Does eating 2-3 hours make a difference?

F

fitharp

Cathlete
I have been hearing alot about eating every 2-3 hours instead of 3 meals a day. Has anyone eaten 3 big meals a day and then switched to eating every 2-3 hours and noticed a big difference in weight loss? I carry all my weight right in my tummy and it isn't budging. I eat breakfast, which is usually a bowl of cereal with blueberries, or 1 egg with whole wheat toast. Then I am not really hungry until 12:00 for lunch so then I will have a salad for lunch, then i do get hungry about 4:00 and will have popcorn or pretzels and then dinner at 6:00 and then usually not anything the rest of the night. It doesn't seem to me like I am eating that much. I have read about kepeing something in your stomach all the time so even though I don't feel hungry I am wondering if I whould still eat every 2-3 hours. If it doesn't make that big of a difference I don't want to get eating that much more.
Michele
 
I have recently started "forcing" myself to eat snacks between my big meals (I say forcing because it was a hard transition to make). I did this more for blood sugar/energy reasons rather than weight loss.

I definitely think it helps me in terms of keeping my blood sugar pretty steady thru the day. I can't really comment on weight loss since I am not currently trying to lose.
 
i have done both. i intially lost 35lbs by eating 3 meals a day. then i went to 6 and yes its a pain in the a** sometimes but i noticed a huge difference. when i do 3 meals a day, i feel high's and lows in my energy levels and my abs disappear but when i do 6 my energy level is stable, i don't ever get hungry, and my abs pop right out. but everyone is different so you have to try both ways. this is what works for me. plus i really like eating so its great to be able to put something in my mouth every few hours. from what i've read the larger the meal the more likely you are to store excess nutrients as fat b/c the body only uses so much at one given time.
 
I think it helps me because if I don;t eat every 3 hours, I start to crave sugar and once that hits, I'm a goner! When you do it for a while, you will actually be hungry at the 3 hour mark. My body is on a "every 3 hour" clock for eating now. What you need to remember is not to add these 2 -3 snacks, on top of 3 large meals. Like someone said, you have to reduce the amount you eat in the other 3 meals. Just figure out your daily calorie count and spiit it between 5 or 6 meals.
 
For me it does. I have been eating 6 smaller meals a day since I started losing weight. I lost about 35 pounds eight years ago. I workout 6 days a week and I have to eat more because every 2-3 hours I'm hungry. When I was only eating 3 big meals, I would sometimes suffer from low blood sugar but I haven't had that problem since. It's really hard for me to eat 3 meals. I can tell right away in my energy level. If I have a big lunch, I get tired in the afternoon. By eating 2-3 hours, my energy level stays fairly stable throughout the day.
 
I am also one who eats 3 meals a day. I tried the 6 but it really does make me gain. I feel like it means I can eat all day. I am going to stick with what works for me. Yesterdqy on Today they discussed this. The nutritionist said that it really doesn't matter and to go with what works for you.
LD
 
I prefer eating 6-7 meals a day. When I eat 2-3, I usually eat at around 11am, then not again until 4pm! By 4, I am starving and just too impatient to make something healthy. By eating every few hours, I am not starving, just mildly hungry and can enjoy something healthy.

I've increased my calorie consumption to about 1500-1700 everyday (250-300 per meal. Hopefully this will help me get rid of the extra fat around my middle.

I have also noticed an increase in energy throughout the day. This is great since I do a lot of driving for work.
 
I'm doing a little reading on this "clean eating' concept. I'm i the beginning stages of this. Besides eating the 5-6 smaller meals a day, it's also important to have a balanced meal -- including protein, complex carbs, fibrous carbs. Your pretzel snack will cause an increase in blood sugar ... you'll need to add a protein or fat to stablize the blood sugar. HTH, Deb
 
Wow lots of different results. I do have a problem with low blood sugar, especially after I run! So I think I will try eating every 2-3 hours and see if that helps with my energy. The trick will be eating small amounts.
Deb, I know I need to work on the eating carbs with proteins and fats but I have a hard time with this. So with my pretzels I should have a cheese stick? What are some other good snack options? What are you reading to learn about this?
Thanks!
Michele
 
pretzels and cheese
fruit and cheese
cottage cheese and fruit
yogurt with nuts or a fruit
apple with peanut butter
veggies with hummus
whole wheat crackers with cheese or peanut butter
low sugar protein bar
smoothie made with 1 scoop protein powder and fruit
 
