how often do YOU eat?

before i started trying to lose weight, i was eating about twice a day and they were always huge meals.

i have heard so many different things from so many different people about how frequently and how much you should eat. i was just curious to see how often you all eat and what your portions are like.

i try to eat something within the first hour that i wake up (it helps me not get really hungry mid-morning) and then i just kind of munch throughout the day (i portion everything out the night before so i am careful not to over eat)BUT...someone told me that it's bad to munch because you risk overeating and it will slow down your metabolism ..that you need to eat only every three hours and no less than that...?

so what do you all think?

bump

 

I don't personally buy the whole "eat more often to stay thinner" idea, because I tried it out for almost half a year and all it did for me was make me a tad bit more obsessive about what I ate and when, lawlz.

Mostly now, I just focus on three meals of 350-400 calories with snacks added per when I need pre and post-exercise energy. I find it easier to keep my nutrition balanced and my focus on other things this way. I also feel consistently stuffed, and yet hungrier, if I eat the same amount, but spread out throughout the day. (gross feeling to me)

In the end, if it works for you, I say do it~

I used to skip breakfast and either skip lunch or grab something light, then eat a huge dinner.  No snacks.

Now I eat breakfast as soon as I get up (5-6 am), and I work in a snack around 8 am, another around 10 am, then I eat lunch about 1 pm.  Then I will usually have a snack at 3-4 pm then dinner 6-7 pm.  I usually don't snack in the evening, though - maybe a small handful of nuts or something but that's it.  Eating at night makes me feel gross, full and heavy in the morning during my workout.

So yeah, I am pretty much constantly eating.  :)  These are all small snacks/meals, though, so I am not stuffing myself - just enough to ward off hunger pains at the next mealtime, which cause me to overeat.  I also log calories so I know these snacks aren't overeating.  Usually snacks are either a fruit or veggie so low in calories and healthful.

 

6:30 (or 7:30 depending on classes) breakfast

9-10 snack

12-12:30 lunch

2-3 snack

5 dinner

 

I eat at these times because I get hungry at those times.  I also tend to eat fewer and fewer calories each time I eat.  So that my breakfast has the most calories, and dinner has the fewest. 

See what works for you.

 

big breakfast between 8 and 11 (depending on the day/when I get up)

1-2 pieces of fruit during the day, occasionally more if i am hungry.

Dinner between 530-8, depending on the day.

usually have a snack around 1030-11.

I try not to go more than 6 hours without eating, but it does occasionally happen.

Well, everyone's eating style is different.  Personally I eat three meals a day with two or three low-cal, high density snacks in between.  So I usually eat every two to three hours.  But, I don't set my watch to it.  It's just that I start feeling peckish about every two to three hours.

Here is my usual routine

Breakfast before 8 (today was 2 boiled eggs, banana, glass of milk)

Snacks between 8-12 (today was apple, cashews, protein shake)

Lunch between 12-1 (today was bean soup with lean beef)

Snacks between 1-5 or 6 (usually a piece of fruit and almonds, or a protein shake post workout)

Dinner between 5-7 (usually a good protein with some veggies)

Snack between dinner and bed (usually 1-2 servings fruit and sunflower seeds)

If I eat bread, it is whole wheat, same for pasta.  If I eat rice, 90% of the time it is brown basmati or wild.  I dont drink soda, I dont eat white bread and I try to stay as far away from processed foods as possible.

My calorie goals range from 2000-2600 a day depending on my workouts.  I am working on an appropriate deficit to cut BF% while maintaining muscle to the max extent possible.

Different people have different body chemistry. I have some problems with my blood sugar so it really helps for me to eat small meals spread through the day. I also try to have a little protein of some kind every time I eat.

That keeps my blood sugar from getting out of whack, because if it does I end up eating a lot more than I should and usually not healthy stuff.

I eat when I'm hungry... Roughly breakfast - 9.30am, a snack in the mid-morning if i ate breakfast very early, lunch 12.30-1.30, a snack in the afternoon at 3 or 4, and dinner about 6.30. I don't usually eat a lot after dinner, but I might have a desserty snack about 9 if dinner was early or light.

I eat 3 meals and usually 2-4 snacks.

You can check out my journal for ideas.

usually about 200 for Brkfst, 3-400 for Lunch, 4-500 for dinner and then whatever is left for snacking.

Usually have fruit for most of it, found out a bit ago that the 100 calorie snack pack things were KILLING me!! They make you crave even more and more sweets like crazy. So limit those to like one a day & rarely.

 

I eat roughly every 2 to 3 hours daily, due to blood sugar issues.  This way I can keep my calorie levels down without danger of crashing -- an issue with previous weight loss attempts.

My schedule is:

Between 8 am and 9 am:  breakfast and vitamin; breakfast must have protein in some form - even if it's just the milk from my cereal - or I'm setting myself up for a crash later in the day.  Options are: 1 egg scrambled with cheese and lean ham and whole wheat toast, or 1 cup Special K Red Berries with 2/3 cup 2% milk, or whole wheat toaster waffles with 1 cup of frozen berries, thawed and heated.

11 am:  if lunch is going to be later (on class days) I add a small snack about now --four or five dates or a granola bar, etc.

