3 meals/day or more?

[LeslieJ]

I'm new to this board -- discovered it after getting interested in low-carb eating via Atkins & feeling a big aha moment. Eating low-carb just makes so much sense. I've ordered a couple of the Eades books but they haven't arrived yet so forgive me if I'm asking something I'll be able to read for myself in a few days.

I'm wondering if the conventional wisdom of eating 5 or 6 small meals or snacks to keep the metabolism burning is out the window with the PP way of eating. Just my uneducated guess but it seems that since you don't get hungry between meals there's no need to eat just to increase metabolism (if that even happens). Also seems from what I've read on this forum (correct me if I'm wrong please) that by not providing calories all throughout the day it allows or forces your body to use its own stores of energy by burning fat. Eating small amounts all day long might defeat that purpose.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[maxlharris]

I think it's an open question. There are people on the board who do intermittent fasting, with 1-2 meals a day. There are people who do 3 squares. There are people (me) who do 5-6. There are a lot of theories on effective metabolism for weight loss but there's not a lot of really solid evidence one way or the other.

You might experiment and see what works best for you.

[Gaelen]

Leslie, welcome. I agree that you have to figure out what works most effectively for you. Some people have very high recommended daily protein minimums (120g per day) which they find easier to achieve if split into several meals/snacks versus trying to eat that all at once. Some people are at a low enough lean body mass that their protein minimum is only 60-70g per day, but since their appetites are low, they too find it difficult to eat 30g of solid protein at a single sitting. Others, like me, have issues with mentally or physically going without meals for long periods of time unless I absolutely have not other choice (like a medical test.) For me, eating this way never made appetite go away, so I am better off eating smaller meals spread throughout my 15-18 hours days.

Figure out what's the most comfortable eating period distribution for you...but also pay attention to your blood sugar and alertness responses. If you find yourself cranky, distracted or unfocused, experiencing symptoms of either high or low blood sugar when it's been too long between meals, you might physically NEED to eat more often. It may take some time to puzzle out what works for you. Welcome in.

[LeslieJ]

Thanks for the advice - I'll experiment with it & see how I feel. Right now I'm not hungry at all between meals so maybe I'm okay with not snacking in between.

Right now, after just a few weeks of eating at the extreme level of low carb (20-30 g) I'm ready to start adding back slowly. Waiting to get the Eades' books to see how they recommend doing that compared to what I've read in Atkins.

[Gaelen]

Right now, after just a few weeks of eating at the extreme level of low carb (20-30 g) I'm ready to start adding back slowly. Waiting to get the Eades' books to see how they recommend doing that compared to what I've read in Atkins.

Protein Power recommends staying at phase I intervention (30-40g ECC) until

you are very close to goal weight
any metabolic or health issues (diabetes, high blood pressure, dangerous blood lipid ratios) have resolved to normal levels


At that point, you can move to either phase II intervention (50-55g ECC) and stay there until you reach goal weight, or transition into weight maintenance if you're already at your healthy goal weight. There's no Atkins-style "add carbs back in gradually" every week until you get to maintenance.

[LeslieJ]

I'm pretty much at my goal weight -- kind of was looking at this as more of a way of eating healthier not for losing weight. But I have lost some body fat, some jiggle, some belly bloat & feel very happy with where I am. I'm just sort of paralyzed -- if I start adding carbs I think I'll immediately start bloating up again. Probaby not recommended to stay at the intervention level for too long plus it would get tedious without having a few more veggies & some fruit (I do miss fruit).

I'm looking forward to reading the books soon and being better informed. Thanks for the info in the meantime.

[lczeledoc]

Well, you can add one piece of fruit a day (low glycemic) and see how it goes. The other thing is exercise, if you exercise you can afford a little bit more carbs. I am about 2/3 of the way to my goal weight and I have upped my carb intake via fruits now that my Blood glucose level is under control. And I am still losing weight, although at a slower rate. Which is not a problem since now I have the low carb eating habit firmly implanted and it is a way of life for me.

[deirdra]

I tried eating 5-6 several small meals instead of 3 but found none of them satisfying, so went back to 3 satisfying ones. I'm not hungry for 4-6 hrs, and I don't have the desire or time to eat between meals. So see what feels right to you.

[LeslieJ]

Yes, that's the thing with the smaller meals - they don't satisfy my mental need to eat a certain quantity. Nothing to do with hunger just my psychological hangup. That's why I can't have protein shakes for meals either -- need to be chewing for whatever reason.

So if I ate additional food between breakfast, lunch, and dinner I'd probably just have a serving of almonds or macadamia nuts. Is that a bad habit to get into? I can see how it would be tempting to keep upping the serving size -- could become my new unhealthy food obsession after I've just broken my animal cracker one. Hmmm...must be careful.

[Mitra]

When I first started PP I had a snack mid-morning and mid-afternoon, but over time, I dropped both of them. These days I just have three meals unless I'll be eating particularly late in the evening, when I'll have something between lunch and dinner.

[maxlharris]

Yes, that's the thing with the smaller meals - they don't satisfy my mental need to eat a certain quantity. Nothing to do with hunger just my psychological hangup. That's why I can't have protein shakes for meals either -- need to be chewing for whatever reason.

So if I ate additional food between breakfast, lunch, and dinner I'd probably just have a serving of almonds or macadamia nuts. Is that a bad habit to get into? I can see how it would be tempting to keep upping the serving size -- could become my new unhealthy food obsession after I've just broken my animal cracker one. Hmmm...must be careful.

Plate fullness has been found to be tied to meal "satisfaction" scoring. So, if small meals don't fill you, you might look into eating on smaller plates. If you want to explore this.

On the nuts/snack stuff, you want to be pretty tight about servings and not get to eating them ad lib. Especially the macadamia nuts. Not a whole lot of protein in those (relative to almonds) and generally quite a bit more expensive.

[WakefieldWendy]

On the issue of snacking, I think it is important to figure out why you snack. If you are hungry, snacks with calories and fat are good, but you have to watch the portion. If you want the sensation of chewing, of mindlessly eating while watching the football game, lower calorie snacks will be better (but won't provide much energy if you are truly hungry).

Snacks for the Hungry (high fat, low volume)

nuts (macadameans, almonds etc.)
nut butters
cream cheese
hard cheese
etc.

Snacks for the Pleasure of Snacking (high volume, low fat)

cucumber sticks
sugarless gum
zucchini sticks
celery sticks
etc.

Obviously these lists can be easily combined to create a middle ground of volume and fat (i.e. celery sticks with pb or cream cheese).