Three meals a day VS six meals a day?
CamillaEdwards
Posts: 37 Member
What are the advantages of each?
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Replies
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It's only advantageous if you stay within your calorie restrictions to lose/gain/maintain weight. Number of meals is basically irrelevant to any of the above. This would be more of a preference than an need.
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
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Meal timing is irrelevant, save that when you eat in a way and at a time that suits you, you're more likely to stick to your goals.0
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^^^^0
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CamillaEdwards wrote: »What are the advantages of each?
None, other than personal preference.
If you are a world class athlete, it *might* make a small difference in performance levels.0 -
CamillaEdwards wrote: »What are the advantages of each?
None, other than personal preference.
If you are a world class athlete, it *might* make a small difference in performance levels.
This ^
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The only advantages that matter are those that are advantages to you. Meal timing makes no difference - just do what works best for you.0
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Three meals leaves some gaps for my blood sugar to drop0
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Ahh I see thank you guys! What about eating late at night? Does that have a negative effect when you're loosing weight?
Thank you!
It's only advantageous if you stay within your calorie restrictions to lose/gain/maintain weight. Number of meals is basically irrelevant to any of the above. This would be more of a preference than an need.
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 nutritionCamillaEdwards wrote: »What are the advantages of each?
None, other than personal preference.
If you are a world class athlete, it *might* make a small difference in performance levels.Alatariel75 wrote: »Meal timing is irrelevant, save that when you eat in a way and at a time that suits you, you're more likely to stick to your goals.
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CamillaEdwards wrote: »Ahh I see thank you guys! What about eating late at night? Does that have a negative effect when you're loosing weight?
Thank you!It's only advantageous if you stay within your calorie restrictions to lose/gain/maintain weight. Number of meals is basically irrelevant to any of the above. This would be more of a preference than an need.
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 nutritionCamillaEdwards wrote: »What are the advantages of each?
None, other than personal preference.
If you are a world class athlete, it *might* make a small difference in performance levels.Alatariel75 wrote: »Meal timing is irrelevant, save that when you eat in a way and at a time that suits you, you're more likely to stick to your goals.
Nope! Eating late at night is fine too, unless it bothers your sleep.0 -
Alatariel75 wrote: »CamillaEdwards wrote: »Ahh I see thank you guys! What about eating late at night? Does that have a negative effect when you're loosing weight?
Thank you!It's only advantageous if you stay within your calorie restrictions to lose/gain/maintain weight. Number of meals is basically irrelevant to any of the above. This would be more of a preference than an need.
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 nutritionCamillaEdwards wrote: »What are the advantages of each?
None, other than personal preference.
If you are a world class athlete, it *might* make a small difference in performance levels.Alatariel75 wrote: »Meal timing is irrelevant, save that when you eat in a way and at a time that suits you, you're more likely to stick to your goals.
Nope! Eating late at night is fine too, unless it bothers your sleep.
Interesting! That goes against what so many people tend to think/ say. Do you think it improves your metabolic rate eating little and often?0 -
I like more afternoon and evening meals
Kind of opposite of what you often hear
It works for me
I am not aware of anything other than folklore stating meal timing matters aside of loading for endurance exercises.
Just eat
Make the timing work for you0 -
CamillaEdwards wrote: »Alatariel75 wrote: »CamillaEdwards wrote: »Ahh I see thank you guys! What about eating late at night? Does that have a negative effect when you're loosing weight?
Thank you!It's only advantageous if you stay within your calorie restrictions to lose/gain/maintain weight. Number of meals is basically irrelevant to any of the above. This would be more of a preference than an need.
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 nutritionCamillaEdwards wrote: »What are the advantages of each?
None, other than personal preference.
If you are a world class athlete, it *might* make a small difference in performance levels.Alatariel75 wrote: »Meal timing is irrelevant, save that when you eat in a way and at a time that suits you, you're more likely to stick to your goals.
Nope! Eating late at night is fine too, unless it bothers your sleep.
Interesting! That goes against what so many people tend to think/ say. Do you think it improves your metabolic rate eating little and often?
I found a study that had low frequency with higher RMR compared to high frequency.
