# Meal Freaquency



## musclebird (Dec 30, 2012)

What do you guys think about meal frequency? do alot of you strongly believe in it?


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## musclebird (Dec 30, 2012)

and has anyone tried the intermittet fasting diet?


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## Cashout (Dec 30, 2012)

All depends on one's specific goals.


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## NbleSavage (Dec 30, 2012)

I firmly believe in frequently eating meals, yes 

Me personally, I tried the IF plan, tried keto, tried IF *AND* keto...all of them with mixed results but one common theme: they left me feeling weak and hungry. 

Presently, I've placed my dietary well-being into Spongey's capable hands and I'm happy with my results.


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## Illtemper (Dec 30, 2012)

All depends on goals.. But yes eating 6times a day is better in any goal you have. It's good to keep the metabolism running on high. 

I have not fasted and don't think I would ever try it... Imo, its Better to eat and let the metabolism do the work..


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## pirovoliko (Dec 30, 2012)

I agree with frequency importance.  Must remain in anabolic state.


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## jennerrator (Dec 30, 2012)

I eat pretty much every 2 1/2 to 3 hours depending on whats going on that day. Tried the fasting thing and doesn't work for me.


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## DF (Dec 30, 2012)

Six meals a day. No on the fasting.


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## PFM (Dec 30, 2012)

musclebird said:


> What do you guys think about meal frequency? do alot of you strongly believe in it?



If you're fat missing meals won't hurt, but if you're skinny like me.......you have to eat and never miss a meal.


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## Bro Bundy (Dec 30, 2012)

every 2-3 hours from 8AM till night night


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## gymrat827 (Dec 30, 2012)

i eat every 2-4hrs


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## Christosterone (Dec 31, 2012)

I'll lose a lot of weight if I miss a meal or two, I need to eat constantly


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## Spongy (Dec 31, 2012)

I'm a big fan of meal frequency but am trying something new with my cut.

5 eggs with and olive oil in the morning

1 cup plain greek yogurt and 1 cup blueberries 3 hours later

1 cup plain greek yogurt and 1 cup blueberries 3 hours later

12 oz Meat, 2 cups rice, 4 oz sweet potato, huge salad, olive oil 3 hours later

4 oz Meat before bed

I still get 3000-3500 calories per day, just the bulk are from one meal.  

So far so good, I do not feel hungry during the day.  My workouts are still strong and the fat is melting off...

Here's the thing, I am not afraid to lose LBM at this point.  I will never compete and I Just can't justify carrying around this much weight no matter what my bodyfat % is.  Gotta look at longevity!

I would not neccesarily reccomend this to one of my clients, but I am testing it out for clients that may want to try it in the future.


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## 63Vette (Dec 31, 2012)

I eat all day long. Pretty much every hour. Carbs and protein pre and post workout. 
Then light snacks of yogurt and fruits every hour or so. 
Lunch is my big meal - tuna, low sodium cottage cheese, carrots with fat free ranch dip, an apple and a greek yogurt. 
Then I snack the remainder of the day- at least once an hour with mostly proteins and fats but some fruit  (cottage cheese, yogurt, nuts, peanut butter, chicken breasts with mustard, pineapple, blueberries, strawberries, etc.). 
Before bed I eat sugar free Polaner high fiber all fruit with some low sodium cottage cheese.

That's not really very detailed and I do vary it slightly but that's about it for the Vettester on the average day. 

Respect,
Vette


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## Curiosity (Dec 31, 2012)

I would say that IF works well for some people if you're trying to lose fat, don't want to gain any muscle, and aren't afraid to lose a little muscle. Also, you'll be starving for the first few weeks if you're used to eating frequently. 

I'd suggest what everyone else is, eat 6+ times a day, and vary the calories based on your goals. If you want to lean out, eat lower calories and try to get all your carbs earlier in the day, and stop eating carbs about maybe 3 pm, stick with protein/fat meals after that. 

If you want to gain, well for me personally, I just have been eating 6-7 meals a day, at least 1 of them is a dirty meal, pizza, a cheese steak, pulled pork sandwich, something like that. It's been working very well. I eat carbs all day and night too, I just ate half a pizza for my second to last meal, and spaghetti and meatballs will be my last meal before bed. However, I'm naturally skinny with a high metabolism and a physically demanding job, and 28 years old, so maybe I can get away with more than the average person.

