Biggest Meal of the Day????

This is tricky, because everyone's wired a little different. I've found that what works for me is eating about 1500 calories a day. Now, Myfitnesspal.com recommends my eating 1850 daily, though on weeks when I keep that deficit a little lower and ingest just 1500 calories, I lose weight with ease. I would assume the same is true for how much your body can handle at a meal. As a general rule, I try to keep all meals under 700 calories and Dinner is usually my most calories.

7AM - most days, whey shake for breakfast made with a half cup or organic skim milk and a cup of coffee for 170 calories.

10AM - I'll have a snack from 60-120 calories in the morning before lunch

12PM - My sandwich is always about 300 calories for lunch

3PM - i usually eat a snack of about 150ish calories in the afternoon

7PM - Eat dinner of about 700 calories

9PM - before bed snack 60-200 calories


Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter

Eating 5-6 small meals a day is much more beneficial to your health and weight maintenance than gourging at 2-3 meals. FACT.

I too have heard have a big breakfast but I think that is with the understanding that you will be ACTIVE shortly after. Not going to an office to sit on your bum.

False.




Please explain your view.

Eating 5-6 small meals a day is much more beneficial to your health and weight maintenance than gourging at 2-3 meals. FACT.

I too have heard have a big breakfast but I think that is with the understanding that you will be ACTIVE shortly after. Not going to an office to sit on your bum.

FACT? Do you have any reputible supporting documentation of that "fact"?

"Gary Schwartz, a researcher with the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, answered, "There's no strong data supporting either [three meals a day or six meals a day] as being more effective" for losing weight or maintaining lost weight. "Clearly there is an emphasis on reducing caloric intake overall, whether it be by decreasing meal size and/or decreasing meal frequency." (http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=56254)

"March 31, 2011--Eating small meals frequently throughout the day may not help take the bite out of your hunger while you are dieting, according to a new study" (http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20110331/best-diet-plan-6-mini-meals-or-3-squares-a-day)

"There is a variety of metabolic explanations for why this pattern of eating is so effective for fat loss. First, small frequent meals (SFMs) can help to stabilize both blood sugar and insulin levels throughout the day. When blood sugar levels spike, fat storage can be promoted because blood sugar will be kept under very tight control by the body. And if glycogen reserves are full, excess blood sugar will be stored as fat. These spikes will also cause for more production of insulin, leading to a potential rebound hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) effect a few hours after your meal. This can instigate hunger and cravings, cause your energy levels to crash and may slow your metabolism.

In contrast, keeping your blood sugar levels moderate and consistent smoothes out energy levels, keeps insulin levels more constant and helps keep your metabolism humming. When you eat six nutritious, smaller meals a day, the food can be more efficiently absorbed and processed by your body than the "three squares" most Americans eat each day. You can create a metabolic environment that supports healthy fat loss and muscle gains."


Bill Phillips - Founder of Body for LIFE www.bodyforlife.com

Although this article has been shredded to bits by the IF community, particularly Alan Aragon, just thought I'd post it because I personally derive an important conclusion from this study. Namely, increased meal frequency will not help weight loss, but for SOME people, it can help curb hunger. After experimenting with IF a bit, I am one of those people for which increased meal frequency does NOT curb hunger. In fact, I get the opposite effect. Eating several small meals throughout the day keeps me hungry all the time and constantly thinking about food.

http://www.jissn.com/content/8/1/4

"increased meal frequency may not play a significant role in weight loss/gain when under-reporting, restrained eating, and exercise are accounted for in the statistical analyses. Furthermore, most, but not all of the existing research, fails to support the effectiveness of increased meal frequency on the thermic effect of food, resting metabolic rate, and total energy expenditure. However, when energy intake is limited, increased meal frequency may likely decrease hunger, decrease nitrogen loss, improve lipid oxidation, and improve blood markers such as total and LDL cholesterol, and insulin. Nonetheless, more well-designed research studies involving various meal frequencies, particularly in physically active/athletic populations are warranted."

My futher comments: I've read the article as well as Aragon's critique on it and I think it is safe to ignore the article's comments on health markers improving with increased meal frequency. The methods used in determining their conclusions were dubious at best.

Personally, I eat my biggest meal at breakfast ( I have all day to burn it off and generally work out a couple hours after I eat it) and then have 5 more smaller meals throughout the day. I try not to eat heavy at night, especially not if I am not going to work out after, I don't want that food just sitting in my stomach all night, I rather know I did something to burn it off before I sleep, but thats just my personal opinion. I have heard many places though it is important to eat something every few hours to keep your metabolism going.... So yeah. My thoughts...

