5 Small meals a day really effective?

Options
2»

Replies

  • Lizzy622
    Lizzy622 Posts: 3,705 Member
    Options
    I had tried 5 meals but it did not work for me. I never felt full or satisfied. I now do 3 meals and sometimes a snack. Do what works for you. You need to be able to incorporate it into your lifestyle and work and home schedule.
  • Sunna_W
    Sunna_W Posts: 744 Member
    Options
    I also do meal prep on the weekend but only for my lunches that I take to work.

    I am on Paleo / Keto and I use recipe ideas to plan my weekly menu / shopping list. If it's not on the list I don't usually buy it.

    My weekly dinner menu goes on the fridge. The hubster tends to eat any leftovers for his lunches.

    My weekday lunches usually consist of:
    • a blended meal similar to tabbouleh without the wheat grain carb
    • a lightly sauteed mushroom (8 oz) and greens

    I weigh / record all of the ingredients divide by 5 and that's one of my lunch items. I include lots of added fiber (rice bran and psyllium husk) to add fullness / satiety. This is done on Sunday while I am preparing my "Sunday" dinner.

    The night before each weekday I make up
    • 160 g of Full Fat Greek Yogurt with 1 TBSP unsweetened coconut (snack or part of lunch)
    • 12 oz coconut milk breakfast smoothie with unflavored protein (egg, hemp or whey), vitamin b, l-glutamine, Moringa powder, ground flax or chia, Modified Citrus Pectin (MCP), rice bran powder and psyllium husk
    When I get home I have a spoon of peanut butter to hold me over until dinner.

    I tend to take all morning to drink my protein shake / 2nd cup of coffee and also take a while to eat my lunch (at my desk).

    I don't know if this adds any insight tor not.
  • ejsilvi
    ejsilvi Posts: 205 Member
    Options
    Yes 4 to 5 more like 4 Meals then a protein shake 1 to 2 times a day works for me to stay lean or bulk up it's what u eat n how much also for me keeps my blood sugar in check
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Options
    Meal prepping is one thing, meal timing is another.

    I think meal prepping is great.

    Meal timing, like others have said, is just about finding what works for you. I'm boring, 3 meals a day works for me. I really dislike grazing or eating lots of small meals and feel dissatisfied and end up wanting to eat more, and plus I feel like I'm thinking about food all the time. But it works great for other people! Similarly, I really enjoy both my morning breakfast and my dinner, so wouldn't like a short eating window, but others do, and find it very helpful.
  • maurihart
    maurihart Posts: 51 Member
    Options
    I tend to meal prep but only eat 3 meals and one small snack a day - breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner. I concentrate on keeping breakfast and lunch at a specific calorie amount and my snack and dinner calories vary based on my exercise that day.
  • CTRLplusZ
    CTRLplusZ Posts: 23 Member
    Options
    I meal prep because I don't have enough time to do it any other way. I've been cooking a week's worth of food every Sunday for years.

    I am the opposite of many of the previous posters. I find the need to eat every 2-3 hours but not necessarily meals. I eat a normal sized breakfast (eggs and meat, a bagel or a smoothie) and supper (meat, veg, starch) as well as a couple of snacks through the day like mixed nuts or granola bars. I also have a bowl of oatmeal made with whole milk either between breakfast and supper or before bed depending on what time I am eating supper that day. So generally eating at 10, 1, 4, 7 and 9. (Ish)
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
    Options
    Meal timing (assuming equal calories overall) is irrelevant to weight loss.

    However, as shown by the posts in this thread, it can definitely be relevant to satiety/adherence. Some people are more satisfied by multiple small meals, others prefer fewer, larger meals. Do whatever works for you and helps you stick to your calorie goal. It can also be relevant to workout performance - some like working out fasted while others feel more energetic with some kind of small meal before a workout.

    Personally, "grazing" (multiple small meals) doesn't work for me. I find that I'm constantly unsatisfied and hungry, and more likely to overeat just to quell the nagging hunger. I've found that the best eating pattern for me is more or less** a 16/8 IF (intermittent fasting). I have a cup of coffee when I get up in the morning, then don't eat until around lunch time. I'm not usually very hungry in the mornings, so it doesn't bother me to skip an early meal - and a decent lunch will easily hold me until dinner time, where I have plenty of calories for a big, satisfying dinner and usually some room left for a snack a little later in the evening.

    ** I say "more or less" about the 16/8 IF because I don't treat it like a religion, it's just my general guideline. If my eating window becomes 6 hours or 12 hours on a particular day because of whatever circumstances, it's not a big deal to me. I don't ascribe any magical properties to 16/8, it's just the overall framework which generally works best for me.

Categories