so what is it really? better to eat many small meals or lesser large meals....?

Hi all,

I have heard many different answers to what is better - to eat more smaller sized meals through the day or eat lesser meals but with greater portions. What really is better for losing body fat?

I am currently 5'11 and 185 lbs....not fat, however i do have a belly!

I exercise fairly regularly (cardio, weights) but i can't get rid of my stomach fat. I have what they call a beer belly. Not a big belly but without a shirt on it's obvious i have somewhat of a gut......

Today i've decided to try and really adjust my eating habits. Not eating such heavy carbs late at night.....

Let's just say i enjoy rice with everything - and i eat tons of cereal (i guess the milk is the contributing factor here?).

So what should i do? eat more smaller meals, or less bigger meals?

 

Unless you're an elite athlete or something then meal timing and frequency will be largely irrelevant.

 

If you really do have low body fat % and you have a belly then worry more about gaining mass first instead of trying to get skinnier. Trust me, it probably won't look that good.

 

carbs at night is broscience.

There really is no secret formula. Different approaches may be preferable for different people but the age old tried and tested method is a simple equation of calories in vs calories out.

If you're consuming more energy then you're expending you're going to gain weight.
You will want to find your caloric maintenance level(google will bring up a bunch of calculators) and then you want to eat 300 calories less than that.
I like a macro split of 40/40/20 Protein/carbs/fat.

 

You dont have to be an elite anything for timing. If he likes rice the best time for that is after workouts along with other fast digesting sugars.

Frequency? I agree.

There is been this big hype train going on with one big meal vs smaller many meals. I just suggest whatver is easiest to get your calories and macros in a day. Regular dieting is hard enough but now eating clean food leas is going to be easier? Ooook. But if one doesnt mind it and they achieve their goals, do it.

 

Generally the smaller more frequent meals approach is recommended for persons with digestive or metabolic issues who have problems with larger less frequent meals.

It certainly isn't mandatory for a healthy individual.

 

what should you do

count your macros, find out how much you eat , then eat less

or alternatively (what i do) pick a number, for your size id go 2500 calorie a day

then stop eating when you reach that . this will take some planning. if you are not losing weight, eat 2300 and take it from there

fwiw,i eat 85 % of my carbs at night , after training in the afternoon

 

That's just my take on it but i prefer eating more small meals also i drink lot of soup , i found that by doing smaller meals and drinking vegetables soup my metabolism was higher.

 

whatever keeps you within your allotted daily caloric intake, satiated, and happy is best

 

You mention rice and cereal, what about beer and soda?
They could be a gigantic source of excess calories and cutting them will allow you to eat more food (but still within your caloric limits) and stay fuller, longer.

I also personally find that a large burger will keep me more sated than something like a Chinese food platter of mostly rice with some meat.