What do you think is better, eating six small meals a day, some of them being less nutritious, or having 2 or 3 healthy meals a day? You know how they say your supposed to eat 6 small meals to keep your metabolism going and having 2 or 3 big meals kind of slows it down...I'm not sure which is better given the option.\n\n\nThanks!!!
212434
Having several smaller meals does not mean that they have to be less nutritious than having 2 or 3 larger meals. Personally I prefer the smaller meals because eating every couple of hours prevents you from getting too hungry and eating more than you need.
340990
What I recommend is getting all the nutrients and food your body needs, while getting it in the least amount of calories.  I found a super-food shake, which has everything your body needs and is a complete meal replacement. The great thing is, is that it's only 240 calories.  It's an awesome way I've been losing weight, while not starving my body.  It'd be great for you. Send me an email if you want  more information. Good luck.
120722
I am in the same predicament you are in. My doctor is telling me stuff I already know and i have no will power. like tonight i ate 3 bags of m&ms and a king sized twix but i will start tomorrow a new and try not to eat that crap.  what I do is excersice with a friend always because if I didnt i would do it. Its motivation. and I use a smaller plate so it can look full for the eyes and when I cook I only cook enough for 1 serving so when I want some more its none so I have to drink water to get full. Yeah, sometimes I dont always follow my rules but I wake up everyday and try again and harder. I havent weighed myself in a while because when i do and see that I have lost weight, my mind goes " what are you doing? lets eat more" and i gain it back but the best thing is to Wake up everyday and start brand new each day. if you break a day, its ok, try again. What I have learned is to not stop eating what you eat(as long if its not too much junk)just eat less of it. and excercise like crazy. oh, I also have been eating alot of fruits. I really dont like all the fruit thats available to me locally but i eat what i like apples, oranges, grapes, watermelon, strawberries, i just eat a different one a day.its called food rotating. Lucky with my job, one of my clients love to walk so 2 days out the week i have a good walk and my other client has to excercise more, so i motivate her by excercising with her and get strength training incorparated into those days. oh, i try to eat at least 6 times a day. breakfast lunch and dinner and 3 snacks but i dont always succeed, but i am losing weight, something i am doing is right because i can feel it in my feet and legs and sides where my bra is. hey, if you want a person to talk to about your days to give you motivation to keep trying im here for you sweety. so good luck. if you want to eat fast foods, try nuggets instead of burgers. and eat tacos. the whole point is to burn more calories than  you eat. good luck.
138713
If you ask me your best bet is a balance of the two, everything in moderation. But if I had to pick one I'd go with low calorie, because its much healthier to be eating fruits and vegetables than all meat all the time.
60459
id say dont go an a diet just learn how to eat good, eating good doesnt nessecarily mean a diet, just read up when ever you can, not any fad stuff. just learn to read labels, like ingrediants and the rest of the stuff. switch to whole wheat breads and pastas,  and buy more fruit and veggies. If you learn to eat good you wont nessecarily be on a diet and you can pass the healty eating on to your kids too. im 26 and have been reading up on this stuff for about a year now and still have a lot to learn. so id say just read, read, read, ( i get a lot of info from mens health mag.)
345710
Coming from someone who just lost 20 lbs. and before would look in the mirror and want to cry. I have some advice. The first thing, stop eating after 7 oclock. Tell your self that you can always eat in the morning, you can eat as much as you want before 3 oclock as long as its HEALTHY and you move around during the day. Drink plenty of water. 50% of americans mistake thirst (dehydration) for hunger and also not drinking enough water can lower your metabolism as little as 3%. Dont go to bed super late, that always makes it worse. Give yourself at least 3 to 4 hours before going to bed after you eat. It will just sit in your stomach and turn to fat if you dont. Also eat healthy foods not junk food, that is the second reason people gain weight. I am a massage therapist and a nutrionist, and am also going to school for my DVM. I went from 150 to 130 (I am 5'8) in 4 months just from not eating late and switching to whole and raw foods. I dont eat fast food at all, maybe once a month at the most. I make my food and take it to work. Try a supermarket like whole foods or trader joes, which or more natural. And try dairy products without growth hormones, which actually contribute to weight gain. Being a naturalist and not eating after 6 or 7 has changed my life. Sure I get lazy, and dont want to work out, but because I have a healthy diet and I can sometimes get away with it. Also a good thing would be to find some kind of hobby or something you love to do and use that to work out, like for instance I love to dance, and I use that as my work out regimen. I dont feel like I am doing it because I have to but because I want to. Good luck. I hope you can use some of my advice. I know its hard but you can do it. Anyone Can. One more thing that might help is buying a scale that calculates your specific body fat, it will help you set realistic goals for your body and where you stand in losing body fat.
669207
Just the facts, ma'am.  Slow is better because you lose more fat and less "other".  It is only physically possible to lose 1-2 lbs. of fat in a week, and fat is what you want to lose. It takes 3500 calories to make a lb. of fat, so you have to "burn" or reduce your calorie intake by about 7000 in a week to lose to lbs. of pure fat.  If your daily calorie needs are 2500 per day, and you diet at 1500 calories per day, you have created a 1000 calorie daily deficit which will equal about 2 lbs. of fat loss, mostly.  When losing weight, one does inevitably lose some muscle. The best way to prevent extra muscle loss is to be sure you get 40 g of protein daily while dieting (at least 2 decent servings of meat) and do some weight lifting. When you're lifting, your body is building new muscle which helps prevent the loss of muscle tissues. It's rare to gain much muscle while dieting, but just maintaining it will keep your metabolism higher.  More muscle on your frame equals more calories burned daily without exercise.   Exercise does help, but it should be a combo of cardio and weights.    Eating lots of veggies and fiber helps because fiber absorbs fat. I g fiber absorbs 1 g fat = 9 calories per gram that never lands on your hips.\nThe most important factor in keeping the weigh off is to find healthy snack and recipes that you enjoy so that you don't feel like you're "sacrificing" for the rest of your life. It's key to learn healthy habits and choices that you can live with.  Try some Healthy Choice desserts and ice creams.  Better yet, go to www.cookinglight.com and get 2 free trial issues. The food is so fabulous that you would never know that it was healthy. I started using their recipes almost 10 years ago and now that's pretty much all I cook. I've had tons of people eat at my house and never say,"Is this low-fat?" What I do get are rave reviews on my food and wine.
