[peaches*]

i understand the best way to lose pounds is proper diet and exercise. but ive read that its best to eat small meals 5-6 times a day. but i cant manage to do that. i can eat healthy and exericse, but i cant eat small meals. im never hungry in the morning/noon, i dont get hungry until 3-4pm. and by 6-7pm i have urges to eat a big big filling meal.

so should i just skip the idea of 5-6 meals a day and just eat a small meal around 6-7pm?

will this slow down my metabolism?

[Searesrayne]

If you can't eat small meals just have like a super small snack or a bite of something. You not eating in the morning/noon until much later kinda doesn't help your metabolism so just at least eat a bit of something that would be in place of the 5-6meals

[lilchineseboy]

It's not a matter of being hungry. It's providing your body with nutrition and trying to keep it from eating giant meals. You'll get used to it if you continue to do it. Eat fruits before meals and it'll make you eat less unhealthy stuff.

[iyagi]

I know it's been over a week since the last reply in this thread, but this is my take on it.


DON'T EAT IF YOU'RE NOT HUNGRY.

It's a good thing to actually know when your body is hungry, because if it's not then you end up eating excess food you don't need. Nutrition is important, but so is knowing when you actually need to eat. Not hungry? Don't eat, or just pick up a small snack. Hungry? EAT. It's simple.

That's the system I followed and I lost 6-7 pounds on it.
You don't have to follow any "schedule" for eating (I know it's kinda difficult, if you live with your parents and they cook for you etc.). Just eat when you're hungry and don't when you're not. Naturally, your body will tell you when it needs food, so just learn to listen to it and answer to it. IMO, that's the best thing you can do.

[periwinkle610]

I must disagree with the person who wrote above. Technically that is the LAST thing you would want to do, and besides, it'll make you more fat (if you care about this fact...). XP Also it will screw up your production of stomach acid as we all know as the lovely (not) HCl... I suggest the only time you DO NOT want to eat is when you are INCREDIBLY sick (like puking up everything everytime you eat). This is coming from a person who has a stomach disorder and getting suggestions from her GI (stomach) doctor ALL the time.
Yes, it is good to have a small 5-6 meals daily. However, this doesn't work for everyone; SO I suggest you stick with the three meals a day plan. And yes, for some people eating after a certain time frame will slow down their metabolism. Try to make it a habit of eating as much as possible in the morning (healthy) and as not as much during dinner (which might be difficult for you). This way it'll be heathier for your body and stomach. As many people have mentioned, try to eat a lot of fruits. They're really good for you, not to mention tasty! Oh yeah, if you want to keep your weight at bay, I HIGHY suggest that you make your dinner time strictly to 5-6 PM and nothing afterwards; maybe with the exception of healthy foods... XP
Hopefully, this helped you.

[chocolate-girl-chocobo]

hmm maybe if it's a small healthy snack or like negative calorie type foods like celery?
im not too sure >< it depends on your metabolism ...

[Somaek]

well you shouldnt eat when you are not hungry...
but there is a rule more important than this...

ALWAYS eat breakfast...
even if youre not used it you should do it and get into the habit of it... i never ate breakfast before like a lot of people but its the most important meal of the day...
eating breakfast makes you less hungry throughout the rest of the day which is good for weight loss... breakfast should be a decent size but anything is better than nothing... dinner should be the smallest meal and dont eat 4 hours before sleeping... even if you are starving, no night time snacks!~ you will wake up hungry and have a good breakfast...

and eat slow too

[Koutarou]

I agree completely with Somaek.

Eating a filling, nutritious breakfast EVERYDAY will make you less dependent on a big dinner. Eat breakfast no matter what. Eat it even if you're not hungry. You should never skip breakfast. I don't know how much I can stress that point. It'll give you a lot more energy throughout the day, of course, depending on WHAT you eat for breakfast. Okay, yeah. Skip the bacon. And sausage. And anything with grease. Eating breakfast will help you control your hunger.

And about the 5-6 small meals... I find that to be so unrealistic. Just eat a nice breakfast, and eat some small things here and there if you're hungry, but you don't really have to stick to exactly 5-6 small meals.

[huongface]

go with what your body tells you. If you want to keep fit, just eat healthy when you're hungry. yes, and always eat breakfast even if you're not hungry. have a fruit of some sort.

[erika.march1993]

if you want to eat, then eat. Just don't overeat.

[Searesrayne]

If you read what the OP wrote, they said that they pretty much eat nothing from the time they wake up to until the middle of the day 3/4pm and gets super hungry at dinner time 6pm. Its not clear if they do eat, but it doesn't sound like it. That's like semi starvation and does kill your metabolism

[Meenuh]

You should eat at your scheduled times. The whole idea is to get your body used to taking in food at those times. It's like jumpstarting your metabolism. Like saying "hey! I have food for you so you don't have to keep storing crap so that I can survive". Lol.

When I split my meals into 5-6 small ones throughout the day, I found that I just didn't want to eat a lot of the times during those times but I was told that I SHOULD eat. Obviously they weren't going to force me to eat.

[_KS]

Yes you should eat on a consistent basis. Ideally you should eat 5-6 smaller meals a day but for most people, it's either too much work or too inconvenient so however many meals you do decide to eat, try to not stuff yourself. It's like you're a car with a gas tank of 10 gallons but you fill it up with 20 gallons. Well the tank can only use 10 so what happens with the other 10? it's wasted and applying this beautiful analogy to us, becomes stored as fat. Basically.

And ALWAYS eat breakfast. ALWAYS.

And when do eat, try to make sure you've got protein. Stay away from eating just carbs. This is why junk food is so bad. PEople will just eat chips and cookies with soda as snacks. All bad carbs.

[rainbowartist]

Eating small meals around 5-6 times a day is a good way for dieting. Most people think that not eating is the best way to diet well in fact it will make you more fat because once you are hungry you tend to grab more food.

I agree that it is really important to eat breakfast. I suggest that you eat heavy meal for breakfast then just eat small meals within the day and especially at night. Your stomach needs food and don't let it get to the point wherein you will get hungry.

When we say small meals, that doesn't mean it's ok to eat high carb foods. Try a healthy diet like instead of taking junkfoods for snacks, try eating a fruit instead. When eating bread, choose wheat bread. Be conscious of what you eat but always make sure you still get the vitamins and minerals that your body need.

The amount of food intake depends on what activities you do. The more activities you do the more you need food. So base it according to your activities too. I feel sorry for those who go under diet by restraining themselves from their favorite foods. (can you imagine them drooling and feel bad because they can't eat what they want?)

You can possibly eat your favorite meal once a week or within two weeks. But don't forget to indluge wisely. Just think you reward yourself from suffering from your comfort foods for days.