Teens: You don't need to eat 6 meals per day

Stork · 07-09-2009, 10:00 AM

Yeah, I said it. I just turned the whole ****ing teen section on it's head.

^^ Illustrated thusly.

Almost every day there's people asking questions like 'how do I fit 6 meals a day with school/work/life/whatever', well, thankfully you don't need to anymore. Turns out the age-old myth people have been peddling for all these years isn't all that accurate. Although high meal frequency has it's benefits (discussed below), it's really not as big a deal as people make out[1][2]. Without forcing you to read the references, I'm gonna summarize:
The thermic effect of food (TEF from now on) is the positive effect of food consumption on your metabolism - meaning that when you eat, you burn a little more energy since it takes work to digest food. People said that eating more smaller meals would have a higher TEF and therefore burn more calories than one large meal. Turns out it isn't true, since TEF depends on how many calories you intake, not how often you intake them - 1000 calories in one meal vs two meals of 500 calories will have the same effect (check out the referenced links for cited studies). Thinking about it logically, why would it make sense that smaller meals take more energy to digest than larger ones? The same amount of work is being done in either case, so to reiterate: it's total calories that matters, regardless of how you split it up.

Why frequent eating can be useful

It tends to work for newbies because it introduces the idea of portion control, balancing macronutrients, and counting calories, something that the untrained person hasn't done before - obviously introducing these things is gonna see results, regardless of meal frequency.
If you're a 300lbs off-season bodybuilder trying to bulk up with 6,000 calories per day, it's probably easier on your digestion to do six meals of 1,000 cals instead of three meals of 2,000. This could apply to some ectomorph teens trying to bulk with low appetites.
It can help keep your blood sugar stable, which might be a big concern for some people (side-note: there are other ways to keep your blood sugar stable if you're having problems with it, consider a low carb diet).

Negatives of frequent eating

You might find yourself spending most of your life in the kitchen.
You might also find yourself bringing tupperware boxes full of grilled chicken and brown rice every time you leave the house.
You'll probably be buying expensive protein bars and powders to make up meals since you're too lazy to cook six times per day.
It can increase your dependence on food, once your body is used to eating six times per day it can make life pretty uncomfortable if you miss a meal.
Eating every three hours on the dot is a bloody nuisance.

Calorie counting is still King!
By no means am I saying in this post that you should throw your diet to the wind and just eat whatever. It still remains that the total number of calories (and of course macros) you eat will dictate your results, so you still need to worry about how much you're eating, but not so much about when you're doing it, get it?

Conclusions?
Leave the tupperware boxes at home, and eat a bigger meal before you leave the house. Don't let makin' gainz get in the way of having a life

Incidentally, you might want to look up intermittent fasting if you're cutting or maintaining, it's good stuff.

References:
1. http://leangains.blogspot.com/2008/0...ming-book.html
2. http://www.fitnessspotlight.com/2008...ur-metabolism/
3. http://www.fitnessspotlight.com/2008...olism-part-ii/

Cliffs:
You probably don't need to be eating as often as you are.

Questions, comments?

MyNameIsBAMF · 07-09-2009, 10:02 AM

holy ****!!

someone made an article worth reading!

dunkalicious · 07-09-2009, 10:07 AM

lies , all lies

StickToYourGuns · 07-09-2009, 10:07 AM

3rd

nutinbudapnut · 07-09-2009, 10:08 AM

but we like eating all day....

fitnessnewb · 07-09-2009, 10:09 AM

good article, interesting read, not really much questions it is all very clearly explained, thanks.

Akilles · 07-09-2009, 10:11 AM

sounds resonable. thanks.

XeNoN89 · 07-09-2009, 10:13 AM

I manage 5 meals a day, not enough time for 6 though

sportsarelife7 · 07-09-2009, 10:15 AM

I eat about 8-9 meals a day including pre and post workout. It keeps me satisfied all day and as brosciency as it may sound I like to keep a steady intake of protein every 2 hours.

Dunkelheit23 · 07-09-2009, 10:19 AM

You're right 6 meals is the wrong way to go. Go with 10, that's when I made my best gains.

UCFBuilder · 07-09-2009, 10:22 AM

while ur right that eating 6 meals a day is not necessary...u make it sound like putting 1000+ cals down in one meal is easy....i wold feel so bloated and would not want to move if i ate that much in one sitting....bringing tupperware isnt a hassle to me at least...Plus..u may call this bro-science..but how would u fit pre and post workout nutrition into the mix??

Galindo62 · 07-09-2009, 10:24 AM

You know....your kinda lightweight OP....
Just saying.

And as stated by the 5"8 122 pounder guy, we like to eat all the time :]

jdprep42 · 07-09-2009, 10:25 AM

The way I see it is that its easier to stick to my diet when I'm eating more frequently. When my meals are spaced out further, I'm more likely to snack on different foods that are not on my diet.

