6 small meals vs 3 meals

TheBombshell
TheBombshell Posts: 9
edited November 12 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi -just wondered how many of you have smaller more frequent meals- 6 small meals per day. Have you noticed any benefit such as energy or weight loss as opposed to having traditional 3 larger meals per day?.

Replies

  • TheBombshell
    TheBombshell Posts: 9
    Bump!
  • Schnuddelbuddel
    Schnuddelbuddel Posts: 402 Member
    yeah... the small frequent meals keep you from craving things or feeling like you're 'starving' and to me, they make me eat slower and if I eat slower the brain has time to get the message from the stomach that it's actually full rather than be greedy for more ;)

    I usually have breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner and a snack. Sounds a lot, but the breakfast/lunch/dinner portions have also shrunk since the snacks came aboard!

    Try it out for yourself and see if it helps you. :)
  • Longtobeslim
    Longtobeslim Posts: 67 Member
    I too do breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack. I could never eat just 3 times a day. I would be way too hungry in between and when I finally ate I would eat too much.

    I do much better when I eat more often. It keeps my blood sugar levels more even and keeps me from getting too hungry. When I have a snack during the day I try to have either a fruit or veggie with some kind of protein. I find it keeps me satisfied until I eat again.

    I don't know if 3 meals work because I have always done the 6 meal a day thing.

    Give it a try, see what you think.

    Erin
  • TheBombshell
    TheBombshell Posts: 9
    Thanks for the posts I am going to try the 6 small meal plan and see if I can lose the last 2kgs!.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
    Hi -just wondered how many of you have smaller more frequent meals- 6 small meals per day. Have you noticed any benefit such as energy or weight loss as opposed to having traditional 3 larger meals per day?.

    There is no metabolic advantage to increased meal frequency.
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
    I usually eat 5 or 6 times. It comes down to personal preference. For some it keeps hunger levels in check; for others it seems to do the opposite.
  • dougpear
    dougpear Posts: 21
    ACG67 is correct. There is no difference as long as your calories in is less than calories out. Its what works best for you
  • FitSid
    FitSid Posts: 117 Member
    Hi -just wondered how many of you have smaller more frequent meals- 6 small meals per day. Have you noticed any benefit such as energy or weight loss as opposed to having traditional 3 larger meals per day?.

    There is no metabolic advantage to increased meal frequency.

    I agree with that, but couldn't the more frequent meals help keep cravings down then?
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
    Hi -just wondered how many of you have smaller more frequent meals- 6 small meals per day. Have you noticed any benefit such as energy or weight loss as opposed to having traditional 3 larger meals per day?.

    There is no metabolic advantage to increased meal frequency.

    I agree with that, but couldn't the more frequent meals help keep cravings down then?

    as Taso said it's all personal preference, some people find more frequent smaller meals more satiating and others larger more infrequent meals. So you have to find that works for you, but thinking that eating more often, holding cals and macros constant, you'd lose more weight is wishful thinking
  • suziecue66
    suziecue66 Posts: 1,312 Member
    Yeh, no metabolic advantage to increased meal frequency.
    For some people more frequent meals just keep them hungry and constantly waiting for the next meal. I do best on 3 meals per day as less chance that I will over-eat.
  • Athijade
    Athijade Posts: 3,300 Member
    I eat when I am hungry. I find if I PLAN to eat at specific times, I am actually hungrier throughout the day as I think about when I will eat next. However, when I just leave it to my body, I eat less overall and I find I eat healthier.
  • rachelblank427
    rachelblank427 Posts: 180 Member
    I find that I eat less when I have snacks in-between meals. And helps soo much with the hunger pains. Unfortunately for me they sneak up on me and i will eat way more at mealtime and feel guilty and over stuffed. So yeah snacks definitely help me. :)
  • keeponkickin
    keeponkickin Posts: 1,520 Member
    Nope, you don't have to eat 3 meals, or 6 meals. You can eat how you want. I'm just going to copy this in here for you.

