How many meals to be eating daily?

Is it really up to 6 smaller meals, ideally to be eating daily. Is this just for people currently muscle training,  and wanting to speed up your metabolism and for that reason to reduce fat?   

Does that six still apply to a normal diet, for a person not interested in muscle growth and just staying at a set weight?       Just out of curiousity, im myself starting basic muscle growth so will be eating towards the six daily.   

Is the three usual time of the day meals, with another three between them the general idea for it?    (being whey shakes, protein bars, fruit etc)

cheers for any insight,

I don't know what the general consensus is or what the 'experts' recommend, but I certainly have found that more frequent smaller meals to be the most effective way to keep my energy levels tip top and to stay at a healthy weight.

I don't eat whey shakes or protein bars etc, instead I have moderate sized bowls of muesli and homemade flapjacks. I'm not a bodybuilder though. My priorities are fat loss and good health.

Ah i see mate, would be the reason i'd do it that way too aswell aswell as helping along with muscle abit

Might just be the same for body builders with those six smaller meals to keep topped up, but swap in what you have for the more protein focused stuff.  Any that focus more on the muscle side of it can agree with that or?:)

cheers,

5 - 7 smaller good quality meals a day with sufficiant protein, carbs, healthy fats, fruit & veg are the way forward when trying to build muscle. It is easier to eat 5 - 7 smaller meals than 3 big meals IMO and it keeps your body topped up all day with muscle building goodness. ;-)

anywhere between 2 and 8 meals

total daily intake is a lot more important than meal frequency

those who say you need to eat 6 meals etc are wrong

anywhere between 2 and 8 meals total daily intake is a lot more important than meal frequency those who say you need to eat 6 meals etc are wrong

 
I would say that 2 or 3 meals a day containing all your protein, carbs, and fats  (especially if you where bulking) would be hefty meals and surely the body can only process so much at any one time. I think that is why most opt to consume 5+ meals a day purely down to the convieniance of the trickle of nutrients that can be utilised by the body more effectivly in turn offering up a better chance to gain more out of the food that is consumed and in respect of that more muscle growth.
I am no expert though just offering up my opinion.

Ah i see,    anyone else got an opinion on if more or less meals daily if your taking in the same amount of benefit from the food in total?       If theres any benefits/negatives to either of them or, pretty much same and down to preference?


cheers,

Aleexander


Is it really up to 6 smaller meals, ideally to be eating daily. Is this just for people currently muscle training,  and wanting to speed up your metabolism and for that reason to reduce fat?   

Does that six still apply to a normal diet, for a person not interested in muscle growth and just staying at a set weight?       Just out of curiousity, im myself starting basic muscle growth so will be eating towards the six daily.   

Is the three usual time of the day meals, with another three between them the general idea for it?    (being whey shakes, protein bars, fruit etc)

cheers for any insight,

This one always confuses me because when guys talk about eating smaller meals, but yet you have to eat 1.5grams protien per body weight aday and so much carbs/fats etc ,this always adds up to alot of food for me

Same here, could be why its such a higher number of times to be eating in the day- to fit so much good stuff into you.

But does it matter if 2-3 times a day, you eat alot bigger portions of that same good stuff for you?

is confusing, hoping someone that really knows his stuff about this one is gonna see this thread :)

Aleexander


Same here, could be why its such a higher number of times to be eating in the day- to fit so much good stuff into you.

But does it matter if 2-3 times a day, you eat alot bigger portions of that same good stuff for you?

is confusing, hoping someone that really knows his stuff about this one is gonna see this thread :)

You couldnt get you protien intake your aiming for into you if you where only to eat 2-3 meals aday . Youd have to eat about 4 chicken fillets in 1 meal ,meal 2 300grams steak,meal three about 4 tins tuna  with a few shakes a day .I can honestly say i couldnt eat that much food in 1 meal

Don Malliony
...surely the body can only process so much at any one time...

