Eating 5 meals a day, SAY WHAT?! Yes, I eat 5 meals each and every day. Sometimes I'll even eat 6, it just depends on how my schedule works that day. So, let me break down for you my typical day and then I'll go into why I eat this way.
7:00 am Wake Up
7:30 am Coffee
8:00 am Protein Bar or Overnight Oats (meal 1)
9:30 am Workout
11:00 am Protein Shake + 1 Tbs Peanut Butter (meal 2)
1:45 pm Small Salad & Fruit (meal 3)
3:45 pm Chobani Yogurt with Fruit & Cheerios (instead of granola) (meal 4)
6:00 pm 4 oz. Protein & Veggies (meal 5)
7:00 pm Arctic Zero Ice Cream or Frozen Yogurt (This is only 1 time per week usually) (meal 6)
So as you can see my 5 or 6 meals are not huge meals, but they are also not just plain rice cakes and tuna. Although, don't get me wrong, I love a good can of tuna and I'll eat it as a protein several times a week. I strive for my first 2 meals of the day to big on the larger side, and then progressively get smaller as the day goes on. My current schedule allows me time to workout before lunch, which is why i'm eating my protein shake at 11 am. If I work out at night, I'll have my protein shake after that, it just depends on when I work out.
To go over the approximate calories I eat everyday, I'll list them below.
Coffee: 45 calories
Meal 1: 225 calories
Meal 2: 350 calories (includes 1 Tbs Peanut Butter)
Meal 3: 200 calories
Meal 4: 175 calories
Meal 5: 250 calories
Meal 6: 150-200 calories
Total: Approx. 1,400 - 1,500 calories ... if I don't eat the 6th meal, I'll add in some small munchees throughout the day like a couple handfuls of cheerios in between my 2nd and 3rd meal. It just depends on how hungry I am that day.
So now that you know what I eat, when I eat and how much I eat, let me go into a little bit about why I eat like this. There are multiple articles online supporting eating 5-6 meals a day and also articles against the idea. It's honestly up to your preference how and when you eat!
I don't eat like this because it magically makes me lose 100 pounds, trust me I still have trouble getting to where I want to be, but I really feel that the way I eat is helping me get there faster. I have always been a snacker, especially when I'm bored or stressed. Therefore when I used to eat 3 meals a day I would most certainly snack in between my meals, but what I didn't realize was how quickly those snacks would add up. I've always been health conscious or so I thought. I was never one to buy a bag of chips and snack on those.. I always snacked on granola bars or other items that I thought were super healthy (little did I know those still had calories too!).
So by eating 3 larger meals a day and also adding in those snacks, I was certainly not losing weight like I wanted to. Then a friend introduced me into eating 5-6 small meals a day. These meals should range in calories between 200-300 calories and should be consumed every 2-3 hours. I decided to give a shot and I fell in love! I was able to eat every 2-3 hours and I really enjoyed what I was eating. It literally blew my mind that I could eat this often and still lose weight. Since I eat so often I rarely get too hungry in between my meals, which has helped with those excess calories I used to consume. Now if I do get hungry, especially after the gym, I snack on some fruit/veggies or multi-grain Cherrios just to hold me over.
So if you're someone who loves eating ALL the time, I would suggest giving this method a shot! Just be sure to know approximately how many calories each meal is, or else you may end up eating 6 HUGE meals a day, defeating the purpose of the smaller meals!
Hope you found this helpful! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below! :)
7:00 am Wake Up
7:30 am Coffee
8:00 am Protein Bar or Overnight Oats (meal 1)
9:30 am Workout
11:00 am Protein Shake + 1 Tbs Peanut Butter (meal 2)
1:45 pm Small Salad & Fruit (meal 3)
3:45 pm Chobani Yogurt with Fruit & Cheerios (instead of granola) (meal 4)
6:00 pm 4 oz. Protein & Veggies (meal 5)
7:00 pm Arctic Zero Ice Cream or Frozen Yogurt (This is only 1 time per week usually) (meal 6)
So as you can see my 5 or 6 meals are not huge meals, but they are also not just plain rice cakes and tuna. Although, don't get me wrong, I love a good can of tuna and I'll eat it as a protein several times a week. I strive for my first 2 meals of the day to big on the larger side, and then progressively get smaller as the day goes on. My current schedule allows me time to workout before lunch, which is why i'm eating my protein shake at 11 am. If I work out at night, I'll have my protein shake after that, it just depends on when I work out.
To go over the approximate calories I eat everyday, I'll list them below.
Coffee: 45 calories
Meal 1: 225 calories
Meal 2: 350 calories (includes 1 Tbs Peanut Butter)
Meal 3: 200 calories
Meal 4: 175 calories
Meal 5: 250 calories
Meal 6: 150-200 calories
Total: Approx. 1,400 - 1,500 calories ... if I don't eat the 6th meal, I'll add in some small munchees throughout the day like a couple handfuls of cheerios in between my 2nd and 3rd meal. It just depends on how hungry I am that day.
So now that you know what I eat, when I eat and how much I eat, let me go into a little bit about why I eat like this. There are multiple articles online supporting eating 5-6 meals a day and also articles against the idea. It's honestly up to your preference how and when you eat!
I don't eat like this because it magically makes me lose 100 pounds, trust me I still have trouble getting to where I want to be, but I really feel that the way I eat is helping me get there faster. I have always been a snacker, especially when I'm bored or stressed. Therefore when I used to eat 3 meals a day I would most certainly snack in between my meals, but what I didn't realize was how quickly those snacks would add up. I've always been health conscious or so I thought. I was never one to buy a bag of chips and snack on those.. I always snacked on granola bars or other items that I thought were super healthy (little did I know those still had calories too!).
So by eating 3 larger meals a day and also adding in those snacks, I was certainly not losing weight like I wanted to. Then a friend introduced me into eating 5-6 small meals a day. These meals should range in calories between 200-300 calories and should be consumed every 2-3 hours. I decided to give a shot and I fell in love! I was able to eat every 2-3 hours and I really enjoyed what I was eating. It literally blew my mind that I could eat this often and still lose weight. Since I eat so often I rarely get too hungry in between my meals, which has helped with those excess calories I used to consume. Now if I do get hungry, especially after the gym, I snack on some fruit/veggies or multi-grain Cherrios just to hold me over.
So if you're someone who loves eating ALL the time, I would suggest giving this method a shot! Just be sure to know approximately how many calories each meal is, or else you may end up eating 6 HUGE meals a day, defeating the purpose of the smaller meals!
Hope you found this helpful! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below! :)