Research has not shown that eating frequent small meals increases weight loss success, though it may have other health advantages.
Some dieticians recommend eating every 2 hours (that's 6 to 8 meals in a day) for boosted metabolism. At the same time, others insist that you should eat 2 meals a day – without any snacks in between – to attain and maintain a healthy weight.
It's not really the number of times you eat every day that contributes to weight gain, but rather the amount of calories you eat.
"Eating more often keeps your metabolism working, and prevents it from slowing down," Russo says. "Eating four meals a day can also improve your energy levels. [And it] may also prevent excessive hunger, which may make it difficult to concentrate, or make you tired and irritable."
The Bottom Line. Can eating 5 times a day help you lose weight? Yes, it can, but only if you eat the right things and in the right way. The timing of your meals is of less significance than your choice of quality, portion sizes, and overall calorie intake.
“You have to eat more if you want to lose more,” he writes, “[And] there's science to support the fact that more meals work.” He then describes two specific studies to prove that eating more frequently will help you burn more fat.
What is the Three Meals a Day Diet? The three meals a day diet is exactly what it sounds like to be. Eating breakfast, lunch, dinner, and eliminating snacks. I propose, that rather than grazing all day, having a clear 'stop and start' to each meal can help you lose weight without much effort.
Rather than going for three to four high-calorie meals in a day, one should eat every four hours to shape your belly.
Eating later in the day may influence weight gain by increasing hunger and slowing metabolism. A small new study found people were hungrier and burned fewer calories if they ate later in the day. More research is needed to see how meal timing may influence how the body burns and stores fat.
In general, scheduling what and when you eat will help you maintain a balanced diet and create a more stable energy source, as your metabolism will be engaged at optimal levels all day long. The goal is to eat every 3 to 4 hours in order to keep your blood sugar consistent and for your stomach to optimally digest.
While there isn't one magic food that will melt away belly fat, studies have reported certain foods have special belly-fat-burning benefits, such as avocado, artichokes, whole grains, kefir, green tea, eggs, peanuts and chickpeas.
In order to lose 5kg in a week, you would need to create a calorie deficit of approximately 35,000 calories. This would require burning an additional 5,000 calories per day or cutting 5,000 calories from your diet each day.
You will lose up to 10 pounds (4.5 kgs) if you consume 800 calories and exercise regularly. Make sure your doctor or nutritionist is aware of your diet pattern.
If your snacking habit currently takes you over your calorie goal, and you simply stop eating snacks, you will lose weight. However if you avoid snacking, but replace the calories by increasing the calories in your main meals, you will not lose weight.
There's no set time you should stop eating to lose belly fat, but, as a guideline, you should avoid eating two to three hours before bed to stop it from disrupting your sleep and body clocks, which can cause belly fat gain. Studies show early dinners can help people lose weight.
Get active, stay active. While you can lose weight without exercise, regular physical activity plus calorie restriction can help give you the weight-loss edge. Exercise can help burn off the excess calories you can't cut through diet alone.
Hunger indicates that you are running low on nutrients and energy, not that your body is starting to burn fat storage. Furthermore, long-lasting hunger induced by the drastic calorie restriction is an indicator of starvation, which will only slow down your metabolism and weight loss.
So as you lose weight, your metabolism declines, causing you to burn fewer calories than you did at your heavier weight. Your slower metabolism will slow your weight loss, even if you eat the same number of calories that helped you lose weight. When the calories you burn equal the calories you eat, you reach a plateau.
But what some people may not realize is there's such a thing as eating too little for weight loss. It's true, says Lisa Young, Ph. D., R.D., a nutritionist and adjunct professor of nutrition at New York University—cutting too many calories can actually slow down the weight loss process.