I've read on here and in a number of different books and magazines that it is better for you to eat five small meals throughout the day as compared to three large meals. This makes sense to me. However, my question is what constitutes a small meal? For example, are we talking one peanut butter and jelly sandwich, or just an apple, or both? Does one bowl of oatmeal count as a small meal? Can anyone shed some light (or at least their opinion) on this? Thanks in advance.

My experience with this is that the answer to your question depends on your overall calorie count for the day then divide it by 5, figure out the healthy foods that fit that figure and that would constitute one of your five small "meals." For instance, for me my mid morning "meal" is really what most people would consider a snack. It's only 90 calories. My mid afternoon snack/meal is a fresh salad filled with lots of fresh veggies. It's a HUGE salad, an entire dinner plate or a big pasta bowl size, but it only adds up to 100-200 calories depending on what I put in it. I eat this every day either right before or right after I ride or workout and it holds me perfectly til dinner time. A peanut butter/jelly sandwich would be a perfect small "meal" if its within your calorie range. I do that sometimes too with sugar free jelly and low calorie whole wheat bread. So that's my 2 cents worth on the subject. I would love to hear others great small meal ideas. The more the better! We need more variety!
Allie

a side note. For everyone who loves peanut butter but doesn't love the fat and calories in it, go to your nearest Trader Joes, Whole Foods, (or those type places) and there is a product out there that is fantastic. It's called Better'n Peanut Butter. The servings go as follows.


2 tbsp - 100 calories, 2.5 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat.

And it tastes really good. It's on the sweet side but still tastes like regular peanut butter.

depends on the size of the bowl

WOW - that's a huge calorie savings. Wonder what all else is in it? Sounds like a good thing to try! Thanks for sharing!
Allie - peanut butter junkie

yea that is huge

the jars I have look different but here is the product.

https://www.peanutwonder.com/product.htm

I've eaten 5 to 6 times a day for at least three decades now. The amount varies but I'd say my mid-morning snack can be as high as 300 or even 500 calories, the mid-afternoon about the same. I try to keep my evening meal light to sleep better unless I've done a long ride and need the food.

I personally would not go with low-fat peanut butter. You need at least 30% of your calories from fat. Peanut butter is an excellent source of non-animal fat. It often constitutes my mid-morning snack if I'm not doing anything physically demanding; then I prefer carbs.

I prefer the natural P-butter sans partially hydrogenated oil and with no Corn Syrup.

The advantage of multiple meals for me is that I never feel sluggish/stuffed after a meal and I'm much more energetic throughout the whole awake-period.

How much I eat at a particular meal depends a lot on what I did the day before. I don't worry too much about amount, I just try not to feel full anytime. Sometimes my wife and I are so hungry for an afternoon snack, we just have a small salad and popcorn for dinner.

Al

well if they want a lower calorie peanut butter with less total fat, then the peanut butter I'm talking about is a good idea. we aren't just talking about fat here as a lot of us are on calorie specific diets, i.e. 1800 calories a day.

!800 calories a day! My sympathies. Why so low?

Al

1800 is my limit too including regular rides and working out with weights, treadmill, pilates and aerobics. It SUCKS! But I still have pounds to go and have lost 60 pounds so far! So 1800 it is. I'm going to give these alternative peanut butters a try. Worth a shot considering how much I LUVVVVV peanut butter.
Allie

Cool . . . I had pretty much gone off peanut butter because of the fat content, even though I loved it . . good to know I can go back to it. And yeah, the five small meals idea works really well . . it's never a good idea to stuff yourself to bursting . . that never feels good, especially before a ride

just divide the food you already eat into halves. for example, if you eat a specific amount for lunch just eat half early in the day and half later. if you do the same thing with either breakfast or dinner than you'll have 5 meals spread more evenly thoughout the day.

well I'm sorta setting that intake for myself. I have an appointment to see a nutritionist on thursday and we'll see what she thinks is the best number for me to be at.

Five smaller meals would, in theory, be better than 2 or 3 larger meals that equate to the same caloric intake. However, you must make your training/nutrition plan pragmatic. Therefore, if you aren't willing to do the 5 meals on a consistent basis, your plan will not work regardless of the nutritional validity.

Three meals a day works better for me on a social basis. Therefore, it's a good plan for me. If 5 meals work for you socially, and you can apply this on a consistent basis, you're good to go!

Actually, it helps me with the social problem. At social events, the food is often not all that healthy. I tend to have a bigger snack the afternoon of a social event so I'm less hungry and much less prone to indulge. It also helps me stay away from recreational eating which is very easy to do in a social setting and was a major problem when I was overweight.

I sometimes eat in the afternoon to "ruin my dinner"; contrary to what my mother used to tell me to do.

Al

i'm amazed at how little some people eat. i have no idea how many calories i eat a day, but it's much larger than 1800. i tend to eat a bunch of meals: breakfast, fruit as a snack, 2 lunches, dinner, and then a bunch of fruit as desert later. throughout the day i eat fruits and breads often. it feels like i'm eating about half of my waking life. i just don't know how anyone can live and exercise at 1800 calories. but hey that's me.

well it's not as hard as I used to have it. A month ago I was taking in about 1100 calories a day foolishlythinking it would help me lose more weight. Instead my body reacted by going into to starvation mode and it stored more fat. Hence I was actually doing the opposite of what I wanted.

Here's an interesting question . . how does the Atkins plan work in relation to cycling, or is that actually a very stupid question? (I am sick of seeing "No-Carbs" or "Low-Carbs" on everything, and I'd like to get some valid reasons not to get sucked into that particular abyss!)