Chubz91 · 07-09-2009, 10:32 AM

is that dog alive?

StylesOfBeyond · 07-09-2009, 10:35 AM

Interesting, and can definitely vouch for the con of eating frequently being that your body gets dependent on such frequent meals. I've noticed that when I'm hungry these days, it's more so than it used to be since I've started eating more

mgsdude17 · 07-09-2009, 10:40 AM

honestly for me it is a hallse to bring food o nthe go
but i know eating is very important

FUII_M3T4L · 07-09-2009, 10:50 AM

I sometimes forget to eat, when I do I feel like a failure

seanoh · 07-09-2009, 10:52 AM

well if im eating 300g of pro a day, and eat that in 3 meals then how much of that 100g will be utilised? a lower % than if i ate 6 lots of 50g imo.

however when dieting i do agree with you

nicky16 · 07-09-2009, 11:01 AM

im not gonna bother reading all that because i know its all BS. ever since i started forcing myself to eat 5-7 meals a day, i noticed decent gains.

archaostol · 07-09-2009, 11:02 AM

X2
lies....

thebear217 · 07-09-2009, 11:04 AM

The pros far outweigh the cons. Not saying its necessary for smaller people but I would never advise someone not to do it.

Jordan4690 · 07-09-2009, 11:20 AM

All the disadvantages you listed are just someone who is ****ing lazy

Galindo62 · 07-09-2009, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Galindo62

You know....your kinda lightweight OP....
Just saying.

Lol. Lame OP is lame.

He negged me for that comment, and I quote "all the weight is in my brain bro , im smarter than you"

still_dre · 07-09-2009, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbuda94

but we like eating all day....

Stats: 5'8", 128 lbs

yeah, obviously

MyNameIsBAMF · 07-09-2009, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Galindo62

Lol. Lame OP is lame.

He negged me for that comment, and I quote "all the weight is in my brain bro , im smarter than you"

did you seriously just quote yourself?

Forbidden16 · 07-09-2009, 11:30 AM

Hmm, sadly I think there's teens in this thread that still think OP is lying, lolol.

Galindo62 · 07-09-2009, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Galindo62

Lol. Lame OP is lame.

He negged me for that comment, and I quote "all the weight is in my brain bro , im smarter than you"

Quote:

Originally Posted by MyNameIsBAMF

did you seriously just quote yourself?

Yeah I did. And I just did it again. You mad?

CJ_Guns · 07-09-2009, 11:32 AM

lotta hate.

Good article OP it's good to see some opposition to what is considered the status quo of bodybuilding.

Galindo62 · 07-09-2009, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CJ_Guns

lotta hate.

Good article OP it's good to see some opposition to what is considered the status quo of bodybuilding.

It was a decent article. I just thought it was kind of obvious.

Stork · 07-09-2009, 11:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UCFBuilder

while ur right that eating 6 meals a day is not necessary...u make it sound like putting 1000+ cals down in one meal is easy....i wold feel so bloated and would not want to move if i ate that much in one sitting....bringing tupperware isnt a hassle to me at least...Plus..u may call this bro-science..but how would u fit pre and post workout nutrition into the mix??

If you have trouble taking in 1,000 cals in one sitting you might be in the wrong game, that's like what? 3/4lbs of mince meat? For me it's breakfast, then pre workout shake, then post workout shake, then lunch, then dinner.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Galindo62

You know....your kinda lightweight OP....
Just saying.

And as stated by the 5"8 122 pounder guy, we like to eat all the time :]

All the weight is in my brain, from reading things like this that make me smarter than you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FUII_M3T4L

I sometimes forget to eat, when I do I feel like a failure

Try eating bigger meals and you won't have this problem.

Quote:

Originally Posted by seanoh

well if im eating 300g of pro a day, and eat that in 3 meals then how much of that 100g will be utilised? a lower % than if i ate 6 lots of 50g imo.

however when dieting i do agree with you

Your body is only gonna utilize the protein that it needs anyway, and it's not gonna need 300 grams. Plus, it probably stays in your system for more than three hours anyway so you're not gonna miss anything by having 100g in a meal.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nicky16

im not gonna bother reading all that because i know its all BS. ever since i started forcing myself to eat 5-7 meals a day, i noticed decent gains.

Quote:

Originally Posted by archaostol

X2
lies....

Your logic is fail, you haven't even tried this. I know it works because having done both I get the same results either way, except I feel better eating fewer meals.

Quote:

Originally Posted by thebear217

The pros far outweigh the cons. Not saying its necessary for smaller people but I would never advise someone not to do it.

What are the pros? You like carrying food around with you?