More meals or less?

Deaglain.12

When losing weight should I be eating 4 medium meals a day or more smaller meals throughout the day? If so how many..

Alf Veedersane

Deaglain.12 wrote: »

When losing weight should I be eating 4 medium meals a day or more smaller meals throughout the day? If so how many..

Doesn't really matter once you're not eating too much overall.

Track your food intake on something like myfitnesspal or fitday and ypu'll be able to see if you're eating too much.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

as alf said, doesnt really matter

1 meal, 3 meals or 7 meals. so long as you feel full enough throughout the day not to binge on ****e or take the lazy quick dinner option.. yer grand

TouchingVirus

I'm on a serious, long-term cut to fix years of overeating and I eat 3 times a day most days - breakfast, lunch and dinner. Sometimes (i.e. if I've forgotten to prep) I will skip lunch and eat like a sow when it's dinner time so that'd be two meals on those days. The old adage of 4/5/6 small meals is nonsense in my case at least, I wouldn't be full after having a 500/400/333kcal "meal". Makes me feel much better to be throwing 633 or 1,000 into me at a time That said I have always had very good control over my hunger pangs, so if you struggle with adherence then frequent smaller meals may be called for.

metamorphosis

johndoctor wrote: »

For Losing Weight, you should be take 4 to 5 small meal per day. Control your Eating Habit.

The thermic effect of food is he same over a 24 hour window regardless of whether you eat one 2000 cal meal or 4x500 cal meals. OP - whatever suits you eating wise. if that 3 meals, thats 3. If thats 5, then 5 - whatever suits your daily schedule and allows you to eat decent quality food

Essien

Slightly OT but, where does this idea come from and how does it maintain so much momentum? From my own experience I know it doesn't matter but I always hear it, even from people who do BB comps, who I'd have assumed would know best.

tomdempsey200

aren't large meals bad for you?

I heard it was better to eat more small meals

Chancer3001

I don't get why people ask the same question 4 different times in the same thread!

The answers been given!

It doesn't matter!!

What matters is your overall intake.

tomdempsey200

bad for your stomach isn't it

Alf Veedersane

Why is it bad for the stomach-

thegreatiam

Essien wrote: »

Slightly OT but, where does this idea come from and how does it maintain so much momentum? From my own experience I know it doesn't matter but I always hear it, even from people who do BB comps, who I'd have assumed would know best.

I think the misinformation comes from a combination of 2 or 3 factual but minor and incorrectly interpreted origins.

The idea that your body can only process a maximum of 30g of protein at anyone time leading to people eating smaller meals with 30g of protein in them 5 or 6 times a day to get their 150+ grams of protein.

Plus the fact that (depending on your body size) your body can only process 7-10g of protein an hour. meaning that for the 30g total in your meal, you need to wait 3 hours before your next meal or any protein you take will be wasted and you will piss out any gains.

Basically, while there is some truth in these facts they are interpreted wrong.
your body does take an hour to process a set amount of protein depending on not only your muscles, but skeletal structure. Bone marrow stores protein for a short time I have been told (may be relaying more broscience there tho as I havent researched the fact)
and it process protein 24 hours a day, even when you are not eating.

So the myths become active based on some facts, but they are interpreted wrong or they are exaggerated beyond logic and still catch on. Yes your body can only process a certain amount of protein at anyone time, but it does process it all.

Like the m50 can only process a certain amount of cars at one time, but every one still gets home, or we would all be in 24 traffic just outside tallaght.

Also there is some myth that your body needs to be activated and your metabolism needs kick starting every few hours, hence smaller meals more frequently.
In practice, your body uses and or stores anything it can, in total. so its not the amounts you eat at one sitting, nor the frequency but the totals over hours and days.

If human beings had to eat every three hours to kick start our metabolism then we would have evolved to live near our food source, like pandas and gorilla and would probably still be swinging in trees. as we would have no need to invent farming as our ancestors would be living in a field of tasty moss.

The fact is we have evolved to be nomadic and function without food for up to several days with no real permanent, detrimental side effect. evolving to chase food across long distances until it collapses and we can kill it. Fuelling ourselves on easy to reach nuts and berries on the way when we need it.

basically, people who are trying to do something hard will grasp at a straw to make it easier, or seem easier. this then snowballs and becomes a fact. people then just perpetuate it by not questioning it, they eat 6 meals a day because that's what they are told what the need to do. Until someone questions it and goes out of the way to disprove it.

But, there is nothing wrong with it, if thats what you wish to do, but it is in no way a requirement. 6 meals in one day, or 1 meal every 2 days, as long as you get your required intake of nutrients and the resource is there when your body needs it.