Yes it truely does. We were not made to eat 3 large meals a day. If you think about it we were hunters and gatherers at one point and that is how our bodies are supposed to digest food. In small portions many times through out the day. Scientists have actually done studies were they put two groups of people on a certain food plan. Both got the same amount, same kinds and same calorie intake as each other. But one got 5-6 small meals a day the other ate 3 large meals a day. The group that ate the 3 large meals gained weight. The group that ate 5-6 small meals lost.
Here's the thing, you eat a meal, your body starts digesting it. Your blood sugar goes up, you insulin kicks in lowers the sugar to the acceptable range. Assuming that you ate a balanced meal your blood sugar will stay were it should without your body having to do too much for about 3 hours. Then it starts to drop, your mind has a hard time concentrating, you feel tired. If you stay this way for a long period of time your body will start breaking down you muscle, yes, your muscle gets broken down first and uses that to raise up your blood sugar. Then by the time you eat again, your famished so you eat, a lot. then you go through the same cycle. Now, once again assuming that you workout and use weights, all that hard earned muscle is getting used up between meals to keep you going. So, you're trying to raise your metabolism by building lean tissue, but your hurting your metabolism by starving your body in between meals.
Any extra calories that you eat a any meal will go to storage with in an hour or so of eating. We all know what I am saying by storage, fat.
So, yes it does help to eat every 3-4 hours, small meals. When I say small, I mean, oatmeal for breakfast with berries, a salad loaded up with colorful vegetables for meal 2, peanut butter w/ celery and an apple for meal 3, meal 4 a piece of chicken with brown rice and broccoli, meal 5 cottage cheese with fruit.

You can go by what I put there, or eat what you like. But that's the reason that eating 5-6 small meals a day is so much better for you. I would rather not get into digestion, that's a lot longer. LOL!

Kathy
 
also when you think about it, when we are born we eat innately every 3 hrs or so. so society has made us fit this mold of eating only 3 times a day. in other countries they eat multiple times a day as well.
 
>also when you think about it, when we are born we eat
>innately every 3 hrs or so. so society has made us fit this
>mold of eating only 3 times a day. in other countries they
>eat multiple times a day as well.

What countries are those? In France they are very disciplined and eat 3 meals a day, with a possible tea/snack in the afternoon, because they eat dinner late in the evening. French women are known for their slimness. I was curious...
 
I tried eating the every 2-3 hours thing and all it did was leave me unsatisfied because my meals were so small.

Now, I eat when I'm hungry stick to mostly protein and the scale has finally started moving downward after 18 months.

It's all about eating fewer calories in the long run, not 3 meals or 6 meals.

Try logging you calories at Fitday. You would be shocked at how easy it is to underestimate calories.

>>>>also when you think about it, when we are born we eat innately every 3 hrs or so. so society has made us fit this mold of eating only 3 times a day. in other countries they eat multiple times a day as well.

I'd also like to know what countries you're talking about. As far as I know, Europeans don't eat breakfast - just some coffee, a light lunch and then their dinner.

I think Americans are the only ones who eat all day long.

And, hunters and gatherer societies did not eat 6X per day. They ate one huge meal when they actually caught something and went for days before their next meal.
 
i know china and japan do smaller frequent meals. i'm not argueing about this. thats why my original post says do what works for you and i also said that i lost all of my weight on 3 meals a day
 
Right now my favorite mini meal is fiber one cerial (with extra fiber) mixed w/ an equal amount of yogurt and splenda. I put it in the freezer for about 10 minutes. Yum! Reminds me of cheesecake.
 
In my experience I think that 3 meals and 3 snacks work the best. The verbage here is important for my brain because something about saying 6 "small meals" make me unsatisfied immmediately! The biggest gain I get from eating this way is the end of the 4-8 pm ravenous period that I always had with 3 meals a day only (I usually ended up skipping breakfast too) When I eat every 3 hours I stay in a very stable, and tend to eat alot fewer calories after 4 pm than I ever did with just 2-3 meals a day. It also seems to be easier to eat clean when you aren't ravenous. I did lose a few pounds and it came off areas I never see too much loss, so I keep it up even though it does take alot of planning. IMHO!
 
for those that do 3 meals a day, can you post what a typical days of eating looks like for you. thanx
 
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