Let's stop this myth: frequent meals increases metabolism
 

Even the most famous health and fitness gurus claim that eating 6x a day (3 meals + 3 snacks, for instance) boosts metabolism and therefore increases weight loss.
It's 100% bullshit.
I think 99% of people trying to lose weight actually believe in this myth.

Hmm Hmmmmm

so...

8char

Best ways to lose weight. Stop eating and do some exercise fatty!

Your metabolic rate actually speeds up and slows down in direct proportion to the quantity of food you eat.

There is no net gain or loss from eating more frequently in terms of total calories burned through the day.

However, when people wake up, drink coffee for breakfast, then eat a huge lunch, that is followed by a crash which then makes it difficult to exercise, workout etc. An active lifestyle requires more frequent and consistent eating to maintain stable and consistent energy levels. But eating 6 times a day rather than 3 isn't going to cause anyone to lose weight by itself. There is an indirect effect on metabolic rate, energy levels etc in this aforementioned sense. But simply waking up one day and saying "i'm eating 6 times instead of 3" is meaningless to 99% of people and really is just going to cause people to eat too many calories over all.

Total calories in vs total calories out :)

One thing i've learned dyna_mo is that nothing one says matters in terms of big picture. beliefs are religion. people tell themselves what they need to and believe what they want to. explaining facts isn't helpful and particularly with women... challenging emotion with facts is futile.

You achieved something great. I know its great, because I watch countless people start with the same intention of getting down to XX% body fat and immediately get off track, find excuses, rationalize etc etc etc. Thats how you know you are different. You are better. You stopped looking for excuses and started looking for answers... and you accepted them and did the work. Thats something almost every one will never do. It takes a strength of character that most either don't have or can't muster.

On a side note to stupidity in fitness and health and myth/hype... go into any vitamin shoppe or GNC an hour after Dr Oz airs. You'll seriously be standing there saying "what the fuck!!!". You can tell what he talked about that day by what they bought. It's totally insane. Everyone wants a pill. Everyone wants "easy". Everyone wants to believe they're right with all their excuses. Everyone wants to believe they are in control of what is in reality a very frail body that can die at any moment.

I lost 75 lbs by changing what I ate and walking a lot more. Now it's time to step that up and drop a little more

Whenever I see those insane workout or whatever infomercials, I think of you and your transformation.

If you work out hard on a regular basis then eating more actually can speed up your metabolism. I know this first-hand as I used to be pretty big into bodybuilding. Many sumo wrestlers achieve their size by eating one huge meal a day since this effectively slows their metabolism down.

(Everybody's different, however. What works for one person might not work for another. That's what most of these self-proclaimed diet gurus fail to realize.)

Masturbation increases metabolism.

might be true, i am pretty lean

I use the eat less do more diet. It's never failed me. Nice to see you here again dyna :)
I make sure my calories in are less than what I burn daily. Simple math.

You look good in your avatar. The weight loss is noticeable.

They don't eat only once a day.
They nap through the middle of the day.
They also eat right before sleeping at night.
They eat a retarded amount of calories.

i believe that when you eat you put a certain amount of calories in your body. If you dont burn said calories via exercise or other daily activity it will be stored as fat. it can come in small portions or a big portion once a day.

im still waiting to hear about someone who takes in 2000 calories, be it in portions or at one sitting, thats better off than the other. minus stuff like buildup of fat in teh arteries and stuff like that

I didn't say they all do, I said many do and that's just a fact. It's not just sumo wrestlers who do the whole one-meal thing, either.

http://www.eatingfree.com/newtrition...-wrestler.aspx

http://www.theiflife.com/one-meal-a-day/

And, yes, they ingest shitloads of calories in that one meal.

the sumu diet is based on timing. meal timing does impact metabolism, or so *they* are learning. sumus train fasted and they eat or do not eat at specific times with the goal being gaining fat. and they consume gallons and gallons of beer.

Here is a great diet that is proven to work.

Carb Nite Solution

Been on it for one month and lost more than 6 kilos.

(ex) fat people have a harder time to keep their weight off as people who've been slim forever. An ex-fat guy needs to eat less to maintain the same weight as the person who's been that size "always". There's been quite a few studies into this recently.

How unfair is that? :)

So a guy who was 400lbs and loses 200lbs spends less calories/day than a guy who's always been 200lbs.

The body thinks the 400lbs is the norm and tries to get back to that. Hooray for the slugginesh of evolution.

i'm fat btw and I don't blame outside sources, like slow metabolism or having nature fight against me. Weight CAN be still lost regardless of these. I just don't have the time/will to dedicate time into losing weight. Maybe after my first heart-attack I'll reconsider.

do a 30 minute brisk walk a day, and you'll be well on your way

beats waiting for the heart attack, yes?

