Eating every 3 hours
- Thread starter Stratos
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An argument which was not backed up sadly. The Thermic effect of food is constant no matter when you cram your calories in.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/23/health/23really.html?_r=1&src=sch&pagewanted=all
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9155494
If it makes you feel fuller for longer then knock yourself out, but there's no metabolic benefit. There's lots of very lean people cutting on far fewer meals.
I'm hardly against it, give it a try and see if it suits you. If you find yourself fancying larger meals again then go back to eating 2 or 3 decent sized meals a day. It won't hurt you.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/23/health/23really.html?_r=1&src=sch&pagewanted=all
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9155494
If it makes you feel fuller for longer then knock yourself out, but there's no metabolic benefit. There's lots of very lean people cutting on far fewer meals.
I'm hardly against it, give it a try and see if it suits you. If you find yourself fancying larger meals again then go back to eating 2 or 3 decent sized meals a day. It won't hurt you.
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I'm presuming that you knew this, but for the sake of total accuracy.
It isn't all about total calories.
Even in terms of carbohydrates, consistantly eating equivalant calories from beans and white bread will have a totally different effect body composition.
7.00am - Porridge and protein shake
10.30am - Wholewheat pasta and chick + nuts
1.00pm - Whole grain rice with chicken + fruit
3.00pm - 2 scoops oats + 2 scoops whey with 500 ml of skimmed milk
5.00pm - in the gym and post workout shake
7.30pm - dinner
10.00pm - cottage cheese with oat cakes
3500cals on a training day and 3200 on non.
This is a training day, just remove the 5.00pm entry for non-training days and this is me.
10.30am - Wholewheat pasta and chick + nuts
1.00pm - Whole grain rice with chicken + fruit
3.00pm - 2 scoops oats + 2 scoops whey with 500 ml of skimmed milk
5.00pm - in the gym and post workout shake
7.30pm - dinner
10.00pm - cottage cheese with oat cakes
3500cals on a training day and 3200 on non.
This is a training day, just remove the 5.00pm entry for non-training days and this is me.
Yeah there is more too it obviously, I was referring to the timing of the nutrients specifically rather than anything else.
If the OP is finding themselves getting hungry between meals then obviously they'd be advised to increase protein and fat consumption for their satiating qualities (and obviously other benefits but again just on meal timing).
Intermittent Fasting for the win! My journal is proving this and I'm I've not even really tried to loose weight and I'm 6KG lighter in 7/8 weeks and I wasn't exactly overweight beforehand.
There's lots of conflicting stories, IF might not be for you but there has been proven to be no effect on metabolism from eating small regular meals. This doesn't mean it's bad or doesn't work, just that you won't burn more calories by doing so.
There's lots of conflicting stories, IF might not be for you but there has been proven to be no effect on metabolism from eating small regular meals. This doesn't mean it's bad or doesn't work, just that you won't burn more calories by doing so.
Associate
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- 4 Mar 2010
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- Coventry
IF does sound good reading BennyC's journal.
As for eating every 3 hours, I guess it helps keep you in the mindset and keeps things ticking and on track.. but Tbh I dont see any reason why eating 3 meals a day would be worse off in the long run. Aslong as you are hitting ur required calories and protein/fat/carb intake and doing enough exercise to get your goals then anything should work.
As for Diets Im trying a low carb one atm (Ketosis is too extreme for me tbh) but I eat anything from, bacon, eggs, fish, chicken, cheese, salad, nuts, breads... Keep it clean and not 'ready mealed' and you should be good!
As for eating every 3 hours, I guess it helps keep you in the mindset and keeps things ticking and on track.. but Tbh I dont see any reason why eating 3 meals a day would be worse off in the long run. Aslong as you are hitting ur required calories and protein/fat/carb intake and doing enough exercise to get your goals then anything should work.
As for Diets Im trying a low carb one atm (Ketosis is too extreme for me tbh) but I eat anything from, bacon, eggs, fish, chicken, cheese, salad, nuts, breads... Keep it clean and not 'ready mealed' and you should be good!
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Soldato
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- 18 Oct 2002
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- 6,672
Best thing I ever did was get away from nonsense like "eat every 3 hours".
If total calories and macros are the same, eating frequency makes no difference.
I've found it much easier to get lean (and muscular) eating less often. It allows me to "pig-out" (relatively speaking) rather than constantly pick on small stuff.
If you do change your eating frequency, bear in mind it takes several weeks to adjust (hormonal entrainment).
If total calories and macros are the same, eating frequency makes no difference.
I've found it much easier to get lean (and muscular) eating less often. It allows me to "pig-out" (relatively speaking) rather than constantly pick on small stuff.
If you do change your eating frequency, bear in mind it takes several weeks to adjust (hormonal entrainment).
Associate
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- 23 Jun 2010
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I might be wrong but I was advised by a dietician a few years back the reason for eating more smaller meals is that the body does not need to "store" energy.
So you have 3 big meals a day the body knows this and will store energy from each meal to sustain itself throughout the day turning it to fat.
You have 6 smaller meals the body has no need to store energy as it knows it will get toped up throughout the day.
Can’t be quoted on it but makes sense to me, yet if you work out and burn off the energy it should be fine either way I guess.
So you have 3 big meals a day the body knows this and will store energy from each meal to sustain itself throughout the day turning it to fat.
You have 6 smaller meals the body has no need to store energy as it knows it will get toped up throughout the day.
Can’t be quoted on it but makes sense to me, yet if you work out and burn off the energy it should be fine either way I guess.
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Very similar to Intermittent fasting.
www.leangains.com and my journal on here throws a spanner in the works for the small but often meal approach. I used that approach for over 2 years and in 8 weeks have found IF more effective but also enjoyable. Can't rate it highly enough.
Unfortunately, sometimes dieticians don't know their own field
I probably eat 4-5 meals a day tops, and if it's 5 meals one will be a snack.
Something like:
Breakfast
Lunch
erm, meal 3?!
Dinner