Maintainers - how many meals a day?
HappyGrape
Posts: 436 Member
I go between 3 and 5, but mostly 4. I wonder long term maintainers - what do you prefer? 3 bigger meals? 3 meals plus 1 or two snacks? what and why do you prefer this
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Replies
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I've reduced number of meals from 7(!) at some point in weight loss (not to mention grazing through weight gain), to 4, and now 3. My intake is split into roughly 1/4, 1/4, 1/2. 4 meals was nice (I had a lot of cheese and nuts and fruit and smoothies), but 3 is more tidy and need less planning. I feel more free - no stress with timing of meals, but most days I end up eating within a 6-8 hour window. And if I need/want additional food, I eat.1
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Typically I eat 3 meals and no snacks spread out throughout the day. My meals are filling so I don't need to snack.
When I lost most of my 80 pounds I ate 5 - 7 times a day because at that time I thought that was what you needed to do to lose weight. I wasn't happy eating that way, but I was willing to do whatever it took to lose weight.
Eating that way didn't keep me satisfied. It also made me think about food more because I was staring at the clock waiting for my next meal or snack.
One day I got fed up and started combining mini-meals and snacks. I became a happy girl and never looked back.
Regarding timing I listen to my body. Most days I don't get hungry until mid-late morning and that's when I have my first meal. I don't eat on a timed schedule.
I'm a planner as well. I have a rough idea of my dinners one week ahead (for grocery shopping purposes) and the night before I plan out my other meals for the next day in my food journal.
This plan works very well for me and has helped to make maintaining my weight loss a breeze.7 -
I pretty much graze...my MFP food log is set to time ranges rather than meals because my work schedule is very fluid and I find it easier that way2
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I eat 5 meals per day and very healthy. Meal #1 is usually oatmeal with nut/ honey/ cinnamon, or overnight Banana-P.B. oats; sometimes egg scramble with spinach, onion & DAves Powe seed bread as toast. For Meal 2..usually fruit or small fruit/protein smoothie. Meal #3 is usually large salad, or tuna on toast. For Meal 4 usually a high fiber snack...like almonds or popcorn popped in coconut oil, or a Kind Bar. My supper is light...meat and lots of veges or homemade soup with tons of veges. I've cut out sugar and alcohol... & only use pure organic honey as a sweetner. (I eat salmon 2 x a week) I am maintaining wt. Loss easily eating 5 x a day and practice yoga every day, cardiovascular 20 min. 3 days a week.....ride my bike or kayak, swim on wk.ends.1
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I prefer to eat all the food all the time... but what actually works for me is something small mid-afternoon, then a big dinner, then possibly a small snack before bed.
So a big snack/small meal around 2pm
A big dinner around 6
A snack around 102 -
My preference would be 3 meals and about 3 snacks - but that would typically put me in a slight calorie surplus.
So for the working week I usually make "breakfast" one of my snacks (often a protein shake) and that works out as a rough calorie balance over the course of a week without calorie counting.
My higher weekend exercise/activity levels means that 3 meals / 3 snacks is about right.3 -
It varies by the day but I keep returning to 2 meals a day.
I have coffee when I wake up then wait until I'm hungry to eat. 10am-11am I have lunch and it's my largest meal of the day. I'm so full I usually last until a light supper at 7:30pm.
I might have yogurt or 2 egg about 4pm if hungry, bringing me to 2.5 meals that day.
A treat food is usually eaten outside of that schedule. So a day or two a week I'm eating 4 times.1 -
I do 2 meals lunch and dinner, a snack in the afternoon and a snack in the evening. And a cup of coffee in the morning.0
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Usually I drink bunch of coffee in the morning, I eat a small lunch and a big dinner.0
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rainbow198 wrote: »Typically I eat 3 meals and no snacks spread out throughout the day. My meals are filling so I don't need to snack.
When I lost most of my 80 pounds I ate 5 - 7 times a day because at that time I thought that was what you needed to do to lose weight. I wasn't happy eating that way, but I was willing to do whatever it took to lose weight.
Eating that way didn't keep me satisfied. It also made me think about food more because I was staring at the clock waiting for my next meal or snack.
One day I got fed up and started combining mini-meals and snacks. I became a happy girl and never looked back.
Regarding timing I listen to my body. Most days I don't get hungry until mid-late morning and that's when I have my first meal. I don't eat on a timed schedule.
