8 small meals daily ideal?

[Stabber]

I tried the 6 meal a day thing. Just isnt working. I find myself getting hungry. What about 8 small meals throughout the day? I usually get hungry every few hours and eat... I still managed to stay on a calorie deficit doing this

[WillKuenzel]

This is what I try to do. I just find it easier to eat every 2 hours. Or roughtly 8 meals a day. I think it just works differently for different people. Some can do 8 meals, while others do 6. If it works then use it. :thumbup:

[Ace]

Damn..8 meals a day?!?

I find it hard enough to get in 6.

[bradley]

Originally posted by Stabber
I tried the 6 meal a day thing. Just isnt working. I find myself getting hungry. What about 8 small meals throughout the day? I usually get hungry every few hours and eat... I still managed to stay on a calorie deficit doing this

It would be fine to eat 8 meal instead of 6, and the overall calories will be the most important thing to consider, not meal frequency.

[Holto]

are you eating enough ?

how fast are you losing weight now ?

how many cals are you getting from liquids ?

[Stabber]

well the details are in my journal. I'm taking in almost 2000 calories daily. I'm 6'2 192lbs. I ordered a caliper to check my bf%... I'll let you know

From liquids, the only calories I get are from milk and protein powder

[bob2624]

The number of meals doesn't matter too much... it is the number of calories and grams of p/f/c. eat when it works for you.

[Holto]

I guess it's a good sign that you are hungry then

I'd kill to have your metabolism

are you eating larger meals earlier in the day ?

[Stabber]

not really. breakfeast is usually my biggest. so i assume getting hungry a lot even when you eat means you have a good metabolism?

[Stabber]

for example, here's what i ate yesterday:

Breakfeast:
4 or 5 slices of turkey bacon (80)
1 egg (70)
protein shake (1 scoop) w/1%milk (200)
calories: 350
protein:36.5
fat: 13
carbs 17

11:00am
road snack
Powerbar Protein plus bar (185 calories)
protein 16
fat 4
carbs 19

lunch 2:00pm
can of tuna. w/miracle whip (185 calories)
water
calories:185
protein:30
fat:2
carbs:0


pre workout
half a can of tuna with a teaspoon of miracle whip
115 calories
13 grams of protein
5 grams of fat?
2 carbs

cardio
hour of tennis. Had yomihburn DF on my face and on an ECA stack.

post workout
2 tbsps of natty pb on 1 slice of white break 260
1 glass of 1% milk 110
calories 370
protein:18
fat 22.5
carbs 32

dinner
stuffed shells with ground beef
calries 465
protein 16
fat 30.24
carb 11

snack
half a can of tuna
70
15
1
0

bed
whey w/milk
200
25
4
15

TOTALS:
Calories 1935ish
protein: 171
fat: 81.74
carbs: 96

[Holto]

that explains it

it's really hard but I think you need to eat more cals earlier in the day

your body is more sensitive to insulin and you *could* ramp up your metabolic rate even more which could make you burn more cals and you *may* not even be as hungry

some people are hungry on ECA no matter what

as was mentioned it will come down to cals in VS cals out

[bradley]

Originally posted by Stabber
for example, here's what i ate yesterday:

Breakfeast:
4 or 5 slices of turkey bacon (80)
1 egg (70)
protein shake (1 scoop) w/1%milk (200)
calories: 350
protein:36.5
fat: 13
carbs 17

Have you considered decreasing fat intake from foods like turkey bacon and maybe switching to skim milk? Instead of eating saturated fats I would recommend adding in some fish oil or maybe a little olive oil.



pre workout
half a can of tuna with a teaspoon of miracle whip
115 calories
13 grams of protein
5 grams of fat?
2 carbs


How soon before working out are you eating this meal?



post workout
2 tbsps of natty pb on 1 slice of white break 260
1 glass of 1% milk 110
calories 370
protein:18
fat 22.5
carbs 32


I would stick with just carbs and protein for the post workout meal. Maybe a scoop of protein powder and then some type of carbs, and keep fat intake to a minimum.



snack
half a can of tuna
70
15
1
0


Might add in some fat.



bed
whey w/milk
200
25
4
15


I would throw in the pb that you removed from the post workout meal and maybe throw in a tablespoon or two here. If you like cottage cheese it might be better choice than the whey and milk, but I don't think it matters that much in the grand scheme of things.

Don't skip out on the EFAs in your diet.:)

If you are getting hungry you might consider adding some fibrous veggies in with some of your meals. They provide a lot of vitamins and minerals and will also help keep you full longer due to the fiber content.

[bradley]

http://www.wannabebigforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=32700

Thought you might want to take a look at this if you haven't seen it. I think it is relevant to the topic at hand:D

[Stabber]

i meant to put down my shake. I always take it after workout. The natty PB (or anything after post workout) is eaten an hour after workout.

Before workout, I have the tuna. Like 5 minutes before.

I know i have to eat more calories....by the way. How would I know if my metabolism slowed down? I heard metabolism starvation can occur...it did concern me. But I think it *may* be ok since I'm always hungry?

[Stabber]

also, how do my carb and fat totals look for the day?

[bradley]

Originally posted by Stabber
Before workout, I have the tuna. Like 5 minutes before.


I think taking in a small amount of carbs (~25g) and whey protein (~10g) about thirty minutes before training would be ideal, and then post workout ~50g of carbs and ~25g of protein.



I know i have to eat more calories....by the way. How would I know if my metabolism slowed down?

If you are still losing weight at a good pace then you should be fine. I agree that you might need to up cals a bit, but that would really depend on your maintenance calories and other factors like bf%.



I heard metabolism starvation can occur...it did concern me. But I think it *may* be ok since I'm always hungry?

Well creating too large of a calorie deficit for too long could cause a drop in metabolic rate, and the fact that you are always hungry could be a sign that you need to refeed to help get leptin levels up. Here is a link on refeeds that I would recommend reading:

http://www.theministryoffitness.com/mof/library/articles/article18.htm

[bradley]

Originally posted by Stabber
also, how do my carb and fat totals look for the day?

Maybe a little more protein, closer to 1g per lb. of bw, and you could probably get away with decreasing your overall fat intake, while increasing your intake of EFAs. I would supplement with some fish oil or maybe add some oily fish in your diet.

[Stabber]

good article. Hmm....I DO need to get dextrose to put in my post workout shake. But what is it exactly and where can I get it?

Can I have my refeeds on cheat days (which is once a week?)
thanks for the info

[bradley]

Originally posted by Stabber
good article. Hmm....I DO need to get dextrose to put in my post workout shake. But what is it exactly and where can I get it?


Dextrose=corn sugar and can be found at most any place that sells home brewing supplies, or you can order it online. It is relatively inexpensive and a worthwhile addition to a post workout shake.



Can I have my refeeds on cheat days (which is once a week?)
thanks for the info

Sure, just think of a refeed as a planned cheat day, but a planned refeed would consist of protein at ~1g per lb. of bw, fat kept at a minimum (~10-15% of daily cals with most coming from EFAs), and the rest of your daily cals coming from carbs. Also remember to eat above maintenance cals on refeed days.

When refeeding you are basically trying to cause a small amount of spillover into fat cells to increase leptin levels. With a planned refeed you can just cause a little spillover, but an all out cheat day could cause too much spillover. There is a sticky at the top of the forum that might be of interest as well.