Should you eat 5-6 times a day to lose weight?

Yeah, I know, this is exactly what every trainer has told you in the past. “You have to eat 5-6 times a day, every 2-4 hours to make your metabolism boost, and you’ll lose weight”. Let me guess; don’t eat after 8pm is another one? “It will automatically store as body fat since you’re going to sleep anyways”. Well I’m here to tell you BOTH are IRRELEVANT when it comes to improving your overall body composition! The only thing that matters is if you’re hitting your daily caloric needs and daily proteins, carbs, and fats requirements.

So yes, you can eat carbs at night and no, you don’t have to eat 6x a day to lose weight. My clients and I eat at night all the time, it does not matter! (Of course, just like any other part of the day, it’s all about eating the right carbs, not sugary carbs, that’s what’s going to store body fat, but that’s for another blog). While, it does make sense that you’d store fat by eating right before bed and you should eat more to make your body constantly digest, neither have anything to do with your metabolism or metabolic rate, your body works on such a bigger scale than just one night, or one day. Your body works on a 24,48,72, weekly net BALANCE. Your body is CONSTANTLY burning calories, not just when we are awake or when we are at the gym. In fact, 60-70% of the calories we burn a day come from when we aren’t working out, when we are just living, going about our normal day. In other words, your body is constantly going from anabolic to catabolic, constantly breaking down and repairing, storing and oxidizing. (That’s why it’s also important we give our bodies proper micronutrients, and macronutrients. Our bodies want to help us and are constantly protecting us from so many things!)

For example, 2 meals totaling up to 1500 calories each (3000 total) VS 6 meals totaling up to 500 calories each (3000 total) is the same thing! In the end, you will get the same results because your body needs a certain amount of calories per day, doesn’t matter how many times you have to eat to get to your desired goal.

For a custom meal plan or 12 week program, visit my website (DraperFit.com) or email me directly (dylon.draper@gmail.com).

COMMIT TO BE FIT!!