3 meals vs 6 meals a day, what's your experience/opinion?

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Replies

  • votkuhr
    votkuhr Posts: 276 Member
    I think it's a matter of what your body cries out for.

    For me, I get hungry pretty quickly - so having 5/6 meals a day works to keep the hunger pangs at bay. Also because I'm a massive snacker and would prefer a variety of snacks to huge meals. :)
  • kbornman21
    kbornman21 Posts: 26 Member
    I eat when I'm hungry because I feel like if I restrict myself then I'm more likely to binge. So I'm finding myself eating probably 6 or so times a day. I've been told that being hungry more frequently means my metabolism is starting to speed up, so I'll take it. Prior to trying to lose weight I was hardly eating so it's a step in the right direction for me.
  • Bekarington
    Bekarington Posts: 85 Member
    seems like there are mixed opinions, I think my main issue is growing up with a big evening meal, getting out of that habit of looking forward to that big tasty meal and all the carbs giving you that full feeling and getting my other half to change too.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    seems like there are mixed opinions, I think my main issue is growing up with a big evening meal, getting out of that habit of looking forward to that big tasty meal and all the carbs giving you that full feeling and getting my other half to change too.

    Would you like to change that? Why?
  • CurlyCockney
    CurlyCockney Posts: 1,394 Member
    I have a big carb meal every night! Yesterday, for instance, I only had a snack in the daytime because I was batch-cooking chilli con carne and knew I'd pig out on it (with rice) for dinner. Blimmin' scrumptious it was too, if I say so myself :-)
  • Bekarington
    Bekarington Posts: 85 Member
    I've heard you're supposed to get your carbs earlier on in the day when you can use them, rather than at nite. my PT has given me a basic diet plan things she's trying that is 6 meals a day.

    Meal one - Carbohydrates protein and healthy fat (Bigger meal)
    Meal two - Protein vegetable carbohydrates (snack)
    Meal three - Protein vegetable carbohydrates (Bigger meal)
    Meal four - Quark or total greek yogurt mixed with seeds and berries (snack)
    Meal five - Protein, vegetables with cherry tomatoes or beetroot (Bigger meal)
    Meal six - 2 scoops of whey protein powder, healthy fat (snack)

    They there is a list of all the different types of protein, veg, carbs, healthy fats, etc....
  • CurlyCockney
    CurlyCockney Posts: 1,394 Member
    The clock is a human-mind construct. The human-body doesn't care what time it is. For nutrition advice, see a nutritionist, not a PT.
  • sixxpoint
    sixxpoint Posts: 3,529 Member
    edited September 2015
    Re: 3 meals vs 6 meals a day

    It doesn't matter when it comes to weight management.

    You could eat one, large meal and nothing else for the day... or you could spread that out with 6-12 tiny meals. Assuming both plans are the same calories at the end of the day, your weight will be adjusted in the same respect, too.

    Don't buy into meal timing myths either. Much of it is based on fallacious outdated information, media scares, or fad marketing.
  • cajuntank
    cajuntank Posts: 924 Member
    edited September 2015
    Agree to the context that the frequency of the meals does not matter... much. There is merit to her suggestion of meal frequency (utilized it in this case for nutrient timing), but it's a minor detail that will have a small impact on your overall body composition in the scope of things. If its something that causes adherence issues due to the added complexity, then something I would immediately negate or address with the PT. The PT (in my opinion) gave you sound evidence based advice; but again, it (the frequency part) is focused on a minor detail which might not be important in your current situation.
  • rhyolite_
    rhyolite_ Posts: 188 Member
    A couple of things. Meal timing does not matter. You will find sources that say it does, but I can guarantee those sources are trying to make money off you believing that. Or they heard it from someone trying to make money. I sometimes eat a single meal with all my daily calories. Sometimes I eat about 12 mini-meals because I spend the whole day grazing. I eat what I want when I want (just not necessarily AS MUCH as I want ;) ).

    Carb timing does not matter, unless you have a medical condition. I have type 1 diabetes, and it only moderately matters for me, but not for the reasons your PT claimed. Your body can use the energy from carbs even if you eat them right before you go to sleep. That is just a fact. I eat in bed watching Netflix almost every night, and all my snacks are high-carb. It has not affected my weight loss or my health in any way whatsoever.

    Your PT is not a registered dietician who was trained on nutrition, so you should ignore the advice she's giving you, since it is incorrect. Either see a registered dietician, or stick around MFP to read what some of the regulars with higher post counts are saying.

    And finally, I would agree with previous posters that 1300 calories is too low for someone of your size. HOWEVER. That assumes you are correctly weighing your food with a digital scale and logging everything. If you aren't, then you are probably eating more than 1300 calories already and increasing what you eat could be counterproductive to your goals. If you are weighing your foods and logging correctly, then yes, 1300 is too low. However, you should know if it's too low by how fast you're losing. Your body doesn't care if you're logging correctly or not, it will lose the weight based on the calories going in vs the calories you burn. If you are losing the weight rapidly, add calories and slow down. If the weight is coming off at a slow/steady pace, then you are most likely already eating more than 1300. In that case, you would want to tighten up your logging when you get closer to goal, but it may not matter so much right now.