80327
I think if you eat something small like a granola bar or something, so you at least have some fuel (energy) to use when exercising, it is ok. I heard that if you do that, have a good work out, and then eat, it's actually better because after working out your metabolism is going fast & is ready to burn off what you eat next. I don't know if that's totally accurate, but it is what I have heard.
659060
Sorry about that.... I know how you feel. I know someone who started gaining alot of weight due to a health problem and being on certain medications, a lot of people don't understand that. I was told that eating very small portions throught out the day rather than the 3 suggested meals might help boost your metabolism but make sure it's healthy eating and no junk food. Try some Cardios, walking, light jogs....etc whenever you can. Hope this helps...
1826
The guidelines are actually for weight and activity levels. The higher your activity level, the more calories you need.\n\nIt is generally recommended that you eat 4 - 6 small meals per day.\n\nA diabetic diet plan really should be specially designed for just you.  This can be done with the assistance of a registered nutrionist.  Your healthcare provider can set you up with one.
662811
you should definitely eat more than once a day. When you eat only once a day your body will store everything from what you eat because it knows you will not eat again for a long time. So when you go back to regular eating your body will still be in that mode and you will gain your weight back because your body will be storing your food for fuel.
233773
This is not a recommended idea, allow me to explain. The human body, like a car, runs on "fuel". This fuel is represented as food, and food intake. Even if you consume small meals a day, this would be better for you. You can confuse your body by not giving it enough of the good things to eat, such as, reaching for an apple, orange, or some type of fruit, or juice. Remember, it is not what you eat, but how much you eat. If you eat smaller meals, and control your portions, you need not worry about the food intact you consume. And, by eating when you get home, and not working it off, then going to bed, you have just loaded all of your food on your body that is not processing it, but going to sleep. All of that energy and food consummation, now turns to "fat" during your sleeping hours. The cycle of your body will change, if you do this, eat smaller meals during the day, walk during lunch hour, drink lots of water. Good luck.
129013
Not eating all day is worse. You body basically goes into starvation mode and instead of going into the fat reserves for energy, your body actually takes muscle for fuel. Also, you body can better digest smaller meals throughout the day instead of one huge dinner.\n\nEating five healthy (small) meals - more like three meals and two snacks - is much healthier since it keeps your metabolism going all day and helps you burn more calories. Sweets are alright in moderation, just don't overdue it!
340283
If you eat regularly, don't worry about it, some of us have faster metabolism's than others. I am underweight to but I eat normally, everyones born different, and one day it will catch up to you anyway, whether you think your too skinny, someone else may think your perfect, or if you think your just right, someone may think your overweight. No matter what you're not going to make everyone happy, theres always going to be people with different opinions, I think people need to mind there own business. If you look healthy, and eat healthy, don't listen to anyone else.
49494
You can try eating 7 times a day in very small portions. Say every 3 hours or so and it shouldn't matter what you eat. This way your body uses everything it needs from what you've eaten. There will be nothing left to turn into body fat as with eating 3 larger meals a day. Drink plenty of water in between. Good luck.
190435
I delivered my fifth child November 29th, 2005.  I was 195 pounds at the time, after having the baby I was very determined to get back into my size 4/6 clothing, so I started eating every 2 hours, to speed up my metabolism, then I incorporated a 30 minute workout tape into my day.  The weight came off at a very steady pace, 1-3 pounds a week.  I'm now a size 8 and weigh 141 pounds.  I believe more weight would have came off on a weekly basis, if I were only able to get more sleep, I was averaging 2-3 maybe 4 ( if I was lucky)- hours of sleep a night. Try this and see if it works for you.  Eat every 2 hours- healthy for the most part- I mean, feel free to have the equivalent of 2 cookies a day, if you can't contain yourself, and when you eat your meals- eat them on a small plate.  That way you can control your portions.  If you have bad cravings in between eatings- then chew a piece of peppermint gum, or suck on a minty cough drop...also try drinking water.  Sometimes your body thinks it's hungry, when actually, it's thirsty.  So drink water when you get hungry and wait 20 min. for your body to take it all in, and see if you're still hungry, if you are, then eat.\nTo recap:  Eat every two hours (something healthy)- this includes breakfast, lunch and dinner. Eat dinner on a small plate and make sure you have lots of veggies on it, no food after 7pm, and 30 min. of exercise a day- minimum.\n Here's An example of what I eat in a day:\n\nBreakfast:  a bowl of whole grain cereal with Silk Soymilk, and an orange or apple.\n\nSnack: (2 hours later)- Fruit, one serving size of crackers...\n\nLunch:(2 hours later)- a healthy salade, maybe a sandwich...\n\nSnack: (2 hours later)- 2 graham crackers, milk...then \n\nDinner: (2 hours later)- whatever I make for the kids- just more veggies on my plate...and on a small plate.  \n\nA third snack is optional, but no food after 7pm.  It really works.  You'll lose so much weight, and you won't feel starved.
286341
Spread the food you eat out (like eat small portions 5-6 times a day verses 3 bigger meals)Don't over eat.  Drink water, NO SODA!!!!!!! exercise