Eating five/six small meals a day?

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brittianynicole
brittianynicole Posts: 2
in Motivation and Support
I've heard many times that eating five/six small meals a day is supposed to help increase weight loss, do any of you recommend it? and if so...
how do you get all the meals in, in one day?
how many calories do you eat each meal?

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  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    It is a common belief that is "boosts" metabolism, etc etc, however, it has been disproven.

    Does it work for some people, myself included, yes, because it keeps me from getting too hungry and making bad choices. But many others do just fine on 3 bigger meals, or even one large meal. Do what works for you.

    I generally keep my meals around the same. So if I have 1800 calories for the day, each meal is about 300. But you can work it however, if you want to do 3 larger meals with 3 small snacks, you can.
    I eat every three hours or so. I also work shift work where I can end up being up more hours than usual in one day do it makes it easier to get them all in.
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
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    You can split up your calories however you like.

    The main benefit is psychological.

    If you like doing it this way, cool! Go for it!
    If you prefer to do it differently, the good news is it does not matter at all.
  • masterschild54
    masterschild54 Posts: 13
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    As a person who has had a gastric bypass and is 158 pounds down, small meals are essential for me (I'm also a vegetarian) I find the smaller meals with no more than 3 hours between keep my cravings at bay and my blood sugar more on an even keel.
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
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    It doesn't increase weight loss. What it does, for some people, is keep hunger under control. Experiment and find out what meal frequency works best for you.
  • Silverkittycat
    Silverkittycat Posts: 1,997 Member
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    what taso said, I eat all day because I like to, not because it boosts anything. :)
  • IrishChik
    IrishChik Posts: 464 Member
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    It doesn't increase weight loss. What it does, for some people, is keep hunger under control. Experiment and find out what meal frequency works best for you.


    This.
    Or your blood sugar from dropping and getting sick - like me.
  • scarlettesong
    scarlettesong Posts: 108 Member
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    I've heard many times that eating five/six small meals a day is supposed to help increase weight loss, do any of you recommend it? and if so...
    how do you get all the meals in, in one day?
    how many calories do you eat each meal?

    I used to do this all the time because I worked a 12 hour shift sitting at my desk the whole time. I'd bring food from home and let myself eat 200-300 calories every 3 hours. Then I'd have supper after. That usually came down to about 1600 calories at the most. (when I was counting calories).

    I went back to 3 meals a day, but I'd be starving and cranky around 10am and 3pm. I'd grab a pop tart, soda, or something else sugary when that happened. Now I make sure to have a little snack at that time. I eat about 300 calories for breakfast, 400 at lunch and dinner and 100-150 calorie snacks.

    Edit for clarification and grammar.
  • Nutrition1st
    Nutrition1st Posts: 216 Member
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    Eating 5/6 small meals a day does far more than contribute to weight loss. The affect is has on your organs far outweigh anything you can see in the mirror or on the scale. Not to get too technical, but here's what happens when you stuff your face for 1 or 2 huge meals a day and how this eating style contributes to diabetes.

    When you eat carbs, they are ingested into the stomach, and then into the small intestine, where almost all digestion occurs. Imagine the stress you place on these organs trying to digest 1,800 calories at 1 time as opposed to 300 calories every 3/4 hours. If you look at the organs of a healthy person, you will find that the stomach is actually small and elastic. So you can imagine how much it has to stretch to hold 1,800 calories instead of 300. Enzymes then break down carbohydrates into simple sugars like lactose, fructose, glucose. These simple sugars are then absorbed through the lining of the small intestine and are transported to the liver through the portal vein where the liver then converts all these simple sugars into the common sugar glucose. Glucose is the only usable form of simple sugar in the body. The liver, being the most active organ in the body and performing some 64 vital functions, then releases this new glucose into the bloodstream to raise blood sugar levels to normal. If the supply of this newly ingested glucose is too high (in the case where you ate 1 huge meal a day), the blood sugar level gets too high and the excess glucose must be eliminated from the bloodstream. The Pancreas houses the hormone Insulin. When the blood sugar reaches increasing levels, insulin is released and attaches to the excess glucose for delivery to body tissues The muscle tissue is then the first stop for “insulin-carried” glucose, especially after exercise when muscle energy stores are low. Insulin actually opens up receptor sites on muscles, allowing for the uptake of glucose to replenish depleted muscle energy stores. When receptor sites do not take up glucose readily they are said to be “insulin resistant.” This eating style is a major contributor to Type II Diabetes.

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