Really, you just have to experiment and find what works for you, or hire a professional to plan a diet for you.


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## musclebird (Dec 31, 2012)

Holy! I was using the forum at bodybuilding(dot)com and it seems everyone there is opposed to meal frequency saying that it doesn't matter because of thermic affect of food and all this crap (tried to post a link but i cant without 20 posts...) my whole life i have always believed in meal frequency, i tried the fasting diet for a cut once and just felt weak, and hungry, its amazing how opinions change from forum to forum, but bb.com is alot more younger guys that probably dont know what works for them because they haven't bin in the game long enough


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## theminister (Dec 31, 2012)

You shouldn't fast, your body will learn it has to keep reserves on hand. Eating again after a meal is digested is the way to go.


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## Tren4Life (Dec 31, 2012)

I also eat every 2-3 hours. Slow protien before bed. Waking up hungry is good, to me that means my body did not go in to fat storage mode and my met is still running.


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## Times Roman (Dec 31, 2012)

I am going to challange you blokes, as someone before challanged me.

I was a firm believer in eating every couple of hours or so.  Then someone asked me why I believed this.  My response was that it helped increase metabolism and helped burn fat.  His response was..... really?  How did you learn about that?  So I stopped and thought.  Come to find out, I haven't really seen any studies on the subject, and just took it on faith as a word of mouth type thing from others that looked good and were eating 6x a day.  I then proceeded to try to look it up.  The assumption is that under both scenerios, the same amount of food is eaten overall during the day.  What I found out was that it is a myth that eating smaller, more frequent meals helps speed up metabolism.

The gauntlet has been thrown down.  

Can you show any clinical data with reference cites that show eating smaller, more frequent meals helps speed up metabolism?


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## regular (Dec 31, 2012)

I don't think it's important. I usually eat a pound of cottage cheese for breakfast with some nuts and dried fruit thrown in. My lunch and dinner are light in starches and include a rich source of complete protein and some veggies.


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## Tren4Life (Jan 2, 2013)

I did do some reading on the idea of sticking to 3 meals a day. I think I will give it a try for a month and see how I feel


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## Illtemper (Jan 2, 2013)

This is all goal dependent. If you wanna build max muscle you need to eat meals throughout the whole day. You simply can not eat 3 times a day and get all your protein/carb requirements to fuel you body to build the most muscle. As you get bigger you need more food. Your body is only gonna absorb so much per meal than the rest is wasted. Just like taking vitamins, when you take vitamins your body absorbs what it needs and you piss out the rest. If you every had bright yellow piss after taking a bunch of vitamins that is the vitamin waste your pissing out..


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## 63Vette (Jan 2, 2013)

I eat smaller and more frequent meals because I do NOT like being hungry and for whatever reason it helps me. I also feel like it is easier on my stomach. Large meals usually equate to nausea  for me. I also like to be able to change course- it's almost like my body says what it needs.... I know that sounds silly but it's the truth. 

As far as metabolic rate goes, I have no idea if it impacts it our not but I am leaner since I have been eating frequent small meals.

I suppose whatever we get used to is what our bodies adjust to. A large meal makes me sleepy, raises my blood sugar (I am diabetic)  and creates stomach discomfort for me.

Much Respect,
Vette


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## AlphaD (Jan 2, 2013)

I have always come from the school of thought, every 2-3hours eat.  I have changed around different diet techniques through the years but I have always thought for a balance of building muscle and metabolic changes in my bodyfat. Two fist of protein each meal is my standard.  I fully believe though, each individual needs to know their own body, and you can do this by trying different strategies and advice that you may learn from knowledgeable people.  But You need to know your body and get enough calories of the right foods.  I'm not a nutritionist, just someone who likes food and loves working out!


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## Cashout (Jan 3, 2013)

Since May, I've been on 4 meals a day scheduled at 4 hour intervals - 630, 1030, 230, 630.

Total macro count consists of 200 grams of protein and 250 grams of carbs 50 grams fat.

Has worked very well for maintaining maximum muscle at 5% body fat. That's the year round goal for me.