Between 11 am and 1 pm:  lunch - usually a sandwich on whole wheat bread with lean meats, cheese and salad greens, and maybe some carrot sticks with hummus, or a veggie pita pizza, or a gardenburger sandwich, or occasionally I'll get a Taco Bell's fresca chicken burrito supreme if I'm really jonesing for fast food - 330 calories isn't too shabby for a fast food lunch and it's always plenty.

2 pm:  snack - granola bar, or carrots and hummus, or cheese and crackers, or apple slices with cashew butter, or some other kind of fruit, etc.

4 pm:  dinner - lean meat and a vegetable, or a bowl of soup, or half of a baked potato, etc.

Between 6 pm and 8 pm: snack - same options as the 2 pm snack, though never identical to it.  If I have carrots and hummus for one, I'll have a granola bar and a cup of fruit for the second, etc.

All of this is for a calorie goal of 1650 per day, and I stick to it fairly well with weekly budgeting.   So far the weight is coming off at a steady 2-3 pounds a week -- I know, it's a little fast; my mother complains that it's too slow!  I've only been derailed by blood sugar problems a couple of times, though.

Patricia

I'm shooting to eat my BMR minus my activity level (sedentary), so I eat about every 2 hours.

9:00AM - Banana/protein shake

10:30 - Apple or orange

12:00 PM - Big leafy green salad w/ 1/3 avocado

1:30 - apple, orange

3:00 - Another big salad, some veggies or another protein shake

from then on, tons more veggies etc.

It's hard being a short female .....

I eat every three hours, in general. Sooner if I'm really hungry, rarely later than that unless I've had a huge meal. I'm an active teen, and still growing, so I get hungry a lot. If I skip a meal or a snack, I tend to make bad food choices later, sometimes even binging.

I like eating two meals - 10:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.  A snack around 9:00 p.m.

I love lots of water; tomato and red grapefruit juice in between - probably 6 times a day.  This works best for me because I get so tired if I eat when I get up; seem to 'bog down' - my cold water and some juice gets me fired up.

 

I constantly eat.  Little things all day long.  I will eat a cup of oatmeal, later a couple of egg whites, and then maybe some yogurt.  I usually will later grab a couple handfulls of mixed nuts and eat either some celery or tomatoes or cucumers.  I keep the veggies close by to munch and crunch.  Before lunch, I will usually toss down another handfull of nuts.  Then I start the lunch eating.  Maybe a wrap with spinach instead of lettuce and some turkey, tomatoes, pickles and wasabi ( I know I am odd), later some fruit.  I will finish off my veggie bag, and then eat another piece of fruit and for dinner, I am usually not that hungry--go figure...  and I can eat a nice salad and some meat.  If I am snacky after dinner, I will follow up with a bowl of cereal.  But as you can see, I eat all the time.  I have learned this is the best way for my body to be fueled.  If I am not eating like this, I could potentially sit down and consume large meals and leave me too tired to exercise--not so good.  Before I run or swim, I eat a handfull of nuts and usually a bannana.  When I am done, I will eat more fruit (regularity not a problem here).  Don't know if this helps, but I am an advoacate for eating all day long.

I eat every 2-3 hours whether its just a snack or more of a meal.

Breakfast is always within the first hour that I'm awake.  Even if I'm up before 5am to go to the gym, I at least have some orange juice with some whey powder mixed in before I'm out the door.  I'll have something more when I get back.

Lunch and dinner are a little bit bigger than my snacks.  Meals are around 350 calories or so and snacks are about 200.  I have a morning, afternoon, and evening snack and aim for 1850 calories and burn about 700 calories/day at the gym.

I usually have most of my starches at breakfast whether it be an english muffin, waffles, or cereal.  Sometimes at lunch I'll have a sandwich with light bread or a La Tortilla wrap.  I get plenty of carbs with fruits during my snacks.  I usually get about 20% fats, 30% protein, and 50% carbs.  My fats are what I need to work on most.  I'm usually low.  Really, you need them!   Don't be scared!

Nowadays it's about 4 hours between breakfast and lunch 

maybe a snack somewhere between lunch and dinner, depending on how many calories I have left

then dinner about 5 hours after lunch 

then I eat fruit and any extra calories about 2 or 3 hours after dinner.

 

I have no idea how some of you eat that little, haha!

I am ALWAYS hungry. Although since I've gotten over being sick, it seems to be less. But usually, I eat at 8 (oatmeal or cereal or an egg and wheat toast) and I'm hungry by 9:30. I usually try to hold off until lunch time at 12, or just nibble on cereal bits or a banana. Depending on what I eat, I'm full until about 1:30 or 2. Then I'm hungry again. It doesnt get really annoyingly hungry until 4 though. But i dont eat supper until 5:30, so going those 5 and a half hours without eating, or just nibbling, is tough.

After I eat supper I'm usually good for the night, depending on what i eat. Im usually hungry again around 8 or 9, but I try not to eat, or not eat much, 3 hours before bed, so I try not to eat then.

 

My aunt though, who is tiny, is constantly picking at things. She'll have a bite of a big mac, then wont touch it for 6 hours, but in the meantime she'll be have a few grapes, then maybe a few bites of apple, then a few chips etc. So I think for some people, that works, and others It just never can. Different body chemistry, as someone said.