    There's a lot of misinformation out there about dieting, and it can be frustrating when you start to realize how much "common knowledge" about nutrition/dieting is simply false. Like I said, stick around and you can learn a lot on these forums.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    No problem with 1300 calories at >300 lb, plenty of reserves to go at.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
    Personal preference. I actually prefer 1.5 meals a day, small breakfast and large dinner.

    I'd have thought 1300 was needlessly low @300lbs. Id be just as concerned as to whether being so aggressive increase the chance of binging or making it harsher than it need to be. So I disagree with Yarwell, but its what you cna cope with and sustain OP.
  • cajuntank
    cajuntank Posts: 924 Member
    rhyolite_ wrote: »
    A couple of things. Meal timing does not matter. You will find sources that say it does, but I can guarantee those sources are trying to make money off you believing that. Or they heard it from someone trying to make money. I sometimes eat a single meal with all my daily calories. Sometimes I eat about 12 mini-meals because I spend the whole day grazing. I eat what I want when I want (just not necessarily AS MUCH as I want ;) ).

    Carb timing does not matter, unless you have a medical condition. I have type 1 diabetes, and it only moderately matters for me, but not for the reasons your PT claimed. Your body can use the energy from carbs even if you eat them right before you go to sleep. That is just a fact. I eat in bed watching Netflix almost every night, and all my snacks are high-carb. It has not affected my weight loss or my health in any way whatsoever.

    Your PT is not a registered dietician who was trained on nutrition, so you should ignore the advice she's giving you, since it is incorrect. Either see a registered dietician, or stick around MFP to read what some of the regulars with higher post counts are saying.

    And finally, I would agree with previous posters that 1300 calories is too low for someone of your size. HOWEVER. That assumes you are correctly weighing your food with a digital scale and logging everything. If you aren't, then you are probably eating more than 1300 calories already and increasing what you eat could be counterproductive to your goals. If you are weighing your foods and logging correctly, then yes, 1300 is too low. However, you should know if it's too low by how fast you're losing. Your body doesn't care if you're logging correctly or not, it will lose the weight based on the calories going in vs the calories you burn. If you are losing the weight rapidly, add calories and slow down. If the weight is coming off at a slow/steady pace, then you are most likely already eating more than 1300. In that case, you would want to tighten up your logging when you get closer to goal, but it may not matter so much right now.

    There's a lot of misinformation out there about dieting, and it can be frustrating when you start to realize how much "common knowledge" about nutrition/dieting is simply false. Like I said, stick around and you can learn a lot on these forums.

    Incorrect based on all scientific evidence and studies found to date. Like mentioned, it does not matter much; especially for OP's current situation.

    It does matter, just very little. Eric Helms in his nutritional series points out it's importance which might account for only about 10%, but 10% is not 0 as you infer.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6wkDDnSKV0

    If you can refute Eric with the studies he has linked, please enlighten us further.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
    I typically eat 2 meals a day. One small meal during the day and one large meal in the evening. Sometimes I have a snack between, sometimes not.

    This helps me lose weight because it feels natural and I'm rarely hungry eating this way. That does not mean it will help anyone else.

    Eat your calories in whatever way feels most natural for you so that you can continue to eat this way long term. Don't make yourself miserable trying to eat like someone else.
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
    edited September 2015
    cajuntank wrote: »
    rhyolite_ wrote: »
    A couple of things. Meal timing does not matter. You will find sources that say it does, but I can guarantee those sources are trying to make money off you believing that. Or they heard it from someone trying to make money. I sometimes eat a single meal with all my daily calories. Sometimes I eat about 12 mini-meals because I spend the whole day grazing. I eat what I want when I want (just not necessarily AS MUCH as I want ;) ).

    Carb timing does not matter, unless you have a medical condition. I have type 1 diabetes, and it only moderately matters for me, but not for the reasons your PT claimed. Your body can use the energy from carbs even if you eat them right before you go to sleep. That is just a fact. I eat in bed watching Netflix almost every night, and all my snacks are high-carb. It has not affected my weight loss or my health in any way whatsoever.

    Your PT is not a registered dietician who was trained on nutrition, so you should ignore the advice she's giving you, since it is incorrect. Either see a registered dietician, or stick around MFP to read what some of the regulars with higher post counts are saying.

    And finally, I would agree with previous posters that 1300 calories is too low for someone of your size. HOWEVER. That assumes you are correctly weighing your food with a digital scale and logging everything. If you aren't, then you are probably eating more than 1300 calories already and increasing what you eat could be counterproductive to your goals. If you are weighing your foods and logging correctly, then yes, 1300 is too low. However, you should know if it's too low by how fast you're losing. Your body doesn't care if you're logging correctly or not, it will lose the weight based on the calories going in vs the calories you burn. If you are losing the weight rapidly, add calories and slow down. If the weight is coming off at a slow/steady pace, then you are most likely already eating more than 1300. In that case, you would want to tighten up your logging when you get closer to goal, but it may not matter so much right now.

