How often should you eat?

[TheHype112]

Ok, I've seen enough threads around here and definately read enough to get what I should eat, or at least what i think I should eat down, but the question comes about how often I should take a meal.

The common number tossed around by weightlifters is five, and everyone knows the expression about three squares a day, but what is the real rule for figuring out how often to eat? I've noticed that since I've had to go down to eating only 2 times a day that I've begun storing a noticable deal of more fat in the past month, does your metabolic rate really slow down that quickly, or is it just a case of too much pizza?

~Eric

[WinterPalm]

Eat when you are hungry.
It's that simple and no other bullocks can deter that or attempt to determine that. There is no bells and whistles just simple common sense.

[SevenStar]

Originally posted by TheHype112
I've noticed that since I've had to go down to eating only 2 times a day that I've begun storing a noticable deal of more fat in the past month, does your metabolic rate really slow down that quickly, or is it just a case of too much pizza?

~Eric

could be both. When you eat those two times, you may not be getting enough calories. When you don't take in enough calories, your body basically goes into starvation mode. It says " holy crap, I'm starving" and begins to prepare itself for that. It slows your metabolism, so that you can store more food. Your body also sheds muscle because it takes calories to sustain that muscle. It's not uncommon for people to gain weight when they cut too many calories, for the reasons stated above.

[Serpent]

Your body will process nutrition more efficiently if you eat little and often rather than lots in just 2 or 3 big meals.

However, all this will be dictated by your metabolism. If you're adding fat eating 2 meals a day, try dividing that food up over 4 meals and see what happens.

[prana]

I eat 3 square meals, plus a lot of snacks whenever I feel hungry.

I 'think' its been the secret to not putting on weight . As some of you know, chocolate and ice-creams are my staple diet.

Yup, everytime you 'feel' hungry, your metabolism is changing to suit.

[Guile]

Go to EAS.com for nutirtional information.
They have people eating up to 6 times a day.
Its the grazing effect. Since you are constantly eating at an set interval (3 hours) your body doesnt store fat. (it takes 3 hours to digest a meal, more or less). This way your gastank is always full.
Your insulin level is constant as well. But you cant pig out. Only eat something apporximatly the size of your fist.

[Kempo Guy]

To add to what Guile says, eat your meals in portions that are either the size of your fist or palm. I.e. four to six meals per day should contain one portion of protein, one portion of carbs, two to three of these meals should also contain a portion of vegetables.

I personally subscribe to the above eating plan and have had good success. I try to eat an equal amount of protein, carbs and fat. With carbs I stay away from starchy/white carbs such as white rice, potatoes, white bread and pasta etc. instead I eat wild rice, yams and whole wheat bread and pasta. On occasion I have my "pizza for health" day, but I only do this every couple of weeks... :D

KG

[Guile]

Originally posted by Kempo Guy
To add to what Guile says, eat your meals in portions that are either the size of your fist or palm. I.e. four to six meals per day should contain one portion of protein, one portion of carbs, two to three of these meals should also contain a portion of vegetables.

I personally subscribe to the above eating plan and have had good success. I try to eat an equal amount of protein, carbs and fat. With carbs I stay away from starchy/white carbs such as white rice, potatoes, white bread and pasta etc. instead I eat wild rice, yams and whole wheat bread and pasta. On occasion I have my "pizza for health" day, but I only do this every couple of weeks... :D

KG

Yeah, whole wheat bread is great!\
And yams are so good!:D

[Oso]

I had the best success with weight loss by eating 200-300 calories every 2 hours. Mostly protein, low carbs, no bread, as many vegetables as I could afford.

many schools of thought on this one...

[Jodo]

What if you already have a slow metabolism?

I have been able to loose wait by eating less and playing harder. I didn't eat at school cause I thought it would end of bad for me. The school food is greased down, even the salad is greased down with like big fat o_0

How would I speed up my metabolism without spending money on medicine/drugs?

[Robinf]

Your metabolism may be slow because you're skipping meals your body needs. Your body needs that meal during the day. Any chance of brown bagging it to school?

At 15 years old, you should not take any supplements or drugs or anything that would do anything to your metabolism. It will do you far more harm than good.

Just keep playing hard, get your eating habits right, and it will all come together.

[Kempo Guy]

As Robinf suggests, eating small frequent meals will speed up your metabolism, i.e. eating 5 or 6 meals per day every 2 - 3 hours.

KG

[Shaolin-Do]

Ive just been eating whenever I get the chance, however much I feel like eating, lean meats and carbs, salas... ect... and havent used a single supplement. Ive gained 15 lbs in 1 1/2 months, and I usually have a hard time gaining weight.

[Jodo]

Well I saw this info-mercial on TV and saw that your body also stores extra water, sorta like fat. Does anybody have that problem? And is there a way to get rid of it?

[Guile]

Dont drink water, lose water weight ;)

[TheHype112]

Is there a scale or certain way to actually measure your metabolism?

[Shaolin-Do]

hehe, not that Im aware of,
But its fairly simple.
large frame? Probably have a slower metabolism
Skinny? Probably have a higher metabolic rate.

