Healthy snacks between meals, how important are they?

I’m really trying to eat breakfast – snack1 – lunch – snack2 – dinner. But it’s not working out very well, I don’t really FEEL like having those snacks I’m not peckish and I’m not hunry (in most cases). How will a “normal” metabolism react by having only breakfast lunch and dinner?

Breakfast at 8, lunch at 12, dinner at 18.

I have found that eating 6 to 8 small meals a day that are healthy with a mix of complex carbs, good fats, and high protein really helps me lose weight faster than if I eat three square meals.

Also, if you eat the majority of your carbs in the early hours of the day, that will really rev up the metabolism!

Wow that was a quick answer! What does rev up mean? I’m assuming it is good to eat carbs early in the morning? Then I do completely right with having my kellogs cereals first thing <3 :)

I took a peak at your nutrition log. I think the main issue is that you are eating the bulk of your calories at the end of the day. By breaking things up during the day you are giving your body what it needs when it needs it. If you eat 1000 calories at the end of the day, your body only uses a portion of that because it can only process so much at once. The rest gets stored, mostly as fat. You need to balance out your calories throughout the day, working your calories in around your workouts. Eating 300-400 calories 5-6x times a day (eating every 3-4 hours) is an easy formula to help you accomplish that.
Pamela

www.ThrivePersonalFitness.com

Thank you for the answer!

But 5 – 6 times a day 300 – 400 that would be way more calories than dailyburn “allows” me. I’m trying to eat 1300 – 1500 but it’s really difficult, I mostly get about 1600 – 1700, which is why I’m not losing weight. (could be because I’m weak when it comes to snacking infront of TV, trying to stop that :P)

So my new schedule:
Morning (around 8): 300 calories
Morning snack (around 10): 100 calories (a fruit or so)
Lunch (around 12): 400 calories
Afternoon snack (around 15): 100 calories
Dinner (around 18): 500 – 600 calories

Total: 1400 – 1500 calories!

Is that an okay division of the calories? :)

That looks fine. I recently went from 6 meals a day down to 4 bigger meals as it felt like I was snacking each time I ate than actually eating a full meal. I’m a sucker for having a ‘huge’ calorie meal towards the end of the day so dinner would always be ~800 calories even when I was only taking in 1500 calories a day (dinner did feel like a reward though! :p). You may want to scale it down to 4 meals a day on that amount of calories to actually feel a sense of satiety after eating a meal.

Based on your first post, your don’t really have to make a substancial change. Continue having breakfast and lunch at 8am and 12pm respectively and throw in some form of snack containing protein or healthy fats at 3pm (a yoghurt or some nuts would be ideal) and then have dinner at 6:30pm. Aim to top your body up with food every ~3 hours.

Okay, so I’ll skip the morning snack and “combine” that with the afternoon snack! Thanks, now I have a proper plan, let’s try to get rid of that weight.

And I’m also a sucker for dinner, I love cooking as well, so I often make way too tasty meals, indeed it feels like a reward, eating should be enjoyable!

But what I do is that I only look for recipes that stay between 500 – 600 calories a portion and cook only two portions (since we are two people) then we put it on the plates. That way we don’t overeat dinner! :)

There is no metabolic advantage to eating lots of small meals.

http://www.alanaragon.com/an-objective-look-at-…

“Contrary to popular belief, a high frequency has no thermodynamic advantage over a low frequency under calorie-controlled conditions (as opposed to ad libitium or free-living conditions) using 24-hr indirect calorimetry [3,4]. So much for the magic of stoking the metabolic furnace with an extreme grazing pattern. "

That division looks pretty good to me. Again, more calories early in the day (especially if that is when you are most active) would be better in my opinion. Everyone is different. Try it out and see how it works for you. Also pay attention to the quality of your calories. Stay away from fast food, take out and the like. I would also recommend increasing your activity to help create the calorie deficit. Wii Fit won’t cut it long term. I would recommend looking into a resistance training program (weights) and increasing your cardio.
Pamela

www.ThrivePersonalFitness.com

Thank you, eating a lot early is no go for me. I can get my 300 calorie breakfast with my cereals, but more than that and I feel seriously sick. I can eat a proper lunch, but prefer to have a nice dinner together with my boyfriend, it’s more social also :)

I know that wii fit wont cut it in the end, I usually do jogging as well but since it’s very slippery outside I’ve been having that as an excuse lately. Trying to find a good exercise form that I find fun, it is difficult! Wii fit I mostly do in the mornings to get awake, not as real exercise :)

But thank you for your answers. Now I have a proper plan and know what to do, just to try to follow it :)

I agree with andalus. Focusing on food more or less makes you a slave to your next meal. Also, eating more frequently keeps your insulin level up, the major player in fat storage. Instead, focus on balancing the macronutrients (fat, protein, carb) to what works best for you.

That’s actually an interesting link andalus pasted there! I recently checked my LDL-cholesterol levels. And I had lower bad cholesterol than normal, good level on good cholesterols. And lower triglycerid levels, not so low so it got dangerous, but just perfect. So I must be doing something right! I guess… Or it’s just because I’m young. Will eat like I plan now for a while, with breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack and dinner which feels like a more natural schedule for me. And then in a few months of eating like that I’ll let you know what happened! :D

From my personal experience, I would say healthy snacks between meals are really very important. It helps your metabolism rate and increases the energy levels. Eating 6-8 (small meals) a day helps me to lose weight in a better way & prevents over eating. I’ve been using Bistro MD diet meals (low calorie diet food) recommended by my trainer and they provide me with healthy snacks along with the meals. It has helped me a lot and I would suggest it to everyone who wants to lose some weight.