Big Spaced Out Meals

[*ebony*]

eating 3 huge meals vs splitting the food into 6 meals makes a huge difference in your results in fat and muscle loss and gain. its also much healthier. this is simple to understand.

yeah i understand it.

i'm not bashing it, or promoting the 3 meals a day. i just think that it doesn't matter, as long as the post workout meal(most important meal) is a good one. as i understand it, your substrate metabolism is largely dictated by the meal you just ate and the macronutrient composition of your diet, the way you split your meals have no consequence for the amount of fat oxidized at the end of the day.

there are many studies to contradict everything you just said, as i'm sure there are some that agree with it. i've also tried both ways of eating with no sig difference. i think the best thing is to go with what is most convenient to someone. macros and cals in/cals out=your results.

 

[*ebony*]

lol, its not my theory.

as for muscle preservation/muscle loss. i don't think EM will go catabolic at all or cortisol will elevate and body starts burning muscle tissue, ect. the two main issues i suppose would be glycogen and cortisol. glycogen isn't a problem here. and from studies on cortisol, it shows that various meal frequencies and short term fasting has very little influence over it. Recent studies found no significant change in the rhythm of cortisol secretion, regardless of meal patterns, nor even after like a whole day of fasting. there are studies that show many health benefits derived from 1-3 meals a day. i'm was just reading a study on energy balance and meal frequency that favored less meals. interesting stuff.

like i said i'm not for or agianst anything here. one should do what is most convient. the body is so smart, it adapts amazingly well.

anyways i don't think 3 meals a day is a good idea for big peeps like you. or for athletes/bodybuilder/ectomorphs that need a ridiculous amount of cals just to maintain their weight. breaking meals into 6 meals is a good idea. expanding the stomach by eating too much is not cool.

 

[*ebony*]

joe did you relpy, concerning muscle preservation?
your reply got deleted? or did i imagine it?

maybe i'm going loco.

 

[joe d]

you fealing alright? i didnt reply.....

jk. my reply didnt make sence so i deleted. in a nut shell we disagree on whats in em's best interest with his goals, and thats cool. i was starting to debate trying to understand how this 3 meals could work in this situation but im getting tired so i just didnt reply again yet.

 

[*ebony*]

you fealing alright? i didnt reply.....

jk. my reply didnt make sence so i deleted. in a nut shell we disagree on whats in em's best interest with his goals, and thats cool. i was starting to debate trying to understand how this 3 meals could work in this situation but im getting tired so i just didnt reply again yet.

hahahaha! yesssss, i'm not going crazzzzyyy! i was just telling my self to go to bed, get some zzzz and stop imagining stuff. thank god i'm still mentally stable....i think.lol

 

[ExtraMile]

ebony you think it wont make a differance? joe you think it is a big differance?

ebony, post workout I go home and eat a meal, I dont do the whole pwo shake thing I just eat and the meal that I eat is usually 800-1500kcal, 50-100g protein 80-120g carbs, 0-30g fat.

joe what was the reason you suggested drinking milk between? was this to keep my metabolism up?

for my breakfast I usuaully have this:
5 whole eggs
2.5oz oats + 200ml whole milk + blueberries or dried fruit
400ml whole milk + 2g fishoil

how can I reduce this to less cals but still get the right amount of protein/carbs/fat in? its around 65g protein, 90g carbs and 45g fat. yes the fat content is a bit high but throughout the day I dont eat much fat so its not really too bad I dont think. is 100g of fat per day excessive for the 180lber?

 

[gstacker]

I like my theroy and the inslin spike that someone posted also... U eat a huge meal get a spike an bla big fat absorbtion then ur body trys to burn it off.... Bad for the motabolism

Ebony hi.... Post up one of your favorite articles you have read please, I've never once seen one before saying anything like that and I'm very curious of the study.

 

[joe d]

em if you know what you need in macros and break that into 6 or 7 meals you will be all set. that lack of balance is hindering your progress. diet is the worst thing to get lazy about even for 1 day. it will have to biggest impact.

 

[pvcpeterson]

I read a few recent studies about the effect of fasting on body composition. (I have a degree in psychology, and am a science nerd, so I'm ALWAYS reading studies...)

The latest info is that fasting, eating less meals per day (1-2) and restricting calories, as a whole makes insulin response more even/efficient OVER TIME (not instantaneously, horrible idea to go without any food if you're diabetic) AND lowers the rates of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and certain other medical issues by as much as 40%.

