My bumpy road to more frequent smaller meals
There are, more or less, two categories of people out there: those who eat small portions frequently and those who prefer 3 solid meals in a day. I belong to the latter category but admire those in the former group. I am sure that most of us have read about numerous benefits of eating smaller meals frequently, including more stable blood sugar, better metabolism and fewer hunger spikes. There has been a lot of research done that shows that people who eat more frequently tend to eat better and healthier and consumer less calories. But at the same time, there is no right or wrong - there is plenty of research supporting both schools of thoughts here.
While I always wished I belonged to a small-portion-eater group, I've been having hard time transitioning from 3 bigger meals to 4 or 5 smaller ones. When I tried to do that in the past, I felt that I still ended up eating quite large amounts of food with every meal and constantly felt full throughout the day. I also thought that a more frequent meal diet was not compatible with my work schedule with a traditional noon lunch break and caused too much hustle with bringing multiple lunch boxes and meal planning. Or, was I just looking for excuses?
Adjusting my daily routine
A few month ago, though, I switched the gym and started taking lunch-time fitness classes. This meant that I had to adjust my eating during the day as well. I struggled with it a little bit in the beginning. I like to bring my lunch to work. So normally I would bring some salad or a warm dish as my main meal, and a green apple or some other fruit or vegetable as my snack. But if I only ate my apple before the class, I was starving during the class and really felt low on energy, which didn't seem like an effective way to exercise. When , on the other hand, I ate my lunch before the class, I felt really full and heavy in the class and then starving till dinner time.
But eventually I got to a different routine. On my lunch gym days, I've started splitting my lunch meal into two equal portions. I would then eat one of them an hour or so before the class, and the second one later in the afternoon.
Lessons learnt from building new eating habits
1. Energy level. Eating 'half-lunches' in the late morning and in the afternoon keeps me full and energized,and at the same time light not only through an intense workout, but also throughout the whole work day.
2. Hunger control. I'm not starving when I come home and, therefore, can have a lighter dinner and am less likely to overeat.
3. Snack management. While counter intuitive, if I have a big meal, I'm more likely to crave something sweet or some snack right after. While I know that such craving will go away if I just ignore it and take a few minute walk or drink some water, I don't like the mere fact of having to deal with it. And this is not the case when I have two smaller meals instead.
4. Breaking the habits. I still get a feeling a being full and satisfied even after eating only half of my lunch (even if immediately after I think I want more.) This tells me that my body doesn't need to be fed a lot every time. It's just a habit. What's interesting is that most of the time I'm not even really hungry in the afternoon. I still try to eat that second half in the afternoon, though, because it makes me less hungry by the dinner time.
5. Impact on overall diet. As I started splitting my lunch into two meals, I have changed my approach to lunch and dinner meals. In the past my lunch mainly consisted of a salad and some protein, and my dinner - of veggies, protein and a starchy component (grains or potatoes.) Instead, I've started eating most of the starchy stuff for lunch, which now more often includes warm cooked meals, with dinners mainly including veggies, protein and sometimes legumes.
It is not a race, it is a journey
I have not completely transitioned yet and I'm still far from a regular four or especially five-meal-a-day diet, but what I'm noticing really makes me want to continue doing that and watching the difference.
If you have successfully transitioned to more frequent smaller meals, do you have any proven tips to share?