Personally, I eat my biggest meal at breakfast ( I have all day to burn it off and generally work out a couple hours after I eat it) and then have 5 more smaller meals throughout the day. I try not to eat heavy at night, especially not if I am not going to work out after, I don't want that food just sitting in my stomach all night, I rather know I did something to burn it off before I sleep, but thats just my personal opinion. I have heard many places though it is important to eat something every few hours to keep your metabolism going.... So yeah. My thoughts...

Unless you are fasting for days at a time, food will most likely always be in your GI tract. It doesn't work in this sense:


1. Eat food
2. "Burn" food while it's in my stomach.
3. Try not to eat before bed because I won't have time to burn the food.


Your body is always in a "swing" of storing and oxidizing (burning) nutrients. The time of day that you ingest the food is irrelevant. 1000 calories right before bed will be used the same as 1000 calories at 2pm.

you want to make dinner the smallest meal, and ideally breakfast the biggest but like many others i cant have too much for breakfast. what i do is i have a cup of black tea with 1/2 cup of skim milk, and toast with butter or (this is my weird personal guilty pleasure) toast with sour cream. about 2 hours later ill have an apple or some fruit or nuts or something. then 2 hours after the snack i have lunch which is usually my biggest meal. 2 hours after that i have another cup of tea and then 2 hours after that i have dinner (which usually is a light soup like the v8s or progresso and if i need some sweet i have some berries). so a 'meal' every 4 hours, and a snack every 2. if it is a day that i work out my day varies a bit. if you add up your meals it should even out to about 900 cal (if you're consuming 1200 a day) and the rest should be healthy snacks.

So you're saying that as soon as we go to sleep we start "storing" everything we've eaten and we stop burning calories? This is not the case.
Why dinner small and breakfast large?

I was wondering the same thing. Well, not really since I know that as a general rule it doesn't make any difference when you eat. I realize, however, that it can make a big difference on an individual level. I would never go for the start with a big breakfast plan, because I'm not a morning person and I simply am not hungry when in the mornings. And, for me, eating when I'm not hungry makes me gain weight.

because you DO things throughout the day, from smiling to running you're burning calories all day so you should eat the most at the beginning of the day and have the meals become gradually smaller throughout the day. after dinner you do little to no activity so all those food and calories are sitting in your stomach not really being used. then you go to bed and store them for another day. also if you're going to make breakfast the biggest meal of the day, having a small dinner will build hunger for the next morning so you will consume a larger meal for breakfast.

you want to make dinner the smallest meal, and ideally breakfast the biggest but like many others i cant have too much for breakfast. what i do is i have a cup of black tea with 1/2 cup of skim milk, and toast with butter or (this is my weird personal guilty pleasure) toast with sour cream. about 2 hours later ill have an apple or some fruit or nuts or something. then 2 hours after the snack i have lunch which is usually my biggest meal. 2 hours after that i have another cup of tea and then 2 hours after that i have dinner (which usually is a light soup like the v8s or progresso and if i need some sweet i have some berries). so a 'meal' every 4 hours, and a snack every 2. if it is a day that i work out my day varies a bit. if you add up your meals it should even out to about 900 cal (if you're consuming 1200 a day) and the rest should be healthy snacks.

Why dinner small and breakfast large?

I was wondering the same thing. Well, not really since I know that as a general rule it doesn't make any difference when you eat. I realize, however, that it can make a big difference on an individual level. I would never go for the start with a big breakfast plan, because I'm not a morning person and I simply am not hungry when in the mornings. And, for me, eating when I'm not hungry makes me gain weight.

because you DO things throughout the day, from smiling to running you're burning calories all day so you should eat the most at the beginning of the day and have the meals become gradually smaller throughout the day. after dinner you do little to no activity so all those food and calories are sitting in your stomach not really being used. then you go to bed and store them for another day. also if you're going to make breakfast the biggest meal of the day, having a small dinner will build hunger for the next morning so you will consume a larger meal for breakfast.

I have just never seen any scientific or medical study that shows this to be true. Have you? And I know from years of experience that it absolutely is not true for me. If I eat a big breakfast I feel lethargic and I usually end up exercising less and eating more all day long. I rarely eat anything before 10:00 a.m. no matter how early I get up (6:30 during the week) though I do have a glass of soy milk in the morning because I'm thirsty and try to consume some soy every day. I typically eat more than half my daily calories after 8:00 at night..

