Okay, I am trying to figure out which is better...
Is it better to eat smaller "meals" (more like snacks) throughout the day?
or
Is it better to eat 2 or 3 bigger meals?
I know the logical answer to this, but when I eat the smaller meals I feel like I actually end up eating more. I also find myself as getting hungry more often. I've been researching this and now am just looking pros and cons I havent thought of.
Also what size meals during what part of the day? I've heard lots of people say your biggest meal should be in the morning. What do you eat to make yourself feel full and be the biggest first thing in the morning?
Any help on this topic would be greatly appriciated.
Keep a food diary/journal to see what you are actually eating if you don't already. INclude some protein some carbs, some fat, some veg at each meal, even if it's a mini-sized meal or a snack. Protein especially helps a person feel fuller longer. And by having a more complete foodset, it will also help.
I'm a grazer...I eat all day long, mini meals sorta. And I eat more at dinner time, and in the evening, though I try to have something every 3-ish hours even during the day.
It's different for everyone and you just have to find what works for you. One of the things that I'm working on is figuring out the difference between full or slightly hungry and over full. I have always wanted to eat until I am just a little over full, not to the point of becoming ill, but almost uncomfortable. I don't think that feeling is helpful to keep the weight of, so I need to learn how it feels to be hungry, but not very hungry, and the difference between full and too full. Hoping the grazing helps with that.
Good luck to you. Just keep adjusting until you find what works.
I eat 3 big meals and it seems to work for me. The other way makes me more prone to forget or something to come up and then I get really hungry and it's a struggle to not want to "make up for it". But I agree with Barb that if you aren't already keeping track of what you eat that might help you figure out the best method for you.
I usually eat shredded wheat and milk in the morning and warm it up and that usually keeps me full for a while. Haven't really branched out more than that because I hate cooking (and washing dishes) when I get up lol.
There's a lot of advice out there in support of 5-6 small meals a day, but that doesn't work for me. It just makes me have to think and worry about food all day long. I definitely do better with 3 regular meals a day.
My biggest meal is lunch, but that's because I work for a bunch of restaurants and my lunch is paid for. I eat a medium-ish to hearty breakfast (2 eggs, spinach, and a green smoothie), a big lunch (usually a big salad with a protein and a side of hummus) and a light dinner. It really just happens that my lunch is the biggest meal.
I used to eat 3 meals a day - dinner being my biggest by far, and I lost weight.
Then I stared eating healthy and doing all this reading - so I started spreading my calories out and eating snacks and this and that. It hasn't really worked for me. I feel like I am eating more then I should and always thinking about food and what time is it, should I eat? etc. So I am trying to get back into the 3 meals a day - but keep them a bit more even. Rather then eating veggies all day until dinner and then pigging out. I think I would rather eat slightly larger meals then snacks.
I also find if I have a lunch packed that I look forward to, I am less likely to even think about eating out. It is harder to pack a lunch I can't wait to eat that is 200-300 calories. But 400-500 calories can make a huge difference. Today for example, a co-worker was talking about going to the vietnamese place for soup - not too high in calories and I LOVE IT! But I thought to myself, no - I have a delicious lunch packed!
I use the method of having 3 smaller meals with snacks in-between. It works great for me! I don't find that I am obsessed with food or feel pressured as to what time I should be eating as my body tells me when I'm hungry. Normally works out being every 2-3 hrs and I have my whole day's worth of food prepared and ready right by me.
I find that I tend to gain weight when I'm only eating 3 big meals as things may sneak in inbetween, or I'll be munching as I make dinner ,or my portion sizes are just far too large. There may even be times where I miss a meal completely too as I'm not thinking about my stomach at all until it's too late and I'm ravenous.
It takes trial and error to figure out what works for you. Just learn your serving sizes, and it helps to know what calories are in things too even if you're not a calorie counter.
There really is no single answer. Even the research studies have been somewhat inconclusive (there's research support for several different methods, which I think suggests that different people find different methods successful. I think personality, physiology, and even what you're eating, what your lifestyle is like... all sorts of factors play in).
Experiment and journal (to evaluate the success of your experiment) would be my suggestion. Find out what works best for you, because it doesn't matter what works best for anyone else. I think weight loss is a lot more individual than we realize. What works well for one person, might spell diet-disaster for someone else.
I definitely graze all day, but like others have said, whatever works for you. I find that I can control my appetite better that way, and I never feel weighed down from a large meal. Also, I NEED to eat soon after I work out, and since I change when I work out every flippin' day, it's easier to just have a snack.
Plus, I like snacks... it makes me feel like I get to cheat, but it's already factored in to my calorie allotment.
I'm also a grazer. I eat three full meals a day, dinner being the biggest because that's when I have time to cook. I eat snacks throughout the day. Usually fruit or a laughing cow little cheese wheel thing. I also usually have something for dessert, typically a skinny cow ice cream sandwich or popcorn.
I think it's just whatever works for you. If you're losing weight, whatever you are doing is working.
I'm a grazer, always have been. I don't set the clock to eat every 3 hours, I just eat when I'm hungry. Some days I eat all of the food I've brought from home, some days I don't. I figure as long as I stay in my calorie allotment, I'm fine
i tried more of a grazing thing but i felt hungry all the time. if i didn't eat one of the snacks I usually had I felt like I was starving almost. I didn't like that so I went back to three meals. I do have a snack in between lunch and dinner almost everyday, and occasionally a 'dessert' at night.
breakfast for me is a smaller meal but i have been making it bigger. lunch is usually about the same calories as breakfast or a little more, then dinner is usually bigger but sometimes the same size. if it is the same size i usually having a bigger dessert snack. i always think about shifting the calories more towards the beginning of the day instead of the end but I'm still losing weight and I'm just use to eating more later, i like it better. eating more at the beginning feels like a chore to me.
Thanks everyone! I know what works for me is best, I was looking for a simple way of finding that *shrugs*.
I guess it will be just a trial and error until I find my fit. Right now I'm mixing between the two methods. I'm finding that if I dont have snacks I really over eat at meals. I'm also trying to convince myself to start eating breakfast, even though I hate forcing it. When I get up in the morning, my schedule is set without eating. I get up at 6:30 and dont eat until 10 or 10:30, which is when I actually feel myself getting hungry. So this is what my schedule is looking like right now:
6:30 Wake up
10:00 Fruit (100-150 cals)
12:15 Lunch (200-300 cals)
2:00 Snack (100 cals)
4:00 Snack (200-300 cals)
7:30 Dinner (500-600 cals-sometimes more)
Thank you again for all the input, and for your honesty that there is no "best way".
Which is better....?
