{"id":148,"date":"2008-07-18T04:03:39","date_gmt":"2008-07-18T04:03:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/ourladyofweightloss\/2008\/07\/eat-six-square-meals-a-day.html"},"modified":"2008-07-18T04:03:39","modified_gmt":"2008-07-18T04:03:39","slug":"eat-six-square-meals-a-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ourladyofweightloss\/2008\/07\/eat-six-square-meals-a-day.html","title":{"rendered":"Eat All Day : Lose Weight"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Meal: Whose idea was it anyway<\/big>?<\/strong><\/big> by Janice Taylor, Beliefnet Blogger and 50 pound big-time-loser.<\/a>
\nDid cavemen eat three squares?<\/strong><\/em> Whatever its origin, three meals a day – for me – is a thing of the past. I instinctively tossed major meals out the window at the very start of my weight loss journey. Since I’ve been grazing all day, every day, I’ve stumbled across one article after another touting the incredible benefits of eating six mini-meals vs. three major meals.
\nHere is what the experts say about eating less but more often:
\n* Lessens the chance of a ravenous hunger setting in and taking over (causing you to act in a reprehensible hoggish manner).<\/em>
\n* A British study with the Mayo Clinic found that people who ate five or six times a day had 5 percent lower total cholesterol and low-density lipo-protein (bad cholesterol)<\/em> than people who ate once or twice a day.
\n* Better control of cholesterol and blood sugar levels, thereby helping to prevent heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
\n* Raises the body’s thermic effect, resulting in approximately 10% more calories being burned, as it takes calories to burn calories.
\n* Nutrients are better absorbed, as some experts feel that the body can only store so many at one time.
\n* Body fat typically doubles between the ages of 20 and 60. Research shows that older women who eat less but more often burn fat equally as well as younger women who eat three larger meals per day.
\n* Many studies have concluded that people who eat four to six smaller meals per day have less body fat than those eating two or three meals a day, despite the fact that they are eating the same amount of calories.
\n* Eating frequently increases the metabolism and helps you to feeling energized.
\n* Eating two to three meals a day, with long stretches between the meals, can potentially trick the body into thinking it is in starvation mode, and actually slow your body down to its ‘resting’ metabolic rate. So no bragging, “I barely ate today.”
\nTasty Tidbit<\/strong><\/em>: Mini-meal suggestions for those on the run.<\/em><\/p>\n