[Trixie14]

I've read all over the place that you should eat every 3 hours to keep your metabolism up and so you dont go into "starvation" mode but what if your not hungry? Should you eat anyway? Is it ok to only eat when your hungry as long as your not STARVING???

[maggie2005]

I eat every 3 hours and it keeps my focus off of food cravings. But, the meals aren't a full sit-down meal. I keep the "snacks" to around 200 calories. My meals are a bit more. All in all, I keep the total for the day 1600-1800 calories. I usually am not starving when my next meal/snack is due.
The information I've gotten from multiple sources is that keeping the blood sugar stabilized keeps the engine (your metabolism) humming, thereby burning more calories. I just feel better with a bit in my tummy!

[lucky]

IMO, you don't HAVE to do anything because, at the end of the day, it is going to boil down to whether or not you burned more calories than you consumed. With that said, I agree that there are plenty of benefits to eating every 3-4 hours but they probably vary from person to person and how much you eat at each sitting will be uninque to you. In my case, I find that I lose weight more efficiently by eating a 300 or so calorie breakfast, maybe 100-150 calorie snack, 350-400 calories lunch, another 100 calorie snack, 400 calories for dinner, and then a final snack of around 100 calories.

I am not always hungry when I have my snacks. However, I find that by eating a small amount (not enough to feel full) BEFORE I get hungry I have much more control of myself during my main meals. It may sound silly, but by focusing on food so often I am actually turned off by the idea of overeating.

[hebert99]

i was thinking about doing that when summer comes along, have about a 300 calorie breakfast, 100 cal. snack, 300-400 calorie lunch, 100 calorie snack but i never know how many calories i am having for dinner because my parents make me eat what ever they are having but of course i eat them mostly in moderation.