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0038632
But that's only 100-ish calories,0 -
Whatever works for you & fits in with your day.
I eat differently depending on my schedule. Most days I snack all day and end up eating meals/snacks 6-8X. Once or maybe twice a week I have one calorific big meal and either eat nothing or very lightly the rest of the day.
One is not better than the other IMO, but I do personally notice that it is easier for me to meet my macro goals eating smaller portions more frequently because I tend to plan my food in advance on those days and generally eat in a more balanced way and meet my P/C/F more closely. On "big" meal days I don't really plan, I just eat and log so even if on track as far as calories go, my other numbers can be a lot more variable when I don't plan ahead.0 -
I think it matters how often you get hungry. My schedule usually looks like Breakfast Lunch and Dinner are 300-500, Snacks are 100-200 (and I may have 2-3). I do smaller meals and more snacks some days (I usually do a small snack if my toddler is going down for a nap, since I don't always get to eat until a while after she falls asleep) Other days I do bigger meals and less snacks, like if we eat with family or go out. I just tack the extra calories to whatever meal makes sense for the day.
I personally do better with more snacks and smaller meals usually. My DH prefers to go longer amounts of time, but bigger meals. I finally convinced him to eat breakfast and lower the other meals a little, because otherwise he lets himself get ravenous and doesn't notice fullness as well.
And for snacks, some days I eat popcorn before bed (if I have calories left) and have noticed no weird drops in weightloss due to eating at night
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It is all personal preference and that thing about eating after a certain time being bad is nonsense. For weight loss it is all about the total calories consumed and the total calories burned. As long as you burn more than you consume, the weight will come off.
I prefer to eat often. I eat three meals per day but regularly snack between meals because it makes me feel better. The important thing is that all the calories count, snacks, meals, or whatever you want to call it.0 -
OP just forget all the nutrition information you know. It is very outdated. Learn the correctly information. Execute a plan that fits you and enjoy your weight loss.0
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I know that if I don't snack, I'm more likely to eat too much or even binge. I like a bit of cottage cheese with applesauce and cinnamon, plain greek yogurt with fresh berries, a hard-boiled egg, a spoon of nut butter, half a can of beans or a cheese stick, since these keep me satisfied. I also tend toward hypoglycemia, and need to keep my sugars constant. It's tough for me to stick to 1500 calories, so planning is the key, here, as well as preparing food in advance so you don't grab junk instead of real food, or eat more than you intend to. Notice that these food all have protein and fat, which contribute to satiety. Pure carbs like fruit don't do that as much.0
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Witchdoctor58 wrote: »I know that if I don't snack, I'm more likely to eat too much or even binge. I like a bit of cottage cheese with applesauce and cinnamon, plain greek yogurt with fresh berries, a hard-boiled egg, a spoon of nut butter, half a can of beans or a cheese stick, since these keep me satisfied. I also tend toward hypoglycemia, and need to keep my sugars constant. It's tough for me to stick to 1500 calories, so planning is the key, here, as well as preparing food in advance so you don't grab junk instead of real food, or eat more than you intend to. Notice that these food all have protein and fat, which contribute to satiety. Pure carbs like fruit don't do that as much.
Have you tried pre logging and fight cravings you have?
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I feel better when I eat a bunch of little meals. It's also so much easier to work in more vitamins and minerals than just eating a lot of the same thing. Bunch of different meals - bunch of different foods!
I have more energy. I don't know if it's because I never have that uncomfortable stuffed feeling or just because I'm always eating, lol, but it works for me.
It's not for everyone, though. Some like B-L-D. Some people eat one meal a day! I couldn't do it, but they like it.
Pick what you like and go with it. You can always change later. 0 -
CamillaEdwards wrote: »Alatariel75 wrote: »CamillaEdwards wrote: »Ahh I see thank you guys! What about eating late at night? Does that have a negative effect when you're loosing weight?
Thank you!It's only advantageous if you stay within your calorie restrictions to lose/gain/maintain weight. Number of meals is basically irrelevant to any of the above. This would be more of a preference than an need.