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## SAD (Jan 3, 2013)

Disclaimer : I am a powerlifter and do not give a rat's ass about having abs.  My only goal is strength.


I am sitting at 6'2" 281lbs, cruising at 250mg/Karachi sust along with moderate GH use.  I eat 4-5 times a day on some days, just 2-3 times on others.  I work two full-time jobs, so I'd be more consistent if I could, but I can't.  But you know what?  I've been getting bigger and stronger consistently over the last 2 years of this regimen.  Granted, I'll slam 2500 calories in one meal if I feel that my cals are short for the day, but I just do it by feel and don't count shit.

The whole "not using everything in a big meal" is bs in my opinion.  It can take upwards of 5-6 hours to fully digest a big meal (which means you're still in an anabolic environment for 5-6 hours, contrary to popular belief), which is plenty of time for your body to take what it needs from the meal.  If you're talking about a fast digesting shake, then yes, overkill is overkill.  But not a whole food meal.

Holy shit Times Roman, I agree with you for once. )


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## grind4it (Jan 3, 2013)

I have had my best gains ever on this cycle and I am convenced that it has everything to do with meal frequency.

I have tried every imaginable diet stratigy. Includining intermited fasting and the lean gains version of IF. Every diet has a benifit. But like PFM said if you are naturally skinny you must eat to gain. 

The IF stratigy is best for cutting; don't believe anyone that tells you you can run this diet and gain (naturally). It ain't going to happen.

Back to my current diet, meal frequency and my best results. So, I have gained in the past running the typical feed every 2-3 hour method. The thing I am doing now that I have never done in the past is this;  I prepare a shake (2 scoops whey, 3/4 cup oats, 1 tbs peanut butter, 2 tbs of flax seed) before I go to bed. When I wake in the middle of the night to take a piss I down my shake and go back to sleep. This coupled with my 6 other meals and 5,500 clean calorie diet has been freaking amazing.

I'm 10+ weeks into my cycle and started at 207 and 7.5% BF and I am now at 233 and 9% bf. honestly I beleve that 75% + of this is due to my diet and adding my middle of the night feed.


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## Times Roman (Jan 3, 2013)

Now, what I said in #20, there ARE reasons for frequent eating.  For one, smaller, more frequent meals does not distend the stomach as much as three real bulky meals.  I feal leaner, lighter on my feet, and more cognative with the smaller, more frequent meals also.  
the bottom line is eating three real big meals just makes me feel bloated.


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## theminister (Jan 3, 2013)

Am I right in saying that the body digests 50 grams of protein at a time? well theres five meals on its own. Otherwise I'd be chugging down 10 scoops of protein in one go?


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## PillarofBalance (Jan 3, 2013)

TheMinister said:


> Am I right in saying that the body digests 50 grams of protein at a time? well theres five meals on its own. Otherwise I'd be chugging down 10 scoops of protein in one go?



The body does not come with an internal scale and we're all different.


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## theminister (Jan 3, 2013)

PillarofBalance said:


> The body does not come with an internal scale and we're all different.



For arguments sake, a certain amount of protein can be consumed at a certain interval. Whether its chicken a fast digesting protein or beef, a slow digesting protein. If thats the case, it would fuel the argument that fast digesting proteins should be consumed during the day and beef should be the last meal of the day, based on the fact that we should be on at the very least 200mg of protein a day. 

The alternative side of the argument is that those big mofos, perhaps they can can consume 70mgs of protein at a time, but they are big mofos, so likely to require much more protein daily in order to retain mass.

Does any of this make sense? hehe


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## SAD (Jan 3, 2013)

The argument for how much protein the body digests in X amount of time is never separated as it should be.  Are we talking fast digesting shakes or whole meals?  Everyone is different, but it's safe to say that a 50-60g hydrolysed whey isolate is overkill, and the liver will take the excess protein and convert it to glucose (a process called gluconeogenesis).  Gluconeogenesis translates out to be "to create new sugar", which is fascinating but not our goal in taking in protein.  So the myth that you shit out X amount of protein when you take too much is bullshit, but you may not be using it all as protein.