The bigger the meal, the longer it takes to digest & absorb. So have as many meals as it takes to eat the amount of food required to bulk. Meal frequency makes no difference to metabolic rate.

See Timings - Overrated or Underrated?

Thought that too Keyser,  also the fact that i dont want to be stuffing myself 2-3 times a day.   

Just still bit confused on what Nigee said though, i thought smaller more frequent meals did speed up your metabolic rate as a small added bonus,
even seen some experienced guys on here saying that to be the case?      

i agree with the OP , because youll have to start eating sooner in the day to get six meals in which means your first early meal "kickstarts" your metabolism right ?

Experts say not to let more than 5 hours go by during the day without some intake of food.
(if your eating 3 meals a day, this is more likely to be the case)
Also you should aim to eat 50g of carbs every 2 hours(a banana and apple can contribute to this)
As someone said above, its pointless having 3 big meals as your body cant absorb all the nutrients at once.
You can still have the same amount of calories as the 3 big meals,but split it up into 5-6 smaller meals to sustain your energy levels

Aleexander


Is it really up to 6 smaller meals, ideally to be eating daily. Is this just for people currently muscle training,  and wanting to speed up your metabolism and for that reason to reduce fat?   

Does that six still apply to a normal diet, for a person not interested in muscle growth and just staying at a set weight?       Just out of curiousity, im myself starting basic muscle growth so will be eating towards the six daily.   

Is the three usual time of the day meals, with another three between them the general idea for it?    (being whey shakes, protein bars, fruit etc)

cheers for any insight,

Everyone is different Aleexander and different people will tell you different things. Ideally you want to eat little and often, eg rather than eating 3 massive meals, eat 6 smaller meals spread out over the day. The idea being it keeps your motabolism ticking over the day and speeds it up. Also you dont want to be feeling bloated cramming all your daily intake into 3 meals do you.

bigjack

Aleexander


Is it really up to 6 smaller meals, ideally to be eating daily. Is this just for people currently muscle training,  and wanting to speed up your metabolism and for that reason to reduce fat?   

Does that six still apply to a normal diet, for a person not interested in muscle growth and just staying at a set weight?       Just out of curiousity, im myself starting basic muscle growth so will be eating towards the six daily.   

Is the three usual time of the day meals, with another three between them the general idea for it?    (being whey shakes, protein bars, fruit etc)

cheers for any insight,

Everyone is different Aleexander and different people will tell you different things. Ideally you want to eat little and often, eg rather than eating 3 massive meals, eat 6 smaller meals spread out over the day. The idea being it keeps your motabolism ticking over the day and speeds it up. Also you dont want to be feeling bloated cramming all your daily intake into 3 meals do you.

 
I still cant get my head round this ,if they are suppose to be small meals why 45  grams protien, and prob 100 grams carbs etc ,if that was the case for me then they are big meals

MEAL FREQUENCY IN THE RANGE 3 TO 6 PER DAY MAKES NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE TO METABOLIC RATE.

READ THE INFORMATION IN THE LINK I POSTED.

That link is really interesting nigeepoo, i've got a kilo of whey on the go right now!  Jokes aside it raises some compelling issues regarding '30g of protein' 'little and often' and other nutritional 'givens' that are taken as fact. Thanks to you and the other guys who put such effort into it.

personnally i find eating 6 times a day, keeps hunger at bay. when i get hungry - i get really moody 

if i 3 times a day - my meals all over the place and i end being extremely moody. Tend to over eat. 

each to their own i guess   

@nigeepoo - if it makes no difference why do nutritional experts such as James, Drewskey, berardi etc etc recommend you regular and often??

i thought that link to the post from nigeepoo woz more confusing than this one! just about 3 million different opinions!

Remember food is fuel.just eat what you need!anything more than what your body needs is going to be wasted, so it makes sense to eat less amounts more often.
For keyser soez, how many calories do you eat each day?