Easy 5 Meals a Day to Help Lose Weight

"Three square meals a day." Everyone has heard this adage, but it might not be sound advice for those trying to lose weight. Instead, eat five mini-meals per day to hinder hunger and boost metabolism.

Why Five?

According to a 2008 Men's Health article, the principle behind eating five small meals--sometimes referred to as "mini-meals"--a day is simple: Eating more frequently, despite the meals' smaller sizes, is more satisfying. Additionally, eating frequently keeps protein levels high, which helps build muscle. This is because the body can metabolize only a certain amount of protein at one time; therefore, it's best to spread it out over the entire day in smaller quantities.

Schedule

Kick off your day by eating within 30 minutes of waking up. Space your mini-meals to about every two to three hours throughout the day, ensuring that you never get hungry between meals. A typical schedule could look like this:

7 a.m.: Breakfast
10:30 a.m.: Mid-morning snack
1 p.m.: Lunch
4 p.m.: Mid-afternoon snack
7 p.m.: Dinner

Although some of the "meals" are here called "snacks," keep in mind that the caloric differences between them will be small to none.

Caloric Intake

To determine how much you should eat at each sitting, you need to first determine how much you need to eat during the entire day. Do this by calculating your basal metabolic rate (BMR) by using the following formula:

Women: BMR = 655 + (4.35 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years)
Men: BMR = 66 + (6.23 x weight in pounds) + (12.7 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years)

For example, a 185-pound, 5-foot-9-inch, 24-year-old woman's basal metabolic rate is 1671.25. Then, you need to use the Harris Benedict equation to find the magic number of calories you should eat per day. Multiply your BMR by the amount of exercise you do: x1.2 (sedentary), x1.375 (light), x1.55 (moderately), x1.725 (heavy), x1.9 (extreme).

The aforementioned 24-year-old does light exercise; therefore she needs to eat 2,298 calories per day to maintain her weight. To lose weight, she must cut 500 calories per day for a total of 3,500 calories--one pound--per week, making her total caloric intake 1,798 per day.

Divide this by 5 to determine how many calories you should eat per meal. In this case, it's about 360. That number isn't rigid. If you eat 300 calories at one meal, you can eat 420 at another. Just make sure it all adds up to your per-diem caloric intake.

What To Eat

According to a 2005 Washington Post Article, "Mini-Meals, Minnier Me?", it's important to mix up your meals by including protein, carbs (which provide fiber), and a little bit of healthy fat at each meal. Pairing these different types of foods together is key to feeling satiated, which helps aid weight loss.

An example of a breakfast that includes all three elements is a slice of whole-wheat toast (carbs) topped with natural peanut butter (protein and healthful fat). A dinner example is chicken breast (protein), cooked in olive oil (fat) and paired with sweet potatoes (carbs).