Recently

Do It Like You Workout – Day 3 Week Two of The February 30 Day Challenge Feb 15th 2012
Commit & Succeed Rep Challenge – Day 2 Week Two of The February 30 Day Challenge Feb 14th 2012
Bikini Bunny Workout – Day 1 Week Two of The February 30 Day Challenge Feb 13th 2012
Show It Off Workout – Day 5 Week One of The February 30 Day Challenge + Strength Warm up & Cool Down Feb 10th 2012
Hard & Tight Rep Challenge Workout – Day 4 Week One of The February 30 Day Challenge Feb 9th 2012
Oct 10 2010

How to Eat 5 times a Day.

Posted by Frederick | In Featured Articles, Food And Diet, Rock Your Diet

Hi BodyRockers,

Some of you guys have been writing in that eating 5 times a day is inconvenient for you, so Freddy & I put together some tips and strategies to make it easier.

The problem…

Most people eat 3 times per day – breakfast, lunch and dinner. As part of our new 5 week diet challenge we are shifting over to eating 5 times per day, adding 2 more meals to your daily schedule. These 2 new meals are the “in-between” meals – what you will eat between breakfast and lunch, and lunch and dinner. The challenge with these 2 meals is that for most people they land smack in the middle of work or during some other highly inconvenient time when you are extremely busy. To make this work so that you can keep your metabolism burning at peak levels will require some forethought, but it is more than possible if we plan ahead.

The case for eating 5 meals a day…

Most people eat 3 meals a day and will snack on anything that comes across their path between meals. If someone brings in a box of donuts to the office to share – it’s yum yum time. This is not the best way to feed the body, and studies have shown that eating every 2-4 hours is a key strategy for improving body composition. Eating at consistent intervals helps to fire the metabolism, balance blood sugar levels and helps conserve lean muscle while giving the body a reason to burn off extra fat. This is a key strategy for getting lean and something that you need to think seriously about adopting.

Strategies for hitting the “in-between” meals…

Let’s start off by assuming that you have your breakfast and dinner covered at home. Lunch can sometimes be an in-between meal if you are on the run, or if you are at the mercy of whatever lunch special food services has prepared that day. Lets take a look at strategies for hitting these 3 meals.

The Prep work…

Eating healthy meals takes thought and discipline, and joining the 5 meals a day BodyRockers club will take some prep work to accomplish. It really begins with the food, so making sure that you are stocked up on what you will need is job number one. I have read that some people like to prepare all of their meals for the week on Sundays and then have everything arranged in zip lock bags and containers so that all they have to do is grab it and go, and if this strategy works for you then great. Personally I like to do things a day at a time, so taking some time each morning to bag my veggies and organize my food is a better option for me.

Interval Eating…

If you have been following our home workouts you know that many of our exercise routines are based on intervals. The tool that we use for this, the tool that we can’t live without, is our Gymboss Interval Timer (click the blue link to get your own timer). Freddy & I have started using our timers for our interval eating, we set our timer to count down 3 hour intervals – when you hear the beeps it’s time to eat. Using a timer can be a huge help in establishing these new eating habits and patterns, because when you are busy and on the go it’s easy just to forget to eat all together, or to eat at the wrong times. Put your timer to use and get into the habit of interval eating.

At Work…

If you have a communal fridge at work with some shelf space up for grabs then you have it made. Invest in some quality compact Tupperware and take your meals to work with you. If you don’t have the option of a fridge at work, then the next best option is to get your hands on a compact cooler and tote that with you. Tuck it under your desk and set your timer. This option works particularly well for people who work out of their cars like salesmen and delivery people.

The meals…

I find that when you tell people that they have to eat 5 meals a day they tend to in-vision 5 sit down 7 course meals. This is not the case. When I say meal I mean 1 palm size portion of complete lean proteins (2 palms if you are a guy) and 2 cups of chopped veggies or 1 cup of chopped veggies and 1 medium size fruit. Thats it. You can leave the table cloth, fine china, silver wear and candles out of it. This is healthy food on the run here not a sit down dinner where you have to carve a Turkey. Think about it – fresh baby carrots, some celery, some greens, a diced up tomato, an apple all in a zip-locks neatly organized in your compact cooler. A chicken breast, some canned tuna, turkey slices, some beans – you get the drift.

