Eating Every 3 Hours Myth

[Judah]

My whole life this was drilled in to me by all the professionals when I was growing up. Im reading now that eating every 3 hours is a myth?

Does this not speed your metabolism up? Does it not train your body to burn more and store less because your constantly giving it food for energy?

Or is it just all about daily calorie intake and how much of your diet comes from protein, carbs, and fats?

[Dpyle]

I've seen several here say it's just a matter of calories in and calories out. I myself have to eat every 2-3 hours to hit macros. It's hard to eat 1000 cal in one meal when it's clean foods.

[JWP806]

Yeah, eating every 2-3 hours is the only way that I can manage to shovel down all of my meals for the day.

[Shadowmaker]

as a biologist(a crappy one but hey) i can say that humans were designed absolutely the opposite of eating frequently - if you research some history and the human nature, you will see that people at the early beginning used to kill 1 huge beast, eat as much as they could, because the next time they would go hunting, could be far from the time they last ate. so they basically ate 1 week and they starved for a long period of time.
when you fast forward through history you'll see that lots of strongest and biggest guys ate 1 huge meal a day - Roman Gladiators for example - they were slaves and were kept in a jail - they ate once a day if lucky and they still were considered the biggest and the strongest men back then.

i think that its just easier to eat all the foods you need to grow doin that frequently... i cant eat much at once so i eat every 3-4 hours, depending on how late i get up... if i sleep too much, i eat every 2,5 hours some days, but if its an early morning, i eat every 4 hours...
but i belive that its just a matter of your bodys ability to adapt to different conditions...

you can actually find huge guys in prison..."eating every 3 hours" my ass...

[gbrice75]

My whole life this was drilled in to me by all the professionals when I was growing up. Im reading now that eating every 3 hours is a myth?

Does this not speed your metabolism up? Does it not train your body to burn more and store less because your constantly giving it food for energy?

Or is it just all about daily calorie intake and how much of your diet comes from protein, carbs, and fats?

First, I want to make clear that there's nothing wrong with eating every few hours. Obviously, it's been working for the majority of people for years. The issue is whether or not you HAVE to eat every few hours to achieve your desired results, and the answer is NO.

The myth is that eating every few hours speeds up metabolism. Whether you eat 2000 calories over the course of 3 meals or 8, your body has to process and assimilate 2000 calories. Larger meals will simply take longer to digest. There is no increase in metabolic activity as a result of meal frequency. This myth has been debunked.

Most likely, the 'standard bodybuilding diet protocol' (i.e. several small meals/day) became mainstream for the reasons stated above - a lot of people find it difficult to consume a relatively large number of calories over the course of a few meals. Then an article in a bodybuilding mag suggested it speeds up metabolism, and one bruh told another bruh, and it eventually became something you MUST do.

As for the 'healthy living' community (vs. bodybuilding) also eating this way - it helps people with portion control. People who are out of control and don't know when to stop learn how to control portion size by eating several small meals instead of stuffing their faces with a few large ones. But again, it's not a MUST. Intermittent Fasting has completely debunked this. However if it works for you and you don't mind the amount of time involved, then keep doing it. If it ain't broke....

[JohnnyVegas]

I've seen several here say it's just a matter of calories in and calories out. I myself have to eat every 2-3 hours to hit macros. It's hard to eat 1000 cal in one meal when it's clean foods.

Steak burger at Buffalo Wild Wings - 1,400 calories.

Oh, wait, you said CLEAN calories...agreed.

[MuscleInk]

I've read that frequency of meals will also vary with body type. Endomorphs for example are the category of folks that the 2-3 hour window usually refers to.

I think largely total calories comes into play as well. From my reading, it's better to consume 600-900 cals spread evenly through out the day to maintain your BMR rate at an optimal level as opposed to less frequent meals exceeding 1000 cals which would lead to more fat retention.

[gbrice75]

as a biologist(a crappy one but hey) i can say that humans were designed absolutely the opposite of eating frequently - if you research some history and the human nature, you will see that people at the early beginning used to kill 1 huge beast, eat as much as they could, because the next time they would go hunting, could be far from the time they last ate. so they basically ate 1 week and they starved for a long period of time.
when you fast forward through history you'll see that lots of strongest and biggest guys ate 1 huge meal a day - Roman Gladiators for example - they were slaves and were kept in a jail - they ate once a day if lucky and they still were considered the biggest and the strongest men back then.

i think that its just easier to eat all the foods you need to grow doin that frequently... i cant eat much at once so i eat every 3-4 hours, depending on how late i get up... if i sleep too much, i eat every 2,5 hours some days, but if its an early morning, i eat every 4 hours...
but i belive that its just a matter of your bodys ability to adapt to different conditions...

you can actually find huge guys in prison..."eating every 3 hours" my ass...

