Six meals a day.

[tkav1980]

i read somewhere that evan centopani who is a pretty big guy was eating somewhere around only 3k calories thru 4-5 meals a day and was somehow gaining. just proving my point that its all presonal. golden words in this games. what works for u, may not work for anyone else. 6 meals a day works great for me. just my input

I think the top guys are going to out grow, out shape, and out lean the rest of us almost no matter what they do. the rest of us mortals need a game plan...lol

 

[Benjifornothing]

I think the top guys are going to out grow, out shape, and out lean the rest of us almost no matter what they do. the rest of us mortals need a game plan...lol

VERY TRUE! genetics are a bitch

 

[cachexic]

trick is to eat your carbs as your last meal of the day before bed (4th meal)...

Could you elaborate on this trick, Buselmo? What is the benefit? I've always heard no carbs 5 hours before bed or something similar.

 

[pittsburgh]

HUH!?!?!?! dude you can knock out 300 G protien in 3 meals EASILY.

Your body can only break down and use so much protein per hour. Eating 100grams in 1 sitting is a waste. Better to break that down over 2 meals.

 

[tkav1980]

Your body can only break down and use so much protein per hour. Eating 100grams in 1 sitting is a waste. Better to break that down over 2 meals.

MYTH...NOT FACT

 

[pesty4077]

Are there any experienced bodybuilders here that do not follow the cookie cutter six-meal-a-day diet? Do you just not believe that your metabolism needs to be boosted with food every 2-3 hours?

I'm asking because I've personally never felt it made much a difference...I've always felt it was more about the long term, not this meal-every-2-hour stuff. As in it's more about what you put in total into your body over a significant period of time that will determine how you look, not about when specifically you ate the meals throughout the day. Does that make sense?

It is a well proven fact that 6 small meals will digest better, then 3 large meals. You probally need to study about Metabolic rate, then find out what your BMR is to make the best of that.

 

[abadseal]

MYTH...NOT FACT

I agree that the 30 gram rule is a myth but 100 grams is in no way going to be assimilated and utilized by the digestive system properly expecially when accompained by other macronutrients contained in the meal also vying for digestion and absorbtion even during the critical "golden hour of anabolism" where ones cellular capabilities are that of a sponge!

I find the sitaution analogous to a paper shredder. If you feed it a steady constant stream of paper you will shread far more total paper and at a much faster rate than you do if you constantly keep feeding it too much and it gets bogged down, slows and had to be manually pulled back out and refed. The digestive tract and metabolism is similar in those regards.

Also I think most guys way overestimate their protein requirements and underestimate their fat and carb intakes. The latter 2 are very protein sparing however when absent in the diet as when on a low or no carb keto diet and not properly offsetting the caloric dip with additional fat intake your protein rerquirements will be much higher due to it being metabolized for energy requirements first before additional anabolism takes place. This is common sense and probably everyone reading this is saying "yea dude we know" but I have found that I can take in much less total calories and not just protein by shifting my macro ratios around slightly and as one poster mentioned by cycling the various nutrient ratios.

Everyone knows that your muscles stagnate and plateau to the same stimulus and program and one has to frequently change up their training methods to incur new stimulation however people seem to forget that diet is no different. Also as someone else mentioned about his 16 hour fasts; dietary supercompensation is a great tool to use as well.

Just my personal observations

 

[Benjifornothing]

i read some study awhile back about protein synthesis having somewhat of a peaking half life or something of that natural and that less frequent feedings with higher protein content in each meal somehow created a more anabolic enviroment. the protein synthesis would start and carry thru for hours. it was a study tryin to prove the 30-40g per meal thing to be wrong. again, science is what it is. the human body is funny. kai greene eats like 1000g of pro a day or something crazy like that and gets bigger and harder. i know if i ate even over 500 a day id just get really sloppy regardless of how i seperated the feedings.

 

[juicedup2408]

i have tried almost everything, and i am now eating 6-8 meals and it is working out great for me

 

[Pericles]

Your body can only break down and use so much protein per hour. Eating 100grams in 1 sitting is a waste. Better to break that down over 2 meals.

