How Many Meals Should You Eat per Day?

Three square meals every day – that’s been the conventional wisdom since around the 18th century, at least throughout most of the English-speaking world. It’s not a bad start for those trying to develop healthy eating habits, but some experts believe a series of smaller meals throughout the day can help you achieve your fitness and weight loss goals more efficiently. Meanwhile, some diet influencers tout the benefits of intermittent fasting instead.

Most everyone agrees that a healthy breakfast is essential and that you should stop eating three hours before bedtime, but what about everything in between?

How Often Should You Eat?

Exactly when and how often you should eat will depend on many factors. Your lifestyle, schedule, and fitness goals must all be considered when developing your eating habits. For example, are you trying to bulk up and add muscle, or are you looking into healthy eating for weight loss?

Of course, what you eat is even more critical than when you eat it. You must know how to eat healthy before implementing a specific meal schedule. Here’s one easy tip to get you started: Avoid sugary and overly processed foods in favor of protein- and nutrient-rich options, such as Proti Foods’ line of diet products.

How Many Meals Do You Need Each Day?

Depending on your fitness goals, five or more snack-sized meals throughout the day might be ideal. This eating pattern can help you lose weight efficiently and keep you feeling fuller and more energized than a traditional breakfast, lunch, and dinner routine.

Here are a few meal frequency ideas based on specific health goals:

Weight Loss

It may seem like a paradox, but many people have successfully lost weight by increasing the number of meals they eat each day. The trick, of course, is that you have to eat much smaller meals than normal to ensure your caloric intake remains low.

Five or six thoughtfully planned mini-meals can help you stay full all day long. This feeling of psychological fullness is a tremendous benefit to those who have issues with eating out of boredom or emotion – people who might otherwise find themselves compulsively snacking.

Building Muscle

If you’re trying to bulk up, timing your meals right will ensure that your recovering muscles get the nutrients they need, exactly when they need them. Protein is crucial, and Proti Foods’ bars and shakes work great as high-protein meal replacements, so you can easily stick to a five- or six-meal schedule even when you’re spending all afternoon in the gym.

Weight Maintenance

Spreading your daily food intake across more daily meals can also be helpful for those trying to maintain their current weight. By leaving yourself more mealtimes to work with, it will be easier to tweak your caloric intake throughout the day, depending on your body’s needs. Plus, if you overdo it at breakfast or lunch, you can cut out one or more later meals.

Build Healthier Eating Habits with Proti Foods

Are you switching to a new meal schedule? If so, stocking up on high-protein bars, shakes, smoothies, breakfast items, and more from Proti Foods can help you get prepared. Our snacks and supplements leverage premium ingredients and cutting-edge science to deliver the nutrition and flavor you deserve.

For more information about our products or how to jumpstart a healthier lifestyle, contact us today!