Meal frequency

Many of you out there probably know to the millisecond when you're due for your next meal without even looking at the clock.  You've had many years of planning your training, meals and snacks to maximise the amount of effort you put in the gym with good nutrition so you already know the benefits of eating frequently.    

	But there still some of you need to be convinced that eating more than 3 meals a day will do wonders to your waistline.  And this is what this update is about, I still get the popular question "Why am I supposed to eat 5, 6 or 7 meals a day?" when I've designed an eating plan for a newbie.
For the 'normal' population eating breakfast, lunch and dinner is seen as a healthy regime, but in the fitness population that is 'us' we need more than 3 meals to get our brain and muscles in good shape. But admittedly eating 5 to 7 times per day requires a greater level of planning and effort, causing many to stick to old, less effective habits simply because it's easier.

But looking and good isn't about doing what's easiest. It's about doing what's best. Let's use an analogy. Think of you body as a car that needs fuel. Would you wait until you ran out of petrol to refuel? Let's hope not. But, when you consider that most people will have breakfast between 6 and 8 AM, lunch somewhere between Noon and 1:30 PM and dinner between 6 and 8 PM, you can see that there are gaps between meals potentially as large as 8 hours.

These gaps create multiple problems including suppression of metabolism, denying the body of maintaining a positive nitrogen balance, low energy and fatigue, and, of course, extreme hunger coupled with a greater likelihood of making poor nutritional choices between and at meals. 

This will often lead to either eating the wrong types of foods or too much of the good food you're supposed to eat. Either way, too many calories are consumed, those excess calories have to go somewhere as well--namely your abs, glutes and hips.

So let's look at how adjusting your meal frequency can solve these common pitfalls.

The benefits of eating frequently 

Elevated Metabolism Every time that you consume food your metabolism activates to process and metabolize what you've just eaten. We've all heard about the classic "slow metabolism". Well, the quickest way to speed up your metabolism is to eat more frequently. The more you can hype your metabolism, the more food you can consume and still get lean or add quality muscle mass without bodyfat.

Improved Digestion
By consuming smaller meals throughout the day, you give your body the best chance of fully digesting what you've consumed. For example if you're consuming 3000 calories per day with a total protein intake of 250 grams per day. If you are eating 3 meals per day, this would amount to 1000 calories and 83 grams of protein per meal. The problem is that most people agree that it is very difficult to digest more than 40-50 grams of protein in one sitting. By splitting that same caloric and protein intake into 6 meals, each meal becomes an easily digestible 500 calories and 42 grams of protein.

Positive Nitrogen Balance
By making sure that the body is supplied with quality protein every 3 hours or so, positive nitrogen balance is achieved and maintained. It's really very simple--if you're eating protein three times per day, you aren't anywhere near positive nitrogen balance. Five to seven times per day, and you are.

Additionally, in the case of carbs, if you take in too many high glycemic carbs, this will create a dramatic release of insulin into your bloodstream. And in the presence of elevated insulin levels, it is IMPOSSIBLE for your body to metabolise and burn fat.

Energy The two macronutrient food groups that act as fuel for the body are carbohydrates and fats. Certain types of carbs will only provide energy for an hour or so, while others will give you a more sustained boost. Either way, intense weight training and/or cardiovascular work will deplete your energy stores. Rather than overload your body with carbs and/or fat every 5 or 6 hours, wouldn't it make a lot more sense to have moderate amounts of these fuel sources entering your system at shorter intervals throughout the day.

Hunger
By eating frequently, you will not suffer the hunger pangs that you would by taking in exactly the same amount of food condensed into less meals. As you won't be walking around starving, you will be much less likely to eat foods that will be counterproductive to your particular goals. Also, since it won't be five or six hours since your last meal when you get to the lunch or dinner table, you won't be gorging yourself with too much food and keeping yourself within your calorie intake.

So there you go, convinced that eating more than 3 meals is good for you? be organised and your waistline will look good for it!.

Bon Appetite!

Lisa