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frequency of meals

moniquebravo1011
moniquebravo1011 Posts: 22 Member
in Debate Club
Does it matter how often you eat to lose fat? Whether it be 1 or 6 times?
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Replies

  • Dr1nkbleachndye
    Dr1nkbleachndye Posts: 441 Member
    No.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Nope
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    moniquebravo1011 wrote: »
    Does it matter how often you eat to lose fat? Whether it be 1 or 6 times?

    There are studies showing both.
  • queenofpuppies
    queenofpuppies Posts: 189 Member
    Not really but...you might feel less hungry if you have a certain meal time habit. I am starving by lunch if I have anything but protein for breakfast (I have Greek yogurt or boiled eggs only at this point) so for me meal times make a difference on the amount of calories I tend to consume and my ability to control my apatite. If im below 1500 calories I really need most of that to be dinner. For some people many little meals are better for not feeling hungry. I'm not in that club. Really the number of calories in vs. calories out is what make you lose, not when you eat them. Number of meal might make a certain number of calories more or less satisfying for you personally, which could support your success. I would suggest that you find what works best for you and run with it.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
    moniquebravo1011 wrote: »
    Does it matter how often you eat to lose fat? Whether it be 1 or 6 times?

    On a personal happiness and satisfaction level it can matter a great deal.
  • fr33sia12
    fr33sia12 Posts: 1,258 Member
    As long as you make the right food choices and track what you eat it doesn't matter how often you eat, it's what you eat that matters (meaning calories)
  • DorkothyParker
    DorkothyParker Posts: 618 Member
    Well some evidence suggests benefits from fasting period. If you have a longer fasting window, you are likely eating fewer times in the feeding window.

    Buuuuut, if you are prone to eating junk due to hunger and would benefit from many smaller meals/make wiser food choices, that's cool too.

    It depends on the day, but I generally prefer to eat 1 or 2 large to very large meals over more frequent food consumption.
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    I'm gonna go with "not really".
  • ReaderGirl3
    ReaderGirl3 Posts: 868 Member
    Nope.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    yarwell wrote: »
    moniquebravo1011 wrote: »
    Does it matter how often you eat to lose fat? Whether it be 1 or 6 times?

    There are studies showing both.

    When you look at the available research on meal frequency there isn't a clear trend yet.

    And so a reasonable conclusion is that we can't say whether a given frequency is optimal.
  • cmtristani
    cmtristani Posts: 117 Member
    I usually eat 6 times a day. I have found the only benefit to this is it forces me to get up from my desk several times throughout the day and go to the break room. I usually go for a short walk in conjunction with it. I have found nothing scientific that says 6 meals is better than 2 or 3, just my preference, fits my desired behavior nicely.
  • FitPhillygirl
    FitPhillygirl Posts: 7,124 Member
    While it really doesn't matter. I do eat 6-8 small meals a day due to medical reasons.
  • doddsar127
    doddsar127 Posts: 18 Member
    I used to eat three, the largest last. I got overweight doing that because I would go to sleep too full. That messed with my sleep and with my digestion which messed with my energy levels. Now I eat six, two hours apart roughly. My body knows when it will be fed and my energy stays consistent throughout the day. So maybe it doesn't matter for weight loss per se, but figuring out what to eat and when to eat so I get the most energy from my food has impacted how much I move... And how many calories I am burning through the day... So what and when counts in my opinion.
  • jamesrandel81
    jamesrandel81 Posts: 38 Member
    Not really cause I do both some days I eat bout 5 to 6 times a day and some day I only eat at lunch and dinner and I'm stay rite bout same
  • Holly_Wood_888
    Holly_Wood_888 Posts: 264 Member
    I've heard some great things about eating healthy food every 2-3 hours... this can also be helpful when it comes to digestion for a lot of people... eating smaller snacks/meals can keep your metabolism steadily burning and keep your body from 'storing fat' which can happen when people have erratic meal times and end up in starvation mode.
    Hope this is helpful... everyone has different needs but it works for me :)
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
    Holly_Wood_888 wrote: »
    I've heard some great things about eating healthy food every 2-3 hours... this can also be helpful when it comes to digestion for a lot of people... eating smaller snacks/meals can keep your metabolism steadily burning and keep your body from 'storing fat' which can happen when people have erratic meal times and end up in starvation mode.
    Hope this is helpful... everyone has different needs but it works for me :)

    None of that was correct.
  • JUtterback84
    JUtterback84 Posts: 2 Member
    edited May 2016
    In my research and and with my trainers advice, it said that you need to eat certain times throughout the day because your body will store fat naturally while hungry. Although some days I eat only three meals, most days I try and eat 6 I'm only successful with about 4 or 5 meals in a day and try hard not to have a growling stomach and have sucessfully dropped weight this way but everyone is different.
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
    JUtterback84 wrote: »
    In my research and and with my trainers advice, it said that you need to eat certain times throughout the day because your body will store fat naturally while hungry. Although some days I eat only three meals, most days I try and eat 6 I'm only successful with about 4 or 5 meals in a day and try hard not to have a growling stomach.

    That doesn't even make sense.
  • JUtterback84
    JUtterback84 Posts: 2 Member
    stevencloser wrote: »
    JUtterback84 wrote: »
    In my research and and with my trainers advice, it said that you need to eat certain times throughout the day because your body will store fat naturally while hungry. Although some days I eat only three meals, most days I try and eat 6 I'm only successful with about 4 or 5 meals in a day and try hard not to have a growling stomach.

    That doesn't even make sense.

    This is the advice that I've been given over the last year of my weightloss journey. I'm just sharing what worked for me and the advice that the professionals i have spoken to have given me. :)
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
    Fitness trainers know jack squat about nutrition.
    But this is a step above the broscience I've heard so far.
    Your body can not just store fat when you're hungry, the same way you can't cash in money into your account that you don't have.
    Fat needs to come from somewhere, excess food. Your body can't just make fat appear out of thin air.

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