Now, these studies are new, and should be widely replicated to be considered reliable. Also, they are a combination of human and animal studies (chimps, mice) so results cannot necessarily be translated as being 100% reliable in all humans.

What does this info have to do with bodybuilding? Well among strength trainers/bodybuilders there are some proponents of a method of weight gain/maintenance called Intermittent Fasting. Those who adhere to this protocol will either do a 24 hour fast once or twice per week, OR, cram a few huge meals into an 8 hour feeding window and not eat for the next 16 hours. The belief (and there is some research to support this approach,) is that by fasting, your body develops a much greater ability to utilize your pre and post workout nutrients, and fat storage becomes greatly limited.

One fellow who applies this method is Martin Berkhan, his website is:

http: //leangains. blogspot. com/

(sorry, I am a new member so I can't correctly post a web address yet, per the site rules)

So for the OP, there is ONE point of view supporting the notion that it is OK to eat a few big meals, and still lose fat/gain muscle.

I tried this method for only 3 days, so I cannot comment on it's long-term benefits. For me, it wasn't preferable, because I started getting "brain fog" when I went for 16 hours without eating. This effect may go away after a week or two, but I found it to annoying to just "push through". Also, tring to cram in 1000+ calories per meal made me feel bloated and uncomfortable.

I was drawn to this method because I was just sick of planning my entire day around eating every 2.5 hours.

Eventually, through trial and error, I have developed an eating plan which is as follows:

Eat 4 big meals throughout the day
Have a post workout meal
Have some extra protein before bed (protein drink or cottage cheese)

As long as I do this, I feel great...not bloated, and I don't have to plan my entire day around my food (previously I was eating 8 times a day)

As a side note to the OP, I'm sure you know this, but the only way to know if a particular nutrition plan will work for you is by just doing it-- I know you asked specifically if eating less meals is BAD...many people would disagree that eating less frequently is bad. But there are those who must eat often to feel their best.

I don't think you'll ruin your progress by eating less frequently, but that is only my opinion, and others have their own.

 

[*ebony*]

below are some studies


http://www.uwlax.edu/URC/JUR-online/PDF/2003/goodman-larson-et-al.pdf

The results of the present study fail to support the hypothesis that participants with high daily meal frequency have significantly higher resting metabolic rates as compared to participants with a low daily meal frequency. Meal frequency does not appear to effect metabolic rate. Our study coincides with similar research that has studied the effect of meal frequency and RMR. A similar study found no significant difference in total daily thematic effect of food among frequent and infrequent feeders on isocaloric diets (Kinabo, & Durnin, 1990). Other studies pertaining to RMR and meal frequency of frequent and infrequent eaters have not shown differences in RMRs of healthy (Garrow, Durrant, Mann, Stalley, & Warwick, 1978; Taylor & Garrow, 2001), diabetic (Arnold, Mann, & Ball, 1997), and hyperlipidemic individuals (Arnold, Ball, & Mann, 1994). Despite the inability to find an association between meal frequency and resting metabolic rate, it may still be beneficial for nutrition and fitness professionals to continue to recommend eating small meals throughout the day for weight management purposes. Smaller meals throughout the day may prevent an individual from gorging, thus overeating, during the day, which could ultimately impact body mass favorably.

DUO: The Meal Frequency Project

Conclusion: In this study, three meals per day resulted in larger muscle- and strength gain from strength training when in positive energy balance than six meals per day over a period of twelve weeks. The reason why we draw opposite conclusions from short-term studies needs further investigation. More long-term studies are needed to determine the optimal meal frequency for ultimate gain in LBM from strength training, and larger groups may be needed to determine an effect of meal frequency on fat mass. The changes in fat mass had large variations within and between the groups, making it difficult to draw any conclusions.

CJO - Abstract - Increased meal frequency does not promote greater weight loss in subjects who were prescribed an 8-week equi-energetic energy-restricted diet

Meal frequency and energy balance

3 meals a day or 6 smaller meals? Experts weigh the pros and cons

Elsevier

USATODAY.com - Study: Fasting improves health as much as cutting calories

Obesity - Association of Eating Frequency with Body Fatness in Pre- and Postmenopausal Women

Fasting for Weight Loss, Increased Human Growth Hormone, Immunity, and Longevity - Associated Content - associatedcontent.com

Impact of growth hormone receptor blockade on subs... [J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2009] - PubMed result

this study is ongoing but will be interesting to read results
Relation of Obesity With Frequency of Meals (MST 0557) - Full Text View - ClinicalTrials.gov