The backup…

If you know that you are going to have a hell day at work and there is just no time that day for munching at your desk, then you can use supplements for your backup solution. Fresh whole foods are always best, but if it comes down to it supplements can get you through in a pinch. There are several veggie supplements on the market that are recommended by ISSA, including Greens+ You can also look at taking a quality protein shake that mixes instantly with water. This option can save you when you are absolutely pressed for time and there is no other way to make it through the day.

Eating at Restaurants…

If your job involves a lot of eating out at restaurants (or you tend to grab lunch on the road) then your challenge is to start thinking off of the menu. Don’t be afraid to ask for things that are not on the menu. Most restaurants will let you customize your order. If you see a grilled chicken breast go by your table covered in cheese and deep fried ice-cream sitting on top of a deep dish 10 cheese pizza ask for a plain grilled chicken breast and side salad. Speak up and ask for the healthier alternative – you are the paying customer. Also remember that not all salads are healthy. Don’t fall for the trap of accepting a caesar salad just because the waitress suggests it. Ask for a plain garden salad or mixed green salad and after your server rhymes off 10 fat oozing dressings ask them to whip you up oil and vinegar.

Momentary convenience vs. the body you have always wanted…

The biggest obstacle is never the logistics of the solution, but rather the voice of resistance put up by our own minds. If you are already thinking to yourself – wait…I’m going to have to chop up veggies everyday and bag them? that voice is the resistance hard at work thwarting your will to change. Yes this these strategies will take extra time, extra thought and extra will, but that is why it’s called a challenge and not cake. This approach takes just as much blood, sweat and tears as the workouts that we do here on BodyRock.Tv It’s a diet approach that takes guts to practice. It’s a challenge fit for BodyRockers.

Best,

Zuzana & Freddy


  • Anna

    Awesome, thanks!!!

  • Becky

    Hey guys! Thanks so much for the specifics- it definitely helps a lot! Is this tied into the 5 week challenge program by any chance?

  • Lauren

    Thank You Both

  • john

    Nice explanation of the 5 meals a day and I love the idea of using the gymboss to let you know when to eat, I’m starting tomorrow. All I can say is more information, more is better!!

  • sisy

    amazing post guys!

    congrats on what you are doing with your blog, I´m learning a lot from you and I´m sure many people is doing it as well :o)

  • Yvonne

    I think these are good ideas to get people on the road to wellness. I am gonna start with a green smoothie with Chlorophyll daily as a way to get more veggies and goodness into me :)

  • Frederick

    Yes it is!

  • Elodie

    Hi Zuzana and Freddy,
    You have great advice concerning the way of organizing meals for the day..As you said,eating five times a day is more beneficial and setting the gymboss is an excellent way not to miss a meal. But for example, I work in the nursing profession,and being able to eat every 3hours is not always possible and sometimes i even find myself skipping meals, so what can you advice for this?
    continue with the great work! cheers :)

  • Nina

    Thanks for all the additional information :) I have a “5 meals a day friendly job,” but my hubby and mom (she is starting this with me too) works 12 hours a day nights and day shifts, so they need some special plan :) Spending some short time a day planing a meal for your next day is now a part of my day :) I decided to do 2 day plans, on Sunday I will plan my meal for Tuesday and Wendesday, on Tuesday I will cover Thursday and Friday, and on Friday I will plan Saturday, Sunday and Monday. This way I will go shopping 3 times a week (plus everyday supermarket visit for veggies, which I do anyway for some time).
    I started this challenge yesterday and I feel so excited about it :) Can’t wait for another information! Thanks guys :)

  • Katarina

    Me personaly can’t eat 5 meals a day. I tried but I started gaining waith, not loosing and my porsions weren’t big. So my 5 week challenge will be to eat more healthy and stop emotional eating completely.

  • Tom

    I have a question about the 5 meals .

    Are each of the 5 meals the palm sized portions or only “in-between meals” ?