X2 on all points.

[ironbeck]

as a biologist(a crappy one but hey) i can say that humans were designed absolutely the opposite of eating frequently - if you research some history and the human nature, you will see that people at the early beginning used to kill 1 huge beast, eat as much as they could, because the next time they would go hunting, could be far from the time they last ate. so they basically ate 1 week and they starved for a long period of time.
when you fast forward through history you'll see that lots of strongest and biggest guys ate 1 huge meal a day - Roman Gladiators for example - they were slaves and were kept in a jail - they ate once a day if lucky and they still were considered the biggest and the strongest men back then.

i think that its just easier to eat all the foods you need to grow doin that frequently... i cant eat much at once so i eat every 3-4 hours, depending on how late i get up... if i sleep too much, i eat every 2,5 hours some days, but if its an early morning, i eat every 4 hours...
but i belive that its just a matter of your bodys ability to adapt to different conditions...

you can actually find huge guys in prison..."eating every 3 hours" my ass...

Why can't you eat every three hrs in prison? I never had a problem and so did a lot of guys.

[digsy1983]

I don't like eating big meals cos I get very tired and bloated for about an hour n half after. Alot of it depends on life style, but I take the view of I'm not loading my body with excess stuff it has to store most as far due to limit amount of glycogen space is the blood and liver. Surely this method is better than increasing your fat reserves only to want to spend hours burning it off again doin cardio. We have no need to load our body with fat incase we need it during times of fasting. Our life has changed so must our eating habbits IMO.

[baseline_9]

First, I want to make clear that there's nothing wrong with eating every few hours. Obviously, it's been working for the majority of people for years. The issue is whether or not you HAVE to eat every few hours to achieve your desired results, and the answer is NO.

The myth is that eating every few hours speeds up metabolism. Whether you eat 2000 calories over the course of 3 meals or 8, your body has to process and assimilate 2000 calories. Larger meals will simply take longer to digest. There is no increase in metabolic activity as a result of meal frequency. This myth has been debunked.

Most likely, the 'standard bodybuilding diet protocol' (i.e. several small meals/day) became mainstream for the reasons stated above - a lot of people find it difficult to consume a relatively large number of calories over the course of a few meals. Then an article in a bodybuilding mag suggested it speeds up metabolism, and one bruh told another bruh, and it eventually became something you MUST do.

As for the 'healthy living' community (vs. bodybuilding) also eating this way - it helps people with portion control. People who are out of control and don't know when to stop learn how to control portion size by eating several small meals instead of stuffing their faces with a few large ones. But again, it's not a MUST. Intermittent Fasting has completely debunked this. However if it works for you and you don't mind the amount of time involved, then keep doing it. If it ain't broke....

GB covered it...


One thing to add is that eating less often may actually be of more benefit... Im not sure all the research is there yet but in an old video Layne Norton suggested that less frequent meals (every 4-5 hours) may actually be better....

Here is a paper he wrote.

http://jerrybruton.files.wordpress.c...upport2003.pdf

[< <Samson> >]

This is just from experience. . . . When I eat clean and 5x+ per day I seem to lose weight like no other. I break my meals down fairly equally to 300-500 cals per day.

I lose weight ad I lose it fast. Like stated above it really helps me with eating clean for the fact that 1000+ cals of chicken and vegetables is kind of tough to eat in one sitting.


Plus I get used to eating the smaller meals. It's so easy to down 400 cals.

[baseline_9]

I don't like eating big meals cos I get very tired and bloated for about an hour n half after. Alot of it depends on life style, but I take the view of I'm not loading my body with excess stuff it has to store most as far due to limit amount of glycogen space is the blood and liver. Surely this method is better than increasing your fat reserves only to want to spend hours burning it off again doin cardio. We have no need to load our body with fat incase we need it during times of fasting. Our life has changed so must our eating habbits IMO.

Your missing the bigger picture

Energy in ----- Energy out

It doesnt matter where you put energy (fat or carbs).... The 'energy pool' will balance out if the bigger picture (cals in,cals out) is in check....


The only time I would dispute this is once you start to get very lean...

[Shadowmaker]

Why can't you eat every three hrs in prison? I never had a problem and so did a lot of guys.

could be in some "sunshine hotel" kind of prisons...
in here, we have 2 meals a day, 1 toilet break a day, 1 ass kicking by the guards at night... in here, prisons are made to be a place you dont want to be in... if we would have prisons with "eating every 3 hours" - half of the country would rather live in prison cause that sounds much better than the life outside the prison in here

[Judah]

could be in some "sunshine hotel" kind of prisons...
in here, we have 2 meals a day, 1 toilet break a day, 1 ass kicking by the guards at night... in here, prisons are made to be a place you dont want to be in... if we would have prisons with "eating every 3 hours" - half of the country would rather live in prison cause that sounds much better than the life outside the prison in here

What are you in for?