    At some point decades ago, everyone felt "3 square meals per day" was ideal. Then, years later, practically everyone in the nutrition field unanimously agreed that we should instead be eating 6 smaller meals per day spaced out every 2-3 hours exactly. Why? Because it "speeds up our metabolism" and does other awesome stuff that helps us lose fat or build muscle better.

    Well, guess what? Countless recent studies have proven that absolutely NONE of it is true. Meal frequency just doesn't matter in terms of "speeding up metabolic rate" or anything similar. 6 meals aren't better than 3, and 3 meals aren't better than 6. As long as your total calorie and nutrient (protein, fat and carb) intake is the same by the end of the day, how many meals you eat to reach those totals just doesn't matter at all.

    So, when it comes to deciding how many meals YOU should eat per day, there's only one guideline you ever need to follow: do whatever is best for you. If you like eating 6 smaller meals more frequently, do it. If you'd rather eat 3 bigger meals, do it. If you'd rather eat some other amount of times (4 meals, 5 meals, etc.), do it. As long as you're eating the right total amounts of calories, protein, fat and carbs per day, it just doesn't matter. Do what's most convenient and enjoyable for you.
  • chrishgt4
    chrishgt4 Posts: 1,222 Member
    Hi -just wondered how many of you have smaller more frequent meals- 6 small meals per day. Have you noticed any benefit such as energy or weight loss as opposed to having traditional 3 larger meals per day?.

    There is no metabolic advantage to increased meal frequency.

    I agree with that, but couldn't the more frequent meals help keep cravings down then?

    as Taso said it's all personal preference, some people find more frequent smaller meals more satiating and others larger more infrequent meals. So you have to find that works for you, but thinking that eating more often, holding cals and macros constant, you'd lose more weight is wishful thinking

    Question regarding this - it's a sort of accepted logic that 6 half sizes is better than 3 full sizes, which I understand is not true at all.

    To me logic says that if I keep my tank regularly topped up then the energy will get used as I need it, rather than one big lump at the start - my body can only use so much, then stores what it can't as fat which isn't then as readily accessible resulting in not getting all the energy that is available out and gaining fat.

    As I say - I'm pretty sure that although it makes logical sense when explained like that, there is a lot of explanation missing.

    So I guess the question is 2 fold -

    1. Why doesn't it matter?

    2. does that mean I could have all my day's food in one lump up front and it wouldn't make a difference? Whole week's up front?

    It's always been one thing that I've never got my head around. Now I know I could go research it, and to be honest I will be doing anyway, but I'd appreciate a bit of info if you don't mind bud.
  • m60kaf
    m60kaf Posts: 421 Member
    I find that when I'm fat I have plenty of stores to keep me going whatever I do - but the lower my body fat becomes the more I notice peaks and troughs of energy from food because I haven't got anything in reserve

    I definitely struggle with enough energy through weights the closer I get to my body fat goal (and interestingly this isnt because I eat to little - when I start off on the cutting im fine, its the closer I get to my goal I start to notice) .Eating bulking shakes would sort all this for me but I have too much body fat for me to want to do this

    So maybe most people don't need to eat six times a day, but definitely a number of little adjustment meals with what Im trying to do through the day when I can feel my energy low to keep me functioning right is essential for me.

    Like a bit of museli for carbs or a low carb protein shake here and there.
  • AllanMisner
    AllanMisner Posts: 4,140 Member
    While there may be no metabolic reason, to keep my calories in check, I eat more frequent, smaller meals.

    If I only eat three meals, I end up eating a much larger dinner (going from 1 - 6pm without eating has me very hungry). My breakfast, lunch and dinner each now consist of about 400 calories each (on days I do cardio, I'll increase my breakfast and dinner up to about 600 calories). I'll have two snacks in the morning and two snacks in the afternoon. The snacks are either fruit or a protein bar/shake.
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