To eat or not to eat ...

[calstate23]

From what i understand, it is best to eat every 2-3 hours. The reasoning behind this is so as not to overload your body and waste resources but also because this will make you bloated and lethargic and obviously effect training. however, knowing this and sticking to this is easier said than done unless you are very disciplined.
I sometimes miss eating to this plan and the first reaction is mental distress and stress can have a physical impact upon the body, so not only am i missing out on steady flow of resources but also possible physical damage at a cellular level.

therefore, my question is what difference if any will long periods between meals have upon a bodybuilder?

The traditional nutritionist opinion is still supporting the eat 3 times a day option which obviously deviates from eating every 2-3 hours, and also the meal regimes in the military are based along these lines. Therefore, i do not suppose it is harmful but maybe not optimal for mass bulking.

i dont have the time at present but will check later whether the delay between meals has any effect upon fat loss or whether the opposite and fat gain is apparent. if anyone can link in the meantime it will be appreciated.

I do tend to believe eating 2-3 hours is the most effective and beneficial for a few reasons....#1 - Everytime you put food down your throat you help to speed up your metabolism...Meaning, the more frequent meals the faster metabolism...#2- Protein takes a long time digest and actually down into the beneficial amino acids for your body. By having a constant flow of nutrients in your body you will always have the protein when needed.#3- Every protein has a different time length at which it takes to break down. Eating one meal a day would be horrible because imagine if your one meal a day was after your workout?? You would be soo dead for your workout it wouldn't be funny....And you would up your chances of injury...Some may say otherwise, but from my own trial and error 2-3 hours is typically when I will have a meal..

I believe a lot of people will never truly understand the meaning of meal frequency or macro timing until they are diabetic....To me, the importance of what you eat and when you eat it proves itself when looking at a diabetic....Tell a someone with diabetes food timing of marcos isn't important....They will laugh in your face

[Turkish Juicer]

I do tend to believe eating 2-3 hours is the most effective and beneficial for a few reasons....#1 - Everytime you put food down your throat you help to speed up your metabolism...Meaning, the more frequent meals the faster metabolism...#2- Protein takes a long time digest and actually down into the beneficial amino acids for your body. By having a constant flow of nutrients in your body you will always have the protein when needed.#3- Every protein has a different time length at which it takes to break down. Eating one meal a day would be horrible because imagine if your one meal a day was after your workout?? You would be soo dead for your workout it wouldn't be funny....And you would up your chances of injury...Some may say otherwise, but from my own trial and error 2-3 hours is typically when I will have a meal..

I believe a lot of people will never truly understand the meaning of meal frequency or macro timing until they are diabetic....To me, the importance of what you eat and when you eat it proves itself when looking at a diabetic....Tell a someone with diabetes food timing of marcos isn't important....They will laugh in your face

1. Food intake has a negligible effect on metabolism. Some foods, including those with caffeine, may slightly and temporarily increase metabolism, but the effect is too small to help you lose weight. What most affects your basal metabolic rate (BMR), the rate at which your body burns calories at rest, is body composition and size. More muscles and bigger bodies generally burn more calories overall.

2. Frequent small meal concept is aimed primarily at diabetics, which is all good considering that frequent small meals could lead to more stable blood sugar and insulin levels. There is no reason to extend this to healthy individuals with normal body weight.

3. The ultimate downside of eating every 2-3 hrs is that you will be keeping insulin active throughout the day and this leads to inhibited burning of fat, if not further development of the current reserves.

4. Not all protein sources take a long time to digest, as a matter of fact. It takes about 45-60 min for a scoop of whey concentrate to enter the blood stream, about 30 min for whey isolate and even a shorter time frame is required for fast acting amino acids such as BCAA, not to mention many people nowadays use complex protein powders that consist of multiple protein sources with different lengths of digestion. Egg white also makes a good example of a quick digesting macro nutrient protein source. As for slow digesting proteins, they are exactly responsible for providing the muscles with a constant, stable flow of amino acids, which is why it is always a good idea to finish the day with a last meal that involves a generous amount of steak. Your muscles will be provided with constant and stable AA flow for up to 12 hrs by doing so.

5. You are right, a lot of people will truely never understand the meaning of meal frequency or macro timing, but not before they turn diabetic, rather before they stop reading the BB magazines of Weider industry. On a last note, I don't see why the majority of lifters with no diabetes would take strict advices from the minority who are diabetic. It is like telling a cup of water to go take a shower.

[gbrice75]

I do tend to believe eating 2-3 hours is the most effective and beneficial for a few reasons....#1 - Everytime you put food down your throat you help to speed up your metabolism...Meaning, the more frequent meals the faster metabolism...

As mentioned above, recent studies have debunked this myth. I'll try and look a few up and post them here. Meal timing has no appreciable impact on metabolism.

#2- Protein takes a long time digest and actually down into the beneficial amino acids for your body. By having a constant flow of nutrients in your body you will always have the protein when needed.

