The first thing we need to get out the way is the myth thrown around the fitness industry that eating more frequently will speed up your metabolism, it won't. This myth is perpetuated by people who don't understand the Thermic Effect of Food (TEF) correctly. The TEF is the amount of energy (calories) it takes for your body to process what you eat and when macronutrients are matched, there is no difference in the TEF whether you're eating 'x' amount of calories in three, six or eight meals.
Now that's out of the way....
There are a few factors that will help determine how many meals per day is optimal for you as an individual. Deciding on the number of times you eat per day depends primarily on two things:
The first being your schedule, you need to be able to you fit your meals within the constraints of your lifestyle and day to day activities. Not everyone can (or wants to) take a break every three hours to open up a Tupperware box and it generally doesn't go down very well in the middle of a meeting.
It's important to look realistically at what times of the day you are able to consume meals. In an ideal world we'd have meals and protein distributed evenly throughout the entire day. However, if you have 2 hours between two meals and 4 hours until the next one your metabolism isn't going to suddenly crash and go into 'survival mode' and store your next meal as pure fat.
The second factor and perhaps the more important factor is your ability to digest and empty your stomach between meals. You could potentially fit all your calories into 1 or 2 meals a day, but unless you're in a severe calorie deficit that is unlikely to work due to the fact that your stomach and digestive system has a maximum rate at which it can break down, absorb and utilise nutrients from the food you consume.
If you're eating at a frequency that exceeds the speed at which your digestive system is able to operate you’re not going to be able to fully digest the previous meal, you’ll then spend most of the day with undigested food sitting in your stomach. Each meal you consume after that will further slow down the digestion of the existing food in your stomach, food that is not broken down and absorbed will either ferment in your gut or pass through your system without delivering the available nutrients, this is why it is important to space your meals out appropriately based on the size and digestibility of those meals.
You will need to learn to assess how 'full' you are feeling from meal to meal. This will vary from person to person based on a number of factors including gut health, ability to produce stomach acid, and even how well you chew your food.
You do not want your stomach and digestive system constantly working at maximum capacity 24/7. It’s a good idea to have a 10-12 hour period each day during where you aren’t consuming food for your body to digest, most people will do this naturally by eating 1-2 hours before bed, sleeping for 8 hours and then eating within an hour of waking up.
Contrary to popular belief eating before bed won't lead to fat gain in isolation, but it will hinder your recovery as the energy used to digest food while you sleep will not be used as effectively to assist the recovery processes necessary to help you detox, repair muscle, improve insulin sensitivity, and refresh your nervous system, which means eating too close to your bedtime may indirectly lead to fat gain.
In the end, it comes down to what is best for your body and lifestyle that will help you achieve your fastest progress.
The perfect plan means nothing if it’s not practical and you can’t execute it.
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