You may have wondered before how many meals a day you should be eating. Is it best to eat 3 bigger meals a day, or to eat little and often with 5 or 6 meals?
The answer...
There is no one way is best for all. The best way is what suits you. What your preference is and what works for you with your lifestyle, work and family.
However the calories still need to add up in the end with the number of meals you have.
For example, if your needed calorie intake was 2000, you could go with one of the below example plans:
Meal Plan A Breakfast - 500 calories Lunch - 500 calories Dinner - 1000 calories
Meal Plan B Breakfast - 500 calories Lunch - 500 calories Snack - 300 calories Dinner - 700 calories
Meal Plan C Breakfast - 500 calories Lunch - 400 calories Snack - 200 calories Dinner - 600 calories Snack - 300 calories
You may prefer eating less frequent but larger meals. Which would keep you going for a few hours, or it may be down to the less amount of time you have available to eat whilst at work. With 3 meals you might find though that you get hungry in between and causes you to snack on whatever is in front of you at work or around the home during the day and bringing your calories up. Especially when that one person brings the cakes/biscuits/chocolates in. Every office has one, you know who that is. If this is the case, then plan a snack or two in to have with you in case for a better option and reduce the calories of your main meals a little.
On the other hand, you may prefer to eat smaller meals but more frequent, especially if you have the flexibility of time to be able to. And this can help regulate appetite and avoid snacking. (By the way more frequent meals does not boost your metabolism.) But it also means if something happens that day that takes your time, you may end up missing a meal or two.
But you have to find what works best for you and what you can consistently manage each day. Start by identifying the times throughout the day you realistically have to be able to eat a meal. And then plan your meals for those times and prepare them in advance ready for the next days or days ahead.
If you really don't know where to start, then I would recommend around 4 meals per day. All planned ahead or at least tracking your intake during the day so you know ho many calories consuming in each meal. This gives a good amount of time throughout the day to be able to eat, the portion size would be fair and also able to include more protein into your meals.
