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Just 3 Meals A Day
What to do: For the next 14 days, do not eat any snacks at all, just 3 meals a day.
You often hear the advice that if you want to succeed on your fat loss diet, you should be eating multiple meals a day. You've likely heard that doing so is going to help to boost your metabolic rate, helping you burn more calories all day long.
But is this really the case? Or could eating those three meals a day actually be detrimental to your overall progress?
Let's take a closer look at this issue so that you can get the facts straight about why three meals a day may actually be a very good thing.
Insulin Control
The very first reason why having three meals a day tends to be ideal is because it's going to give you superior insulin control. Each time that you put carbs into your body, your body is going to release insulin because of this.
The insulin release is required to help manage those carbs, either moving them into fat storage or transferring them into the muscle cells where they will be used for stored muscle glycogen.
The less often you're putting carbs into your body, the less often you'll be experiencing this insulin release, meaning it will be more possible to control your hunger and food intake.
Calorie Control
In addition to controlling your insulin level, the second reason why fewer meals may be superior is because it will also help you control your calories better as well.
If you're eating many times per day, you'll have a risk of overconsuming calories multiple times per day, potentially putting you over your target calorie limit.
If you eat just three times per day, on the other hand, not only will it be easier to manage your calorie intake better due to the fact that you are going to be eating larger meals in themselves, but also because you won't have the opportunity to overeat as frequently either.
Less Obsessiveness
Finally, the last benefit to eating just three times per day is that it'll make you less obsessive. If you're someone who is constantly thinking about food while dieting, this in itself can make you feel hungrier and make you more likely to cheat on your plan.
If you are watching the clock throughout the day, always waiting until your next meal, you'll grow to be quite obsessive and sticking with your plan may feel like mission impossible.
So don't be too quick to jump on the 6-meals-a-day bandwagon. You really don't need to eat this frequently if you don't want to. Eating less often could in fact be better.
Daily Check-In
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MusicMutt 1990 days agoNo snacks for the past two days
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JessicaM. 2025 days agoDoing better with this
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Misti_Lee_A 2032 days agoDoing ok not terrible! :)
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Misti_Lee_A 2033 days agoWell I ate breakfast and a late lunch I only like 3 pretzel sticks for a minuscule snack lol I'm not sure about dinner yet probably just a small piece of fruit
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Misti_Lee_A 2034 days agoBreakfast and lunch now just dinner to go nooo snacks!
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01kimbo 2140 days agoYes I did it but either I have more than a bowl of cereal for lunch or an earlier dinner. I ate too much at dinner !
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01kimbo 2147 days agoToday I had my 3 meals no snacking!
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J1clover 2196 days agoA late night snack was very tempting~ but I persevered :)
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AnnaCoco 2333 days agoNot sure if it's working or not
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AnnaCoco 2334 days agoNot sure if this is making me lose weight or not. I need to go to the gym and get on the scale
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AnnaCoco 2335 days agoHad to wait a long time again for dinner but my lunch held me
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AnnaCoco 2338 days agoWent to a wedding so I just waited to eat lunch till I was hungry instead of grazing all day!
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Jolie14 2359 days agoI only eat 3 times. So I can do this lol lol
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Jolie14 2360 days agoI only eat 3 times a day. ❤
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rndhth 2405 days agoDone with no problem.
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rndhth 2416 days agoFirst day completed.
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rndhth 2417 days agoJust starting. I can do this.
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Jacob Lion 2461 days agoLgfgffbmbogfrjvcvgddcgcfthhddthgyyyyyyyyyttttytyyytttttttttttggvcvvgvvyugfffdxcvfcchgcchf vbgccbbhgc
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TTfF 2577 days agoToo many calories due to an IHOP trip and Thanksgiving leftovers, but think it would have been a lot worse if I allowed myself snacks.
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TTfF 2601 days agoWow. I can't believe how hungry I am right now... Wonder if it means I should try to push back my lunch, only that means not eating with the kids...