bingeing at the end of the day. I was taught, some years ago, by my trainer, that eating regularly is "fuelling the fire" (boosting your metabolismt). But then he changed his mind and started advocating the fasting diet type thing. I don't know the real answer, but I just think that as long as you eat just enough calories (and not 'empty' calories from junk food) and exercise regularly, you can't really go wrong with that. I think its just better to do whatever works for you.

I get hypoglycemic and I also have an eating disorder. I am a binge eater. When I get symptoms of hypoglycemia it triggers a binge. (not the only trigger just one of them) I have to eat every few hours. It's the only way for me to avoid the symptoms. I eat whatever fits in my calories.

My experience is actually.. very similar. My eating disorder is a restrictive one, though.

In any case, I have to eat every few hours, too. If I go too long without food, my iron levels plummet. My blood sugar plummets. I get cranky, light headed, and experience general ED symptoms. So, 5-6 meals a day works for me.

It does for many people. However, some people do better eating 3 meals a day. Or just 2. I've known many have success eating just one really big meal every day. Do what works for you.

Have you ever watched a toddler?? They know to graze. They eat numerous meals a days, are constantly climbing, jumping, running, playing and generally having a good time. If we mimicked a toddlers behavior for 1 week, I'm sure all of us would be SHOCKED!!! It's in our core being. We are born needing to eat every couple hours. And then for some reason, it gets beat out of us.... only a huge Breakfast, then only a huge lunch, and then only a huge dinner and maybe a small snack. This is wrong. It's not who we are...Try small meals. It's ok!

I eat 5-6 times a day. It works for me. I try to eat a high protein breakfast, some kind of fruit and nut bar at my morning break, leftovers for lunch, whatever is handy for afternoon break (yogurt, Luna bar, fruit are things I try keep handy), dinner has a few old standbys that my kids like with the occasional new thing, after dinner is usually a protein shake and/or a frappucino depending on how many calories I need to eat to maintain.

Good luck finding what works for you.

I agree with you completely. Even if your meals aren't measured out, it will still boost your metabalism.

Have you ever watched a toddler?? They know to graze. They eat numerous meals a days, are constantly climbing, jumping, running, playing and generally having a good time. If we mimicked a toddlers behavior for 1 week, I'm sure all of us would be SHOCKED!!! It's in our core being. We are born needing to eat every couple hours. And then for some reason, it gets beat out of us.... only a huge Breakfast, then only a huge lunch, and then only a huge dinner and maybe a small snack. This is wrong. It's not who we are...Try small meals. It's ok!

If we mimicked toddlers behaviors, we'd only eat sweet things and maybe some milk. Put out cookies and broccoli and I'll bet dollars to donuts the kid goes for cookies. Not to mention that children usually under eat because they'd rather play.
"Grazing" doesn't work if one consumes more than their TDEE.
Now that's not to say that it's a bad strategy, but there are lots of people that graze everyday and are overweight. There are some they aren't.
Weight loss STILL boils down to CICO and how one approaches it so it works is usually going to be a trial and error approach.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

I often do three square meals per day, plus a morning snack and afternoon snack, which, on occasion can be like a little meal. Private MFP email me if you'd like me to give you a detailed list of the types of snack foods I eat. If I'm ravenous (low blood sugar) I am more tempted to overeat. It's also not good for my thought processes.

:-)

Meal frequency has nothing to do with weight/fat loss. 5-6 meals, 1-2 meals... all that matters in the end is CICO. If eating 5-6 meals helps you feel satiated longer, than so be it. Personally, if I eat small meals I'm never satisfied. Even though I log "snacks" into my diary, I consume roughly 3-4 meals a day, with all "snacks" making up one meal or eaten with a meal.

There is no magic to weight loss. Consuming 5-6 meals doesn't "stoke" your metabolism, and only eating 1-2 meals doesn't slow your metabolism down. The single, most effective way to boost metabolism is to get out and move more.

Meal frequency has nothing to do with weight/fat loss. 5-6 meals, 1-2 meals... all that matters in the end is CICO. If eating 5-6 meals helps you feel satiated longer, than so be it. Personally, if I eat small meals I'm never satisfied. Even though I log "snacks" into my diary, I consume roughly 3-4 meals a day, with all "snacks" making up one meal or eaten with a meal.

There is no magic to weight loss. Consuming 5-6 meals doesn't "stoke" your metabolism, and only eating 1-2 meals doesn't slow your metabolism down. The single, most effective way to boost metabolism is to get out and move more.

^QFT