5 Of The Biggest Weight Loss Myths Busted December 2014 | Page 5
Myth 3:
You need to eat 6 small meals a day to lose weight.
It is often recommended that people must eat 6 small meals per day if they want to lose weight. In
fact, if you are not hungry between your meals and you are getting all the nutrients your body needs
every day, you may not need to snack.
While, some people are better off eating 2-3 snacks per day as well as moderate sized meals, there is
no right or wrong answer to how many times a day you should be eating, we just need to make sure
that, overall, our calorie intake is less than our calorie expenditure in order to lose weight.
Often, people try cutting out snacks to help with weight loss. It is true that snacks can be
problematic for your waistline – especially if you make less nutritious choices such as chips,
chocolate or soft drinks between meals. However, depending on what you choose to snack on,
eating between meals can be beneficial for weight loss and can also be a great way to improve your
nutritional intake.
Whether you prefer to eat 3 slightly larger meals a day or eat 6 small meals per day, we need to be
careful of our daily calorie intake from both meals and snacks - the right portions are key!
Key Action Areas
Eating snacks between meals may be a good way to prevent you going too long without
eating and can also be a great strategy for ‘taking the edge off’ your hunger before a meal if
you tend to eat quite large portions.
Snacks can also be a great opportunity to include fruit, dairy and nuts in your diet that might
not otherwise be included at meal times.
If you tend to dive into a bag of chips or a chocolate for that3pm boost, try having a
nutritious snack such as a piece pf fruit, a small tub of yoghurt or a small handful of nuts
instead.
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