    Just to clear up some confusion I have.

    Keep up the good work.

  • MAnderson

    Hello Zuzana and Freddy,

    What would you say about someone who gets low blood sugar quite easily? What about eating no carbs after mid day? I would like to try this. Is it feasible? I do not want to suffer low blood sugar attacks; I do want to shed the last 5-10 Ib’s of adipose tissue. Also, I am currently about 185Ib at five feet nine inches. Is this ideal?
    Thank-you.
    Mark

  • Karla

    I was wondering for training is it recommended to cut out carbs such as refined, but to go as far as cut out fruit to get the maxim weight loss necessary? Basically it would be a meat and veggie type of eating.
    THanks!

  • http://crudefitness.com Clint – Crude Fitness

    Great job on the site Zuzana.
    Very inspiring stuff, and you have the physique to show for it all.
    I look forward to more of your posts ;)

  • Satricia

    Hey zuzana and freddy,
    Thanks for the costant effotr you put into making our lifes more enjoyable! Im the jits girl by the way, and I was really overworking my body and I was struggling so much with nutrition, and this is going to help a ton because I go to work, standing on my feet all day and sometimes I dont have time to eat, unless I have little veggies cut up,, so if my self discipline is down…no veggies..so I get it, nutrtion needs to be balanced with working out..I train everyday, cept the gloden one day off, and sometimes ill throw in one of your workouts and It has been paying off! I have been gaining gold medals in the womans division and bronze in mens, snd when im getting tired I know I can keep going thanks to your workouts! The day I win gold at worlds, youll get a longer thank you note:) All the best! ~Satricia Knake<3 mucho LOVE!XD

  • doogie

    Why can’t I eat the same amount of food of five meals for just three meals? Would five meals a day spike my insulin levels? If my insulin levels are spiked all day then my body is going to start converting the carbs to fats and store in my body.

  • Jen

    I love your website and videos, thank you so much for taking all the time and effort to organize this!

  • Sportler

    Hi Zuzana i am from germany and do kickboxing also train youre workout. Have you ever writte a book of you workout so i can buy it. Thank you

  • Sue

    You don’t have to eat 5 meals per day. 3 Meals is plenty and your metabolism will not slow down. If it suits you to eat 5 then do it otherwise don’t stress and have 3 meals without fear.

  • Lucie

    Ahoj Zuzanko,
    Doufam ze se nebudes zlobit za pisu cesky,ale je to pro me snadnejsi..Chtela bych te poprosit o radu,mohla by jsi mi doporucit nejaky proteinovy drink ale nejaky prirodni neco jako bio jestli to existuje???Nevim co uzivat po cviceni,drive jsem pila prot.drinky ale usadilo se mi to na jatrech a hodne se mi zhorsila plet..Proto bych se chtela zeptat co uzivas ty nebo co by jsi mi doporucila…Dekuji mockrat za odpoved Lucie

  • xüt Pd P

    Zuzana,
    I do 10 meals.
    at 90 min.
    At 6 o’clock i’m start cooking, At 7:30a.m I finish the kitchen clean.

  • http://www.theiflife.com Mike OD

    Great site! Love it.

    Just wanted to help clarify something though, although eating more often does help many get in great shape and lose weight (no one can argue that)…it does not “helps to fire the metabolism”.

    With such a good job you do reaching and helping people, I want to make sure you have your facts on target too. NO study shows an “increase” in metabolism with mini meal portions (when other factors are the same except in lesser meals, esp calories).

    Here’s a couple sites with studies more on all that:
    http://www.fitnessspotlight.com/2008/11/05/eating-more-meals-does-not-speed-up-your-metabolism/
    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/23/health/23really.html?_r=1#

    Keep up the inspiring work!

  • Kimiko

    this is awesome…and I was also reading your other posts and I had came across your protein recipe and was thinking if you are able to post more recipes for us, because I really enjoyed the protein ball.

