About eating every three to four hours. Size? Consistency?

ThisIsTheTim · July 2017

Apologies if this has already been addressed but exactly what are the parameters for eating every few hours as far as snack size? For instance, is a baby carrot or two enough to keep the metabolism going or would it need to be a bit more?

Also, does the consistency of the food matter? Would a yogurt suffice or does it need to be something chewed?

livingleanlivingclean · July 2017

Eat as much as you like, when you like. (fitting within your calorie goal of course)

Meal timing is pretty irrelevant, your metabolism doesn't stop (or else you'd be dead). Eat 1 meal or 20, whatever you prefer.

RodaRose · July 2017

You are over thinking this.

Eat whenever and however much you want as long as it fits into your calories.
Small snack, big snack -- make sure they fit into your calories at the end of the day.

->Do not worry about keeping the metabolism going.
The body's metabolism works 24 hours a day no matter when you eat.

rmgnow · July 2017

What works for me is the good ole 3 square meals.
It doesn't matter if you chew your calories pr if you drink them

trigden1991 · July 2017

You don't need to eat every few hours. I fast for 16-18hrs a day and my metabolism is just fine.

InkAndApples · July 2017

Just eat when you're hungry.

Blitzia · July 2017

As to your baby carrot question:

If you're worried about meal timing because of rumors about metabolism, don't worry about it. Those gimmicks about "jump starting" your metabolism by eating at a certain time of day or eating small meals to try and burn more calories are just myths. For weight loss, it doesn't really make a difference if you eat 2000 calories in one big meal or throughout the day; when it comes to weight loss, 2000 calories is 2000 calories.

However, meal timing can make a big difference when it comes to hunger and how easy it is to stick to your goals. For that, everyone is different so your best bet is to experiment. Eat two baby carrots and time it to see how long before you're hungry again. The next time, have 10 baby carrots and time it again. For me, I found that when I have a protein bar, whether I have a bite or the whole thing, I'm hungry again in two hours. So now I have a bite and save the rest for when I'm hungry again. Whatever eating style makes you happy and less hungry is what you should go with. (Same thing for the consistency question - for me, I have to chew to feel any bit full. For other people, they love their smoothies and shakes so play around to figure out what works for you.)

TnZMom · July 2017

Different people are hungry at different times of the day. It doesn't matter when you eat so long as you consume less than you burn. But from a behavior perspective, try to eat during the times of day when you naturally like to eat.

I'm hungry from 7:00 am to 3:00 pm but couldn't care less about supper, so I eat every two hours or so at the beginning of the day and then just have something small for dinner. But some people are nighttime eaters and they like to eat light during the day and save up calories for nighttime. Don't try to work against your body's instincts. Figure out when you are hungry and then eat more frequently at that time.

About eating every three to four hours. Size? Consistency?

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