Calories Per Day Vs. How many times you eat.

I have recently started trying to drop a few pounds and I've run into a bit of an issue. I know that they say eating too little calories a day slows down your metabolism but on the other hand its argued that eating 1 time a day slows down your metabolism. Is it possible for both to be true?

Lets say I'm supposed to eat 1800 calories a day. Does it matter if i ate it all at once? If 1800 calories is my deterimined caloric intake, but i eat 1600 but broken up 4 to 5 meals a day. Will my metabolism still slow?

I'm hoping someone might see some info on the subject that I haven't been able to find. Oh, I'm new to posting but have been reading for a long time. This place seems to be a wealth of information.

The general consensus is that it doesn't make a huge difference how you spread your calories, just the fact that eating them all together would likely cause a huge insulin spike, detrimental to weight loss.

It's generally very inconvenient to eat your calories at once, too.  You'd almost certainly get hungry at other points in the day.

^ Wrong

It does in fact matter how you spread your meals. After eating, your metabolism shoots up to its highest point. Immediatly afterwords it begins to decline. The next time you eat it shoots back up again. This is why you should eat 5 small meals a day to keep your metabolism the highest it can be all day.

Yeah, I've read that too, and I live by it (though simply because it is most convenient for me), but I've never seen a source or a scientific journal for how much difference it actually makes, so I will not recommend it simply because it's my choice...  I have, however, read multiple posts and studies that say it does not make a significant difference.

Take a look at these (copy paste them, I don't think they'll work as links):

http://www.t-nation.com/article/diet_and_nutr ition/21st_century_eating&cr=

also this: http://alanaragon.com/an-objective-look-at-in termittent-fasting.html

If you're going to flat out deny my post, you'd better have some evidence.  That said, I'd definitely recommend spacing your meals properly, as I said earlier.

So the insulin spike makes you keep fat? Even if you're burning more calories than you intake? I thought the final science behind weight loss is burning more than you intake. What does the insulin spike matter?

And does the slowdown in metabolism play into the whole "starvation mode" or are you still in normal digestion but just slow as hell? Can you eat 5 times a day and still fall into starvation mode?

Absolutely, you can eat 5 times a day and still fall into starvation mode.  All it would take would be to not eat enough total calories over those 5 meals.

the insulin spike only matters because your blood sugar then plummets and leaves you famished; thus, you are likely to overeat and choose something loaded with sugar and refined carbs. this can then create a cycle of high and low blood sugar and decrease your ability to regulate your hunger and essentially your intake. hope this helps!!

Original Post by jay_breaze:

 What does the insulin spike matter?

 

As well as the answer above about hunger and food intake...... Insulin acts as a kind of 'gatekeeper' on your fat stores.  If your body is regularly overproducing insulin (via a too-sugary diet or oversized meals) then your body is less efficient at burning fat.   People who are diagnosed 'insulin resistant' often struggle to lose weight as a result.   If you keep your insulin production reasonably low by eating regular modest-sized meals and choosing a balanced, nutritious, low-sugar, low-refined-starch diet then calorie-controlled weight-loss becomes easier on a lot of levels.

From my own experience and from what I have read, you do not specifically need 5 meals a day, but you should aim to not go up to 5 hours without food

I eat 3 large meals and a snack when I need it. I had also tried eating 5 - 8 small meals through out the day too. Neither make a difference to my weight, because I am getting enough calories over all, and at 3 meals and one snack it still means I eat every 4 - 4.5 hours which is enough for me.

I used to make myself eat 5 - 6 small meals a day but I ended up hating it because I never felt hungry, and I enjoy allowing myself to become hungry before I eat a meal. I hate eating when I do not feel hungry and 5 - 6 small meals made me feel like I was ALWAYS eating so I just got sick of food! And I LOVE food so that is saying something.

Hello there everyone, i have not replied to any posts for a while but thought this one was interesting.

Being someone that is in recovery from an eating disorder, i myself used to eat all my calories in one small block of time. i wasn't eating enough but everything i was eating would be eaten in the evening. after talking with the doctor/nutritionist about this once the denial phase had ended, they both stated that eating all your calories in one small block of time makes it really hard on your digestive system. So eating the small meals through out the day helps your metabolism and also helps keeps your digestive system on track. Little pointers that like from the dr/nutrionist are what helped to open my eyes and try hard at getting back to a healthy weight

I don't want to get into scientific evidence, I just want to cast my vote.

Eat more than 3 times a day.  Exercise 30 mins a day.

I've lost 16 pounds in 5 weeks that way.  It works.

Congrats to you on the weight loss! Definitely so much better for you and your digestive system to eat more small meals through out the day!! i guess thats just my opinion ;)

For me, it is the CMBINATION of food I eat that effects my digestion, mot THE AMOUNT OF MEALS.

I started to combine foods in a more simple, logical way that made sense to me; starches by themselves, proteins only eaten with non starchy green salads, and I don’t have a million different ingredients with each meal…. everything is clean and simple. My digestion is much better then when I used to eat a bowel of cereal with milk, plus a piece of fruit in one meal.

Frequent meals can help some people but remember we are all different, and while it makes sense to not go for too long with out food, 4 meals a day can work the best for some people, just like how 5 or more meals can work the best for others. There is no “ best way” for every one.

I have experimented a lot and tried 5 - 8 meals a day and in the end, having 3 meals and 1 snack has worked the best. I like eating a larger meal and then giving my body time to digest it, and actually letting myself get hungry again before I eat. Having smaller frequent meals felt horrible for me because I never got hungry before my meals. I don’t like to feel starved, but I do like to work up a bit of an appetite and actually feel like the food! I hate eating when I’m not hungry for the food.

So, that’s my experience so far! I go 4 hours between meals and the snack and it is working great for me.