What works best: "3 square meals a day" or "constant snacking"

[ecstatichamster]

I go back and forth on this one. I tend to drink juice, have fruit, eat a tortilla with cheese, etc., all day.

But sometimes I eat a bigger meal and don't eat for hours.

Which have you found works best for you? Can you share your experiences?

 

[Vanset]

works best for what? in general i dont think it's a good ideato constantlyelevate your insulin levels

 

[Metabawlic]

Honey and/or milk and coffee in the AM until I feel hungry then a large meal. Repeat until dinner then fruit/honey again before sleeping to relax.

 

[ecstatichamster]

Honey and/or milk and coffee in the AM until I feel hungry then a large meal. Repeat until dinner then fruit/honey again before sleeping to relax.

So you are eating large meals and skipping eating in between?

 

[Jsaute21]

Pulse & Temp brother. Your body will tell you when it needs glucose.

 

[Braveheart]

Strong breakfast and snacking later...

 

[Jerkboy]

Three square meals

 

[Blossom]

3 square meals for me.

 

[76er]

I have many meals through-out: e.g.

- 6:30AM
- 2 x medjool dates with 8oz of milk.
- Hot coffee latte with gelatin, creating, salt, cocoa, black strap molasses, and maple syrup
- 4 oz of ground beef mix with small amounts of beef heart and liver, onion,
green pepper. 1/2 oz of grated parmigiano.

- 9:30 AM
- Mix of pomegranate, orange, and apple (cider) juice.
- 1 serving of ricotta with honey and black strap.

- 11:30 AM
- 1 x duck egg with cheese and a meat. Usually with a starch: potato or
sourdough bread.
- Mix of pomegranate, orange, and apple (cider) juice.

- 1:30 PM
- 2 x medjool dates with 6oz of milk.

- 3:00 PM
- Cold coffee latte with salt, cocoa, peanut butter powder, black strap
molasses, and maple syrup.
- 1 oz of Gouda

- 6:15 PM
- Standard dinner fare, whatever my wife makes.
- 8oz apple cider

- 8:00 PM
- Cold coffee latte with salt, cocoa, peanut butter powder, black strap
molasses, and maple syrup.

- 10:30 Bedtime: Maybe a spoonful of honey with a swig of milk.

 

[fractal]

Breakfast - 40-60 grams of protein with fruit
Dinner - 40-60 grams of protein with starch
Only coffee and 1% milk for the rest of the day if needed
Haagen Daaz as an occasional treat.

 

[Christopher R.]

Strong breakfast and snacking later...

I agree, have breakfast as a "square meal" which lasts you until roughly midday, then smaller snack-type foods according to when you feel hungry.

Or you could psych yourself up to smaller meals by having 3 square snack-sized meals, and 2 snacks of equal size midway between each meal.

 

[Lollipop2]

Three meals for me - feel completely satisfied, never feel the need to snack.

 

[Doc Sandoz]

I eat when I start to feel hungry, considering it a mark of blood sugar drop. Generally nosh about 6 times a day, with one larger meal at dinner - though not a "square meal." Good maintenance intake for me is approx 2200 cal per day but of course holidays, travel or special dinners exceed this mark and can result in weight gain if prolonged.

When wishing to lose fat, I cut calories to average around 1400 - 1500 per day. Usually a low cal day consists of a small breakfast (200 cal), small lunch (200), a Mexican coke (150), dinner (500), evening snack (300) - with a miscellaneous snack thrown in any other time I'm hungry. One of the snacks is usually low fat cottage cheese for the Ca. Three times a week smoked oysters for the minerals. Otherwise, try to get a balance of proteins (meat/glycine), not too much starch, very little fat (saturated) and some sugar.

Works good.

 

[SamYo123]

Three meals for me - feel completely satisfied, never feel the need to snack.

SO if you get cold during or run on stress between you stay like that or eat?

 

[Lollipop2]

SO if you get cold during or run on stress between you stay like that or eat?

I don’t get cold or run on stress. My meals are sufficient - took a while to figure out how much and what - works nicely now.

 

[Jennifer]

I have three square meals and also snack throughout the day. I don’t actually need to snack, but I really like food.

 

[YourUniverse]

I go back and forth on this one. I tend to drink juice, have fruit, eat a tortilla with cheese, etc., all day.

But sometimes I eat a bigger meal and don't eat for hours.

Which have you found works best for you? Can you share your experiences?

I go back and forth with this too. Usually Im sipping something throughout the day, but now Im trying fewer larger meals. I go back to the Nikola Tesla thread and his thoughts on diet. He believed digestion took resources away from the brain and so he would eat breakfast and dinner, and allowed 2 hours to digest before working and sleeping. I find when I graze throughout the day I think slower, have brain fog, etc, and it really only does break 2 or maybe 3 hours after last eating. But, Im sure Ill find a reason to switch back to grazing. Good thread, thanks.

 

[YourUniverse]

I don’t get cold or run on stress. My meals are sufficient - took a while to figure out how much and what - works nicely now.

Can I ask what you eat? Do you eat the same things daily?

 

[yerrag]

3 meals for the healthy ones.

Grazing for the unhealthy ones.

Healthy is when you have a stable blood sugar 1.5 - 2 hrs after each meal (blood sugar rises to 140-150 after a meal, which is normal, before it starts to come down to normal fasting levels, from 80-95, depending on the person). At stable blood sugar fasting levels in between meals, you have energy, don't feel hungry nor sleepy, nor agitated.

Unhealthy is when you can't make blood sugar come down to those fasting levels. This is hyperglycemia.

Also when your blood sugar goes below normal fasting blood sugar levels. This is hypoglycemia. Even if it were just a blip when your blood sugar went below, it still is unhealthy because the flow of energy is interrupted, and for a moment your liver fails to convert T4 to T3, your energy suffers.

When hyperglycemia, you may not feel hungry. But with hypoglycemia, you would. And you need to eat to bring up your blood sugar. Else you become sleepy, or your immunity drops.

 

[Jam]

3 square meals for me, always finishing off with milk and espresso. The milk keeps me satiated between meals. Additionally, I'll have more milk and espresso between meals: one mid-morning, and another one mid-afternoon. And when I'm thirsty, I'll have some OJ, tonic water, or sparkling water.