If you read my free Get Lean Guide, you know at BuiltLean, we recommend eating 3 meals to help you lose fat. While there is no metabolic advantage to eating more frequently, there are some common sense reasons why eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner to help you successfully lose fat.
But before mentioning some of these benefits, let’s consider how Sumo wrestlers eat to pack on so much weight. The average Japanese man is only around 145 pounds, yet amazingly, sumo wrestlers can reach 500+ pounds! So how do they eat to get so huge? Is it possible that you have similar eating habits as a sumo wrestler?
It turns out sumo wrestlers skip breakfast, then eat 1, or 2 enormous meals at 11am, then 6pm. If they eat two meals, they usually take a 4 hour nap right after the 11am meal. I’m taking a wild guess that you probably don’t want to look like a sumo wrestler (even though sumo wrestlers are venerated for their impressive stature in Japan).
What’s important about this example is in the behavior of these overweight men. There are many epidemiological studies that show people who skip breakfast have a higher probability of being overweight, but there is no causal evidence that skipping breakfast causes weight gain.1 2
Now let’s think about this for a second. Why do so many studies show correlation, but not causation regarding eating 3 meals per day? A common sense explanation is that not skipping breakfast creates more structure in your day. Consistent eating times are associated with improved ability to control hunger (See: How to Control Hunger: 7 Tips). I’ve had several clients who were experiencing weight loss plateaus who were constantly skipping breakfast. When they started eating breakfast, their weight loss plateau suddenly ended.
There are some other important benefits to eating more frequently, which may include (1) better utilization of nutrients and (2) improved energy levels because blood sugar levels are more stable. If you eat a massive lunch, you know exactly how you feel afterwards; very sluggish.
If you are one of those people who hates breakfast, or doesn’t have consistent eating times, after you reach your ideal weight, you can consider intermittent fasting.
One more point to mention is to consider eating only when you are hungry, which for me happens to be every 4-5 hours. It took a week or two for my body to acclimate to not having snacks, but it’s been hugely helpful for me to cut down processed foods.
At the end of the day, mind over matter. The number of meals is much less important than what you eat consistently. If you are focused on losing body fat, then it’s simply calories in and out. Eating unprocessed food will help immensely.
Oh dear god, that is an awful picture! Of course this comes in today… just after I finished a HUGE lunch…but only beacuse I got stuck in a meeting that lasted ALL morning so I couldn’t fit in my mid-am snack, plus my breakfast was really small. Ugh. I’m hoping that the fact it was salad, although massive, will keep me from looking like that!
On days that I am not eating properly and skip a meal or two, I have noticed that I am very tired and have difficulty keeping weight off. Now I know why!
interesting, I find that eating smaller meals also boosts my mental focus and work productivity
I eat every 4 hours. It help immensely with keeping off bad food temptations and snacks. The 4 hour body book completely changed my life.
interesting, what about night shift workers? You recomend to eat every 3 hours through the night as well?
Thank you very much for sharing all this information
@Santi – I need to update this article because there are a lot of people who do not eat every few hours and get great results, but I still do stand by the idea of 3 meals per day. In terms of eating during the night, that’s a great question and frankly I’m not sure the answer off the top of my head. I would reason the same laws would apply to a night shift worker, but the totally number of calories to eat may be less because metabolism may be slightly lower during night hours.
Thanks Marc, i will test that, till now i was avoidind to eat at night, with very bad results..
I have to disagree with one of your conclusions: Sumo wrestlers eat very little fat and a lot of rice. That’s why they’re so fat. Overeating high glycemic carbohydrates is easy but overeating fat is a lot harder. They just wouldn’t be able to eat 5,6,7K calories per day on a low-carb diet. I’ve tried overeating fat one day (by gulping coconut milk cans) and my satiety was so high that I didn’t feel any hunger for the next 36-40 hours.
And when I eat a lot of rice I need to take a nap, it’s not my decision I just get sleepy all of a sudden. Sumo wrestlers too probably don’t need to force themselves into a nap after eating a lot of rice.
I don’t have a strong opinion on eating frequency, which frequency is optimal I don’t know, but it’s the low-fat high-carb high-calorie diet that makes the Sumo fat, not eating one big meal per day.
@Michael – I need to update this article as I wrote it when I first started the website. The Sumo wrestlers get fat because they are eating more calories than they burn. Simple as that. I actually find higher fat foods do not satisfy my hunger at all. For example, I can eat a high fat burger that’s 1000 calories and be starving within 2 hours, or I could eat 8 ounces of chicken, 1/2 cup of steamed rice, and a cup of veggies, for around 500 calories and be full for 4-5 hours. It’s interesting how so many people say fat creates a high level of satiety because it generally takes 6-8 hours to digest, but I find the lean meat + starchy + fibrous carb to be far more satisfying for my hunger. Hunger is a complicated subject that varies from person to person, but that’s my take.
