Getting Rid of the Burden of Six Meals a Day

Nutrition
81

[quote]gregron wrote:

[quote]Bricknyce wrote:

[quote]gregron wrote:

if you’re that strict with your diet and you’re not competing then I think you’re more than likely being way too anal and you probably dont have a very fun/fulfilling life lol[/quote]

That’s actually how I USED TO do things. And it did leave to an unfulfilling, unsatisfying life. [/quote]

Yeah I hear ya on that. I know some people might lack self control so that could be an issue… but yeah the saying “live a little” is pretty fitting :)[/quote]

Right now I try and get 5 meals a day in with a certain calorie breakdown and my gains are going through the roof. But, on Sundays I just eat whenever I feel like it to give my brain a break. But, if I feel like pizza or burgers or something I’ll eat that, or if I feel like drinking a few beers on Tuesday night I’ll do that to.

I lift to look and perform better, and I eat to support those goals but I also lift because it’s part of who I am. Getting too anal about 6 meals a day or no booze with your buddies or date would take the fun out of my favorite hobby.

82

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:

[quote]gregron wrote:

[quote]Bricknyce wrote:

[quote]gregron wrote:

if you’re that strict with your diet and you’re not competing then I think you’re more than likely being way too anal and you probably dont have a very fun/fulfilling life lol[/quote]

That’s actually how I USED TO do things. And it did leave to an unfulfilling, unsatisfying life. [/quote]

Yeah I hear ya on that. I know some people might lack self control so that could be an issue… but yeah the saying “live a little” is pretty fitting :)[/quote]

Right now I try and get 5 meals a day in with a certain calorie breakdown and my gains are going through the roof. But, on Sundays I just eat whenever I feel like it to give my brain a break. But, if I feel like pizza or burgers or something I’ll eat that, or if I feel like drinking a few beers on Tuesday night I’ll do that to.

I lift to look and perform better, and I eat to support those goals but I also lift because it’s part of who I am. Getting too anal about 6 meals a day or no booze with your buddies or date would take the fun out of my favorite hobby.[/quote]

^^ this is pretty much exactly me (minus the 5 meals a day part) I’m usually 3 plus a few snacks. If you’re not competing then I honestly don’t see the point in being that strict.

83

[quote]Mascherano wrote:
Also used to do 6 meals a day and now I just eat one large meal at night - been on the Warrior Diet since June.

I love it! I never realized what a burden preparing/carrying/eating all those meals and snacks were until I stopped doing it. I feel great, my training hasn’t suffered at all (in fact i think its improved) and now I devote more time and energy to doing other things aside from eating or worse, thinking about eating, or even worse, recovering from eating and then being hungry again.

I also save money b/c i don’t need to take any supps/whey protein except for Glutamine.

I will say, however, that this lifestyle is more conducive to leaning out or maintaining. I think it would be very difficult to eat like this on a bulk…unless you can really REALLY eat big! lol.

And lets face it, nothing is more gratifying than taking a monster shit in the morning…not that girls do that or anything…cough[/quote]
This about sums up my thoughts on the WD. That and I stopped falling asleep in class when I started.

84

[quote]gregron wrote:

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:

[quote]gregron wrote:

[quote]Bricknyce wrote:

[quote]gregron wrote:

if you’re that strict with your diet and you’re not competing then I think you’re more than likely being way too anal and you probably dont have a very fun/fulfilling life lol[/quote]

That’s actually how I USED TO do things. And it did leave to an unfulfilling, unsatisfying life. [/quote]

Yeah I hear ya on that. I know some people might lack self control so that could be an issue… but yeah the saying “live a little” is pretty fitting :)[/quote]

Right now I try and get 5 meals a day in with a certain calorie breakdown and my gains are going through the roof. But, on Sundays I just eat whenever I feel like it to give my brain a break. But, if I feel like pizza or burgers or something I’ll eat that, or if I feel like drinking a few beers on Tuesday night I’ll do that to.

I lift to look and perform better, and I eat to support those goals but I also lift because it’s part of who I am. Getting too anal about 6 meals a day or no booze with your buddies or date would take the fun out of my favorite hobby.[/quote]

^^ this is pretty much exactly me (minus the 5 meals a day part) I’m usually 3 plus a few snacks. If you’re not competing then I honestly don’t see the point in being that strict.[/quote]

Yeah. I do what I do 'cause I love it and to enhance my quality of life, not burden it. My 5 meals are really 3 solids and 2 shakes [normally]. It’s quick, easy and helps me reach my goals. Having to stop whatever I was doing at 6 different points during the day to eat my carefully measured food would drive me out of my mind. Though, I do respect the dedication of those who do it.

