How often should one eat the small meals?

Ok so i am going to do that eating small meals more often thing, instead of my 3 meals at certain times.

I just wanted to see how often i should be eating for maximum results :)

I have heard that by eating more often, your body stays out of starvation mode and you can get rid of most of what you eat.

Is that true?

It's not true....  the current fad for six meals a day is just that, a fad.  The important thing for a lively metabolism is to 'eat regularly' not 'eat continuously'.    Very small meals (sub 300 cals) constitute grazing and for many people this is a very unsatisfying and rather impractical way to eat.   Keep your three meals a day, make them evenly-sized and evenly-spaced and simply add small snacks in between if you find you feel hungry.  A piece of fruit for example

If you think your metabolism is slowed there are some other things you can include...

• Stay well-hydrated.  Sip plenty of water (1 or 2 litres) and other non-sugary, non-caffeinated fluids throughout the day.  Eat plenty of vegetables, salads and fresh fruit for the same reason.
• Take regular exercise.  Gentle daily exercise is more beneficial for the metabolism than sporadic vigorous exercise
• Eat regularly (as mentioned above)
• Aim for a steady daily calorie intake within 100 cals either side of a target... rather than eating very little one day and too much the next.
• Every three weeks or so have a day where you get your full energy needs.

Good luck 

actually my doctor and nutritionist both say to eat 4-6 small meals a day. And so far has been working great for me. I am diabetic so not sure if that matters. Just actually went to a nutritionist class and that is what they tell everyone there that is there for losing weight to do. But I guess everyone thinks differently on a lot of things but anyways thats my 2 cents worth lol.

Original Post by gi-jane:

It's not true....  the current fad for six meals a day is just that, a fad.  The important thing for a lively metabolism is to 'eat regularly' not 'eat continuously'.    Very small meals (sub 300 cals) constitute grazing and for many people this is a very unsatisfying and rather impractical way to eat.   Keep your three meals a day, make them evenly-sized and evenly-spaced and simply add small snacks in between if you find you feel hungry.  A piece of fruit for example

If you think your metabolism is slowed there are some other things you can include...

• Stay well-hydrated.  Sip plenty of water (1 or 2 litres) and other non-sugary, non-caffeinated fluids throughout the day.  Eat plenty of vegetables, salads and fresh fruit for the same reason.
• Take regular exercise.  Gentle daily exercise is more beneficial for the metabolism than sporadic vigorous exercise
• Eat regularly (as mentioned above)
• Aim for a steady daily calorie intake within 100 cals either side of a target... rather than eating very little one day and too much the next.
• Every three weeks or so have a day where you get your full energy needs.

Good luck 

 GI Jane is right on the money.  I eat every few hours....meals and snacks.  This helps me avoid that ravenous feeling. 

It works for some people, it doesn't for others. It doesn't matter when you eat these small meals if that's what you want to do. Eat them whenever you are hungry, so long as you don't go under or over your calories. However, I would try to make them at the regular meal times with some in between.

What's been working well for me is to eat something every three hours.  I have a regular (though somewhat reduced calorie than normal) breakfast, lunch and dinner, and in between I have a few snacks that are in the 30-80 calorie range, like fresh vegetables, lowfat yogurt, whole wheat high fiber crackers, etc. 

The snacks are just enough to keep me from getting ravenous between meals, which has helped a lot.  I don't know about the metabolism-revving thing, but certainly I'm less likely to overeat or to eat a bunch of junk if I don't feel like I'm starving at mealtime.

i do the mini meal/meal-snack thing. i alternate between 300 calories "meals" and 200 calorie "snacks" every 2 hours. 

9am B: 200 calories

11am B2: 300 calories

1pm S: 200 calories

3pm L: 300 calories

5pm S: 200 calories

7pm L2: 300 calories

8:30pm D: 250 calories

9:30pm S: 250 calories

I eat frequently because i know myself and regardless of what i eat...i am always hungry or rather i always want to eat so if i eat more often then it's better for me. i also go to sleep late, usually after midnight so that's why i eat much later into the night not that it matters much anyway since calories in - calories out is the bottom line

I have 4 meals and 2 snacks. My meals range from 300-350 cals and my snacks are no more than 200 cals. This has been working well for me.

The objective is to lose weight.  How you do it depends on who you are.  If the novelty of grazing on 250 calorie snacks 6 times a day helps you maintain a good deficit, I'd say go ahead.  I consider this a fair strategy in tricking your body into giving up its stored fat.

Once you get to a maintenance level I'm not so sure it's that great an idea, though. It's easy to lose control on the snacking and turn it into binges.

Sorry, I misread some of this thread. But since I am here, everyone looses weight differently. We all put it on differently, right? Try whatever you are comfortable with and if it doesn't work, try another way!

Good Luck

The OP wanted 'maximum results' and to 'get rid of most of what you eat'.  Smaller meals more often doesn't mean they would necessarily acheive either....

UPDATE:

After a week of the smaller foods every couple hours, i have lost 1.5 lbs... 

I feel a lot better because I am not hungry often, and once i feel a slight hunger, I eat ONE yoplait yogurt. 

For my main meals, I splurge once or twice (not really splurge, but eat enough...) such as a meal salad or a lean cuisine meal and such.

I eat ok amounts, no less than 1200, and I think i am making my body use some of itself..

So far so good!