Pier 3 Condo

Do you really need to eat 6-8 small meals to keep your metabolism revved up so you burn fat all day and keep a steady stream of nutrients flowing to build 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 Myth!

The advice is based on studies made around the thermic effect of food (TEF). You see, every time you eat, your body uses approximately 10% of those calories (total) to supply strength 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 little 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 due to TEF = 180

So compare that to a normal diet of 3 big meals:

* 3 Large Meals of 600 calories (3-600) = 1800 calories total.

* Each meal you burn 10% of calories = 60 calories burned with each 600 cal meal

* Total cals burned because 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 Often Lead To More Lean Muscle Gain?

The quick answer is not at all. Eating protein continuously in reality triggers your body not to produce it as much. Eating more total calories WILL result in building extra muscle but the meal frequency has not much 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 Less Meals Produce Muscle Loss?

A lot of guys who lift weights consider (and I used to) that not eating 6-8 meals per day will put your body into a catabolic state. Which means because you’re not eating loads of food and keeping the levels of amino acids in your blood elevated your body will utilize your muscle tissue as fat.

This is not true either nonetheless not as far as you’ve heard. Because although you just eat one large meal each day, it can take up to 12 hours to digest” gradually releasing amino acids into your bloodstream the whole time.

When Must You Eat 6-8 Meals

To obtain a LOT of weight ” you need to improve your calorie intake to gain weight and put on muscle, therefore if you’re a huge 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 group of smaller amount of meals.

If you’re making use of loads of energy ” If you’re a top athlete who burns a ton of energy like Michael Phelps who consumes to 12,000 calories each DAY and eats like an elephant. Likewise guys in the military in boot camp frequently eat as much as possible when they get the chance but still turn out losing weight

If you have a thing about it – Several people may feel extra full 6-8 eating reduced meals per day grazing for their food consumption. I’m not one of those people but more power to you if you are.

I believe being aware of this will surely help you feel improved in your search for better fitness, I know I believed this cock-and-bull story for a LONG time because nearly each and every one suggests it.

What Do I Do For My Part?

I do intermittent fasting. And I LOVE it. I vary between a warrior diet style eating schedule (when I’m maintaining my weight) and the lean gains eating style when I’m focusing on putting on muscle mass.