Do you need to eat six meals per day to lose weight?

[screename8000]

I don't do that at all.

I basically eat nothing all day, and then eat my "calories" for losing weight

I am changing **** up because nothing is working and trainers have told me that 4-6 meals is the key.

Its hard to figure out things for myself when there is so much information on the internet.

[dvdt23]

No way. I lost a ton of weight eating 2 or 3 decent-sized meals. I've found any time I try to eat a bunch of small meals I end up eating too much. With that said, if you eat 6 very low-calorie meals, you can lose weight that way, too. It's all calories.

[johnnybacaro]

No. I am on IF and generally eat 2 meals per day ex supplements and will generally cut 1-2 pounds per week unless I make an effort to put in cals.

[Feed2Grow]

Your overall calorie intake per day is more important than the number of meals you eat per day. No, you do not need to eat six meals per day to lose weight.

[Zer0L0ve]

I eat 12 meals. When im not eating im making something to eat

[ErikTheElectric]

I ate 6 garden salads a day and called them "meals". Would you gain muscle mass? Likely not. Would you lose muscle mass? Yes.


Point being: Disregard labeling things and also buying into meal frequency.

[TrueIrishTexan]

No. Eat when you are hungry and make sure it is packed full of quality nutrition. Complexity made simple.

[dvdt23]

Absolutely not! One of the reasons I struggled with weight in the past was I tried to adhere to the multiple small meals throughout the day. I ended up never satisfied after a "meal" and ended up taking in way too many calories.

If you can find something that limits your calories and feels good, roll with it.

[foodandfitness]

Yes.

Humans have known about this for centuries and used this knowledge to avoid weight loss during times of famine. In fact, the current administration was able to solve the starvation crisis in Yemen by switching ration drops from 6 times per day to 3 times per day.

This is taught to our soldiers who are at risk of being captured and held in concentration camps. If they eat their rations 2x per day instead of 6, they won't lose weight.

Pretty cool, huh?

[jessikadiane28]

No. I am on IF and generally eat 2 meals per day ex supplements and will generally cut 1-2 pounds per week unless I make an effort to put in cals.

What IF are you following? I started that this week and I'm having difficulty getting in my 2000 calories a day. I eat and I eat extremely healthy but I don't feel like it's going to work because EVERYTHING I've read states you have to eat a normal amount of calories while doing this. I'm doing the 16/8 version.

[Mrpb]

What IF are you following? I started that this week and I'm having difficulty getting in my 2000 calories a day. I eat and I eat extremely healthy but I don't feel like it's going to work because EVERYTHING I've read states you have to eat a normal amount of calories while doing this. I'm doing the 16/8 version.

If you feel fine with less calories eat less calories. Make sure you hit your minimum fat and protein and you'll be fine.

[Abdarrell]

I do it out of necessity because if I blow my calorie budget too early I'll be left feeling hungry. That said, if you don't mind that then go right ahead and eat 3 meals or less. It's still effective.