Eating can be a complicated process. When should you eat? What should you eat? How much should you eat? How often should you eat?
It’s very confusing and many different people have many different opinions. We break down how often you should be eating below, to make things slightly less confusing.
The most important thing to remember is that not every person is the same. This means that what will work for one person, won’t necessarily work for everyone else. The best thing to do is to know what works for you and your body and stick to that.
Whatever will help you eat MOST CONSISTENTLY how you are meant to eat is what you should be doing on a regular basis.
Most people have heard that you should either eat 3 times per day or 6 times per day. This can be counterproductive when one person gets hungry more often and they’re only eating 3 times per day, and be too much pressure when someone doesn’t get hungry that often and they’re trying to eat 6 times per day. In fact, one study took 2 groups of overweight people and had each person create the same sized caloric deficit and then consume that same calorie intake every day for 8 weeks.
HOWEVER, they had one group eat 3 meals a day, and the other group eat 6 meals a day.
The result? They all lost the exact same amount of weight in the end.
Research has shown that eating anywhere between 3 and 6 meals per day is a good goal to have.
And if you’re someone who can only stomach 3 meals per day, that’s absolutely fine. But if you’re then someone who gets hungry more frequently, 6 meals per day is also right for you. The differentiating factor comes in when you look at what you’re eating. If you’re eating 6 junk meals a day, you’ll soon discover a problem, or if you’re having 3 apples a day, your body may likely not be getting enough nutrition.
In short, it is wise to take a look at your body and do what you know is best for your body and meal requirements.
