Number of meals a day?

[Brandon Enos]

Background. I used to follow a paleo+IF diet until a couple months ago. Trying to get back into it, but I keep falling off. Decided to just start paleo again and forgo (sp?) the IF for right now.

However, for me, three meals a day + snacks is not easy for me everyday. On school days I wake up at 7 and have to be out the door at 8. I dont get out of classes and have a chance to eat again until 1. I work as an EMT, so, while at work, I have to grab something when I can, meal timing isnt a real option.

So basically I was wondering if it mattered if I ate 1 or 2 or 3 or etc meals a day? Does it matter if I wait until ~2 or so for my first meal (school days) versus right when I wake up (the one day a week I can do a regular multi meal day) versus 8 and 4 and 7 (work days), etc etc?

Thanks

[Garrett Smith]

Brandon,
Here's my schedule, see if it helps.

Wake up 5:45am, make/drink coffee, make/drink/(pack extra) herbal tea, pack lunch in cooler, out the door by 7am.

Eat "lunch" around noon or 1pm. Usually a bag of salad and some kind of fish.

Eat dinner around 7pm (meat and veggies!).

I don't think the number of meals really matters that much. Variation in meal timing and size would be a good thing, IMO.

I do a 24-hour fast on Thursdays, my (active) rest day. You might have a day that a longer fast would easily fit into your schedule.

I have very different eating schedules on the weekend as opposed to the weekday schedule above. The weekend is more of a free-for-all timing and size-wise, similar to the old Anabolic Diet, from what I understand of it.

I think you'll be fine. The closer to Paleo (without too many fruits) you get, the more in control of your blood sugar--and hence meal timing options--you will be.

[Troy Archie]

If there's one thing that IF has shown us is that number of meals and meal timing doesn't matter.

[John Alston]

A nice Mantritious meal...
and serious lifting... and don't worry about eating that often because franky, it's pansy.

[Derek Simonds]

Originally Posted by John Alston

A nice Mantritious meal...
and serious lifting... and don't worry about eating that often because franky, it's pansy.

That is a quick way to get to fat bastardo status eh?

[John Alston]

Mantrition isn't a bad way. Bastardoism is a good unto itself.

[John Alston]

Actually, more seriously...
if you look at the Mantrition posts, you'll see large meals but also IF. It's not all glut. It's a real attempt to simplify the needs of someone who wants to lift heavy weights but not be burdened with the 6 meal a day management.