How Many Meals Should I Eat A Day To Lose Weight?

No matter how many meals you eat each day, until you eat the right amount of calories to lose weight and having proper dieting plan (inclusive of exercise of course!), nothing may change. But you should seriously consider eating four to six meals daily as you cannot control your hunger or cravings. Eating smaller meals throughout the day keeps blood sugar stable to avoid becoming too hungry and as you already know, if you do you tend to overeat and gain weight and appetite too.

If you have diabetes, your doctor may recommend eating four-to-six small meals a day but on the other hand eating four-to-six small meals per day may not be realistic for you if you have a job, children, school, or what your current situation is therefore in this case 3 larger or maybe even two larger meals will be best for you, but only if you don’t wait to be hungry first before eating and also if you are asked to eat less than 1500 calories per day to lose weight.


No matter how much weight you want to lose, whether you try to lose 5 kg or 50 kg, the road is exactly the same.


Remember the simple weight loss mantra: “Calories in less than Calories out.”

In other words, the number of calories you eat should be less than calories burned in order for you to lose weight.

How many "calories" do you need to lose weight?

One of the first questions that people are starting to ask at weight loss journey is what exactly should I eat a day to lose weight?

Health Experts recommend that women eat 1200 calories per day and men eat 1800 a day when you're trying to lose weight.

For women, this means three meals with a total of 300 calories and 300 calories of snacks during the day, while the men's meals can be 450 calories each, with snacks that adds up to 450 in total.


Eating 3+ meals a day with less than 300 calories cannot be enough, so two-to-four larger meals might be best for you.


Even if you feel more motivated and want to accelerate weight loss, do not be tempted to eat less than the recommended amount of calories per day.

If you go too low, your body might think you are trying to starve and that could keep fat stored as energy, which actually slow your weight loss efforts.

Even if you have some healthy eating habits developed and healthy cooking recipes, make sure you do not over-eat.


All those extra calories can make a big difference when you're trying to lose weight.

Keep in mind that if you are trying to lose weight, your calories need decrease.


Think of your body as a truck: the heavier the load, the more fuel it needs - but how do their deliveries and the load decreases, the amount of fuel needed.

This means that when you get lighter, you feel more satisfied with less food and fewer calories.


There is no perfect universally accepted number of meals you need to eat each day to lose weight. So in practice eat several meals a day that works best for you.


You can even take a couple of days where you only eat two-to-three meals (such as weekdays) and other days you eat more than three meals (such as on your days off or weekends), but the main point is for you to eat the right amount of calories per day to lose weight - No matter how many meals you eat every day.

You can count your calories with a calorie calculator. If you choose to count calories on your own, keeping a food diary is a must.

How Many "Calories Out" do You Need to Lose Weight?

Now for the second part of the equation: which are calories out.


In other words, for this to happen, you need to burn calories through exercise. Aim for four or five times a week exercise where you burn 400-800 calories (or 600-1000 calories if you weigh more than 100 kg) and a Saturday workout to burn 1000 calories (or more if you weigh more than 100 kg). Do not be afraid of burning even more.


The most important for both men and women is to make every workout you give 100 percent best effort and walk away when you feel you have emptied the tank.


The harder you work, the more calories you burn and the faster it will melt away fat. So forget all those excuses and push your calorie burning to the extreme!



How Long do You Have to Lose Weight?

The rate at which you lose weight will depend on a number of factors, including age, gender, height, current weight, percentage of muscle mass, the current level of fitness, the amount and type of exercise you do, the intensity at which you exercise and much more.


But, as a general rule, you can expect to lose 0.5 kg to 1.5 kg per week, if you weigh less than 100 kg; 1.5 kg to 3 kg per week if you weigh between 100kg and 129kg; and 1.5 kg to 5 kg per week if you weigh more than 130 kg.

It is noteworthy that weight loss at moderate pace means you're more likely to stay off than when you're trying to lose quickly on a very low calorie diet that drastically reduces your calorie intake at a drastically low level.


Here are three scientific studies that support this...

1. In an Australian study - 179 men and overweight women ate the same amount of calories per day, but some of them ate three meals a day, while others ate more than three times a day, and accordingly there was no difference in the amount of weight lost between those who ate only three times a day and those who ate more than three times a day, according to the researcher Michelle Palmer, a dietician at the University of Newcastle ... "There seems to be little benefit to the frequency or regularity you eat when you are trying to lose weight, we found that it's not when you eat that matters, but what and how much you eat."

2. In another study, they examined the difference between the metabolism in people with one or five meals a day (who ate the same amount of calories) and found no differences.

Looking at the study meal frequency and energy, it shows that no matter how many meals you eat each day, as long as you eat the right amount of calories you’ll lose weight.


Calories and Weight Loss Plateau

You might find that you have hit a plateau in weight loss, but do not let that put you off.
It's just because you are burning calories through exercise, now try to balance the calories you consume.

In this case, you do exercise mix, increasing the intensity of your cardio or increasing the weight or the number of repetitions in each exercise you do.

You will find that your calorie consumption is increasing, but whatever you do, stick to your 1200-calorie per day eating plan (or 1800 calories for men) while you wait to start losing weight again.

In the end, your commitment and perseverance will pay off when you reach your target weight and you can finally look in the mirror and be proud of the person who is looking back at you.


Do not give up!


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