Slow digesting proteins take care of this. It's not like your body digests something and then a huge 'dump' of aminos into your bloodstream occurs. The only time I can see the need for a 'constant flow' is if the subject eats only fast acting protein sources, e.g. whey, egg whites, etc. In those cases, I would definitely suggest eating every few hours. However, most people have a diet rich in variety, and include slower protein sources that make this a non-issue.

#3- Every protein has a different time length at which it takes to break down. Eating one meal a day would be horrible because imagine if your one meal a day was after your workout?? You would be soo dead for your workout it wouldn't be funny....And you would up your chances of injury...Some may say otherwise, but from my own trial and error 2-3 hours is typically when I will have a meal..

Then how would you explain the many people having huge success with intermittent fasting diets? Some of these diets are literally based on a single meal per day. So what if it's after your workout? If my body can use 700 calories immediately after my workout, and I consume 2500... I still have a surplus of 1800 calories my body can and will use throughout the day, especially if said meal includes slow digesting protein sources. A bigger meal will simply take a longer time to digest.

Again, I am certainly not against smaller frequent meals. In fact, I am currently eating 6 smallers meals/day myself at the moment. This is for my own reasons though, it fits my lifestyle at the moment. However, I have also run IF in the past, and can attest to it's potency.

I know i'm only echoing what Turkish put so much more eloquantly than I did... but just wanted to add my .02

Gotta go and get a shake in now, i think i just got catabolic typing this Post :-D

You are right, a lot of people will truely never understand the meaning of meal frequency or macro timing, but not before they turn diabetic, rather before they stop reading the BB magazines of Weider industry. On a last note, I don't see why the majority of lifters with no diabetes would take strict advices from the minority who are diabetic. It is like telling a cup of water to go take a shower.

x2. I'm pretty sure if we really traced back the 'meal every 2-3 hours' gospel, we'd find the magazine/supplement industry involved somewhere.

[calstate23]

1. Food intake has a negligible effect on metabolism. Some foods, including those with caffeine, may slightly and temporarily increase metabolism, but the effect is too small to help you lose weight. What most affects your basal metabolic rate (BMR), the rate at which your body burns calories at rest, is body composition and size. More muscles and bigger bodies generally burn more calories overall.

I personally disagree with this...If you took 2 people, one ate there whole caloric intake right before bed and the other split their meals throughout the day you HONESTLY believe the person who ate their meal at bed time benefit the same or better???


2. Frequent small meal concept is aimed primarily at diabetics, which is all good considering that frequent small meals could lead to more stable blood sugar and insulin levels. There is no reason to extend this to healthy individuals with normal body weight.

Again, I would disagree with this. For me, the primary reason is because small frequent meals is broken down and used by the body in a more effective manner..Trying to squeeze in all your marcos in 2-3 meals is way to difficult. Not to mention, it would be too difficult for your body to break down and use all the nutrients when over loaded..

If you have a car that has a half full gas tank and you try to put in a full tank of gas you're going spill and waste half the gas. But if you filled up a little, drove around, filled up some more you car could eventually use up a full tank of gas with nothing to waste.



3. The ultimate downside of eating every 2-3 hrs is that you will be keeping insulin active throughout the day and this leads to inhibited burning of fat, if not further development of the current reserves.

Your insulin levels would be more effected by consuming huge meals...Your insulin would sky rocket and would stay at a much elevated level longer then if you had eaten smaller portions...I'd rather have small little spikes throughout the day then bombard my body with massive insulin spikes that last waayyyyyy longer.

Also, as we all know, unneeded energy is stored as fat....Let's say someone eats 2 meals a day...One at breakfast and one when they sit on their ass at home after work....To consume that many calories in one sitting is WAYY too much. There would be too many unused calories that would be stored as fat. Eating small frequent meals will reduce fat storage...


4. Not all protein sources take a long time to digest, as a matter of fact. It takes about 45-60 min for a scoop of whey concentrate to enter the blood stream, about 30 min for whey isolate and even a shorter time frame is required for fast acting amino acids such as BCAA, not to mention many people nowadays use complex protein powders that consist of multiple protein sources with different lengths of digestion. Egg white also makes a good example of a quick digesting macro nutrient protein source. As for slow digesting proteins, they are exactly responsible for providing the muscles with a constant, stable flow of amino acids, which is why it is always a good idea to finish the day with a last meal that involves a generous amount of steak. Your muscles will be provided with constant and stable AA flow for up to 12 hrs by doing so.


5. You are right, a lot of people will truely never understand the meaning of meal frequency or macro timing, but not before they turn diabetic, rather before they stop reading the BB magazines of Weider industry. On a last note, I don't see why the majority of lifters with no diabetes would take strict advices from the minority who are diabetic. It is like telling a cup of water to go take a shower.

They take strict advices because diabetics are masters of insulin...Insulin is a HUGE growth factor. Perfect example way most pros will take insulin post workout with simple carbs...Yet, meal timing and frequency means nothing, right. Why eat a meal before a workout, sip on simple carbs and amino acids during workout, take in an abundance of simple carbs and protein insulin after workout when you can JUST EAT 2 MEALS A DAY?!?!?! Because it's not the most effective that is why.................