I'm a planner as well. I have a rough idea of my dinners one week ahead (for grocery shopping purposes) and the night before I plan out my other meals for the next day in my food journal.
This plan works very well for me and has helped to make maintaining my weight loss a breeze.
My appetite is triggered by eating, so I prefer substantial meals. My daily intake divided into three does not make me stuffed, just normal satisfied. I still want to eat more, but I tell myself no, or not now. The easiest meal to wait for is breakfast, and I don't eat (or drink) after I brush my teeth, so limiting my eating to three meals is a good rule that is easy to stick to. Eating just falls into the "natural" rythm of my day, doesn't take up somuch mental energy anymore. (I still think a lot of food, but that's because I love food.) I feel normal and strong and relaxed and grownup, and it's helping me to get more and more confident with managing food and weight.
I too love to plan meals - dinners are basically decided one week ahead, and roughly for yet another week. Grocery shopping is so smooth and meal planning so fun when I let them work together and in combination with my preferences and the rythm of seasons.6 -
It varies from day to day. I walk a lot and on days with long walks (4+ hours) it can be up to 7 times. A normal day with just an hour or 2 of walking is 4 times.1
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2 meals & the occasional after dinner snack.1
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Breakfast is huge (5-600 kCal), but if I don't have it I'm crabby. I don't really have "lunch" but snack throughout the day, every 2-3 hours (which accounts for roughly half my calories). Dinner is adjusted based on the day's intake, and then I usually have a small snack an hour before bed. So, three "meals" technically, but I can eat seven or eight times. It feels like I'm eating constantly, some days, but at least I'm not hungry...1
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Ideally, 3 meals but I find I usually need a mid-afternoon snack. I struggle because my fiance gets home at unpredictable times and a 8-hour break between lunch and dinner is nearly impossible.2
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Normally 4 meals and 1 snack. Shown below with examples:
Breakfast (oatmeal with fruit & yogurt or cottage cheese/fruit)
2nd Breakfast (boiled egg, fruit or veggies, string cheese)
Lunchish (big salad with protein)
Snack (rice crackers with PB or veggies & hummus)
Dinner (protein/carb/veg or tacos)
I'm not obsessive meal schedules or timing and I don't always have the 2nd breakfast (which is probably more like a snack anyway). I pretty much just eat when I'm hungry. Since we eat dinner quite late, I very rarely snack after dinnertime.0 -
As many as it takes1
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I have three "meals" and three or four snacks. I have coffee immediately and eat breakfast at work. My breakfast is usually more (decaf) coffee and Greek yogurt with granola around 0930. Fruits or veggies is my typical mid-morning and mid-afternoon work snacks with the rare salty snack (usually 100-calorie bag of popcorn) replacing the second work snack. I eat lunch late (around 1300) and it's usually 200-400 calories - sometimes a frozen meal, other times leftovers from dinner. I run or hit the gym after work and come home hungry most days. My usual snack when I get home is pretzel sticks and hummus. Dinner can be just about anything from a salad to pizza, wings and breadsticks. Then a snack of chocolate chips and mini marshmallows before bed. Usually this is about 200 calories, but some days (like last night) I need a little more. But, after a couple years in maintenance, all my days are flexible.0
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Breakfast, lunch and dinner. If breakfast is less than 200 cals. I will have a little mid morning snack, usually V8 and turkey Jerky. But with about 6 hours between lunch and dinner, and working out in between, I need a snack with my mid afternoon coffee and a protein drink after the gym.
I am done with dinner between 7:30 and 8PM (including desert) and I don't eat anything else until the next day breakfast.0 -
Usually about 600cal at breakfast, 200-300cal at lunch and 400'ish for dinner with about 300cal in snacks, depending on what's left after lunch and dinner. I almost always try to get a small piece of cheese (90cal) in right before I go to bed as it really tides me over well for the night--trying to sleep with a rumbly tummy is a recipe for no sleep and a miserable next day.0
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Cutting, gaining, or maintaining, I eat the same number of meals every day (which is 2, unless you consider my morning 1/3-cup of almonds a meal). The only thing that changes is the size of those meals, and potential snack choices.
I should add that I only count calories on weekdays; on weekends I eat whatever I want whether my goal is to lose weight or not.1
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