[Judah]

First, I want to make clear that there's nothing wrong with eating every few hours. Obviously, it's been working for the majority of people for years. The issue is whether or not you HAVE to eat every few hours to achieve your desired results, and the answer is NO.

The myth is that eating every few hours speeds up metabolism. Whether you eat 2000 calories over the course of 3 meals or 8, your body has to process and assimilate 2000 calories. Larger meals will simply take longer to digest. There is no increase in metabolic activity as a result of meal frequency. This myth has been debunked.

Most likely, the 'standard bodybuilding diet protocol' (i.e. several small meals/day) became mainstream for the reasons stated above - a lot of people find it difficult to consume a relatively large number of calories over the course of a few meals. Then an article in a bodybuilding mag suggested it speeds up metabolism, and one bruh told another bruh, and it eventually became something you MUST do.

As for the 'healthy living' community (vs. bodybuilding) also eating this way - it helps people with portion control. People who are out of control and don't know when to stop learn how to control portion size by eating several small meals instead of stuffing their faces with a few large ones. But again, it's not a MUST. Intermittent Fasting has completely debunked this. However if it works for you and you don't mind the amount of time involved, then keep doing it. If it ain't broke....

This is the info I was searching for. Thank you very much for taking the time to break that down.

[Judah]

Steak burger at Buffalo Wild Wings - 1,400 calories.

Oh, wait, you said CLEAN calories...agreed.

Haha....challenge accepted!

[Judah]

I've read that frequency of meals will also vary with body type. Endomorphs for example are the category of folks that the 2-3 hour window usually refers to.

I think largely total calories comes into play as well. From my reading, it's better to consume 600-900 cals spread evenly through out the day to maintain your BMR rate at an optimal level as opposed to less frequent meals exceeding 1000 cals which would lead to more fat retention.

Agreed, I think eating small but frequent keeps your body more balanced throughout the day regardless of your goals. Aside from goals/results I feel overall better eating this way.

[Times Roman]

First, I want to make clear that there's nothing wrong with eating every few hours. Obviously, it's been working for the majority of people for years. The issue is whether or not you HAVE to eat every few hours to achieve your desired results, and the answer is NO.

The myth is that eating every few hours speeds up metabolism. Whether you eat 2000 calories over the course of 3 meals or 8, your body has to process and assimilate 2000 calories. Larger meals will simply take longer to digest. There is no increase in metabolic activity as a result of meal frequency. This myth has been debunked.

Most likely, the 'standard bodybuilding diet protocol' (i.e. several small meals/day) became mainstream for the reasons stated above - a lot of people find it difficult to consume a relatively large number of calories over the course of a few meals. Then an article in a bodybuilding mag suggested it speeds up metabolism, and one bruh told another bruh, and it eventually became something you MUST do.

As for the 'healthy living' community (vs. bodybuilding) also eating this way - it helps people with portion control. People who are out of control and don't know when to stop learn how to control portion size by eating several small meals instead of stuffing their faces with a few large ones. But again, it's not a MUST. Intermittent Fasting has completely debunked this. However if it works for you and you don't mind the amount of time involved, then keep doing it. If it ain't broke....

ah sh1t GB.

Yet another concept i've been clinging to all these years now goes out the window. I'll continue to eat regularly, as I have been, but no advantage over eating 3 squares a day. here's an interesting article I dug up that suppports GB's position, if any one wants to read it....

http://thebodyevolutionreport.blogsp...y-3-hours.html

One benefit of eating regularly as opposed to 3x a day is that my stomach does not distend as much after eating any given meal if I eat regularly.

One thought regarding glycemic load and insulin spike:
(my theory, not a fact, although it could be?)

when eating 3x a day, you are consuming more carbs quicker, and metabolizing quicker during the initial "after meal" phase. So I'm thinking there would be a larger insulin spike on the 3x a day plan as opposed to eating more regularly? Or does it average out over the course of the day?

[ironbeck]

could be in some "sunshine hotel" kind of prisons...
in here, we have 2 meals a day, 1 toilet break a day, 1 ass kicking by the guards at night... in here, prisons are made to be a place you dont want to be in... if we would have prisons with "eating every 3 hours" - half of the country would rather live in prison cause that sounds much better than the life outside the prison in here

lol.....that's what I thought.

