Weight-Loss Eating 5-6 small meals each day

Weight-Loss
Has anyone tried this?

They say it is very effective, but I have found that it is no fun at all. :(

Eating a 1/2 cup of brown rice and beans with a piece of wheat bread, or a half a turkey sandwich with no mayo, or a cup of cereal with skim milk every two hours, takes a lot of the fun out of eating.

Gimme a big salad, a bunch of friends and an hour to chat. That's my idea of "eating".

What say you? Has anyone found the 5-6 meal plan successful and doable?
 
i'm currently on the 6-7 meals a day and i find that i can eat more and still maintain my weight ... but, it's also not just the type of meals, but it's the type of food that you are eating at any given time that can make a big difference.

For example, your last "meal" of the day, should be low in carbs because you don't need carbs to sleep, but u do need protein. As a bachelor, I find this easier too because i can throw 1 thing on the oven / stove / etc and do something else instead of preparing whatever is supposed to go with it. For example, I used to be sure that I had some pasta, meat, & vegies at every meal ... now, I start with the pasta, then the vegies, and finally the meat for 3 different meals.

The only downfall i've found from this diet (which isn't necessarily bad), is that when I'm dining with friends or family, and they fill my plate, i can't usually eat it all without being overly stuffed because i'm not used to eating such large portions anymore ... but, i've been doing this since my 2nd year college ... about 6 years (man I'm feeling old), so it's not something that happens over night.
 
I would think it would be alright for some carbs, it would just have to be slow digesting carbs, like brown rice or oatmeal.

Using the many meals daily has skyrocketed my metabolism. Im eating in the 4200 calorie range(not recommended unless your bodybuilding lol) and about an hour after eating im hungry again. I do have a fast metabolism but it really has gone up.

get some protein for all your meals, even if it only 10-15g per meal.

I dont see anything wrong with a big sald, there are very few calories(try not to get iceburg lettuce its pretty much the least nutrient dense). it all depends on the toppings, if you get bleu cheese dressing with bacon and ham and cheese it quickly gets worse for you.

one good thing thats good about eating lots of small meals is that, when you eat, it raises your body temperature into thermogenesis. so the more small meals, the longer your body will have an elevated temperature(burn more calories)

several smaller meals are also good because it trains your body to live less off of fat and more off of the constant supply of food. Which means your body is trained to have less fat, and who wants fat anyways?

many meals daily is the best way to have your meals, no matter what your goals, it just takes the discipline to do it. good luck to ya and drink your water!
 
5 meals a day

I eat 5 times a day and generally my breakfast, noon and 5pm meals are somewhat normal. My tweener meals are small. Like maybe a banana and half a pb sandwich. Maybe a bagel and a yogurt. Just enough to let my metabolism know it doesn't have to start storing fat.

And it's bleu. Humm? Then how come we don't call then francais fries?
 
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ooooh wait a second, were we talking aobut the cheese? or color? Because I was talking about the color, but then I realized that maybe you guys were talking about the cheese, and I figured out that bleu is the cheese.. But if we are talking about the color, then it's definatly spelled blue.
 
LOL! I think it's hilarious we are having this conversation about bleu cheese =) hehehe...

anywho.. eating 5-6 small meals doesn't have to be no fun Red... I actually do the same thing as stimpson and have my three regular meals a day (with friends, hanging out, etc) I just eat slightly smaller portions. Then for the inbetween meals i have a snack and try to make sure i get in my dairy and fruits then, b/c i tend not to do so well during my regular meals on those items..
 
I just read in a new diet magazine that when you dont eat frequent enough your metabolism rests and basically stops working totally...so there is major merit to make us all pay attention. Especially when you do proteins... that really boosts the metabolism!
 
Any Suggestions

I find it nerve racking to try and eat 5-6 small meals a day-it actually makes me feel like a pig. Has anyone else find it hard to do that. So now i don't eat until i feel hungry which works a lot better for me.
 
I find it easier to eat fewer meals & I get in most of my cal by 2 in the afternoon...I eat a lite dinner w/ mostly veggies & only a little bit of animal or clean proteins...
I find it makes me feel better all around. It is intended to keep your blood sugars even & your fire burning in your metabolism. I just plan my meals ahead of time...like Ill bring some unsalted nuts in a small container & a piece of fruit or a yogurt (4oz) or some cheese & fruit..something w/ natural carbs & high protien & fiber..Or maybe try a protein shake..even the premade ones are good ...just watch the sugars.
 
Has anyone tried this?

They say it is very effective, but I have found that it is no fun at all. :(

Eating a 1/2 cup of brown rice and beans with a piece of wheat bread, or a half a turkey sandwich with no mayo, or a cup of cereal with skim milk every two hours, takes a lot of the fun out of eating.

Gimme a big salad, a bunch of friends and an hour to chat. That's my idea of "eating".

What say you? Has anyone found the 5-6 meal plan successful and doable?

There are a couple benefits to spreading out your meals.

As someone has already pointed out, breaking up your meals spreads your nutrition and calories out over the day, which can help with exercise recovery and muscle-building. Basically, it keeps you from going "catabolic" during the day, and losing muscle mass. And you don't have to be a bodybuilder to benefit from this effect, since anyone who wants to be more fit and "toned" wants to preserve lean tissue while reducing body fat levels.

It also keeps you from consuming more calories in a single meal than your body needs to fuel your basic bodily functions and activities in a 2-3 hours window. Energy from food doesn't get "pooled" in reserve like amino acids (well, it kind of does, but it get's stored as body fat), so most people don't need 800-1000 calories in a sitting. Anything beyond what you're body will utilize in the next 3-4 hours will get stored as body fat.

So spreading out your calories into 300-400 calorie meals is more efficient.

Eating more frequently also keeps blood sugar levels nice and steady, which can keep your energy up and prevent crashes or over-eating/hunger later in the day. Blood sugar spikes also can contribute to fat accumulation in the body, so minimizing them can help keep you leaner.

Finally, you do get a slight metabolism lift from more frequent eating, although the research around this shows it to be fairly marginal -- maybe a few dozen extra calories burned a day.

The biggest mistake people seem to make with the 6-7 small meals approach is that they don't balance the meals out properly. Every meal, whether it's a snack or lunch, needs to all three macro-nutrients: a complex carb, some healthy fat and lean protein. Often, people will eat an apple for a snack and then complain that they feel unsatisfied an hour later. You really need to add some protein and fat to the snack (like some natural peanut butter) to make this approach work.

I generally eat about six meals a day, and personally never found it to be difficult. The trick is to keep plenty of healthy foods around at your desk or in your laptop bag or around the house -- things like oatmeal, fresh fruit, dried fruit, nuts, whey powder, vegetables and even low-sodium soups that you can make on the fly. If you keep these things on hand, it's not terribly difficult to make this work.

matt
 
I've had success on 5 meals a day as well as 3 meals +snacks a day, which to me is the same deal. I have to eat more than morning noon and night anyway. I've lost weight both ways.
 
Well I'm not really sure about that, but I just have the regular 3meals a day
and have lots of low caliores snacks in between. Or lots of fruits and
vegetables it really fills you up a lot. or water. And by doing that I've been pretty
succsefull even sometimes when i do no excerise I still loose weight, but thats
everyone once in a while and its like 2-3pounds a week. :)
 
3?

6?

It's not going to make a difference assuming calories and macros are accounted for. This has been discussed to death around here.
 
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