What is better, several small meals or 2-3 big meals a day?

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flippy1234
flippy1234 Posts: 686 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi there, What do you think is a better option for losing weight, several small meals a day or 2 to 3 larger meals in a day? Or does it just depend on the person?

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  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
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    Yeah. Whatever you want.
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,136 Member
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    Eat however often you want, just eat at a calorie deficit and you should lose weight.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
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    Whatever you like. A bunch of little meals works much better for me. I'm never hungry (or stuffed) and it's way easier to work in a bunch of different foods when I have a bunch of little meals, so it's easier to get more vitamins and minerals.

    But three-a-day is every bit as good for weight loss as five, six or ten. :)
  • flippy1234
    flippy1234 Posts: 686 Member
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    Thank you all!
  • Lourdesong
    Lourdesong Posts: 1,492 Member
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    Depends on the person, and for any person it may just depend on the day.

    For me I eat many smaller meals - most of the time. But sometimes small meals won't cut it, and less frequent larger meals does better for me. And sometimes reserving 90% of my calories for the evening is what I need.

    Things like this don't need to be set in stone.
  • OneHundredToLose
    OneHundredToLose Posts: 8,523 Member
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    I do smaller meals and a couple snacks throughout the day and then a bigger dinner, but that's just so I don't feel hungry throughout the day.
  • Azurite27
    Azurite27 Posts: 554 Member
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    It depends on the person. Whichever keeps you from being too hungry all day long and helps you stay within your daily calories. Personally I prefer to eat smaller portions more frequently, both when I was losing and now that I'm maintaining.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    Whatever you like. I prefer the traditional 3 meal pattern, personally.
  • Werk2Eat
    Werk2Eat Posts: 114 Member
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    For me, One big meal at dinner time and one big snack at bed time.
  • sashayoung72
    sashayoung72 Posts: 441 Member
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    Lourdesong wrote: »
    Depends on the person, and for any person it may just depend on the day.

    For me I eat many smaller meals - most of the time. But sometimes small meals won't cut it, and less frequent larger meals does better for me. And sometimes reserving 90% of my calories for the evening is what I need.

    Things like this don't need to be set in stone.

    Yeah like if you know you are going to have a really big meal at a restaurant then that's when I will eat very little during the day
  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
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    Whatever your prefer. I am best with three meals a day. Otherwise I feel all I'm doing all day is eating.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    meal timing and frequency is largely irrelevant to weight management.
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
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    Doesn't matter.

    I like three meals plus an evening snack, because I hate prepping or thinking about food for most of the day, also dislike never really being hungry or really being full. Also dislike going to sleep too hungry. So there you have it
  • MrsCaitlinBeltran
    MrsCaitlinBeltran Posts: 241 Member
    edited September 2015
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    As almost every other poster has said, I think it totally depends on preference.

    For example, I prefer to graze throughout the day. I prelog my food--breakfast, lunch, dinner--the night before on MFP, but rarely do I actually eat them in a formal meal manner. I'll eat parts of the "meals" throughout the day. Occassionally, I'll eat one big meal if I'm going out to eat (so as not to go over my calorie allowance), but 90% of the time I graze. :)
  • rollerjog
    rollerjog Posts: 154 Member
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    what ever works best for you, i like 3 or 4 meals a day, as long as you get your calories in every day
  • PinkPixiexox
    PinkPixiexox Posts: 4,142 Member
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    Whatever works for you :)
    Your body isn't bothered unless it's getting fueled adequately.

    Personally, I stick to 3 meals per day and a couple of snacks if necessary. There are some people that swear by eating 5 or 6 small meals - but I just don't have the time to be eating that often (oh, if only ;))
  • dubird
    dubird Posts: 1,849 Member
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    TL;DR answer: Whatever works best for you.


    Longer answer: number of times a day you eat doesn't matter as long as the sum total doesn't exceed your daily calorie limit. If you wanted to eat 10 small meals a day, that would be fine as long as you split up your calories accordingly. Don't like eating breakfast? It's ok to skip it, that means you have a larger lunch or dinner. Don't like eating more than twice a day? If it works for you, that's fine. IF? Again, if it works for you, go for it. What you should do is look at your day and figure out the times you get hungry and adjust accordingly. For me, I have the same breakfast and keep my lunch under a certain limit (on normal days), so I have extra for dinner with my husband and a late snack since I stay up late. That works for me. It might not work for you. Figure out the times you get hungry, then divide up and set a calorie limit for those times accordingly. It may take some trial and error until you find a pattern that works where you don't get hungry outside of your normal eating times, but once you do, it's surprising how easy it makes things.
  • M30834134
    M30834134 Posts: 411 Member
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    I share the notion expressed above - the frequency does not matter. As my personal choice, I eat 4 times per day as it fits my schedule
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
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    flippy1234 wrote: »
    Hi there, What do you think is a better option for losing weight, several small meals a day or 2 to 3 larger meals in a day? Or does it just depend on the person?

    It depends on the person. Some people need to eat often to control blood sugar levels, but if there is no medical reason it all comes down to personal preference.

    My preference is one small meal and one large meal per day.

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