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 nutritionCamillaEdwards wrote: »What are the advantages of each?
None, other than personal preference.
If you are a world class athlete, it *might* make a small difference in performance levels.Alatariel75 wrote: »Meal timing is irrelevant, save that when you eat in a way and at a time that suits you, you're more likely to stick to your goals.
Nope! Eating late at night is fine too, unless it bothers your sleep.
Interesting! That goes against what so many people tend to think/ say. Do you think it improves your metabolic rate eating little and often?
No. Some people tend to have trouble controlling their appetite if they don't snack and get hungry. Others, like me, are the opposite and find it much easier to stay within calories and feel satisfied with fewer, larger meals (for me this means 3).
Experiment to see what you like better.0 -
I no longer focus on meal timing. While I prefer to have an earlier eating window, it doesn't match my lifestyle. I try to fast at least 12-14 hours from the previous day's meal. Hopefully I can increase that to 16 hours to concentrate my eating within 8 hour window.
For meal frequency, normally, I eat two large meals (B,D) along with 2-3 lighter caloric meals. I've done a lot of reading in this area and am considering whether I should go back to the 3 large meals and snack only as needed; some research suggests that 3 large meals is better for digestion.0 -
CamillaEdwards wrote: »What are the advantages of each?
Personal preference and happiness. Eat how ever often makes you happiest.0 -
meal timing, number of meals per day, etc is all personal preference. these things can make a difference if you have certain medical conditions to contend with and they can make a difference for some fitness and recovery applications...but weight loss itself is simply about consuming less energy (calories) than the body requires to maintain the status quot...unfortunately, people have difficultly with the simplicity and reach for things that complicate that which is really not complicated.0
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Once I found out that meal timing doesn't matter the last 10 pounds fell off. In the mornings I'm never hungry. So I'll probably eat 800 calories during the day until dinner and then I have 1000 calories to use and that 1000 calories keeps me full and keeps me from nightly binges.... It's wonderful....0
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stevencloser wrote: »CamillaEdwards wrote: »Alatariel75 wrote: »CamillaEdwards wrote: »Ahh I see thank you guys! What about eating late at night? Does that have a negative effect when you're loosing weight?
Thank you!It's only advantageous if you stay within your calorie restrictions to lose/gain/maintain weight. Number of meals is basically irrelevant to any of the above. This would be more of a preference than an need.
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 nutritionCamillaEdwards wrote: »What are the advantages of each?
None, other than personal preference.
If you are a world class athlete, it *might* make a small difference in performance levels.Alatariel75 wrote: »Meal timing is irrelevant, save that when you eat in a way and at a time that suits you, you're more likely to stick to your goals.
Nope! Eating late at night is fine too, unless it bothers your sleep.
Interesting! That goes against what so many people tend to think/ say. Do you think it improves your metabolic rate eating little and often?
I found a study that had low frequency with higher RMR compared to high frequency.
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0038632
But that's only 100-ish calories,
Plos one is a very low impact factor journal. That is where we send our scientific paper once they have been rejected everywhere else.0 -
stevencloser wrote: »CamillaEdwards wrote: »Alatariel75 wrote: »CamillaEdwards wrote: »Ahh I see thank you guys! What about eating late at night? Does that have a negative effect when you're loosing weight?
Thank you!It's only advantageous if you stay within your calorie restrictions to lose/gain/maintain weight. Number of meals is basically irrelevant to any of the above. This would be more of a preference than an need.
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 nutritionCamillaEdwards wrote: »What are the advantages of each?
None, other than personal preference.
If you are a world class athlete, it *might* make a small difference in performance levels.Alatariel75 wrote: »Meal timing is irrelevant, save that when you eat in a way and at a time that suits you, you're more likely to stick to your goals.
Nope! Eating late at night is fine too, unless it bothers your sleep.
Interesting! That goes against what so many people tend to think/ say. Do you think it improves your metabolic rate eating little and often?
I found a study that had low frequency with higher RMR compared to high frequency.
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0038632
But that's only 100-ish calories,
Plos one is a very low impact factor journal. That is where we send our scientific paper once they have been rejected everywhere else.
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