Eat every 4 hrs for fatloss?

**Mods please move to Strength and Conditioning Forum.


It seems there are so many contradicting health articles. It was several months ago where I heard eating 3 meals with 2 snacks or 5 meals a day was optimal for fat loss and energy for exercise. In theory this keeps your metabolism burning all day. Casein protein at night so you don't go into a fasting state. <br /><br />Now I've also heard from Mike Mahler that you should actually eat only 3 meals a day spread 4 hours a part to burn fat. Each meal consisting of roughly 40% carbs, 30% protein, 30% fat. <br /><br />If the goal is primarily fat loss which diet is better? I already feel like this is a overly simplified view on this topic, but would appreciate some feedback.

Herchel Walker eats one meal a day and this meal is under 2k calories/100g of protein

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=133255253&page=1

 Moving....

It really doesn't matter, the best plan is the one you'll actually follow.

"Grazing" is too motivationally brutal of a method for me to personally lose weight. Eating something very light only makes me more hungry later, whereas not eating makes it much easier. Ergo, i now use intermittent fasting, and it seems to work just fine.

Works best for me to have a big breakfast and progrssively smaller lunch and dinner. As long as calories are the same it's not a noticeable difference 3 vs 6 meals imo. Phone Post

I've had my best results with 16 hour fast each day. Phone Post

Even when I eat a big breakfast followed by a big lunch I am usually very hungry by dinner. I'll just watch my caloric intake. After marriage let myself go a bit and put on 15lbs in a blink of an eye.

The claim that a lot of smaller meals spread throughout the day speeds up your metabolism significantly has had a lot of critical reviews lately. Some go as far as to say that it's a theory pushed by meal replacement companies as a way to sell their products.

But you'll lose muscle during a fast. Right? Phone Post

kyle47129 - I've had my best results with 16 hour fast each day. Phone Post



Same here, only I'm down to about one meal these days. But yeah, restricting your eating window helps you stay within your caloric limits much more easily.

stephenu88 - As far as I know, not if you have fat to burn. You won't be packing on mass gains, though. But this is about fat loss. If you're really worried about it take some BCAA's and make sure your protein intake is right.

Basically what 419 said. Create a caloric deficit however you can and stay with it. You need to figure out your maintenance calories, etc. There's some math involved and one size doesn't fit all, so check out the other 200 threads like this and soak in the knowledge of the OG.

stephenu88 - But you'll lose muscle during a fast. Right? <img src="/images/phone/droid.png" alt="Phone Post" border="0" style="vertical-align:middle;"/>



That depends how long you're fasting for. Going without food for a day probably wouldn't cause any muscle loss. Off the top of my head i remember an experiment done with rats where they only fed them every other day, but fed them twice as much, and their body composition stayed the same.

^^^ that would make sense as we would need to maintain our physical ability when food is low... ESPECIALLY when food is low.

That's the beauty of "paleo" diets - you don't just start to feel like shit when you go without food for a while. What use would it be if we become sluggish and tired when we most need food? That's a recipe for extinction, really.

To the OP - before you go with frequencies of eating and amounts of calories, go with types of foods.

It's the old thing that fat is as a result of insulin production. Get sugar and starch out of your diet and go with what we are evolved to eat - fruits, veg, meats, nuts/seeds. That will result in a diet high in slow-burning energy (protein, fat), some faster energy sources (fruit sugars) and rich in fibre and nutrients.

My advice is do that before you do anything else. You will be amazed how quickly your body will begin to change once you stop eating sugar and starchy carbs.

I've gone green and eliminated the whites from my diet. And I do feel more energetic and focused. Trying to get rid of all excess sugar that does not come from fruits or veggies. Also no fruit juice and debating throwing out the protein shakes and going with an amino acid loading concoction.

Get rid of dairy too.

I typed out a long response, but I am pretty much just mirroring what U4EA is saying. Get rid of dairy and processed foods before you worry about meal timing. I think meal timing is more important for athletic performance than weight loss.

Because it's toxic to humans?

U4EA - Because it's toxic to humans?



oh please

disbeliever - Its "toxic"?



Yes - lactose, milk proteins etc.