Exactly. There are no studies that show that. Meal timing, sizing, and frequency are irrelevant in the context of proper daily nutrition.

Your biggest meal of the day should be breakfast, although you should eat 5-6 small meals a day. I usually eat about 300 calories for breakfast, but that's about the same as the rest of my meals and snacks.

Not being rude or trying to start a flaming thread, but why do you think breakfast should be your biggest meal, and why is it important to eat 5-6 small meals a day?

Here is the scientific evidence why you eat small meal before going to bed and why breakfast should be a larger meal. When you eat a meal the blood rushes to your abdomen to aid in digestion and distribution of nutrients. With this rush to the abdomen there is a slight deficiency of blood to your muscles and extremeties (this is why you get tired after eating - less blood out = less oxygen out). With even that slight of a deficiency to the extremeties the natural process of tissue repair and flushing of cell respiratory waste lags behind. This can leave deposits of any number of substances, which can cause aches and pains and even cramping. Once the food you just ate is digested, blood flow would return to normal except the body is in a resting state. With particles of waste accumulating in the distal tissues, fluids will be drawn from your bloodstream into surrounding tissues through osmosis causing slight edema or swelling. Now you will have to wait until your body is active again in order to create enough bloodfloow to the distal tissues to clear metabolic waste and such. This means your circulatory system is running behind from the moment you get up. Dormant waste can also lead to inflammation, which can tax your immune system.

Why should breakfast be the biggest meal? We have all heard how it is most healthy to eat every couple of hours throughout the day, but why is that? Think of your body as a city. There is a constant need for products (nutrients) to be brought in as well as products(nutrients) and waste (metobolic waste) to be removed. In a city the trucks that perform these actions run constantly much similar to your body. If you supply nutrients only once or twice a day there is inefficiency. The meals are typically larger so there is product that cannot be used and is subsequently stored for use later on. With the average person going to bed at 10 and getting up at 6 there is 8 hours when no product/nutrient has been brought to the body. That is no different than eating at breakfast time (8 am) and then not again until 4 in the afternoon. During your sleep what is happening is your body is using up its quick stores of glycogen (approx 350g) that are stored in muscle tissue in order to perform basic functions. By the time you get up that supply is all but depleted and needs to be restored. Your body also needs nutrients from the "fast" that you "break" when you eat in the morning. This is why breakfast needs to be larger than your other meals - to restore the quick stores of energy and to supply the nutrients your body has been without though the night.

Not being rude or trying to start a flaming thread, but why do you think breakfast should be your biggest meal, and why is it important to eat 5-6 small meals a day?

Why does it seem that you are logging on to create arguments. You say your not trying to be rude, or start a flaming thread. Every time I've seen your name now, you are being confrontational. It's good to debate, but you are preaching that everybody else is dong something wrong and YOUR way is the right way.

As i read this thread, I kept seeing your comments that the person has said something you don't agree , and asking them for proof. Nobody needs to prove ANYTHING to you.

How about experience for proof. 100's of people on this website have done 5-6 meals and have lost weight. If your preference is not to have 5-6 small meals, then that's YOUR OPINION..

I don't see that you have any weight that you've loss, so all your gibberish has been from what you've read not real life experiences.

Edit: Since a lot of us have experienced the fact that 5-6 smaller meals DOES WORK. Then you experiment for us and eat 1-2 big meals in a day and see how much weight you lose. if you have any weight to lose.

Your biggest meal of the day should be breakfast, although you should eat 5-6 small meals a day. I usually eat about 300 calories for breakfast, but that's about the same as the rest of my meals and snacks.

Not being rude or trying to start a flaming thread, but why do you think breakfast should be your biggest meal, and why is it important to eat 5-6 small meals a day?

Here is the scientific evidence why you eat small meal before going to bed and why breakfast should be a larger meal. When you eat a meal the blood rushes to your abdomen to aid in digestion and distribution of nutrients. With this rush to the abdomen there is a slight deficiency of blood to your muscles and extremeties (this is why you get tired after eating - less blood out = less oxygen out). With even that slight of a deficiency to the extremeties the natural process of tissue repair and flushing of cell respiratory waste lags behind. This can leave deposits of any number of substances, which can cause aches and pains and even cramping. Once the food you just ate is digested, blood flow would return to normal except the body is in a resting state. With particles of waste accumulating in the distal tissues, fluids will be drawn from your bloodstream into surrounding tissues through osmosis causing slight edema or swelling. Now you will have to wait until your body is active again in order to create enough bloodfloow to the distal tissues to clear metabolic waste and such. This means your circulatory system is running behind from the moment you get up. Dormant waste can also lead to inflammation, which can tax your immune system.