This is a load of shit. Lyle Mcdonald has tons of research in the protein book on this subject matter. Your body becomes more efficient with whatever macro nutrient you give it. IE: give it 100g of protein at your meals and it will become more efficient at using it. The same applies to any macro, carbs, fat etc...

 

[Emery]

I may get flamed for this but...

I just went to a workshop on Feed For Speed by a registered dietician that works with a NFL team and specializes in diets for athletes.

His diets work for 300 plus pound men that burn a shitload of calories in training camp, practice, etc. Granted, a different sport than bodybuilding by a long stretch but, he did make me think that a lot of bodybuilders really over do the protein and under do the carbs and fats. This guy has a master's degree and had a lot of actual science based studies that really painted a different picture for a good diet to add mass while minimizing fat gain.

For me, eating 6+ meals per day makes me fat. I just can't do it and I am still making gains. I gauge my gains in the gym and in the mirror and see better results with less fat, eating less than 6 meals per day. I still get in enough protein to recover decently and in time for the next workout.

This may change when I hire a trainer but for now, I am doing what seems to be working for me and is based on a little real science.

 

[eroc613]

7 meals a day, every 2 1/2 to 3 hours. You get what you put in. 230lbs 8-9% BF and still growing fast. 205lbs 10 months ago at same BF.




Wait for it.........

 

[meanmugger]

i think how big,cut,u wanna be depends on ur meals,and cycle,eat when u r hungry,eat how u wanna look basically

 

[BostonFan]

It just so happens that I'm always hungry around 2-3 hours between meals and it comes out to 5-6 meals a day to get in all the macros I want

 

[buselmo]

Could you elaborate on this trick, Buselmo? What is the benefit? I've always heard no carbs 5 hours before bed or something similar.

my biggest downfall in my diet was my carb intake... if i ate carbs with breakfast, i'd be full all day long.
eat 75-100 grams protein with 30 grams of fat or so for breakfast, and you'd be starving 1-2 hours later... i used to eat breakfast at 6 am... by 11 am i'm thinking of ditching work to go eat an elephant... so, again, you take in 75-100 grams of protein with 30 grams of fat... work out at 4 pm... after workout i'm pretty nausious... by after i take a shower and relax a bit... i can eat all the food in my house... so, again... 75-100 grams of protein with 30 grams of fat... an hour before bed, i'm starving again... so... 2-3 plates of pasta and i'm full (around 300 grams of pasta or so)....

total for the day? 300 gr protein, 90 gr fat, 210 gr carbs... that's a good 2800 cals... and i'm the kind of guy who grows on 2500 cals...

if my breakfast looked something like this: 50 grams protein, 60 grams carbs, 10 grams fat.... i'd be full til 4 pm. and it would cause my waist to swell up and i'd just feel bloated all day long.

we laugh at people who try to lose "weight" and say "i don't eat anything after 5 pm and only eat 2 meals a day" and we tell them how stupid they are for doing that... then we go on and say "no... eat your carbs early in the morning and post workout... cuz eating them before bed makes you fat."...
fact of the matter is... that guy who cut his meals at 5 and only eats 2 meals a day is getting to his goal... and the guy who belives carbs before bed make him fat is still struggling with whatever goal he's trying to achieve

broscience = throw it in the toilet and flush.

 

[tkav1980]

my biggest downfall in my diet was my carb intake... if i ate carbs with breakfast, i'd be full all day long.
eat 75-100 grams protein with 30 grams of fat or so for breakfast, and you'd be starving 1-2 hours later... i used to eat breakfast at 6 am... by 11 am i'm thinking of ditching work to go eat an elephant... so, again, you take in 75-100 grams of protein with 30 grams of fat... work out at 4 pm... after workout i'm pretty nausious... by after i take a shower and relax a bit... i can eat all the food in my house... so, again... 75-100 grams of protein with 30 grams of fat... an hour before bed, i'm starving again... so... 2-3 plates of pasta and i'm full (around 300 grams of pasta or so)....

total for the day? 300 gr protein, 90 gr fat, 210 gr carbs... that's a good 2800 cals... and i'm the kind of guy who grows on 2500 cals...

