How often do you eat?

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oat_bran
oat_bran Posts: 370 Member
edited June 2017 in Health and Weight Loss
How many meals and snacks per day do you have and how soon do you get hungry after a meal/snack?

I find that I almost always get hungry 3-3,5 hours after a meal, even after a big one (450-500 cals) with 25-30g protein, a decent amount of fat and fiber. Is it normal? It seems like many people around me go hours and hours without food.

I try to make it work with my deficit. And have somewhat smaller meals and leave room for snacks. But it's not always easy. I still need to postpone my first meal as much as possible so that my last meal is just before bed (otherwise I won't be able to fall asleep and if I don't get enough sleep I can't really function and di my job the next day). So I end up eating 3 meals and 3 snacks sometimes and on days I am less active and my TDEE is lower it's so hard to fit it into my allowed calories.

Basically I was wondering if maybe my snacking is counterproductive? Maybe it's just a question of habit and if I eliminate snacks and would only have meals after a week my body would adjust and I won't feel as hungry in between meals? I'm somewhat afraid to just test it because I'm afraid to end up being too hungry and overeat.

Tell me about your experience with changing meal frequency and meal times?
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Replies

  • iamunicoon
    iamunicoon Posts: 839 Member
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    Currently I'm pretty much eating all the time. MFP set me up with 2,080 cals per day. That was nothing to me before because when you live off of junk food and candy, you reach that pretty quickly.

    Now that I'm watching what I eat, I find that I'm pretty much snacking all the time and still not reach my goal. I try to have three somewhat more substantial meals (300+ cals) per day but that still leaves me with around 1,000 cals to spare, so I also have 2-3 snacks.
  • suhashmi
    suhashmi Posts: 22 Member
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    I eat 3 meals a day consisting of breakfast, lunch and dinner. That is quite tricky as my daily allowance is 1200 calories . So I usually eat a medium breakfast, light lunch and a heavy dinner so that I can sleep well.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    I usually eat 3 meals and no snacks. I split my daily intake into roughly 1/4 for breakfast, 1/4 for lunch, 1/2 for dinner and eat them 3-4 hours apart. Breakfast is the easiest meal to postpone, so I'm usually up for a few hours before I eat anything, and I feel fine for several hours after dinner, and then it's bedtime anyway. I will feel empty between meals, but I don't worry about hunger as long as I know I'm eating enough, both quantity and quality.

    I have had all kinds of meal timings and schedules, while losing and gaining and maintaining weight, without noticing any difference in hunger. Several meals was fine, grazing was ambivalent, four meals was nice, three meals is tidy and practical.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    i go for the following on weekdays:

    7am (getting ready for work) pint of water

    8.30am breakfast (250-350 cals of protein enriched cereal or fat free greek yoghurt with granola)

    12-12.30 lunch (300-500 cals salad/sandwich/wraps/protein thins/bagels etc and a portion of fruit)

    3pm snack (100-200 cals nut bar/protein flapjack/popcorn/jerky)

    4.30pm pre workout snack (100-200 cals peanut butter/cheese)

    6.30-7pm dinner (600-800 cals depending what it is)

    i pre log breakfast lunch and dinner and then fit in my snacks around how many cals i have left (also depends if i am working out that day). these days my calorie goal is net 1600 or net 1700
  • kcn2bluesky
    kcn2bluesky Posts: 187 Member
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    longstocking wrote: »
    How many meals and snacks per day do you have and how soon do you get hungry after a meal/snack?

    I find that I almost always get hungry 3-3,5 hours after a meal, even after a big one (450-500 cals) with 25-30g protein, a decent amount of fat and fiber. Is it normal? It seems like many people around me go hours and hours without food.
    .....snip...
    Basically I was wondering if maybe my snacking is counterproductive? Maybe it's just a question of habit and if I eliminate snacks and would only have meals after a week my body would adjust and I won't feel as hungry in between meals? I'm somewhat afraid to just test it because I'm afraid to end up being too hungry and overeat.