85

Six meals per day (and breakfast from the blender) took me from 170-215lbs so I do view that phase as an important part of the journey

But being that I’m the furthest thing from the obsessive, type-A types, I’m quite happy that that phase is over

86

I eat 5x day, I win

87

I was playing around on excel (yep, i’m a nerd) and trying to put a workable menu together that only used 3 meals a day. I did it, I have one; but I don’t like how it’s looking.

I may try and stretch it out to 4 meals or so. Maybe 5 and work on weening myself down to a more “work/social friendly” amount. haha

88

I went from 6-7 meal a day to 3 or 4 since i’ve been on AD, and i must say i feel much better. Less bloat, more energy, still constant gains in weight. I’m back to bulking now, and i must say that its more easy for me to eat 5500-6000 cal in 3 meals than in six

89

[quote]gregron wrote:

[quote]PB Andy wrote:
Damn, 180 pounds brick, ain’t that a bit TOO small? How tall are you?[/quote]

A ripped up 5’10" 180something pound guy is “small” in bodybuilding terms but to the general public you’d look really good[/quote]

Agreed. plus different weights look totally different on different people anyway.

90

Just saw this thread now…

Eating infrequently always makes me feel lethargic and tired after a relatively short time of being awake… I used to do it all the way through school and that sucked… Even now with a much better understanding of how to structure my diet I really just can’t do it… I end up needing excessive amounts of sleep vs. time awake for some reason (same calorie count) and I’m maybe good for the first 7-8 or so hours of the day, then I may as well lie down and go to dreamland because my brain certainly does.

Never been able to chug down really huge amounts of calories in one meal either, makes my stomach hurt and I end up looking bloated…

A few years back trying to get to 300 lbs and eating a shit ton of food obviously made the infrequent eating approach impossible for me, but now that I’ve been sitting at 265-275 for half a year or so and don’t have to eat remotely as much, 3 meals per day still doesn’t work any better.

Fortunately I’m rather flexible when it comes to my diet with only a few rules I stick to (protein intake and total cals mostly)… Getting in enough protein to keep my strength gains coming in quickly enough (whether while gaining bodyweight or staying at a weight such as I’m doing now) is just about impossible on a low frequency diet for me.

And after over a decade of eating 5-6+ (almost never done more than that though, unless I had to work the night through or something… I used to get by on 3-5 hours of sleep a night tops all throughout uni, but that totally doesn’t work if I’m eating infrequently… Now about 5-6 hours a night is plenty, though I sometimes wish I could fall asleep a little easier) meals/big shakes per day, I’ve figured out lots of little tweaks for my diet, how to avoid getting gassy etc, what I can eat a lot of “safely”, how to reduce prep time and what have you so that it’s actually no chore at all as long as I’m not trying to get in 8000 or so (that’s a bother no matter what I do, obviously).

If I’m with friends somewhere at a restaurant or whatever, I can eat just fine as long as I actually like the food (that’s my main issue, I’m a bit limited in food choices not because of a strict diet but because most of the stuff served at local pub’s, restaurants etc is stuff I don’t like).

Alcohol is a non-issue as I don’t drink it anyway (no particular reason) and all the people I know are used to that.

Having a wife who lifts seriously and approaches things in a very similar fashion helps a ton though. We’ve been together (only married recently) for pretty much as long as I’ve been training.

Anyway, as far as I’m concerned just do what gets the job done well in your particular case… If that’s eating few meals a day, that’s cool too.

91

[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
Just saw this thread now…

Eating infrequently always makes me feel lethargic and tired after a relatively short time of being awake… I used to do it all the way through school and that sucked… Even now with a much better understanding of how to structure my diet I really just can’t do it… I end up needing excessive amounts of sleep vs. time awake for some reason (same calorie count) and I’m maybe good for the first 7-8 or so hours of the day, then I may as well lie down and go to dreamland because my brain certainly does.

Never been able to chug down really huge amounts of calories in one meal either, makes my stomach hurt and I end up looking bloated…

A few years back trying to get to 300 lbs and eating a shit ton of food obviously made the infrequent eating approach impossible for me, but now that I’ve been sitting at 265-275 for half a year or so and don’t have to eat remotely as much, 3 meals per day still doesn’t work any better.

