What’s your take on meal planning? Eat small mini-meals or eat in the 8 hour window?
Chicken or egg? Is it better to schedule out your daily meal planning into smaller meals spread out eating every 2-3 hours? Or, is the argument of eating all your calories only within an 8 hour window and leaving your body on an “empty tank” to metabolize, especially for fat loss?
What do you feel gets the general public the most satisfaction as well as results?
Hi Christine,
I do not believe that there is one answer that will make everybody happy. No matter which way you eat, the bottom line is that people need to expend more energy than they consume.
People are different. I would be hard to live with if I could not eat something over the course of the day. I am also not planning except for the fact that I always have healthy things in my house that I like. If I wanted to be fancy I could call myself an ‘intuitive eater’. That does not work for everybody.
For others, well pre-planned meals are the solution. However, I found that making this suggestion is not popular with most; chances are that those who fight it tooth and nails would probably benefit the most from that kind of structure.
People are still busily searching for the magic bullet or the perfect solution. Every season brings a new approach touted as the way to east to lose 10, 20 or 30 pounds in a month.
The boring truth is as stated above: eat a little less overall and move a little more.
Karin Singleton
www.meltnc.com
I agree with Karin that a ‘cookie cutter’ way of eating is like a ‘cookie cutter’ exercise plan. So many things come into play: genetics, personality, health issues, geographic location, age. The nutritionists I know with whom I have discussed this seem to have that take as well, though that is definitely a small sample size.
Len Kravitz did a fascinating lecture on fat metabolism at IDEA world. If you wanted to check out his site he has a number of references to great articles on this topic. I think his research and his perspective are both really great input in thinking about this topic.
Hello Christine Dwyer,
Oh boy…there is not one answer, everyone is so different with their own lifestyle, work, illness, injury and many other factors to deal with. In my experience, the advice to move more and eat less has caused people to become overweight because they take it to the extreme. Not all heavy people overeat. Everyone finds what works for them; it may take a while through trial and error; but, just choose whole healthy food.
This is where the registered dietitian would be of help.
Take care,
Natalie aka NAPS 2 B Fit.
Hi Christine,
I agree with the answers posted above. I think it depends on how your body reacts. Everyone is different. But you can’t go wrong with a dose of clean-healthy eating and exercise.
But try both, see what works best for your body.
Or ask a nutritionist (better option)
Best,
Ron Benamor
www.motionsoft.net
I think you’re getting in the topic of intermittent fasting(IF). The research on IF is quite difficult to find, that’s because feeding studies are difficult, take a long and can be expensive.
From reading some articles from respected nutrition experts, I can agree that it’s more of a fad than anything. It’s new and shiney and offers big weight loss results, thus why people have been trying it out of late.
But fasting isn’t a magic formula for weight loss; it’s very simple: At a calorie deficit, people lose weight. At a calorie surplus, they gain.
In the JISSN journal, it shows that timing is also not the most important factor for protein or calories to lose weight. http://www.jissn.com/content/10/1/5
Meal frequency really depends on the individual but studies have shown that small frequent meals tend to blunt hunger and overeating. 2-3 meals per day and 2-3 snacks should suffice nicely as with majority of my clients.