Do you eat 3 or 6 meals a day?

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245

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  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    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
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    I do th IF(18/6), and have 2 meals and a snack, works perfectly for me!
  • auntyp147
    auntyp147 Posts: 38 Member
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    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
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    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
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    3 meals normally. Breakfast lunch and dinner.

  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
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    Lunch and dinner with the occasional snack.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    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
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    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
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    Breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch and dinner. Without that mid-morning snack, I'd be a raving lunatic until noon.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
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    3 meals but i also have 3 snacks built in if i want/need them.
  • Ellaskat
    Ellaskat Posts: 386 Member
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    3 meals, sometimes a snack if I'm feeling hungry.
  • KnM0107
    KnM0107 Posts: 355 Member
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    I don't eat a set number of meals at certain times.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    breakfast, lunch, dinner, and ice cream time...
  • nathanmwithers
    nathanmwithers Posts: 8 Member
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    I eat about 7 times a day
  • RaspberryTickleChicken
    RaspberryTickleChicken Posts: 629 Member
    edited March 2015
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    ditsyblond17 wrote: »
    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?

    It REALLY just depends on the person, their relationship with food, & lifestyle.

    Some people can really thrive on smaller meals throughout the day. They tend to be your grazers ... eats constantly & are just unable to consume a lot of food at one sitting.

    While others prefers to have defined times to eat.

    On one of my earlier failed attempts to lose weight I worked with a trainer who prescribed the 6 meals a day. Personally I was TOTALLY stressed out eating 6 times a day!

    The regiment was pretty much eat something every 2-3 hours. I felt food was always being forced to the forefront of my mind and was in constant front & center - which for me was not only stressful but burdensome as I see food as fuel for my body, nothing more.

    After giving it a go for about 3 months I abandoned it, the trainer, & exercise completely because I saw ZERO results.

    When I started using MFP, I opted for the more traditional 3 meals w/a snack every once in awhile. I have a light to moderate breakfast & lunch, then a hearty dinner where 2/3 of my plate are veggies. This complimented my lifestyle much better than the 6 and more importantly I saw results! I have lost approximately 40 lbs & have kept it off for about 18 mos now so you just have to kind of experiment & find what will work for you.

    Unfortunately my one take away from my own MFP venture is that there's a lot of trial & error because there is no one blanket solution for everyone.

    Best of luck to you.
  • rainbow198
    rainbow198 Posts: 2,245 Member
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    I eat 2 - 3 larger well-balanced meals a day. No snacks since I don't need them. When I started writing down everything I ate a long time ago I noticed the days I snacked were the days I ate more.

    Bigger meals keep me happy and satisfied. :)
  • LoupGarouTFTs
    LoupGarouTFTs Posts: 916 Member
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    Three meals with the largest typically being breakfast. Bedtime snack and sometimes a snack earlier in the day. My recent snacks have been sweet things, like jello and dark chocolate.
  • Bogditzy
    Bogditzy Posts: 110 Member
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    2 Meals + some snack :smile:
  • into_fitness
    into_fitness Posts: 91 Member
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    I eat 3 meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and 2 snacks (between breakfast and lunch and between lunch and dinner). I find that it helps bring down my cravings and reduces over eating. For breakfast I try to eat a lot of protein to keep me satisfied enough where the snack isn't an " i'm absolutely starving and need this to hold me over until lunch" kind of snack. or I will have oats and fruit - for example, I made overnight oats for breakfast this am. 1/2 cup oats, almond milk, PB, and half a banana with blueberries on top with a coffee. I have that around 8-815 am. I will have my snack around 1130 which are some blueberries. For lunch around 1230 I try to have a lot of vegetables and protein to hold me over! Then will have a snack around 2-3 and go to the gym! dinner will be heavy or light depending on how hungry I am feeling/hard my workout was. Regardless, I again try to have vegetables and protein! Snacking isn't for everyone, and as many have pointed out, some like three larger meals. It's all trial and error and what works for YOU! After all, this is your life style and your journey so make it as comfortable and worry free as possible :)
  • ditsyblond17
    ditsyblond17 Posts: 155 Member
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    ndj1979 wrote: »
    breakfast, lunch, dinner, and ice cream time...

    Haha....YES!!!!!! My kind of routine ;)
    RaspberryTickleChicken wrote: »
    ditsyblond17 wrote: »
    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?

    It REALLY just depends on the person, their relationship with food, & lifestyle.

    Some people can really thrive on smaller meals throughout the day. They tend to be your grazers ... eats constantly & are just unable to consume a lot of food at one sitting.

    While others prefers to have defined times to eat.

    On one of my earlier failed attempts to lose weight I worked with a trainer who prescribed the 6 meals a day. Personally I was TOTALLY stressed out eating 6 times a day!

    The regiment was pretty much eat something every 2-3 hours. I felt food was always being forced to the forefront of my mind and was in constant front & center - which for me was not only stressful but burdensome as I see food as fuel for my body, nothing more.

    After giving it a go for about 3 months I abandoned it, the trainer, & exercise completely because I saw ZERO results.

    When I started using MFP, I opted for the more traditional 3 meals w/a snack every once in awhile. I have a light to moderate breakfast & lunch, then a hearty dinner where 2/3 of my plate are veggies. This complimented my lifestyle much better than the 6 and more importantly I saw results! I have lost approximately 40 lbs & have kept it off for about 18 mos now so you just have to kind of experiment & find what will work for you.

    Unfortunately my one take away from my own MFP venture is that there's a lot of trial & error because there is no one blanket solution for everyone.

    Best of luck to you.

    Thank you so much. And thanks for the insight. So glad it's not just me getting stressed out by this. Makes sense for people who tend to overeat to have 3 square meals. Congratulation on your weight loss. That's so inspiring!!

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