    Maybe it's just me, but being hungry 3 to 3.5 hours after a meal seems pretty normal! If I eat breakfast at 7:00, I'm ready for a snack at 10ish and then lunch around noon. If I'm hungry mid-afternoon, I take a break at work and have a snack around 3, and then we typically eat dinner at 7 or 8pm.

    I don't think snacking is counterproductive unless it causes you to exceed your calorie budget for the day.

    I prefer not to be too regimented in when I eat. I do pre-log my meals in the morning or sometimes the night before. But I'm flexible too! I eat when I'm hungry and adjust things as I go throughout my day. I do plan ahead to have a variety of snacks with me, though, and that helps me avoid eating something at work that will put me over my calorie budget.

    Hope that helps!
    Karen
  • Dovekat
    Dovekat Posts: 263 Member
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    I tend to eat two or three meals and a few snacks. Depends on the day and the shift (are there enough staff on the floor to let me take a break and eat something.) I have always gone a good amount of time between actual meals though normally 5 to 7 hours. If I've been grazing then around 3 or so.

    It might sound counterproductive but maybe try increasing the fat's you have with your meals I, personally, find it helps when I know I'll need to go a long time between meals (nine or ten hours). But of course everyone is different.
  • ruqayyahsmum
    ruqayyahsmum Posts: 1,514 Member
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    2 meals, 2 snacks.
    I dont eat in the morning simply because im not hungry

    Lunch i love a good salad, tends to be about 300cals

    Quick afternoon snack less than 200

    Dinner is typically 400 - 500

    Evening snack is all the rest of my calories so i can eat a fair amount of stuff and be under my goal

    Extra calories are banked for a meal out

    Works for me
  • slaite1
    slaite1 Posts: 1,307 Member
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    I vary greatly depending on the day. If I'm home or idle I tend to graze and not really have a meal. If I'm busy I might have two meals and maybe one snack.

    I hear you in feeling like you're the only one that wants to eat so often. I ALWAYS felt this way in college especially, and around the BF and his friends. Now I realize that it's just that I'm always so aware of food so it's on my mind more. Either I've pre-logged- so I'm already thinking about lunch in a more detailed way than the casual way most people are; or I'm thinking about what to get to fit my calories. The guy in the next cubicle feels a rumble, thinks "I'm hungry" and spends five seconds determining what he wants for lunch....

    Plus, a lot of us are pretty good at creating satiating meals for 300-500 calories, right? Well that can't compete with the 500-1000 calorie fast food or restaurant meals that exist. I realized this with my BF. I thought he was never hungry, ate so little. No, he just ate BIG HEAVY meals that kept him full for hours. My calorie controlled portions could never compete.
  • rainbow198
    rainbow198 Posts: 2,245 Member
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    During the week I typically eat a bigger late morning breakfast, a mid-sized mid-afternoon lunch and a bigger evening dinner.

    I plan my meals out ahead of time and they are balanced - I try to include fruit, veggies, fiber, fats, proteins and carbs.

    I can go long time in between meals. Usually about 4 - 5 hours and in between dinner and breakfast the next day I don't have hunger pangs.

    In my experience snacking didn't work for me. I would be thinking about my next mini-meal or snack and I was rarely satisfied.

    Once I started listening to my hunger cues and ate larger meals less frequently I started having a better relationship with food. There was a bit of an adjustment period as my body was expecting food all day, but the transition wasn't hard.

    This eating pattern works so well for me and I've been able to lose and keep a lot of weight off.
  • Tropicoolblonde
    Tropicoolblonde Posts: 70 Member
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    I don't really have a schedule but usually something like this...

