Eating 6 X's A Day

[Phidias]

When bulking after my last diet, i began to eat 11 meals a day - 12 when i was able - and a majority of solid foods. I topped 7500 cals. Needless to say i didn't sleep a lot (had to eat 2 x night)...

The first month was unbelievable: 38 lbs heavier, and hardly no fat gain. Just "a little" bloated.
But the next ones... Seemed as if my body wasn't reacting anymore to all those extra cals (besides i had lost all my appetite). It's when i should have drastically reduced them, what i didn't do (very stupid).

Verdict: tons of bf added in two more months leading me to a not so lean 296 lbs

And now not a pleasure cruise to shed it, believe me. But i guess at least you learn from your mistakes

 

[xcelbeyond]

I find that if I eat "real" food rather than shakes, I loose BF. When I use shakes for meals, I tend to get fat. I've had a couple people that I worked with for pre-contest and all of 'em told me to eat food, not count on shakes. I keep a pretty close watch on overall cals - as Phil said, if I don't, I just get fat!

xcel

 

[pc1663]

"gaining weight or losing weight is simply a matter of calories in and calories out". we all have heard this, but I'm not so sure it is that simple for everyone.

I think the bigger issue is what you can absorb more so than what you can take in. with several meals spaced evenly apart throughout the day, I believe your body has a better chance to absorb and utilize the calories taken in. if you were to overload your body with the same calories but in fewer meals your body may not be able to absorb and properly utilize those calories as efficiently as with a smaller more frequent meal plan.

my experience has been that I tend to stay leaner and more energetic with a frequent meal plan (8 times a day). this occurs even if I am attempting to gain weight. because of this I believe that my body is absorbing the nutrients/calories more effectively on the frequent meal plan.

of course there is much more to an effective diet than just frequency (i.e. macro-nutrients, nutrient density, etc.). this is just a small part of the big picture. (shit, I'm starting to sound like Phil now)

 

[Phidias]

Eating small portions throughout the day is indeed really good in a diet, cause your body burns cals just by digesting all that solid food (always add green veggies for the fibers), plus proteins have a thermogenic effect.

But when you eat insane portions each 1 1/2 hour, it's a whole other story. Bye-bye abs...

 

[Got Juice]

well i usually eat 5-6 times per day but each meal isnt the same size. while im at work sitting on my ass, a scoop of PB or a plain protein shake is fine, but if im up running around or after the gym, sure ill have a complete meal of carbs, protein , etc.

just depends on how active i am on what i choose to eat. now if im bulking, sure ill eat 600-700 cals each meal without a problem.

later,

todd