4-5 Small meals?

[Kathy]

I've read some research lately that it is better to eat 4-5 small meals each day instead of three large ones.

I think the thing in the negative category for this one would be that 4-5 meals a day requires you to cook/find/prepare extra meals per day than normal.

But maybe its a matter of a chunk of cheese and an apple for one meal. :D

Anyone eat this way...by grazing all day long?

[crunchies0313]

I definetly graze all day, but not in the healty way!! I would consider myself an addicted snacker.

I have also hear the 4-5 meals a day, but I already have a problem with thinking of what to eat for one meal let alone 5!

[gemsab]

I do it this way, Kathy.......breakfast is about 300 calories, lunch is about the same, afternoon snack is 150 calories, dinner is 4 to 500 calories and evening snack is about 100 calories. Snacks are usually something like fruit, a handful of nuts, a yogurt, etc. It works because you are never too hungry between meals. Whever I am really starved I tend to eat way too much. 5 or 6 meals a day keeps your metabolism going.
Emily

[LadyG]

I eat about the same way Emily does. I started when I was doing Slim Fast. After Slimfast I just added food instead of the shakes.

[SlaveToDogs]

I've actually been seeing a bariatrician (a doctor who specializes in weight loss) for the last 6 months and this is what he told me to do. The other key is to eat foods that are low in glycemic index (don't cause the blood sugar to shoot up). Eating regularly throughout the day keeps the blood sugar even and keeps down cravings. He also told me to exercise at least 30 minutes 4x/wk. and to eat more protein than most diets tell you to have.

Have I followed this consistently? Well, that's another story... but I feel better when I do. I keep getting on and off "the wagon" but at least this isn't another diet.

The most validating thing about the whole experience is that he told me that I've been very hard on myself with constant dieting and that it had caused my percentage of body fat to go way beyond what he would expect it to be in a person of my size. Within the first 3 months, even though I didn't lose that much weight, my body fat went down by 10%, mostly from walking!

Libby

[Mori]

I've also heard that eating 4-5 "mini meals" keeps your metabolism going & prevents hunger in between so it's really recommended to those trying to lose or maintain weight. I am planning to give it a try myself & see what happens. Wish me luck! :goodscale

[Dymond24]

I am new to the board. Is their a forum for losing weight?

[Kate]

Dymond, right now we just have one big forum for health. This includes weight loss. Feel free to post your questions if you have any! :)

[Mori]

I just stocked up on Lean Cuisine dinners which were on special & I'm planning to start my diet tommorrow....today I'm going out for Valentine's Day! They are perfect mini meals & I'll be having 2 a day with in between snacks of yogurt & oatmeal to equal 5 mini meals. Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! :signheart

[ashanti1922]

Count me in, smaller meals instead of 2-3 ladrge ones.

[SlaveToDogs]

I find that it's harder than it sounds. I've really struggled with wrapping my mind around it, I'm so programmed to eat 3 meals! I frequently have a hard time taking a deliberate break to get my snacks when I'm working. I doing better to bring food with me that I can graze on at various points throughout the day, like every 2-3 hours when I get hungry. Then I have dinner and a snack. My doctor said the idea is to eat frequently and NEVER to wait until you're hungry, and NEVER to eat when you're not hungry (that's a hard one for me!).

I lost 30+ pounds 10 years ago almost effortlessly and the only thing I can figure I was doing was essentially eating small, highly nutritious snacks throughout the day, and I ate NO sugar. At the time I was commuting a great distance to a home health type job, and if I put in my 8 hours I could head home, so I didn't take lunch -- I simply ate my snacks between visits. I would bring low-cal lemonaide, carrot sticks, a sandwich cut into quarters that I'd eat l-2 pieces of at a time, fruit. And then when I got home I'd have a normal meal.

I'm starting to do that again, except that I keep the stash of food under my desk (since I'm-- thank goodness -- no longer out in the field).

Libby

[angrw76]

I am a grazer but I don't count callories or anything. I prepare a full meal for breakfast and for dinner but snack healthy all day. I am lucky and was raised on whole, healthy, natural foods by my mom who cooked dinner every night. I love to snack on fruits and veggies. I think that unless you were raised on it, it can be hard to honestly want those over junk food. Don't get me wrong, I love sweets but I don't buy prepackaged, store bought stuff. I bake cookies and cake and other deserts all the time. I'm a sucker for dark chocolate and cheesecake and nothing beats homemade cheesecake!

[ashanti1922]

I love SWEETS, help me.

[angrw76]

ashanti~
I have heard that if you cut out all sugar for 2 weeks and substitute fruits, berries, and honey for your sweets then some people lose their cravings for sugar. After that time you can add sugar back in, in moderation and you will usually still prefer the natural sweetness of fruits and berries for the artificial stuff.

[ashanti1922]

ONLY 2 weeks, wow I did not know that. I have got to kick this monkey. Thank you!

[trixie]

The problem for me is reading all of this makes me hungry!!! What I have learned from talking to the healthily slender people that I know is that it does boil down to calories in and out (via exercise/activity). I am a very active person, and feel hungry a lot, even though supposedly it suppresses appetite. But it is hard to accept that the older we get, the less calories we need. I am 49 now, and probably I should only have 1200-1500 calories a day if I want to lose that stubborn 10 pounds.

[gemsab]

ashanti, The South Beach Diet does just what you need to cut down on the cravings for sweets. After the intial 2 weeks, the cravings are gone. It really does work but those 2 weeks are tough. On day 3, I almost killed my hubby. LOL! But I lost 50 pounds so it was worth it. I now follow the maintenance program and it is easy to do daily. I still have cravings but indulge only every so often. If they come back fiercely, then I go back on the first 2 week program and I am good to go.

Emily

[SlaveToDogs]

Unfortunately, the craving for sweets is a body chemistry thing and it IS an addiction. Once you have them out of your system, the cravings do go away and fruits taste sweeter and are more enjoyable. But most people who are major sugar junkies cannot moderate the amount they eat. I know... I stayed off sugar for 2 or 3 years and then one day I told myself that I could have just a little now and then. And at first, that's what I did, but then I was out of control, making up justifications to have sugar way too much. It's the same kind of "stinking thinking" they talk about in AA.

I am like an alcoholic with sugar; I don't really want to give it up; it's my friend. I find myself bargaining and trying to make pacts with myself, like I'll only have it on "special occasions", but then I find my definition of "special occasion" starts to get twisted. I go on and off "the wagon." If this isn't addictive behavior, I don't know what is. I know I need to give it up, but it is so, so hard!!I suppose, like alcholics, those of us who get a buzz looking in the dessert case need to think about giving it up one day or even one hour at a time to start with.

Libby

[TessiNY]

I have a cardiologist who also recommends 5-6 small meals daily--breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack--skipping the last snack if I so choose. This is for energy, keeping a steady supply thru the day instead of overloading and then crashing. He also explained that the stomach is only the size of your fists so when you try to eat 3 large meals, your stomach grows to accomodate it. Eating what he calls "mini-meals" prevents this. I've learned how to eat this way and it is easier than one might think but does take some practice and creativity!! And do I always stick to it? No, but I feel it when I cheat.