[Shadowmaker]

What are you in for?

umm...dude? im posting on the forum, right?
so how can you asume that im "in for something" ? you guys have computers and internet in prisons, lol ?

that sounds like a life of luxury - you get to eat when you want, you get computer and internet... it sounds better than most ppl can achieve in their life in this part of the world, lol...

[ironbeck]

Some ppl are very gulable....i thought your sarcasmic response was pretty obvious...maybe we should get into the sales industry.

[digsy1983]

didnt help my point by putting it about burning fat off again doing cardio! i agree with the energy in - engery out. but is there any points of not wasting enegry by converting excess carbs to fat, then buring fat as a fuel source rather than just using carbs as and when needed?
is running off carbs more,less or the same efficiency as running on fat???

[capetown]

Why can't you eat every three hrs in prison? I never had a problem and so did a lot of guys.

Ya, all the mr noodle and hot sauce you want if you have cash. Lol

[baseline_9]

didnt help my point by putting it about burning fat off again doing cardio! i agree with the energy in - engery out. but is there any points of not wasting enegry by converting excess carbs to fat, then buring fat as a fuel source rather than just using carbs as and when needed?
is running off carbs more,less or the same efficiency as running on fat???

Are you talking about building muscle or loosing fat?

[Shadowmaker]

Some ppl are very gulable....i thought your sarcasmic response was pretty obvious...maybe we should get into the sales industry.

im sorry, its just that english is only my third language, and my second language is russian(there are no "normal" letters in it) so its hard for me to form my opinion since all languages i know better are so much different, and it also seems that i dont really understand some things like sarcasm as fast as it would be necessary not to end up like we did now - with some sort of misunderstanding.

[Tx89]

ah sh1t GB.

Yet another concept i've been clinging to all these years now goes out the window. I'll continue to eat regularly, as I have been, but no advantage over eating 3 squares a day. here's an interesting article I dug up that suppports GB's position, if any one wants to read it....

http://thebodyevolutionreport.blogsp...y-3-hours.html

One benefit of eating regularly as opposed to 3x a day is that my stomach does not distend as much after eating any given meal if I eat regularly.

One thought regarding glycemic load and insulin spike:
(my theory, not a fact, although it could be?)

when eating 3x a day, you are consuming more carbs quicker, and metabolizing quicker during the initial "after meal" phase. So I'm thinking there would be a larger insulin spike on the 3x a day plan as opposed to eating more regularly? Or does it average out over the course of the day?

Eating more carbs doesnt mean they are metabolized quicker. The more u eat the longer it takes to metabolize them.
The effort for the Body to metabolize 300g in one sitting vs 3x 100g is exactly the same.
So im totally with GB on this one. Meal frequency and nutrient timing sure can be useful tools to adress specific goals like creating a perfect environment for fat mobilisation and oxidation by fasting or supporting pwo anabolism and glycogen replenishment by consuming carbs, but seen in the bigger picture it really is not what matters most! Eating the correct number of cals for ur goal in the right macro ratio for u personally is.

[digsy1983]

Just in general day to day workouts. Just wonder if there's any loss of efficiency with the body running on carbs then switching over to running on its fat reserves? I'm from an engineering back ground so logically I'd say it would be better running on carbs than fat so id try to have a ready supply of carbs to burn when exercising (or at least I will wen I'm done cutting down my own fat reserves). but obviously the body is different from mechanical systems.

[gbrice75]

This is the info I was searching for. Thank you very much for taking the time to break that down.

yw.

ah sh1t GB.

Yet another concept i've been clinging to all these years now goes out the window. I'll continue to eat regularly, as I have been, but no advantage over eating 3 squares a day. here's an interesting article I dug up that suppports GB's position, if any one wants to read it....

Well, I don't want to make a blanket statement - I will say that it's subjective. For instance, i'm a big proponent of IF and I've seen people do extremely well on it, however I seem to respond better to smaller frequent meals.

http://thebodyevolutionreport.blogsp...y-3-hours.html

One benefit of eating regularly as opposed to 3x a day is that my stomach does not distend as much after eating any given meal if I eat regularly.

Definitely. Less volume = less distension.

One thought regarding glycemic load and insulin spike:
(my theory, not a fact, although it could be?)

when eating 3x a day, you are consuming more carbs quicker, and metabolizing quicker during the initial "after meal" phase.

Not really. Larger meals take longer to digest.

So I'm thinking there would be a larger insulin spike on the 3x a day plan as opposed to eating more regularly?

