Five Meals a Day

It may be helpful and easier to manage when trying to lose weight to eat five meals a day and keeping portion sizes small.

This way of eating can stabilize blood sugar and energy levels to make it easier for you to control your calorie intake.

However, there is evidence to suggest that eating multiple small meals throughout the day may not always lead to greater weight loss than other eating techniques.

You can lose weight by eating regular grazing if it suits your needs and alleviates your fears about feeling hungry and deprived when dieting.

Frequent Eating: Good or Bad?

For those who are just beginning to diet, five small meals per days may be helpful.

Because the meals you eat are small, you will eat until your hunger has subsided and not until you feel full. Five small meals a day can help to curb serious hunger pangs caused by high blood sugar swings.

You can avoid binging or overeating by allowing yourself to eat more often and regularly. You can also benefit from a meal program that consists of small, frequent meals.

Weight loss is not possible by eating five small meals per days. The International Society of Sports Nutrition observed in March 2011 a lack of any effect on body composition by observing that people who don't exercise have a lower meal frequency.

Consuming smaller meals at a higher frequency doesn't increase your metabolism rate or make you lose calories.

A February 2013 Obesity study found that eating up to six meals of smaller size a days does not result in greater fat loss and may lead to more calories than you would otherwise. This could be because you're thinking about food all the time and you put more focus on time cues than on real hunger.

Plan 5 Small Meals

If you are determined to experience the benefits of five small meals per meal for weight loss, the first order of the day is to calculate how many calories you should consume each day to safely lose 1 to 2-pounds per week.

An online calculator will help you calculate how many calories your body needs per day to maintain the reduction in weight. It will consider your size, gender, activity level and age.

Weight loss is achieved when you eat less calories than your body burns.

This means that you will lose about one pound a week by eating 3,500 calories less per week.

Take 500-1000 calories off the number of calories needed to maintain your weight and subtract that from your daily total calorific intake, to make the diet easy.

To determine how many calories to consume at each meal, divide this calorie goal in half by five. For example, if your goal is to lose 2 to 3 pounds per week, you would need to consume between 1,200 - 1,700 calories each daily. Each meal could be approximately 300 calories.

Minimum 1,200 calories are recommended daily. Less than this can cause energy problems, muscle loss, and nutritional deficiencies.

Your calorie deficit should be less than 1,200 calories. This will allow you to lose weight more slowly but better.

Composition for Each Small Meal

Plan ahead to create nutritionally-complete and satisfying small meals. Avoid creating small meals using easy-to make snacks.

It's a common mistake to eat too many calories if you want to lose weight.

A May 2012 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition study revealed that type 2 diabetes is more common in those who snack on sugary snacks as well as eating regular meals. This was especially true for people who snack on typical processed foods.

These snacks do not provide a lot of nutrition, nor are they particularly filling, but so many people eat them nevertheless.

What Should Be In Small Meals

A small meal for weight loss should contain two to four ounces or more of lean protein and 1 or More cups of fresh veggies.

Fresh fruit can replace one or more of the five meals and so can a nice salad with minimal dressing (preferably only olive oil and vinegar plus condiments). Just no pasta or bread!

Your daily calorie limit will affect how much you can eat at each meal.

Summary

While on paper it looks fairly easy to maintain a diet when you can literally eat throughout the day, the results you may get can be less than desired.

It is certainly possible to lose weight by eating small meals that are nutritionally balanced, the constant digestion may lead to excessive levels of insulin to cope with the continuous supply of glucose.

To sidestep this problem, the meals could consist of low levels of protein, no simple carbohydrates and some healthy fats to greatly reduce the amount of insulin released each time you eat.