Why You Should eat 6 Times per Day:
For both myself and my clients, any and all diets begin with calculating daily calorie and macronutrient needs. The exact numbers vary significantly based on context and is a subject unto itself. Once this is done, we build an actual meal plan.
We almost always recommend eating every 2.5 to 3.5 hours. Depending on how long your day is, this equates to 6 or 7 meals. Calories and macro nutrients should be divided equally over these feedings. For most folks this comes out to about 300-500 calories and 25-40 grams of protein per meal. It is okay to eat slightly more for breakfast, as you are coming out of a fast and your body is craving nutrients, and post workout where, again, your body is primed to assimilate, and is craving, nutrients.
We prescribe multiple, fairly equal feedings for a number of reasons.
First, is provides even blood sugar and energy levels throughout the day. There is no energy surge then crash typically found with large carb heavy meals. You are essentially keeping the tank topped off.
Second, it tends to keep leptin levels (a hormone that provides feelings of satiation) high, meaning you totally avoid hunger pangs and the resultant temptation to eat either more than you should or the wrong food.
Third, because each meal is built around a lean protein source, your body is in an anabolic/growth state at all times. Building and maintaining muscle mass is the key to both athletic performance and a healthy metabolism.
Fourth, because you're never eating a huge amount of calories at any given time, there is far less chance that anything consumed will be stored as excess body fat. This type of feeding keeps insulin levels low.
Fifth, every time you eat your digestive system "cranks up" and you burn extra calories just to process and assimilate your food. When you do this 6 or 7 times per day, instead of 2 or 3, you get a nice little extra metabolic boost, burning extra calories to help you stay lean.
Sixth, once we have established your baseline needs, losing weight becomes very easy and painless. By reducing each meal by a mere 50 calories, something you won't even notice, and upping your daily exercise by 200 calories, again an increase that's barely noticeable, we will create a 500 calorie per day deficit that equates to a pound per week weight loss, a loss that will be almost exclusively fat. That amount of deficit, coupled with exercise, will ensure that no lean muscle is lost while your paring away the fat. My BLOG entry on the optimal speed of weight loss has a little more to say on the subject. Use the following link to get to the correct post:
http://www.perfectfitnesssolutions.blogspot.com/2011/12/how-fast-should-i-lose-weight.html
Note: Although it is important to get lean protein, good carbs, and good fats at each meal, and we strive to get the proportions roughly equal at each feeding, don't worry that one meal is slightly higher in fat, while another is slightly higher in carbs. It's too easy to become obsessive about proportions. As long as you are getting the proportions roughly right while hitting your daily caloric targets spot on, you'll be okay.
If you're not used to eating this way, this can be one of the hardest parts of our dietary framework to adapt, even harder that consuming only health foods. Some like to think of it as 3 meals plus 3 snacks. This makes it somewhat easier psychologically. Some chose to gradually reduce their calorie consumption at meal time while building up to larger and larger snacks. Some chose to add a meal at a time as they adapt to the idea and habit of eating more frequently. However you chose to do it, pursue it in a way that works for you.