I’ve just recently come off a high protien, low carb diet after one month due to insomnia.
One week after going back to my old habits I was sleeping like a baby again. I did loose 10 pounds fast, but the lack of sleep killed my workouts, and mental state! I’m now eating a healthy balance, without the high glycemic carbs like white bread, rice and pasta. With regular oat meal, whole wheat sandwiches and 50-70g or protien a day. The weight is still coming off, but at a lower rate. But I feel much healthier.
I’ve had friends do very well over long periods of time without sleep distuption on a high fat-high protien diet. These same friends also say they feel much better without gluten in thier diets.
I have a theory that ectomorphs- naturally thin people, do much better with a high carb moderate protien diet. And that people with lots of fat AND muscle(endomorphs)- like my firends- Do better on a higher fat high protien diet.
May explain why powerlifters preach high protien so much, cause its worked for them.
And distance runners swear by high carbs, saying they couldn’t do it any other way.
@Sanford – I think you are absolutely right. Some people handle carbs much better than others. If I have less than 100 grams of carbs, I feel terrible. My sweet spot is around 150-200 grams.
Eating more frequently throughout the day isn’t going to lead to a ‘smaller insulin response.’ Every time we eat food, any food, our insulin levels elevate, so the less often we eat the less this happens. Obviously food types are very important here also, as sugar is the worst substance to consume when it comes to fluctuating blood glucose, so the less carbohydrates the better. The Intermittent Fasting crowd get some great results and this is a factor in why. Fasting also seems to have lots of benefits with regards fat loss due to favorable hormonal responses in the body. The reply about feeling tired after a high carb meal is spot on, and again this is due to your blood glucose levels spiking and then crashing and the hormonal responses associated with it. Keep insulin levels stable and train the way Marc advocates and you’re good to go!
Hi Mark. I found this article very useful, yet, I haven’t found an article of yours where you talk about the balance of macronutrients. I mean, which’s the optimal proportion between carbs, proteins and fats within your total calorie consumption?
@George – I think the short answer is there is no optimal level of macronutrients for everyone and it depends on your specific goals. But from a fat loss perspective, there are what are called low fat and high fat phenotypes. I have an article planned which will go into this concept in more detail.
What that means is that some people will lose relatively more fat on higher vs. lower fat diets, and vice versa. How do you know which one you are? Try both and see what is more satisfying for you. Personally, the sweet spot for me is around 40% carbs, 30% protein, and 25-30% fat as a range, which is considered low/moderate fat. I’ve also found this to work for many other people. From my perspective, it’s easier to control calories with a low/moderate fat intake if you are actively looking to lose fat. If you are already lean, you can increase the fat calories to 40% or more, which is similar to the heart healthy Mediterranean diet. The challenge I find with higher fat diets in the 50-60% range like some variations of the paleo diet is I starving all the time. Again, it’s not an exact science, so you need to see what works for you.
Thank’s Mark, as always you have solved my doubts. I’ll see what’s best for me. Have a nice day!
I’d like to see more details on what to actually eat 6 times a day. I guess we’re not talking a tin of beans for each meal. I’m putting everything into losing a lot of weight, and I’ve heard of ‘grazing’ before – it became functionally difficult for me I think. I wasn’t sure what to have when.
@Scott – eating frequenly isn’t for everyone and some people actually do better with intermittent fasting. With that said, I do think something simply like 3 meals and 1-2 snacks is very easy to keep up as long as you have your snacks predetermined/bought and you have a sense of meals you want. If you (1) don’t know what meals you want to eat and (2) don’t have snacks on hand, then eating more frequently can be very challenging. Here’s a post that you may want to check out – Top 10 Fat Loss Foods
Hi Mark,
Quick question! Would a fruit or two be sufficient for a snackmeal in the 6-meal-a-day plan?
@Benedicte – I don’t see why not! That’s pretty close to what I do.
this article is non sense and has no scientific basis or legitimacy. look up intermittent fasting, which will give you amazing results and is a heck of a lot healthier and easier. i ate the frequent small meals that the fitness community preaches for years until i realized that that way may work it is not the most efficient or best way to go about things. if interested go to a site called leangains. mind. shattered.
@dan – I’m very familiar with LeanGains and intermittent fasting and have experimented with both. IF is not all roses though. I think you bring up a great point that this article (as I’ve previously stated in other comments) needs to be updated and will be updated. 95% of nutritionists recommend eating 3-5 meals/snacks per day and I don’t think they are all stupid. They work every day with clients to see what works best and for MOST people (not everyone) 3-5 meals/snacks works well in my opinion. Again, will add a lot more info to the article.
@dan – and also added an “Update” at the bottom of the article.
You could certainly see your skills within the work you write. The sector hopes for even more passionate writers like you who are not afraid to say how they believe. All the time go after your heart.