Thread: Meal Frequency research

thanks for this common sense approach. 3 meals a day is such a recent way of eating (and not worlwide spread either), it couldn't possibly be the best and only way.

should you not just eat when you're hungry? sometimes i only want 2 meals a day, not three

Originally Posted by dietgirl24

should you not just eat when you're hungry? sometimes i only want 2 meals a day, not three

You should have whatever suits you. I suppose a lot depends on the size of the meals you're having.

Generally on work days I eat 3 meals 2 snacks a day. I find I feel better and more balanced if I eat something every 4 hours or so. Breakfast and lunch would be between 200-300 cals each with some fruit/yogurt in between then a larger meal in the evening.

At weekends its usually brunch and dinner with some fruit in between.

Thank you for posting this KD, omg... yes I so totally agree that the constant advice to eat 6 (or more) meals is just annoying... I tried it a while ago (had a few false starts before getting into the zone) and found that I was 1. constantly obsessing about my next "mini-meal" 2. I was never actually full, but neither was I hungry enough to really enjoy the food.

At risk of being controversial it struck me that this is the perfect plan to induce compulsive over-eating, also (to repeat something I said in another post) the generations in the past that had 3 (or even just 2) square meals a day and actively disdained eating between meals were the very ones that didn't have a battle with obesity like we do.

I think the idea we should fear hunger and always have something on its way to our mouths is downright dangerous... yeah I feel pretty strongly about this, sorry if I'm being a bit too outspoken, obviously no offence meant to anyone.

Last word, I saw this British bariatric surgeon on TV recently and he said that the fear of hunger is the single biggest cause of problems in his clients, now he (unlike me) isn't just some unqualified goon spouting off online, and if he thinks that way it certainly supports the idea that the promotion of never-ending meal-upon-meal is dangerous for some people.

Needless to say, if someone's lost weight that way and also is maintaining happily on it, that's awesome and good luck, but I think it's potentially problematic for many people with weight issues and certainly shouldn't be as heavily promoted as it is right now as being the "best way."

/rant

Well..It actually works for me. I lost 45 lbs in three months by eating small meals frequently. What I only added from the regimen is brisk walking for 90 minutes a day. Actually, it is the only one that really worked for me.

Whether its down to metabolism or just the effect on my appetite, the more frequently I eat, the more weight I lose. Not suggesting this is true for others, but it works for me, I have been very carefully monitoring my eating patterns for several months. I really think its down to the individual and what is sustainable in their lifestyle long-term, really.