How many meals should you have in a day?

Eating right used to be a simple affair. With just three compact meals, you were done for the day. However, with today's life getting quite complicated and busy, instead of having proper meals we now try and fit food into our schedule or just eat when we feel hungry. You need not be told that this is not the way to keep healthy.

The pure act of eating increases ones resting metabolic rate - the number of calories your body burns just to support basic functions of your body such as thinking, breathing and talking. Your metabolic rate burns at a faster rate if you eat more frequent meals, this makes it essential to have light meals at least every three hours. Having a meal every day at the same time means that you will get hungry each day at the same time thus giving your body a clock to rely on. 

Staying for more than three hours without a meal leaves you feeling very hungry and increases your chances of over indulging in your next meal or result to unhealthy snacking in a bid to feel sated. Simple sugars are what we run for when we want to snack and these are sugars that are bad for your health – Crisps, chocolate, cakes…all unhealthy snacks. When you want to add weight, it is necessary to try and consume at least 6000 calories spread over six to seven meals in a day - minus the unhealthy snacks!

Eating less food or light meals frequently makes your stomach size small over time. Frequent meals ensure that your stomach feels full for longer and it also helps in stabilising your blood sugar and insulin levels. Eating large meals will only make you feel sleepy and lethargic. It is therefore wiser to spread the meals to small amounts to gain more energy, better focus on your work, and no stomach upsets. Knowing that you will have a healthy meal every three hours psychologically makes it possible stick to a healthy diet.

It has been observed that people who have light frequent light also meals weigh much less compared to those that have only three or less than three meals a day. Lack of time to prepare good meals should not be the reason why you cannot have the right number of meals in a day. If you cannot have a good meal, then opt for healthy snacks instead of going hungry.

Snacking doesn't mean slowly working your way through a bag of chips. But even reaching for so-called "health" bars, nuts, and fruit still leaves you low on certain good-for-you foods like vegetables and lean protein. Make sure your snacks involve the nutrients you really need and aren't geared toward convenience alone in the form of simple sugars. This ensures that even with you snacking most of the time, you still maintain a healthy diet.