Fewer bigger meals vs smaller and more often?

Hello

I was wondering what experience people has done with different meal routines in terms of fat loss, energy, performance etc.

I know intermittent fasting is very popular where you eat 2-4 meals in a 8 hour window and i know also some people only eat 2 big meals a day etc. Then there is alot of people eating 5+ meals a day.

I havent read any books on this subject and since im really into training and performance regarding weights but also esp sports and also loosing the last bit of fatt wich i know comes from calories but maybe there is something to be gained from eating patern aswell?

Would be great to hear some experiences by people. Fire away

I am def a big supporter of eating every 2 hours.

That way you never get to the point you are starving. You won't overeat.Your Energy levels are always good cause you are never get to low levels of sugar in your blood. Also less chance your body will start cannibalizing muscles out of lack of calories between meals. Some say eating every 2-3 hours raises your metabolic raise which helps you burn more calories.

For me it helps keeping energy levels high during the day.

Great, thanx. But isnt it harder in terms of calories to just start eating and have to stop when the food is getting good ?

Have you tried the fewer meals approach?

I believe I've tried many approaches. 3 meals a day, 2 meals a day, even one. eating different times, eating at regular hours. What's most important is what works for YOU the most.

I had many time when I was eating totally different.

What I know is that when I had many hours between meals:

- It made me hungry between meals. Made me eat faster, bigger meals and much more junk.

- Made me eat too much before going to sleep.

- I know that with many small meals I am controlling the hunger instead of hunger controlling me. I never have this crazy/addictive drive to eat. I never have to "stop" eating seems my body just knows how much it needs to eat.

Personally I've developed few guidelines for myself.

1. Have a good meal combination at the morning after waking up.

2. I don't really set regular hours for myself to eat. I eat at least something small like fruit every 2 hours. If I had complex carbs meal I could have a longer break of 3 - 4 hours.

3. Mostly I wouldn't eat after 8 pm. If I had a late run or finished work late I would eat something small.

4. I do not eat any processed sugar or processed foods or any junk. That stuff just mess up your whole Energy levels and your ability to listen to your body.

Thank you so much. Makes alot of sense and you seem to have the same experiences as me, since i have also tried alot of the approaches. And for sure i eat like a race horse if i havent eaten for long i almost drink the food

Also did you notice any difference in terms of fat loss or body composition ?

Thanx again for great reply

Sure I lost lots of fat! Though I can't say it's only the nutrition. Cause it's a combined impact of starting running and modification of my nutrition.

I've started changing my nutrition same time I've started running. I wasn't doing any sports at all. It took like 6 months to go from 156 lbs to 125lbs. What's interesting is I had a long knee injury so I wasn't running like for a year. But still I didn't gain any weight. I went Vegan like 3 months ago and now I am 121 lbs.

I eat as much as I feel like eating. It seems I am not gaining any fat now. I've started doing also some weight lifting and strength workouts. In order to improve my running and maybe even build some upper body muscles. And I actually have to force myself to eat more. So you can pretty much say it helped me.

Thanx a ton