Why should breakfast be the biggest meal? We have all heard how it is most healthy to eat every couple of hours throughout the day, but why is that? Think of your body as a city. There is a constant need for products (nutrients) to be brought in as well as products(nutrients) and waste (metobolic waste) to be removed. In a city the trucks that perform these actions run constantly much similar to your body. If you supply nutrients only once or twice a day there is inefficiency. The meals are typically larger so there is product that cannot be used and is subsequently stored for use later on. With the average person going to bed at 10 and getting up at 6 there is 8 hours when no product/nutrient has been brought to the body. That is no different than eating at breakfast time (8 am) and then not again until 4 in the afternoon. During your sleep what is happening is your body is using up its quick stores of glycogen (approx 350g) that are stored in muscle tissue in order to perform basic functions. By the time you get up that supply is all but depleted and needs to be restored. Your body also needs nutrients from the "fast" that you "break" when you eat in the morning. This is why breakfast needs to be larger than your other meals - to restore the quick stores of energy and to supply the nutrients your body has been without though the night.

Can you site the source (preferably in a link to the study)? I guess it doesn't really matter since I'm doing fine (healthy, losing, plenty of energy) eating at night. But if you are going to post things as "fact" a reliable source is always good since anyone and everyone with an internet connection can add a post and say "fact".

I've heard ppl on this site and some ppl trying to sell a book say it's better to eat several small meals throughout the day, but that's never been medically proven either. In fact at least one study showed that ppl trying to lose weight following this plan tended to be hungrier than those that ate 3 larger meals. http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20110331/best-diet-plan-6-mini-meals-or-3-squares-a-day

Citation? Are you new? Is this the first time you have heard about breakfast and the body's catabolic state? That would be like me finding citations for the fact that water is wet. Jesus man...I googled for 5 secs and I came up with this link:

http://www.bodybuilding-muscle.com/breakfast-the-most-important-bodybuilding-meal-of-the-day.html

Now get off your *kitten* and do some of your own research. You have never seen any research that suggests blah blah blah...well now I know it is because you don't do one bit of research. FFS man...quit wasting my life in your laziness.

Not being rude or trying to start a flaming thread, but why do you think breakfast should be your biggest meal, and why is it important to eat 5-6 small meals a day?

Why does it seem that you are logging on to create arguments. You say your not trying to be rude, or start a flaming thread. Every time I've seen your name now, you are being confrontational. It's good to debate, but you are preaching that everybody else is dong something wrong and YOUR way is the right way.

As i read this thread, I kept seeing your comments that the person has said something you don't agree , and asking them for proof. Nobody needs to prove ANYTHING to you.

How about experience for proof. 100's of people on this website have done 5-6 meals and have lost weight. If your preference is not to have 5-6 small meals, then that's YOUR OPINION..

I don't see that you have any weight that you've loss, so all your gibberish has been from what you've read not real life experiences.

Edit: Since a lot of us have experienced the fact that 5-6 smaller meals DOES WORK. Then you experiment for us and eat 1-2 big meals in a day and see how much weight you lose. if you have any weight to lose.

Correlation does not imply causation.



It "works", but it's by no means necessary.


I challenge people to provide studies because the vast majority of dietary "understandings" are myths and are based solely on CORRELATIVE evidence.


Why make losing weight any more difficult than it has to be?

Your biggest meal of the day should be breakfast, although you should eat 5-6 small meals a day. I usually eat about 300 calories for breakfast, but that's about the same as the rest of my meals and snacks.

Not being rude or trying to start a flaming thread, but why do you think breakfast should be your biggest meal, and why is it important to eat 5-6 small meals a day?

Here is the scientific evidence why you eat small meal before going to bed and why breakfast should be a larger meal. When you eat a meal the blood rushes to your abdomen to aid in digestion and distribution of nutrients. With this rush to the abdomen there is a slight deficiency of blood to your muscles and extremeties (this is why you get tired after eating - less blood out = less oxygen out). With even that slight of a deficiency to the extremeties the natural process of tissue repair and flushing of cell respiratory waste lags behind. This can leave deposits of any number of substances, which can cause aches and pains and even cramping. Once the food you just ate is digested, blood flow would return to normal except the body is in a resting state. With particles of waste accumulating in the distal tissues, fluids will be drawn from your bloodstream into surrounding tissues through osmosis causing slight edema or swelling. Now you will have to wait until your body is active again in order to create enough bloodfloow to the distal tissues to clear metabolic waste and such. This means your circulatory system is running behind from the moment you get up. Dormant waste can also lead to inflammation, which can tax your immune system.

