Eat regularly, or when I'm hungry?

Hi! I'm new to the forums. I'm a 21 year-old 5' female looking to maintain my weight at around 97 lbs. According to the calculator on this site, I should be eating around 1400 calories each day.

I've read that in order to stabilize my metabolism, I should be eating small meals regularly, or three full meals and a snack. Does this also apply if I'm not hungry? If I don't feel hungry, should I just eat something anyway? Will this help my metabolism or just add extra calories that I don't feel like I need?

It really does not matter how many meals or snacks you eat in a day as long as you consume the amount of calories that your body requires to maintain your weight.

In your case, the calories you need per day is 1400. This calorie amount is for when you are completely sedentary (sitting down 90% of the time). You would need to increase that amount by 100- 250 per day (to around 1600- 1650 per day) if you are more active or working out.

Anyway, if you prefer to eat three big meals a day, that is fine. Or if you prefer to split your daily calories into five or six meals or three medium meals and two small snacks, that is okay too.

Many people find that eating every three hours or so (on the five smaller meals program or three meals and two snacks) means that they never get starving hungry, which prevents overeating or binges.

Also, eating (especially the first meal of the day) kind of jump-starts your metabolism for the day, otherwise it stays in "sleep mode" until later in the day. It's better for your body to have your metabolism revved up during your waking hours, as this prevents weight gain.

BTW: yes, eat your full amount of calories. Eating too little is not healthy for your body and can mess up your metabolism. Also skipping meals or eating less than your body needs may cause you to lose weight. This is not ideal for you, since you have chosen to maintain your weight at quite a low BMI (18.9). This BMI is only 0.4 points away from the bottom end of your BMI range, and below that you would be underweight.

I eat regularly (scheduled) meals and therefore I'm rarely hungry. I always eat the full amount of calories I require in a day to function well. I agree with Foxriver that eating breakfast jump-starts my metabolism for the day.

Another consideration: everyone is hungry at different times for different reasons, so I know that at my house, if we all ate when we felt like it there would be no family time at the dinner table, etc. I really love the scheduled meals for that reason.

To each his own, but to answer your question about metabolism, I have found mine to be very stable these past few years that I have eaten meals regularly.

I am also a petite female in my early 20's. I tend to eat regularly (about every 3 hours). This is an example of a typical day:

• 8am- breakfast- Coffee, black with splenda and either a bagel thin with low fat cream cheese, or 1 cup of oatmeal and fruit
• 10:30am-11:00am (because I have a late lunch schedule)- light snack- usually a piece of fruit or a 100 calorie pack
• 1pm- lunch- a salad with light dressing, or a turkey sandwich on whole grain fiber bread (bread toasted, no mayo, just mustard, lettuce, tomato, and fat free cheese single) with baked chips and baby carrots
• 3:30pm- light snack- piece of fruit or 100 calorie cookie pack to curb late afternoon sweet tooth
• 5:30-6pm- Dinner- 6-8 oz piece lean meat, 1/2 cup whole grain pasta, rice, or other starchy side, and a 1- 1 1/2 cups green vegetable.
• 8:30- Snack/dessert- This is where I reach for a little decadence as a treat for the end of the day. Either a smart ones or weight watchers pre-packaged dessert or 1/2 a cup of low fat, sugar free ice cream.

You can eat whatever you like as long as it stays within your calorie range. Trick is to choose foods low in fat, high in fiber to help curb cravings and hunger pangs. When your body feels hungry, you tend to eat quickly and to over eat to compensate for the hunger. The moment you begin to feel hungry, grab a piece of fruit, such as an apple, which is high in fiber thus filling, and gives a great natural energy boost. Also drink LOTS of water... sometimes when you feel the pangs, its not because youre hungry, rather, because youre thirsty.

Original Post by annabelle_morgan:

Trick is to choose foods low in fat, high in fiber to help curb cravings and hunger pangs.

Actually, fat is pretty good at curbing cravings and hunger.

Thanks everyone! I have trouble making myself eat when I don't feel hungry, because I feel like it's terrible for weight loss/maintenance. I guess I don't feel convinced that it's actually for the better. Great advice. Thanks again.

you should probably just eat whenever you're hungry, but just keep within your limit for the day.  theres no point in force feeding yourself just to keep "regular" meals.  plus, if you eat just for the sake of eating regularly, the if you do actually get randomly hungry at some point you may have already used up your calorie limit and then you're screwed.

Original Post by jessicasbc:

you should probably just eat whenever you're hungry, but just keep within your limit for the day.  theres no point in force feeding yourself just to keep "regular" meals.  plus, if you eat just for the sake of eating regularly, the if you do actually get randomly hungry at some point you may have already used up your calorie limit and then you're screwed.

Except you won't get randomly hungry if you eat regularly and don't skip meals.

In many ways I think maintaining your weight is harder than losing weight. Eating enough to keep your weight stable while exercising (for good health) can be even more difficult if you skip meals.

And I am reiterating here that you do not have a lot of wiggle room for accidentally losing weight, because you are already so close to your lowest possible healthy weight.

However you chose to organize your calories, try to remain within a hundred calories or so of your ideal calorie range. Your body will thank you by being strong and healthy.

Original Post by foxriver:

Original Post by jessicasbc:

you should probably just eat whenever you're hungry, but just keep within your limit for the day.  theres no point in force feeding yourself just to keep "regular" meals.  plus, if you eat just for the sake of eating regularly, the if you do actually get randomly hungry at some point you may have already used up your calorie limit and then you're screwed.

Except you won't get randomly hungry if you eat regularly and don't skip meals.

In many ways I think maintaining your weight is harder than losing weight. Eating enough to keep your weight stable while exercising (for good health) can be even more difficult if you skip meals.

And I am reiterating here that you do not have a lot of wiggle room for accidentally losing weight, because you are already so close to your lowest possible healthy weight.

However you chose to organize your calories, try to remain within a hundred calories or so of your ideal calorie range. Your body will thank you by being strong and healthy.

 Yes you will.  Eating regularly doesnt mean that you can control when you get hungry.  it happens when it happens.  chances are you will in fact be hungry on a somewhat regular basis, but the last thing you should do is just eat regularly because that is what you're supposed to do.  you should eat when you're hungry regardless of whether its normal or not.

edit: let me also clarify.  im not saying that you should eat whenever you have the impulse to eat or whenever you feel like you want food.  im talking about actually being hungry.

maybe one day you get hungry every 3 hours, maybe the next day you get hungry every 5 hours, and maybe the next day there is no pattern to when you get hungry.  you should eat as intuitively as possible and throw out all the "rules" of when you are "supposed" to eat.