By now, you’ve probably heard that eating six healthy mini-meals per day is a great way to boost your metabolism and lose weight. This is not a new concept, and if you have read ANY nutritional plan from a Beachbody program, then you have no doubt seen this.
Well, why do we do this? After all, SOME recent studies are implying that eating 3 healthy meals per day at 2000 calories has the same effect on your body as eating six smaller meals at 2000 calories. Basically, these studies are saying calories are calories…
So, what’s the big deal, why not just eat the ‘normal’ 3 meals per day? It doesn’t require all the work or the planning, and it’s easier to follow. But as you know, the easiest path is generally not the best (at least in the fitness world). For me personally, one huge reason I was able to achieve my weight loss goal was because I ate six times per day. I am a huge fan of this philosophy, and I believe that the recommendations given by the Beachbody nutritional plans are sound advice, and here is why.
So what if a few studies imply eating 3 or 6 times a day makes no difference. From a physiological standpoint, eating more often just makes sense. When you eat often during the day, your body knows that it is being fed regularly, and is more likely to burn the calories you consume rather than store them. Think about an animal that hibernates; right before they bed down, do their bodies have more or less fat on them? Obviously, they have more! This is because their bodies KNOW they aren’t going to be fed for a while, and it will store as much fuel (fat) as possible. Humans are not like this… we don’t hibernate, and we don’t need all that extra fuel (fat) hanging around.
In addition, here are some other benefits of eating six smaller meals a day:
- It helps to CONTROL hunger! That feeling you get between meals when your blood sugar drops… you know the one. You get cranky, moody, and will do just about anything to put food in your stomach. The problem is that when we get to this point, we will go after the closest/fastest food source available. That usually means eating unhealthy. Eating more regularly helps you prevent getting to this point, and stick to your nutritional plan.
- You will consume less calories overall! Basically, you won’t hit starvation mode and gorge yourself. = )
- It gives you more energy! You control your blood sugar levels, and that helps to maintain energy levels.
- Along with exercise, it helps to boost your metabolism. This helps to burn more calories in the long run.
- Helps lower “bad” cholesterol which can decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease.
- Allows you to build more muscle! Protein is metabolized better when it’s divided evenly. Basically, your body can only metabolize so much protein at once. Therefore, eating more often gives your muscles a constant supply of amino acids and nutrients, which allows them to grow faster.
Obviously the key here is to make sure that your mini-meals are HEALTHY meals. If someone tried eating six regular cheeseburgers a day instead of one “super-sized” number one…then they’re aren’t going to improve their health one bit. Be smart about it!
If eating this way is something that you may like to try, but have no idea where to start, check out the sample meal plan below. This is a sample day from the fat-shredder diet I followed while dropping nearly 40 lbs with P90X and Insanity Asylum.
* modify it to suite your needs or likes!
Breakfast –
- 1/4 cup cubed ham & 6 tbs egg white (omelet) (120 cals)
- 2 slices of whole wheat bread (180 cals) (I substituted my Shakeology Recipe @ 350 cals)
AM Snack –
- Beef jerkey (2 oz) =160 cals
- Apple (1 large) = 116 cals
Lunch -
- 11:00 – 4 pieces baked chicken, raw carrots (1 cup), cheese stick (312 cals)
Afternoon Snack (s) -
- 1:30 – 4 slices turkey lunchmeat & almonds (1oz) (270 cals)
- 4:00 – ‘pure protein’ bar (180 cals)
Dinner –
- 7:00 – chicken & veggies (350 cals)
PM Night Snack –
- 10:00 – protein shake 1.5 scoops w/ almond milk (250 cals)
***Total Cals = ~1950
Finally, I wrote a blog post a couple of days ago about choosing healthy snack options. If you don’t like the choices I put in the diet above, then substitute something else that will work for you. For some advice on health options, you can check out that article right HERE.
Thanks for reading!
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