The Myth of 6 Meals A Day
Do you certainly have to eat 6-8 small meals to keep your metabolic rate rise so you melt fat all day and keep a constant stream of nutrients flowing to sculpt lean muscle?
If you’ve been around the fitness scene for any amount of time, or have read a few diet books or articles, you would think the key to this one is a plain why not? ” but the fact is
The 6-8 meals a day Advice Is A False Report!
The advice is based on studies done around the thermic effect of food (TEF). You see, whenever you eat, your body uses about 10% of those calories (total) to provide energy just to digest the food
When this was found out, people misinterpreted the research by saying the more you eat (frequency) the more calories you’ll burn all day but this was a mistake because the math doesn’t work out.
* Six small meals of 300 calories (6-300) = 1800 calories total.
* Every meal you burn 10% of calories = 30 calories burned with each 300 cal meal
* Total cals burned because of TEF = 180
Therefore weigh that to a normal diet of 3 heavy meals:
* 3 Large Meals of 600 calories (3-600) = 1800 calories total.
* Every meal you burn 10% of calories = 60 calories burned with each 600 cal meal
* Total cals burned as a result of TEF = 180
So you see, if the calories are the same, it doesn’t matter how you break them up ” you’re still burning the same amount of calories and affecting your metabolism the exact same way no matter how often you eat.
Will Eating More Frequently Bring About More Lean Muscle Gain?
The brief answer is certainly not. Eating protein continually in point of fact initiates your body not to make it as much. Eating more total calories WILL bring about building additional muscle but the meal frequency has barely to do with it.
More critical for lean muscle gain is the timing of your meals, specially the post workout meal needs to be first-rate to let people know that you’re getting high-quality nutrients into your body when it needs them the most.
Will Eating Fewer Meals Lead To Muscle Loss?
Several guys who lift weights accept as true (and I used to) that not eating 6-8 meals each day will put your body into a catabolic state. Which means since you’re not eating lots of food and keeping the levels of amino acids in your blood above average your body will make use of your muscle tissue as fat.
This is not true either nevertheless not to the degree that you’ve heard. Because even though you just eat one heavy meal per day, it can take up to 12 hours to digest” increasingly releasing amino acids into your bloodstream the whole time.
When Should You Eat 6-8 Meals
In order to gain a LOT of weight ” you need to increase your calorie consumption to gain weight and put on muscle, so if you’re a big guy and you have to eat 5,000 calories a day to put on mass it might be easier on your stomach and digestive system to consume 5,000 calories broken up into a bunch of smaller meals.
If you’re using a ton of energy ” If you’re a high level athlete who burns a ton of energy like Michael Phelps who eats up to 12,000 calories per DAY and eats like an elephant. Also guys in the military in boot camp often eat as much as possible when they get the chance but still end up losing weight
If you love it - A number of people may possibly feel more satisfied 6-8 eating lesser meals each day grazing for their food intake. I’m not one of those people but more power to you if you are.
I guess being knowledgeable about this will definitely help you feel enriched in your chase for better fitness, I know I believed this false report for a LONG time because practically the whole world put in a good word for it.
What Do I Do Personally?
I put into practice occasional fasting. And I HAVE A THING ABOUT it. I vary between a warrior diet style eating schedule (when I’m sustaining my weight) and the lean gains eating style when I’m focusing on increasing muscle mass.
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