Fortunately I’m rather flexible when it comes to my diet with only a few rules I stick to (protein intake and total cals mostly)… Getting in enough protein to keep my strength gains coming in quickly enough (whether while gaining bodyweight or staying at a weight such as I’m doing now) is just about impossible on a low frequency diet for me.

And after over a decade of eating 5-6+ (almost never done more than that though, unless I had to work the night through or something… I used to get by on 3-5 hours of sleep a night tops all throughout uni, but that totally doesn’t work if I’m eating infrequently… Now about 5-6 hours a night is plenty, though I sometimes wish I could fall asleep a little easier) meals/big shakes per day, I’ve figured out lots of little tweaks for my diet, how to avoid getting gassy etc, what I can eat a lot of “safely”, how to reduce prep time and what have you so that it’s actually no chore at all as long as I’m not trying to get in 8000 or so (that’s a bother no matter what I do, obviously).

If I’m with friends somewhere at a restaurant or whatever, I can eat just fine as long as I actually like the food (that’s my main issue, I’m a bit limited in food choices not because of a strict diet but because most of the stuff served at local pub’s, restaurants etc is stuff I don’t like).

Alcohol is a non-issue as I don’t drink it anyway (no particular reason) and all the people I know are used to that.

Having a wife who lifts seriously and approaches things in a very similar fashion helps a ton though. We’ve been together (only married recently) for pretty much as long as I’ve been training.

Anyway, as far as I’m concerned just do what gets the job done well in your particular case… If that’s eating few meals a day, that’s cool too.
[/quote]

Hey Cephalic,

Good post. A lot of what dictates meal frequency is lifestyle, nutrient needs, and even cultural norms. If I remember correctly, in Germany, lunch is the largest meal of the day and breakfast and dinner are relatively light. Kinda surprising though, consdering that at the German restaurant I go to around here, nearly every meal serves up 1000-2000 calories and 50-75 grams of protein! :slight_smile:

I’m like you. At this point I really just concern myself with protein, total caloric amount, enough fruits and veggies, and a small amount of EFAs per day (eg, serving of fish or some flaxseeds or flaxseed oil in a salad or yogurt). I highly dislike shakes now - to the point of not being able to drink one, even peri-workout. My goals are different than yours, so my protein intake is lower (something like 1.7-2.0 g/kg); that’s not a whopping amount at all.

Like I said above, it has and is being done, but getting in 6,000 calories in 2 to 4 meals can be a chore, especially if someone doesn’t follow a liberalized diet (won’t eat out, won’t eat a piece of cake, won’t have that pizza).

Me right now - I don’t want to even think of food, except when it’s time to eat. Eating six times per day had me thinking of food nearly all day! “Where can I put this cooler?” “Where’s there to get some good food in an hour?” “It’s really late; I gotta get home to eat.”

Couldn’t take it anymore!

And it’s a good thing that I let go of the notion that going for more than four hours without food will miraculously lead muscle loss and a halt in metabolism. Letting go of that notion also let me have more flexibility in my diet. If I planned on eating dinner at 7, but for some reason get home at 9, then I’m having dinner at 9:30. And nothing “bad” is going to happen.

I remember Charles Glass wrote in a magazine long ago, “One of my clients lost 15 lbs from missing a meal.” Yeah, sure.

92

[quote]Bricknyce wrote:

[quote]waylanderxx wrote:
infrequent feeding) a la Michael Phelps (~3333 calories per sitting). That’s what I’d do if I had to take in that much. I don’t think I’m ever going back to frequent eating. [/quote]

HOLY SHIT dude I just google Michael Phelps diet and looking at it the only thing I could think was WTF you kidding me?

michael phelps diet:

Breakfast: Three fried-egg sandwiches loaded with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise. Two cups of coffee. One five-egg omelet. One bowl of grits. Three slices of French toast topped with powdered sugar. Three chocolate-chip pancakes.

Lunch: One pound of enriched pasta. Two large ham and cheese sandwiches with mayo on white bread. Energy drinks packing 1,000 calories.

Dinner: One pound of pasta. An entire pizza. More energy drinks.

Does a diet like this make sense even for a calorie-incinerating human swimming machine? We checked in with Mark Klion, a sports medicine doc and orthopedic surgeon at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. He reminded us that the eating game all comes down to basic math.