Now meals are a whole different animal with many different variables.  For the sake of argument though, I'll paint the picture with broad strokes.  Let's say the average male can consume and absorb 35g of protein per every 90 minutes without the liver converting any of it into glucose.  Now, depending on what kind of meal you eat, i.e. well rounded with full fat, low fat with moderate carb, low carb with higher fat (obviously these all include protein from an animal source), the absorption time can be anywhere from 180-360 minutes.  Based on these broad strokes, that means the average guy can utilize anywhere from 70-140g of protein in any one meal.  Everyone is different, but this is a good baseline to estimate protein absorption/utilization.


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## theminister (Jan 3, 2013)

SAD said:


> The argument for how much protein the body digests in X amount of time is never separated as it should be.  Are we talking fast digesting shakes or whole meals?  Everyone is different, but it's safe to say that a 50-60g hydrolysed whey isolate is overkill, and the liver will take the excess protein and convert it to glucose (a process called gluconeogenesis).  Gluconeogenesis translates out to be "to create new sugar", which is fascinating but not our goal in taking in protein.  So the myth that you shit out X amount of protein when you take too much is bullshit, but you may not be using it all as protein.
> 
> Now meals are a whole different animal with many different variables.  For the sake of argument though, I'll paint the picture with broad strokes.  Let's say the average male can consume and absorb 35g of protein per every 90 minutes without the liver converting any of it into glucose.  Now, depending on what kind of meal you eat, i.e. well rounded with full fat, low fat with moderate carb, low carb with higher fat (obviously these all include protein from an animal source), the absorption time can be anywhere from 180-360 minutes.  Based on these broad strokes, that means the average guy can utilize anywhere from 70-140g of protein in any one meal.  Everyone is different, but this is a good baseline to estimate protein absorption/utilization.



we're talking food here - primarily chicken breasts/fish steak and beef steak - the latter being the slower digestive protein


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## theminister (Jan 3, 2013)

SAD said:


> The argument for how much protein the body digests in X amount of time is never separated as it should be.  Are we talking fast digesting shakes or whole meals?  Everyone is different, but it's safe to say that a 50-60g hydrolysed whey isolate is overkill, and the liver will take the excess protein and convert it to glucose (a process called gluconeogenesis).  Gluconeogenesis translates out to be "to create new sugar", which is fascinating but not our goal in taking in protein.  So the myth that you shit out X amount of protein when you take too much is bullshit, but you may not be using it all as protein.
> 
> Now meals are a whole different animal with many different variables.  For the sake of argument though, I'll paint the picture with broad strokes.  Let's say the average male can consume and absorb 35g of protein per every 90 minutes without the liver converting any of it into glucose.  Now, depending on what kind of meal you eat, i.e. well rounded with full fat, low fat with moderate carb, low carb with higher fat (obviously these all include protein from an animal source), the absorption time can be anywhere from 180-360 minutes.  Based on these broad strokes, that means the average guy can utilize anywhere from 70-140g of protein in any one meal.  Everyone is different, but this is a good baseline to estimate protein absorption/utilization.



With respect, I'd be interested to hear what percentage of the population can digest 140g of protein at any one sitting when as you put it the average digests 35 grams. So what really is the ball park range that covers most?


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## SAD (Jan 3, 2013)

TheMinister said:


> With respect, I'd be interested to hear what percentage of the population can digest 140g of protein at any one sitting when as you put it the average digests 35 grams. So what really is the ball park range that covers most?



Your cynicism is acknowledged and understood, but you need to read more carefully before you type so carelessly.  I said the average joe can digest 35g PER 90 MINUTES, but if the meal take anywhere from 3-6 hours to fully digest, well, you've got it from here right?  Easy math.

These are not concrete numbers, but they are pretty decent baselines, give or take.


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## grind4it (Jan 3, 2013)

I'm a little confused; is the core of this argument 3 meals vs 5+ or is this a bb vs pl argument? The reason I ask is that the circle I run in the Pl croud subscribes to the 3 meals is all you need and the Bb croud is of the mind set that 5+ is required to acheave a Bb body. With that said there are a few outliers and points where this may change to meet specific goals but for the most part this is the general school of thought.

If this is purely a debate of 3 vs 5+, why do the vast majority of the pros (bb) follow the 5+ protocol? Just curious; please keep the flaming in check.