    wake up- eat immediately

    1-2 hours later- large snack

    11am-2pm a big lunch

    3-5pm dinner (which some days I skip)

    and nothing after 3-5pm.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    3 meals, 1-2 snacks, about every 3-5 hours.
    Typically I will eat these amounts at these times:
    8 AM Breakfast about 300 calories
    Noon Lunch about 400 calories
    3-4 PM snack
    6 PM Dinner about 500 calories
    8-9PM snack
    Snacks are 100-300 calories total for both.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,345 Member
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    3 main meals and 3 snacks. Little and often seems to work well for me as I fill up quickly. I maintain on 1800 cals.
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
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    2 meals, rarely a snack. Lunch & dinner. Occasionally a snack after dinner if it was light or my workout for the day was a long and difficult one.
  • Jamie23049
    Jamie23049 Posts: 16 Member
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    I don't eat during the day at all. I haven't eaten breakfast or dinner since i was around 12 years old so I just eat lunch. I normally eat lunch at around 11pm which isnt healthy at all as I end up being starving at the point and just eat lots of bread with my meal to help fill me up and then I go to bed and maintain the calories i just ate
  • SteadyDoinIt281
    SteadyDoinIt281 Posts: 24 Member
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    During the week-
    7-8a: two boiled eggs, 1 oz cheddar chz
    930-1030a: 1c greek yogurt, walnuts, strawberries
    12-1p: 4-6oz protein, .75-1c carbs, 1.5c veggies
    3-4p (preworkout): oats with flax, banana
    630-730p: 4-6oz protein, 2c veggies

    Weekend is always variable and a little less prescribed, but tends to be a later, bigger breakfast and no morning snack, smaller lunch, grazing afternoon snack, bigger dinner.

    Maybe-
    930-1030a: 2 eggs (poached, scrambled, fried, sometimes omelette with veggies that need to be used), bacon, 1 red potato hash
    1230-130p: lettuce wraps with leftover protein or salad with leftover protein and oil and vinegar
    230-330p: grazing crackers/cheese/fruit/veggies of some sort that need using
    630-730p: 4-6 oz protein (usually some kind of beef or seafood), 1c carbs, 1.5c veggies
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited June 2017
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    I eat 3 meals, no snacks. Current goal is 1500, and I split them somewhat evenly (usually around 350-450 for breakfast, not always, whether lunch or dinner is biggest varies). I eat at 6:30-ish (depends on whether I run in the morning, as I eat after I run), noon-ish, and when I get home and make dinner, which is quite late, usually 9-10. I don't generally get hungry until it's my normal eating time, because I am a creature of habit. I almost always end up doing a workout right before a meal -- if I don't run/swim before breakfast I do it before dinner, and I usually lift at lunchtime (before lunch) or before dinner.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    through the week anywhere from 3-6x a day.

    I have breakfast and if needed I have a small snack about 1 hour before lunch...then I have lunch...a snack about 4pm then my dinner...

    sometimes if I have the calories or if I am hungry I eat at night too...keep in mind most of my meals are 500-600 calories each and my snacks are yogurt or fruit...sometimes in the evening I eat chips and chocolate too.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    longstocking wrote: »
    Basically I was wondering if maybe my snacking is counterproductive? Maybe it's just a question of habit and if I eliminate snacks and would only have meals after a week my body would adjust and I won't feel as hungry in between meals? I'm somewhat afraid to just test it because I'm afraid to end up being too hungry and overeat.


    When I was younger I used to skip breakfast and often lunch. I wasn't hungry early in the day. I did get pretty hungry, tired, not feeling 100% by afternoon though. I started eating lunch more and that was better. As I got older I decided to eat something small for breakfast and my energy for the whole day got better. I get hungry in the morning at that meal time now where I did not before it was a regular habit.
    I get hungry every 3-5 hours and I think that is pretty average. I'm sure if I changed my eating schedule and split up my calories into fewer meals I would eventually get used to it and get hungry around those times. I don't have to do that though. It is convenient for me to eat on my current schedule.
    The only way you will find out if a different way of splitting your calories or different meal timing works better for you is to try it.
    If you are going to cut snacks you need to eat some bigger meals and maybe change habits. Like if you always eat a snack while watching tv change to a different activity during that time. It could take more than a week to change a habit.

  • LenGray
    LenGray Posts: 842 Member
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    Three meals (1,700ish cals) and two or three snacks (300ish cals) for me. I usually eat every two or three hours, otherwise I'm starving. Most of my snacks are fruits and veggies though, so it evens out the heavier meals :)

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