I actually walk ~1 hour every day to and from work. A bit over 5 miles.
That's not the point of my post.

..and besides exercise doesn't make any fucking difference unless you spend 500kcal/day on exercise, and that means atleast an hour of ACTIVE exercise (like running/squash/whatever) per day. You lose weight by eating less.

you lose weight by low intensity exercise.. so walking, elliptical blah blah while keeping your heart rate low

it'll increase the oxygen in your system that allows fat to be burned more easily

eating is, always, crucial

eat 3-4 but extra small meals, training and results will come

im 6'0... 185 pounds. that can be a good weight or a bad weight. For me its bad because i sit at the computer, and im all fluff and no bump. if i ate 3-4 small meals a day i guarantee you i wouldn't look any different than what i do, which is eat one meal a day.

The key is exercise not food. If you want to be buff, you have to take in a lot and exercise a lot. protien, green drinks, whatever. if you want to be normal you have to exercise and take in as many calories as you need to. doesnt matter if its 45 times a day or once.

I stand by the notion that portions mean jack shit. exercise matters, and it doesn't matter how often you eat

Just cut out sodas and snack foods. My whole family is over weight besides myself. Only difference is i quit drinking soda and eating chips when i was about 12.

Portion size matters, for anyone.

wait a minute, stop this thread. There are people whose jobs depend on all the bullshit their companies spoon-feed the public. You guys trying to kill jobs here man? come on...

:winkwink:

Our fitness polemicist is back!

tribute! :) :thumbsup

Eating more small meals does work but it isn't because it speeds up your system. Your body can only process and use so much food at a time. Anymore then can be used at the time of digestion is stored. Eat small meals more often and your body will be able to burn those calories more efficiently and store less of it as body fat.

Thanx, leveled out on my weight for about a year and now starting back up, The lightest I can get is about 240, but I don't want to get less than 250.

Yeah I agree. I think you said in another thread that you are type 1 diabetic, which I am as well. As you know I'm sure people who are type 1 know exactly what level their metabolism is at as it directly effects insulin dosage.. Sit on your ass for two weeks and you'll have to take way more insulin, do a crazy bike race or something and for weeks afterwords your insulin dosage needsd to go way down... I think for people who aren't taking insulin they have no idea what their metabolism is currently doing.

can you offer more of an explanation?
I had thought it was a scientific fact, that when you eat just one meal a day your body will send some of the excess to fat storage. So eating more meals in a day will allow you to train your body not to store fat.

I'm sure eating only 1 meal a day wouldn't be a good idea for many reasons.

Dynamo now that you are back what happened? Why did you disappear? What happened with take charge? I had bought quite a few from you and had tried to contact you but you completely disappeared. how come? Why did you pull the site, facebook page etc. Were you sued?

looks like i'll have to do another thread someday debunking the myths re: intermittent fasting.

It's better to eat smaller portions five/six times per day than one or two mammoth meals.

My personal trainer / registered nutrionist who also happens to be an IBBF ranked professional competitor strongly disagrees with you. :(

ola Shap! take charge never took off. it didn't taste good enough. folks loved it if i gave it away free but only a few bought it, i was giving away a ton via fb advertising so i wrapped that up.

i also had personal, health, and other things that impacted me all at once as well.

I was actually trying to remember who that was the other day.

@ Dyna mo - are you still keeping up the workout / eating schedule/ If so care to share an average day of eating? I have 5 meals a day, the inbetween meals give me a nice pick me up inbetween major meals - usually a piece of fruit.

I understand. Why just disappear though? Seems weird. Just as a note I was impressed by what you had tried to do and would have tried to help you get some traction with it. But the fact you just disappeared I'd never back you or vouch for you to anyone. Just seems like such a weird move.

To me the potential benefit of eating multiple smaller meals throughout the day is that it could help to curb hunger and reduce the chance of overeating. Other than that there doesn't appear to really be much of a benefit.

Apparently he has empirical evidence because he lost a bunch of weight by NOT eating small meals throughout the day. But that doesn't make the small meals thing a myth. Lots of people actually do lose weight by keeping their metabolism stoked through feeding it more frequently -- and I have evidence to that fact because that's how I lose 10 pounds quickly before before summer every year.

i appreciate the kind words about the product, I know you (and 1 other from around here) were fans. i agree that I did not handle the events of that time as well as I could have, I felt overwhelmed by things.

i actually just eat these days and it works out fine. if 5/day work for you, i'd stick with it.

I try to use sex or the lack there of as the motivator.

I can bust this myth.

Same here...im currently developing a fitness/nutrition site and our in house expert just wrote an article saying the opposite.

what do you think?

For the most part I agree with her.

One thing that's pretty undeniable is that by eating many smaller meals you're going to keep your blood sugar level more constant and hopefully avoid large insulin responses. That's probably the most critical part of the equation.