    There's a lot of misinformation out there about dieting, and it can be frustrating when you start to realize how much "common knowledge" about nutrition/dieting is simply false. Like I said, stick around and you can learn a lot on these forums.

    Incorrect based on all scientific evidence and studies found to date. Like mentioned, it does not matter much; especially for OP's current situation.

    It does matter, just very little. Eric Helms in his nutritional series points out it's importance which might account for only about 10%, but 10% is not 0 as you infer.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6wkDDnSKV0

    If you can refute Eric with the studies he has linked, please enlighten us further.

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22719910
    Less meals lead to higher RMR.

    http://www.jissn.com/content/8/1/4
    No, it's the opposite.

    http://examine.com/faq/do-i-need-to-eat-six-times-a-day-to-keep-my-metabolism-high/
    No, neither does anything.

    So which is it? Do we throw a coin?

    We don't know if it does anything, and if it does anything it's far less than 10% or else we would already know.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    999tigger wrote: »
    I'd have thought 1300 was needlessly low @300lbs. Id be just as concerned as to whether being so aggressive increase the chance of binging or making it harsher than it need to be. So I disagree with Yarwell, but its what you cna cope with and sustain OP.

    The OP didn't raise an issue with her intake level, it's others projecting that are concerned about that.
  • Florida_Superstar
    Florida_Superstar Posts: 194 Member
    It's personal preference. For weight loss/maintenance, total calories matter, not how many meals you eat or what time of day you eat. Ditto on the Registered Dietitian if you're unclear about how many calories you should consume. Seeing a Registered Dietitian was the single best thing I ever did for my health.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
    cajuntank wrote: »
    rhyolite_ wrote: »
    A couple of things. Meal timing does not matter. You will find sources that say it does, but I can guarantee those sources are trying to make money off you believing that. Or they heard it from someone trying to make money. I sometimes eat a single meal with all my daily calories. Sometimes I eat about 12 mini-meals because I spend the whole day grazing. I eat what I want when I want (just not necessarily AS MUCH as I want ;) ).

    Carb timing does not matter, unless you have a medical condition. I have type 1 diabetes, and it only moderately matters for me, but not for the reasons your PT claimed. Your body can use the energy from carbs even if you eat them right before you go to sleep. That is just a fact. I eat in bed watching Netflix almost every night, and all my snacks are high-carb. It has not affected my weight loss or my health in any way whatsoever.

    Your PT is not a registered dietician who was trained on nutrition, so you should ignore the advice she's giving you, since it is incorrect. Either see a registered dietician, or stick around MFP to read what some of the regulars with higher post counts are saying.

    And finally, I would agree with previous posters that 1300 calories is too low for someone of your size. HOWEVER. That assumes you are correctly weighing your food with a digital scale and logging everything. If you aren't, then you are probably eating more than 1300 calories already and increasing what you eat could be counterproductive to your goals. If you are weighing your foods and logging correctly, then yes, 1300 is too low. However, you should know if it's too low by how fast you're losing. Your body doesn't care if you're logging correctly or not, it will lose the weight based on the calories going in vs the calories you burn. If you are losing the weight rapidly, add calories and slow down. If the weight is coming off at a slow/steady pace, then you are most likely already eating more than 1300. In that case, you would want to tighten up your logging when you get closer to goal, but it may not matter so much right now.

    There's a lot of misinformation out there about dieting, and it can be frustrating when you start to realize how much "common knowledge" about nutrition/dieting is simply false. Like I said, stick around and you can learn a lot on these forums.

    Incorrect based on all scientific evidence and studies found to date. Like mentioned, it does not matter much; especially for OP's current situation.

    It does matter, just very little. Eric Helms in his nutritional series points out it's importance which might account for only about 10%, but 10% is not 0 as you infer.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6wkDDnSKV0

    If you can refute Eric with the studies he has linked, please enlighten us further.

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22719910
    Less meals lead to higher RMR.

    http://www.jissn.com/content/8/1/4
    No, it's the opposite.

    http://examine.com/faq/do-i-need-to-eat-six-times-a-day-to-keep-my-metabolism-high/
    No, neither does anything.

    So which is it? Do we throw a coin?

    We don't know if it does anything, and if it does anything it's far less than 10% or else we would already know.

    This ^^

    I think meal timing probably does have a small affect. But it's certainly not enough to warrant eat in a manner that doesn't fit your lifestyle comfortably, and it may not be the same affect for everyone. Because if it were a big factor we'd already know.
  • melimomTARDIS
    melimomTARDIS Posts: 1,941 Member
    i have played around with macros and meal timing a lot over the two years since I have joined here. For me, the best results are with a small breakfast, a lunch and dinner of medium size, and a small snack after I get off work ( 10 or 11 at nite)
  • AdmireDeVoll
    AdmireDeVoll Posts: 46 Member
    I have to eat every 2-3 hours or I get super nauseous and start dry heaving. And get light headed It's been like that since I was a teenager. So 3 small meals and 3 even smaller snacks is what works best for me but I have no problem keeping it at 1200 calories