Why should breakfast be the biggest meal? We have all heard how it is most healthy to eat every couple of hours throughout the day, but why is that? Think of your body as a city. There is a constant need for products (nutrients) to be brought in as well as products(nutrients) and waste (metobolic waste) to be removed. In a city the trucks that perform these actions run constantly much similar to your body. If you supply nutrients only once or twice a day there is inefficiency. The meals are typically larger so there is product that cannot be used and is subsequently stored for use later on. With the average person going to bed at 10 and getting up at 6 there is 8 hours when no product/nutrient has been brought to the body. That is no different than eating at breakfast time (8 am) and then not again until 4 in the afternoon. During your sleep what is happening is your body is using up its quick stores of glycogen (approx 350g) that are stored in muscle tissue in order to perform basic functions. By the time you get up that supply is all but depleted and needs to be restored. Your body also needs nutrients from the "fast" that you "break" when you eat in the morning. This is why breakfast needs to be larger than your other meals - to restore the quick stores of energy and to supply the nutrients your body has been without though the night.

Can you site the source (preferably in a link to the study)? I guess it doesn't really matter since I'm doing fine (healthy, losing, plenty of energy) eating at night. But if you are going to post things as "fact" a reliable source is always good since anyone and everyone with an internet connection can add a post and say "fact".

I've heard ppl on this site and some ppl trying to sell a book say it's better to eat several small meals throughout the day, but that's never been medically proven either. In fact at least one study showed that ppl trying to lose weight following this plan tended to be hungrier than those that ate 3 larger meals. http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20110331/best-diet-plan-6-mini-meals-or-3-squares-a-day

Citation? Are you new? Is this the first time you have heard about breakfast and the body's catabolic state? That would be like me finding citations for the fact that water is wet. Jesus man...I googled for 5 secs and I came up with this link:

http://www.bodybuilding-muscle.com/breakfast-the-most-important-bodybuilding-meal-of-the-day.html

Now get off your *kitten* and do some of your own research. You have never seen any research that suggests blah blah blah...well now I know it is because you don't do one bit of research. FFS man...quit wasting my life in your laziness.

Major LULZ from posting that as a "study".


Strong misunderstanding of empirical studies vs. an article from a BB magazine.


Better drink your protein shake quick before the catbolizms set in.

Do you have to quote all the lines? Do you feel 3-4 "pre quotes" as we can call them are relevant?
Pls shorten them up, if someone needs to re-read the whole quote they can scroll back up.
Thanks

WIth out studies.

Let's speak real life situations.
We can give you dozens, 100's of people that are on this website eating 5-6 meals a day and losing weight.

Can you give us anybody that's eating 2 meals a day and losing weight?
Are you following this plan and losing weight?

My biggest meal for the day is usually dinner (meal 5) and it is usually between 400-500 calories. The rest of my meals (6 meals daily) are ~150-250 cals a meal. I have tried making other meals the larger meals but it didn't really change my weight loss. My exercise is usually in the afternoon or evening (right before or after my big meal).

And that POS posting on the 6 meals a day not being necessary wasn't equally crappy?

Look I do not have the time to give you two strokes a complete degree in biochemstry. If you are so interested, apply for a membership to pub-med and scour the databases there. You will find thousands of scholarly reviews and studies backing up the body being in a catabolic state upon waking. Either that or pony up the $50k to get your biochem degree like I did. Maybe then will you understand. Mapex, you are 20. You can't even vote yet. You probably have not had a real job yet in life. Think about it for a minute...is it possible that your profound insights do not stand up to real research and experience?

I already have a subscription to pub-med, or rather the company I work for does. I have to go there often. There is nothing there saying it's "better" to eat small meals throughout the day or a big meal in the morning. If it works for you then it can be argued that it's better for you. But that is not an argument that it's better for me. It's not. I'm happy, healthy, feel great, full of energy and rarely hungry and eat and drink my calories at night.

And saying it in a mean and hateful manner doesn't really make your point . It might just do the opposite.