6 small meals a day?

Question

I heard this is great for losing weight. But what in the heck is considered a small meal? What would be some examples?

Answer 1

I've tried and have heard of different programs that recommend 6 small meals a day. They did break them down a bit differently. One suggested having your 3 main meals (300-500 calories), breakfast, lunch and dinner, and then having 3 small snacks of 100-200 calories in between your meals.

Another method suggested taking your total caloric intake for the day, say if it's 1200 calories, and then divide that by 6 and so then you'd have 200 calories for each "meal". Personally, I found it easier to do the first method. For those snacks it could be a protein shake or smoothie, apple with a piece of string cheese, a ricecake with an ounce of reduced calorie cream cheese and a slice of turkey is very yummy, or put a tablespoon of peanut butter on it. Soup can be a good choice too, but you have to watch the salt content.

Answer 2

I eat like that and what I do is eat about every 2 to 3 hrs. This keeps you from getting too hungry and stuffing yourself with food later. Examples are have your breakfast like 3 eggs (1 yolk only) w/some veggie mixed in like bellpeppers, mushrooms or tomato, that takes care of your protein and veggie then your carbs can be a 1/2 bowl of oatmeal, coffee with sugar sub. Eat a healthy lunch always watching your carbs (30 grams of carbs at each meal will help) and dinner should be smaller than your lunch and not later than 6:30 since your body won't have enough time to burn too many calories before bedtime. In between your 3 normal meals have snacks that include 1 carb serving and 1 protein serving. Always have protein with your snacks to keep you going until your next meal. i.e apple w/1 tbls peanut butter, 1/2 turkey sandwich w/ mustard and if you must, tsp lite mayo, graham crackers and cheese, plain yogurt sweetend w/equal and throw in 1/2 banana, as long as you try to keep your carbs at least 15 grams and eat protein (not so high in fat) you will be on your way! Oh and dont forget to drink at least 6 glasses of water!!

Answer 3

Hmm ... those aren't really meals at some point ... lol. I try to space out my eating in to small parts each day, but it usually ends up looking like this:

Breakfast: Carnation instant breakfast mix w/skim milk (10 am)
Lunch: Lean pocket, small salad, an apple (approx 2 pm)
Dinner: Lean Cuisine dinner (no later than 7 pm)

And I eat small healthy snacks, such as a banana, or my favorite Smart Start bars two or three times a day. I personally don't have time to prepare meals just for myself, so unfortunately I get a lot of sodium from pre-prepared meals, which makes me retain water. But anyway, that's enough to keep me going for the day.

Answer 4

No, that doesn't work. You just gotta eat regular meals that are healthy and low in carbs. There is no reason to eat 6 smalls meals if they have a bunch of carbs, you'll be more hungry that way. Eat normal meals, low in carbs and healthy. Combine it with exercise and you'll see results right away!! there are a lot of good healthy meals, but you just gotta cook at home. No Eating Out!

Answer 5

it's kinda like big snacks... i tried stuff like... yogurt and a bananna and juice... some graham crackers and skim milk... a bowl of healthy cereal...a small salad with chicken... my fav veggies with some melted lowfat cheese... a sandwich... some wheat thins... some fat free pudding... granola bars... energy bars... protein shakes... those are some ideas. i would say the main thing is to DRINK LOTS OF WATER THROUGHOUT THE DAY BETWEEN THE MEALS... you'll feel way good after like a week.

Answer 6

everybody should customize their food habits bcoz not everyones requirements are same
generally speaking small meanls means eat less more often
more often means not every minute but say like every 3 hours
eat something like some fruit or some healthy drink u will take breakfast lunch dinner anyway so if u follow like this u will not need to eat full lunch or dinner, that is healthy way also,

Answer 7

I've heard Dolly Parton controls her weight like this. I suppose a small meal is one that has small portions or is just one thing, not the whole deal in a small size-- like Dolly herself.