[TzuChan]

Originally posted by TheHype112
Ok, I've seen enough threads around here and definately read enough to get what I should eat, or at least what i think I should eat down, but the question comes about how often I should take a meal.

The common number tossed around by weightlifters is five, and everyone knows the expression about three squares a day, but what is the real rule for figuring out how often to eat? I've noticed that since I've had to go down to eating only 2 times a day that I've begun storing a noticable deal of more fat in the past month, does your metabolic rate really slow down that quickly, or is it just a case of too much pizza?

~Eric

I don't have much time to read all the replies, but here is what I read. When you eat like 7-8 times a day (doesn't have to be much) it stimulates your body to produce HGH, which is a good thing :) Unfortunatelly it didn't say what or how much to eat, I'm still looking for information on that myself..

[Shaolin-Do]

lots of lean meats! but depending on your metabolic rate, you may want to be careful with too much starch/carbs.

[Kristoffer]

Just eat like a pig and train hard. Why is everyone so obsessive about getting results fast? Don't stress just let it come..

[Cyborg]

Eat when you're hungry until you're not. Don't eat 'til you're full. And work out like crazy. Heck, I tried to gain weight recently on the "super squats" program but I'm lactose intolerant so can't drink milk like they recommend. I lost 5Lbs over the first week! And I ate like crazy as well.

[Shaolin-Do]

Cyborg, you can always drink *shudder* goat milk..... :)

[Guile]

Originally posted by Cyborg
Eat when you're hungry until you're not. Don't eat 'til you're full. And work out like crazy. Heck, I tried to gain weight recently on the "super squats" program but I'm lactose intolerant so can't drink milk like they recommend. I lost 5Lbs over the first week! And I ate like crazy as well.

hehe lost weight!:D

[Kristoffer]

Your just in denail, pig
:D

[guohuen]

No no, the White river (Rio Blanco) is across the street from me. De Nile is in Africa.

[Radhnoti]

Ran across this and thought I'd throw it into the mix...it sorta fits the discussion.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030429/ap_on_he_me/fasting_4


Regular Fasting Seems to Improve Health
Tue Apr 29,10:46 AM ET Add Health - AP to My Yahoo!


WASHINGTON - The health benefits of sharply cutting calories may occur after periodic fasting, even if the fast does not result in eating less overall, a new report indicates.

Scientists are now planning a study to see if fasting, which seems to benefit mice, will also be good for people too.

Benefits ranging from longer life to less stress and greater sensitivity to insulin have been reported in recent studies of severe reductions in diet.

But mice that were fed only every other day, but were allowed to gorge themselves on the days they ate, had similar health benefits to ones on a diet reduced by 40 percent of normal food intake, a team of researchers reports in Tuesday's online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (news - web sites).

While the cause of health improvements from cutting back on diet isn't fully understood, many researchers had assumed that a long-term reduction in calories was involved.

The new study by Mark Mattson and colleagues at the National Institute on Aging found equal benefits, however, for mice that ate only every other day, even if they didn't cut total calories, because they ate twice as much on days they weren't fasting.

Mattson said a study is being planned to test the effect of fasting on people. The plan is to compare the health of a group of people fed the normal three meals a day with a similar group, eating the same diet and amount of food, but consuming it within four hours and then fasting for 20 hours before eating again.

"Overeating is a big problem now in this country. It's particularly troublesome that a lot of children are overweight. It's still unclear the best way to somehow get people to eat less," Mattson said.

"One possibility is skipping a meal a day. Our study suggests that skipping meals is not bad for you."

Dr. Carol Braunschweig of the University of Illinois at Chicago, who was not part of the study team, said she was intrigued by the suggestion that a drastic change in eating patterns might have benefits.

"With the current epidemic of obesity and physical inactivity facing the U.S. today, identification of a beneficial eating pattern that could address some of the untoward effects of excess weight would be a very significant finding," she said.

Mattson said an earlier study found that mice that fasted every other day had extended life spans. The new experiment found the mice also did better in factors involved in diabetes and nerve damage in the brain similar to Alzheimer's disease (news - web sites), he said.

"We think what happens is going without food imposes a mild stress on cells, and cells respond by increasing their ability to cope with more severe stress," Mattson said. "It's sort of analogous to physical effects of exercise on muscle cells."

He said the researchers think this stress occurs throughout the body, which might be the reason fasting seems to increase life span and the animals become more resistant to the diseases of aging.

The dieting mice consumed 40 percent less food than mice eating normally and lost nearly half their body weight (49 percent) in the experiment, while the fasting mice weighed only a little less than mice eating normally.

In recent years, some nutritionists have recommended eating smaller amounts more often, but this study did not deal with that type of eating pattern.

In the new report, the researchers said both the fasting mice and those on a restricted diet had concentrations of blood sugar and insulin that were significantly lower than mice allowed to eat whenever they wanted. Indeed, insulin levels in the fasting mice were even a bit lower than the dieting ones.

At the end of the experiment all three groups of mice were injected with a toxin that damages cells in the part of the brain called the hippocampus. Cell damage there is involved in Alzheimer's in humans.

When the mouse brains were later analyzed the scientists found that the brains of the fasting mice were more resistant to damage by the toxin than the brains of either dieting mice or those eating normally.