Maintainers - how many meals a day?

HappyGrape
HappyGrape Posts: 436 Member
edited November 19 in Goal: Maintaining Weight
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

  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    edited June 2017
    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.
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    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 way
  • Tnangaley
    Tnangaley Posts: 18 Member
    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.
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    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 10
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    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.
  • TangledThread
    TangledThread Posts: 312 Member
    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.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    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.
  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,753 Member
    Usually I drink bunch of coffee in the morning, I eat a small lunch and a big dinner.
  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
    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.
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
    2 meals & the occasional after dinner snack.
  • Kullerva
    Kullerva Posts: 1,114 Member
    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...
  • alias1001
    alias1001 Posts: 634 Member
    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.
  • RaeBeeBaby
    RaeBeeBaby Posts: 4,246 Member
    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.
  • cqbkaju
    cqbkaju Posts: 1,011 Member
    As many as it takes
  • msdemeanor70
    msdemeanor70 Posts: 66 Member
    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. :smiley: 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. :blush: But, after a couple years in maintenance, all my days are flexible.
  • Gisel2015
    Gisel2015 Posts: 4,186 Member
    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.
  • born_of_fire74
    born_of_fire74 Posts: 776 Member
    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.
  • xmichaelyx
    xmichaelyx Posts: 883 Member
    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.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,743 Member
    I eat 3 regular meals plus snacks. I eat to hunger, mostly, but I also have a sweet tooth that gets indulged when I have extra calories. I am running 35-40 mpw and walking another 20 or so so I have a big appetite. As long as my activity level stays the same, I maintain well. Injury or illness I am usually less hungry, but I have a hard time cutting back enough because I am used to eating bigger meals.
  • Budjola
    Budjola Posts: 148 Member
    IF here. lunch (after gym) at 1pm, then i have salad and broth at around 4-5pm and my last meal is huge dinner at 8pm.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,225 Member
    Three meals usually, sometimes 2, occasionally 4, any of the above with or without snacks between.

    I'm retired, have an irregular schedule and exercise calories varying from zero to near 1000, though more commonly 300-500 (still doing NEAT method due to lots of weather-dependent variable exercise).

    I usually under-eat my NEAT by a couple of hundred calories daily to accommodate some indulge-y days once a week or so.

    I use snacks (especially protein-y ones) if I get unusually hungry when a meal isn't coming soon, to help me avoid overdoing when the mealtime arrives. A hundred well-timed protein calories can ward off several hundred, for me. I keep snacks like dry-roasted soybeans in my car for just this purpose.

    Two meals can happen if I sleep late or read in bed before getting up. Four meals can happen if my schedule creates some big gap (like plans for a late dinner with friends after an early lunch), or on days when I need more protein to hit my goal, and have enough calories left for something meal-like in the evening rather than just a high-protein snack.
  • Noreenmarie1234
    Noreenmarie1234 Posts: 7,492 Member
    edited June 2017
    Usually 2-3. I like to eat large volumes lol. Also when I eat too many meals I just want to eat all day long and eating distracts me from getting stuff done.
  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    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.

    I do exactly this, too. :)
  • LewisAMartinez
    LewisAMartinez Posts: 22 Member
    Typically 3 meals plus one or two snacks. When on a hike it's breakfast, graze throughout the day, and a large dinner.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    Typically 2. One is small, one is a big meal (full plate, sometimes seconds, usually with wine, sometimes with dessert).
  • TenderBlender667
    TenderBlender667 Posts: 78 Member
    I do IF so 1-2 meals is the norm for me. Breakfast is a bowl of fruit or a smoothie. Lunch, which is usually my last meal, takes up the rest of my calories for the day.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Depends on the day, but usually breakfast, lunch, dinner, and some snacks in the afternoon and early evening.
  • macchiatto
    macchiatto Posts: 2,890 Member
    I usually eat 3 meals and 1-3 snacks a day.
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