I was just wondering -- I might have posted this ? before but... does it matter how many calories you consume per meal? I read in Muscle & Fitness Hers that you should limit your caloric intake to 400 calories per meal and 150-200 per snack to reach your total caloric intake for the day. I don't always adhere to that rule and was wondering what the concensus was from the "educated crowd". Thanks!
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Caloric Intake per Meal
- Thread starter heidi36
- Start date
Heidi,
The article you are referring to was part of an interview with Cathy Sassin, a triathlete who is the co-founder of Intrafitt, a nutritional counseling company that is based out of Gold's Gym in Venice, California. They also have franchises in many Gold's Gym's and some health care systems throughout the US. The basic principle that they preach is that giving your body a consistent supply of fuel in precise carb/prot/fat ratios will control blood sugar levels and prevent insulin spikes that can lead to fat storage and sugar cravings.
I'm sure you've heard some of this before, 5-6 small meals spaced throughut the day. All Cathy is doing is defining the meaning of "small". According to Intrafitt, if you eat much less than 350-400 cals at a meal, you will likely experience low blood sugar levels and hunger/sugar cravings before it's time to eat again. If you eat much more than 450 cals, you will likely have consumed more than you can use for the next 4 hrs. and some will be stored as fat. Therefore, number of calories per day will vary depending on how many hours you are awake, if you follow the every 4 hr rule, but if you are utilizing all tha calories from a previous meal before you eat again, you shouldn't be storing any fat.
They have a pretty extensive web site that goes into a lot more detail about this. It's www.intrafitt.com.
FitnessRN
The article you are referring to was part of an interview with Cathy Sassin, a triathlete who is the co-founder of Intrafitt, a nutritional counseling company that is based out of Gold's Gym in Venice, California. They also have franchises in many Gold's Gym's and some health care systems throughout the US. The basic principle that they preach is that giving your body a consistent supply of fuel in precise carb/prot/fat ratios will control blood sugar levels and prevent insulin spikes that can lead to fat storage and sugar cravings.
I'm sure you've heard some of this before, 5-6 small meals spaced throughut the day. All Cathy is doing is defining the meaning of "small". According to Intrafitt, if you eat much less than 350-400 cals at a meal, you will likely experience low blood sugar levels and hunger/sugar cravings before it's time to eat again. If you eat much more than 450 cals, you will likely have consumed more than you can use for the next 4 hrs. and some will be stored as fat. Therefore, number of calories per day will vary depending on how many hours you are awake, if you follow the every 4 hr rule, but if you are utilizing all tha calories from a previous meal before you eat again, you shouldn't be storing any fat.
They have a pretty extensive web site that goes into a lot more detail about this. It's www.intrafitt.com.
FitnessRN
The idea with multiple meals and avoiding going more than 3-4 hours without eating is to maintain glycogen stores, which spares lean muscle. In order to do this, each meal will have to consist of fewer calories than an eating plan where you consume 3 meals a day only if you are to stay within a set per day caloric limit.
This eating style keeps blood sugar levels consistant throughout the day, which helps prevent the "I'm starving and will eat anything I can get my hands on" feeling. The consistant blood sugar levels also help with the uncontrollable cravings for sweets.
Maribeth
This eating style keeps blood sugar levels consistant throughout the day, which helps prevent the "I'm starving and will eat anything I can get my hands on" feeling. The consistant blood sugar levels also help with the uncontrollable cravings for sweets.
Maribeth