You're right, but I believe for the wrong reasons. With 3 meals/day, you will have longer fasting periods (and therefore supressed insulin release) by default, so insulin spikes as a result of a meal will 'seem' more dramatic, whereas frequent meals will keep insulin more level, but consistently elevated. Note when I say elevated, I don't mean high. I simply mean elevated from base line.

Some ppl are very gulable....i thought your sarcasmic response was pretty obvious...maybe we should get into the sales industry.

didnt help my point by putting it about burning fat off again doing cardio! i agree with the energy in - engery out. but is there any points of not wasting enegry by converting excess carbs to fat, then buring fat as a fuel source rather than just using carbs as and when needed?
is running off carbs more,less or the same efficiency as running on fat???

You bring up an excellent topic for debate, and in fact this is one I brought up at another board i'm on. My question wasn't specifically to do with efficiency of carbs vs. fats, but rather the idea of potentially storing excess carbs as fat, only to be converted to energy when needed later (as may be the case with larger, infrequent meals), versus smaller meals with lower carb content to be used immediately.

I am still undecided myself, but I will say that we did not evolve to use carbs as an immediate fuel source. We evolved as an energy storing species. But does that mean we have to stay that way, or can we simply evolve further to use carbs as an immediate fuel source and store less? Compelling topic.

Eating more carbs doesnt mean they are metabolized quicker. The more u eat the longer it takes to metabolize them.
The effort for the Body to metabolize 300g in one sitting vs 3x 100g is exactly the same.
So im totally with GB on this one. Meal frequency and nutrient timing sure can be useful tools to adress specific goals like creating a perfect environment for fat mobilisation and oxidation by fasting or supporting pwo anabolism and glycogen replenishment by consuming carbs, but seen in the bigger picture it really is not what matters most! Eating the correct number of cals for ur goal in the right macro ratio for u personally is.

Agreed

Just in general day to day workouts. Just wonder if there's any loss of efficiency with the body running on carbs then switching over to running on its fat reserves? I'm from an engineering back ground so logically I'd say it would be better running on carbs than fat so id try to have a ready supply of carbs to burn when exercising (or at least I will wen I'm done cutting down my own fat reserves). but obviously the body is different from mechanical systems.

Depends on the exercise tbh. Weight training and low intensity cardio aren't good 'immediate' carb burners. They're better suited for burning glycogen and fat (both stored). High intensity exercise however will burn up readily available glucose in the bloodstream. So it's less a matter of efficiency IMO, and more about proper utilization. For example, eating 60g of simple carbs and then going for a leisurely workout wouldn't be the smartest decision.

[digsy1983]

Cheers GB! was starting to think if gone off on an idiotic tangent! Makes sense how you break it down.

[gearbox]

ah sh1t GB.

Yet another concept i've been clinging to all these years now goes out the window. I'll continue to eat regularly, as I have been, but no advantage over eating 3 squares a day. here's an interesting article I dug up that suppports GB's position, if any one wants to read it....

http://thebodyevolutionreport.blogsp...y-3-hours.html

One benefit of eating regularly as opposed to 3x a day is that my stomach does not distend as much after eating any given meal if I eat regularly.
One thought regarding glycemic load and insulin spike:
(my theory, not a fact, although it could be?)

when eating 3x a day, you are consuming more carbs quicker, and metabolizing quicker during the initial "after meal" phase. So I'm thinking there would be a larger insulin spike on the 3x a day plan as opposed to eating more regularly? Or does it average out over the course of the day?

Thats why I do more frequent meals throughout the day..

[teenytiny]

i tend to eat when i get hungry.. around the same time every day... i eat pretty much the same thing every day... turns out i eat pretty much every 2-3 hours... i personally hate the horrid feeling i get about myself after eating just three bigger meals a day, i feel more full of energy and better about myself eating smaller and more often

[gbrice75]

i tend to eat when i get hungry.. around the same time every day... i eat pretty much the same thing every day... turns out i eat pretty much every 2-3 hours... i personally hate the horrid feeling i get about myself after eating just three bigger meals a day, i feel more full of energy and better about myself eating smaller and more often

Good deal. No need to consider changing this up unless time management becomes an issue.

[teenytiny]

i always make time to eat even if i dont feel like i am all that hungry i knwo if i skip a meal my body will be screaming for one in a short time, posted in my thread my meal plans so you can see the timing and sizing i use

[TheS1tch]

3 hours is too far in between IMO it amounts to 4 meals a day which is average fat american rate. I eat every hour just grab some salami or a fistful of trail mix.

[teenytiny]

3 hours is too far in between IMO it amounts to 4 meals a day which is average fat american rate. I eat every hour just grab some salami or a fistful of trail mix.

good idea to always have snacks on hand for those just in case spur of the moment hunger pains