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## SAD (Jan 3, 2013)

I was involved under the assumption that the OP wanted to know just how important it was for muscle building/fat loss/prevention of catabolism, to eat every 3 hours.  If this was not the intention of the thread, and it is instead a question posed purely for bodybuilders, I will edit my posts to include only facts and none of my opinions or experiences, because I am a pure powerlifter.

Side note: Eating TOO frequently actually desensitizes your body to amino acid utilization.  Look it up.


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## Christosterone (Jan 3, 2013)

I eat five to six meals a day, only because I shit five to six times a day


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## Cashout (Jan 4, 2013)

I would assert that there is a correlation and possibly a casual relationship that would be inverse to the way you wrote that sentence.





Christosterone said:


> I eat five to six meals a day, only because I shit five to six times a day


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## Times Roman (Jan 4, 2013)

TheMinister said:


> Am I right in saying that the body digests 50 grams of protein *at a time*? well theres five meals on its own. Otherwise I'd be chugging down 10 scoops of protein in one go?



at a time?

the body can only process so much per a given time frame.  But the body continues to digest a meal for many hours, until it basically leaves the small and enters the large intestine.


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## Jada (Jan 4, 2013)

I eat 5-6 meals a day Every 3 hrs


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## musclebird (Feb 8, 2013)

grind4it said:


> I'm a little confused; is the core of this argument 3 meals vs 5+ or is this a bb vs pl argument? The reason I ask is that the circle I run in the Pl croud subscribes to the 3 meals is all you need and the Bb croud is of the mind set that 5+ is required to acheave a Bb body. With that said there are a few outliers and points where this may change to meet specific goals but for the most part this is the general school of thought.
> 
> If this is purely a debate of 3 vs 5+, why do the vast majority of the pros (bb) follow the 5+ protocol? Just curious; please keep the flaming in check.



maybe because there eating like 6000 calories a day, how could you possibly eat 3 meals a day with a total macro count of 6000... haha that would be 2000 calories a meal, so maybe that's why some pro's take it to the extreme of 8 to even 10 meals a day, just something i thought, sorry for bringing up a dead thread but not much going on in the diet section, might as well bring up a heated debate! Its crazy i have followed meal frequency for the longest time.. but there's no actual study's proving it works, and there are study's now proving it isn't irrelevant, 1 meal or 66 meals a day.. same affect on body composition, i can post some of the study's I've read if anyone is interested. but its not a debate on which is better 3 vs 6 but a debate on whether it makes a difference, i would love it if someone really experienced on this forum who follows strict meal frequency to step up to the plate and try ditching meal frequency for a moth or two.. someone who's really in tune with there body, see if it makes a difference in gains. it makes sense from an evolutionary stand point that the body shouldn't have to eat every 3 hours.. look at some animals in the wild, they go days without eating and remain in excellent shape, like lions, and all this obsession with eating 8 meals a day i think comes from the protein companies, study's are even showing that taking a protein shake after your workout isn't even beneficial, i actually read i study done at two separate university's, one in Germany where they they found eating an hour before a workout and/or after a workout actually hurts your results :s because your digestion system uses crap loads of blood to run and if you eat a meal before your workout your digestion system takes priority over your muscles for blood use and because of the loss of blood to your muscles it increases cortisol! its the post workout meal they were saying was bad because you get a good workout in then you go and eat those high gi carbs but they end up killing your muscles because your digestion system goes into turbo mode taking all the blood away from your muscles that need it.. ill have to find that study, sometime this week i want to make a post with all these study's for you guys to read and form your own opinions on, i find all this very fascinating and if that German study i read is true then us bb's and PL's have been going about this the wrong way haha no hate to people who support meal frequency just trying to open some minds into the possible conspiracy theory on food haha


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## SAD (Feb 8, 2013)

I guarantee that I am among the few on this board that actually eats 5000+ calories every day, and some days well over 6k.  That being said, I never count meals or calories per meal.  I just eat when I'm hungry and I eat until I'm fully stuffed to the gills each meal.  Most days it's 4 meals with a shake before and after training and a casein shake before bed.

My point in saying this is that it's not unheard of to eat 1500+ calories in every meal, day in and day out.


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## Patriot1405 (Feb 8, 2013)

I also eat 6 times a day. Though I have to admit, when bulking its hard for me as I'm not always hungry. But I force my 6 meals in.


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