  • http://karlbwork@yahoo.co.uk karl

    hi, love your site and your workouts, …. i work 12hr shifts days, nights,……… what would you recomend to eat as a meal plan……… i have, just protien before bed when i get home in the morning. protein, veg, fruit,) when i wake up , and at work i have the same , advice needed please , keep up the hard work and dedication, x

  • Kristina

    This is AWESOME! I’ve been looking for something like this for ages, but no one ever really told you what to eat and how much. They just said 5 small meals, but no one told you how much is this and what is included into these “small meals”…
    Thank you guyz!
    Your site is really helpful and inspiring.

  • Beverly

    Awesome info you guys! I think that all these tips are so helpful, and YES! all this process requires DISCIPLINE.

  • Amy

    I just got my gymboss this weekend and i got down how to use it when working out but i can’t figure out how to set it for interval eating ( great idea by the way ) please help im clueless :-)

  • C. Harris

    You guys are awesome! I’m excited to see you following a diet that is very similar to the one I used to loose 20 pounds. After months of following a balanced diet and exercising regularly and not loosing any weight (even with switching things up), I decided to the ketogenic diet. I almost completely eliminated carbs from my diet, except on weekends to refuel, and the results were amazing. I still have some weight to loose but I was taking a break from ‘dieting’ and just eating fairly healthy. This time I’m going to follow your plan, which is a little less extreme (with the allowance of a few carbs after a workout). Thanks guys for all of your inspiration!

  • Anonymous

    Hi Val,
    I will always prefer real whole foods like veggies, fruit, and meat, before protein powders. That said, I would prefer to have a good quality protein shake for dinner instead of a fatty greasy hamburger from a fast food restaurant. Supplements are great if I don’t have the option to prepare a proper dinner.

  • Mery

    Hey guys, I have a question: when you say that we should eat 5 meals a day, every 3 hours, for example if I ate at 2 pm (slowly, finishing eating at 2:30), my next meal would be at 5 or 5:30 pm?

    Thanks

  • presley

    thank you for that tip. i am usually eating three meals a day and eating in between, haha.

  • Eyeclick

    “The biggest obstacle is never the logistics of the solution, but rather the voice of resistance put up by our own minds.” Never a truer statement uttered.

  • chinna

    you say what to do during work but what about school? Im still in high school and I dont know how to eat on a schedule but not get in trouble by eating in class.

  • Tanya C

    try to plan to eat your in between meals in between classes because those will be the quickest meals. I work in a lab and I can no eat in the lab, so I have breakfast, then eat a quick midmorning snack (yogurt), then lunch, then a quick mid afternoon snack (apple and string cheese) and then dinner.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Alicia-Lloyd/589767584 Alicia Lloyd

    I think 5 :)

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1395292098 Sherice Potter

    Hi… here’s a few examples of lean protein… organic chx breast (boneless, skinless), wild caught salmon, canned tuna ( I only eat the white albacore), grass fed beef (only lean cuts), organic eggs, organic greek yogurt ( I love chobani) tofu, quinoa, almonds or almond butter..
    I hope that gives you a starting point! :)

  • JenniferS

    Hi Zuzana, 
    I Just came across your website a couple of days ago, and I was instantly hooked when I started reading everything and watching the videos. I’m a really healthy eater already just b/c I’m picky with my foods and I tend to feel like garbage whenever I eat junk food. I also usually exercise 5-6 times a week (and yes I’m one of those people who you’ve talked about spending hours at the gym!). I usually do around 45 mins of cardio, and I work on my abs, and arms. Sometimes instead of doing my own workout for my arms, I’ll do a Jillian Michaels videos (so sorry for mentioning that on here, but it’s what I do). Lastly, I also figure skate 3 times a week for an hour and a half each session. Regardless of this, I still have a LOT of trouble losing weight and maintaining my weight, and frankly it’s taking up way too much of my time! I have a crazy job b/c I’m a dental assistant, so I usually have to be at for for 7:30am, and I don’t usually get out until 5-5:30pm (that’s a LONG day!), and on top of that, I don’t even get to eat lunch when I want; I have to run to eat in between patients, which is absolutely horrible b/c I’m always eating in a rush. I don’t think i can eat 5 times a day with my work schedule, so I was wondering if you have any other suggestions for me. Please, I need help!

blog comments powered by Disqus