Do you eat 3 or 6 meals a day?

ditsyblond17
ditsyblond17 Posts: 155 Member
edited November 13 in Health and Weight Loss
I realize that the myth of eating small meals more frequently is widely ignored. I even tried it and noticed it made me 1.) more stressed out trying to remember to eat 6 tines a day, and 2.) more apt to binge because I never felt satisfied. Which leaves me curious as to what all you lovely people are doing. Do big meals make you feel sluggish? Do smaller meals stress you out?
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Replies

  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    I eat Breakfast, Lunch, After Work and Dinner and save calories for evening grazing

    why would you get stressed trying to eat in what feels like an unnatural fashion - just log everything and if you eat it all in one go or over the day no difference
  • hbortel
    hbortel Posts: 5
    I eat around 5 though sometimes more and sometimes less it really depends. I don't like big meals because they just make me want to fall asleep right after eating! Smaller meals don't really stress me out as I just eat when I am hungry. Maybe you should try with a bit more variety since that's what normally makes me unsatisfied.
  • ditsyblond17
    ditsyblond17 Posts: 155 Member
    rabbitjb wrote: »
    I eat Breakfast, Lunch, After Work and Dinner and save calories for evening grazing

    why would you get stressed trying to eat in what feels like an unnatural fashion - just log everything and if you eat it all in one go or over the day no difference


    Yes, it wasn't until I did my research that I found it to not be as great as my friends and nutritionist was telling me. Especially since I'm pre-diabetic. I have a feeling it CONSTANTLY leaves my insulin spiked. Instead of three bigger spikes, I was getting 6 spikes almost all day long. I was completely ravenous by dinner time too. To each his own I guess.

  • SwitzEngine
    SwitzEngine Posts: 3,418 Member
    Breakfast, morning tea, Lunch, post workout, dinner,
  • Azexas
    Azexas Posts: 4,334 Member
    I have breakfast, lunch and dinner with a snack in between each meal
  • ditsyblond17
    ditsyblond17 Posts: 155 Member
    I suppose switching it up daily is what we would do in the animal kingdom. Why limit ourselves to a routine. I guess listening to my body would be most beneficial. And my brain is telling me 6 snacks a day isn't a meal. So then I eat 1,000+ more trying to feel satisfied. Big mistake.
  • AmazonMayan
    AmazonMayan Posts: 1,168 Member
    I eat a large breakfast filled with a lot of protein, and some fat, fiber and carbs because I am less hungry the rest of the day when I begin like that - up to 1/3 of my calories but I make them count. Then, I have smaller meals or snacks the rest of the day. I do make sure I have something left for a near bedtime snack. I never count how many times I eat since the only magical number I need to worry about is total calories for the day.

    Sometimes I eat more often, sometimes less. It's really not important unless a person needs a more rigid structure to stick to calories.

    Find what works for you.
  • Leana088
    Leana088 Posts: 581 Member
    I eat 3 meals. My "snacks" are beverages
  • ditsyblond17
    ditsyblond17 Posts: 155 Member
    @AmazonMayan‌ , thank you. THAT'S the hard part. Trial and error ;) Sounds like a breakfast that size has great benefits. I may start eating a big portion in the a.m. instead of at night.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    ditsyblond17 wrote: »
    @AmazonMayan‌ , thank you. THAT'S the hard part. Trial and error ;) Sounds like a breakfast that size has great benefits. I may start eating a big portion in the a.m. instead of at night.

    That large breakfast has benefits for that particular person, for someone else it wouldn't work as well .. it is really as individual as you are
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    I was a big snacker because I was always hungry, until I tried IF, then I realised that if I eat my breakfast till a bit later I don't need my morning snack, I can have a bigger lunch and then don't necessarily need my afternoon snack either but still feel full.

    I have a pint of water for 'breakfast' before I leave the house for work (7am) and then have breakfast between 9-10am. I don't actually do IF now but it was a really good experience when I did it!
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    I eat anywhere between 1 and 10 meals a day. Sometimes I don't feel like eating, other times I'm grazing all day long.
  • STUPID_GOPHER
    STUPID_GOPHER Posts: 37 Member
    breakfast,lunch and light dinner, i prefer bigger meals, makes me more happy........plus I can intake more calories than the normal person because I fast 3 days a week and those take in zero calorie.....so I enjoy it when I eat
  • judiness101
    judiness101 Posts: 119 Member
    I eat 2 or three meals a day with no snacking. I like big meals especially dinner.
  • AmazonMayan
    AmazonMayan Posts: 1,168 Member
    I'll also add that I do make sure I get protein in just about every time I eat and I vary the amounts. That also naturally gives me some fat and both go a long way keeping me satisfied. I concentrate on fiber somewhat too.