93

Yup, that’s how he eats - 10,000 calories a day.

94

This last summer I made a substantial drop in BF (like 21% to 10%) and during that time I experimented with eating all numbers between 2 and 7 times per day, hitting pretty much the same cals and macro ratios in each case. It didn’t make a damn difference as I lost fat very steadily at the same rate regardless of the frequency. I just remember the epiphany moment when I thought, “why the fuck did i think I had to eat every 2-3 hours?”

95

This has been one of my Ah ha moments.

It doesn’t matter a fuck if you eat 8 meals in a day or 1, all that matters is that you hit your Kcals and macros for the day.

I think the many meal thing works for people that can’t eat a lot in one sitting, ectomorphs etc.

It’s a personal preference more than anything, do you like 6 meals or do you like your 3 squares? As long as the Kcals are the same it’s all relative.

96

I dont’ like to train after I eat; I prefer to have an empty stomach (cue “catabolic, brah” comments). While I do sometimes have more energy when I do eat something (I might drink some juice about 15 min prior) I tend to get bad cramps with anything in me.

As long as my workouts aren’t over an hour and are primarily anaerobic (just heavy lifting, no high rep work) I’m not too concerned with muscle loss. But, I’m also not as big as most of you (yet, motherfuckers).

I slam a shake with some coconut milk, three scoops protein, some toasted oats and vegetables/fruits, then have a P+C meal PWO, then have maybe 1-2 more meals before bed. I workout around 1-2 pm, so this works out well for me.

Once I start regular, morning fasted cardio, I might start taking BCAA or casein hydrolysate during the session.

And Brick,

I hope you didn’t think I wanted to get info out of Brad’s work for free; I thought YOU had come up with YOUR OWN diet based on some principles you read, hence why I asked what the diet would look like. I’ll pick up Brad’s book and definitely Martin’s when it comes out.

97

I have eaten up to 8x a day, and now i eat 4x…I will never go back…high meal frequecy was a huge waste of time…

I also believe less meal frequency is superior after reading how leucine works…

98

I’ve been doing Leangains 16/8 for the past two weeks. I have also been doing fasted workouts (with 10g BCAA right before I hit the weights). My lifts have been going up, even on a 700 kcal deficit (average during the week, some days are higher, some a little lower).

I usually wake up around 8 and workout around 2:30, with my first meal coming around 3:30 or 4. I then will have probably a 4 - 500kcal meal which usually stuffs me since my stomach has shrunk. I’ll have my next meal around 6 which is another 500, then 8, then usually 10 or 11. All of the meals are about 500 kcal. I eat volumized meals so putting down 1000 kcal just makes me uncomfortable, and I have found if I try to down 1000 kcal after training I’m not hungry again for another 4 - 5 hours.

Actually I guess I do more of a 17/7 or 18/6 most days.

Usually by my fourth or fifth day of eating like this, I start getting weak and ravenous around Noon - 1PM. The first time this happened I just sucked it up (usually I will get small hunger pangs on most days, but they last 5 minutes tops, and really don’t bother me at all). Now having realized this pattern, I just start my feeding window earlier, and try to do a Noon - 9PM or 1PM - 10PM feeding. I also usually will try to hit closer to maintenance on these days, sometimes even going over a little if it is a workout day. Usually the next day I am fine.

I really enjoy eating like this, as in the evening it usually doesn’t make a difference how much I have eaten on a given day; I usually get hungry (or what I perceive as hunger, probably just boredom) throughout the evening. It is great being able to eat pretty much whenever I want as I have found I have less discipline in the evening; again, most likely due to the fact I am not working and only read and watch TV to occupy my time.

I usually rotate the same four or five meals, and they are: Tuna melt (65/41/9), cottage cheese and blueberries (63/32/13), Low-carb pizza (40/18/25), or Southwestern style egg beaters w/ a chicken sausage and three slices of NF cheese (63/7/19); usually in that order as it tapers my carbs. Also, and I have no idea why this is, but if my last meal is cottage cheese and blueberries I always wake up an hour or two after I fall asleep and am hungry. I will usually go to the fridge and eat 2 sticks of low fat string cheese (16/0/6). I have found if I eat the egg beater scramble right before bed I sleep like a baby. Is it just me or can you guys put down inordinate amounts of cottage cheese? I can eat a whole tub of Knudsen (the size you get at Costco) easily in one sitting.