if my breakfast looked something like this: 50 grams protein, 60 grams carbs, 10 grams fat.... i'd be full til 4 pm. and it would cause my waist to swell up and i'd just feel bloated all day long.

we laugh at people who try to lose "weight" and say "i don't eat anything after 5 pm and only eat 2 meals a day" and we tell them how stupid they are for doing that... then we go on and say "no... eat your carbs early in the morning and post workout... cuz eating them before bed makes you fat."...
fact of the matter is... that guy who cut his meals at 5 and only eats 2 meals a day is getting to his goal... and the guy who belives carbs before bed make him fat is still struggling with whatever goal he's trying to achieve

broscience = throw it in the toilet and flush.

This seems Eerily similar to what Phil teaches.

 

[cachexic]

Interesting. I'm always DYING for carbs at night. When you eat no carbs in the evening though you wake up looking really good.

 

[abadseal]

Interesting. I'm always DYING for carbs at night. When you eat no carbs in the evening though you wake up looking really good.

I did too. I found through my own trial and error that I used to HEAVILY overdo the macros in each meal especially the protein. For instance I'd eat 60 grams protein at each and every meal. 6-8 times a day and usually wake once to take a whiz in the night and kill another 60 grams worth of chicken, whey or steak.
What I realized is that by adding carbs say at night(which I used to forego) along with cutting my protein intake in 1/3 I now can eat 50 grams of carbs, 20 grams of protein and roughly 5-10 grams EFA's and it has a resounding impact on my body composition, energy, attitude (carbs are a major synthesizer in the production of serotonin) and fullness factor.
When I would typically add carbs to a meal at 50-75 grams I never used to lower the protein I was in-taking. I would be getting 240 cals from protein, 240 cals from carbs and 100-150 cals from fats roughly 7-9 times a day which was WAY too much for me. By dropping the protein I knocked approx. 1000 cals off my daily intake so no wonder I was losing bodyfat and reshaping my physique. I was simply over consuming calories.

I urge everyone to take an outside look in at their diet especially on paper. Much easier to see your shortcomings or overindulgence's in black and white ink than guessing.

 

[Chrysler]

HUH!?!?!?! dude you can knock out 300 G protien in 3 meals EASILY.

If I don't get 80g of protein in a meal I feel like I've failed. My shakes are over 100.

 

[gear-unit]

my biggest downfall in my diet was my carb intake... if i ate carbs with breakfast, i'd be full all day long.
eat 75-100 grams protein with 30 grams of fat or so for breakfast, and you'd be starving 1-2 hours later... i used to eat breakfast at 6 am... by 11 am i'm thinking of ditching work to go eat an elephant... so, again, you take in 75-100 grams of protein with 30 grams of fat... work out at 4 pm... after workout i'm pretty nausious... by after i take a shower and relax a bit... i can eat all the food in my house... so, again... 75-100 grams of protein with 30 grams of fat... an hour before bed, i'm starving again... so... 2-3 plates of pasta and i'm full (around 300 grams of pasta or so)....

total for the day? 300 gr protein, 90 gr fat, 210 gr carbs... that's a good 2800 cals... and i'm the kind of guy who grows on 2500 cals...

if my breakfast looked something like this: 50 grams protein, 60 grams carbs, 10 grams fat.... i'd be full til 4 pm. and it would cause my waist to swell up and i'd just feel bloated all day long.

we laugh at people who try to lose "weight" and say "i don't eat anything after 5 pm and only eat 2 meals a day" and we tell them how stupid they are for doing that... then we go on and say "no... eat your carbs early in the morning and post workout... cuz eating them before bed makes you fat."...
fact of the matter is... that guy who cut his meals at 5 and only eats 2 meals a day is getting to his goal... and the guy who belives carbs before bed make him fat is still struggling with whatever goal he's trying to achieve

broscience = throw it in the toilet and flush.

i have the same problem over 3500kcal i am getting fat very easy. i was told to do like 4000 plus cals lots of carb and i got so fucking fat. i just dont handle to many cals mabee i sopund do less carb and way less protein