    I also avoid sweets most of the day because they make me crave more sweets. I'm not low carb and do eat usually whole grain carbs a couple times a day. If I crave a sweet, I try to wait until late day, eat it, then go to bed so I'm not up tempted to graze.
  • scorpiophoenix
    scorpiophoenix Posts: 222 Member
    Generally two, sometimes three, sometimes one. Depends entirely on how the day plays out and whether or not we're having pizza for suppper or a buffet lunch. lol
  • DemoraFairy
    DemoraFairy Posts: 1,806 Member
    amusedmonkey wrote: »
    I eat anywhere between 1 and 10 meals a day. Sometimes I don't feel like eating, other times I'm grazing all day long.

    Same. Some days I won't have meals but just have snacks all day, some days I'll just have one big dinner at the end of the day.
  • hupsii
    hupsii Posts: 258 Member
    I am now trying to listen to my hunger signals and I started this just 2 days ago. I found out that I actually need to eat less !!! Before I was snacking out of habit and not hunger.
  • Vex3521
    Vex3521 Posts: 385 Member
    No "big" meals don't make me sluggish and small meals/more frequency doesn't stress me out. I will not finish a big meal that's plated if I am full and just wrap it for the fridge for a snack later. I portion my food with a scale so really it's just a re=weigh of components and subtracting it out of the log if I don't end up eating that later.

    I'm usually in a rush so the smaller meal concept just works better for me, especially since I work overnight and am up longer during the day than a lot of people so I'd be starving if I didn't space it out more!!!
  • RML_FITNESS
    RML_FITNESS Posts: 4 Member
    AS LONG AS YOU GET YOUR CALORIES IN, MEAL TIMING AND PORTION SIZE IS IRRELEVANT, ITS JUST COMES DOWN TO WHAT YOU PREFER
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    boodz_fitness wrote: »
    AS LONG AS YOU GET YOUR CALORIES IN, MEAL TIMING AND PORTION SIZE IS IRRELEVANT, ITS JUST COMES DOWN TO WHAT YOU PREFER

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  • bunnypy
    bunnypy Posts: 109 Member
    I do th IF(18/6), and have 2 meals and a snack, works perfectly for me!
  • auntyp147
    auntyp147 Posts: 38 Member
    I eat only when I'm hungry. Although MFP breaks the day down, I never have breakfast for example before 9am, sometimes I don't eat till 11am or even not till 12pm and then I eat my breakfast. I did try one weekend to eat 6 small meals a day, but gave up the following Monday because my body really didn't like it. One of the trainers at my gym said you had to force yourself to eat, even when your not hungry. I don't think it suits everyone, .... well definitely not me anyway.
  • ditsyblond17
    ditsyblond17 Posts: 155 Member
    If I do IF, do I get to divide up the calories I don't eat on any given day? So, say I choose a Thursday to fast. Would I just absorb those calories into other days? Or does that defeat the point of fasting?
  • Merkavar
    Merkavar Posts: 3,082 Member
    3 meals normally. Breakfast lunch and dinner.

  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
    Lunch and dinner with the occasional snack.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    Breakfast, lunch (which is sometimes two hours after breakfast due to my work schedule), a snack some days, dinner, and dessert
    ditsyblond17 wrote: »
    If I do IF, do I get to divide up the calories I don't eat on any given day? So, say I choose a Thursday to fast. Would I just absorb those calories into other days? Or does that defeat the point of fasting?

    If you're talking about 5:2, I believe most people who follow it eat 500 calories on those days, so it's not a full fast.
  • mskinner1091
    mskinner1091 Posts: 180 Member
    Troutsy wrote: »
    I have breakfast, lunch and dinner with a snack in between each meal

    That's exactly what I do.

  • sgthaggard
    sgthaggard Posts: 581 Member
    Breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch and dinner. Without that mid-morning snack, I'd be a raving lunatic until noon.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    3 meals but i also have 3 snacks built in if i want/need them.
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