There has been a debate raging in the fitness industry for a long time over how often we should eat.  And I’m here to tell you that it really makes no difference.

So called experts will tell you that you must eat 6 times a day because it will keep your metabolism going all day long, and help you burn more fat.  It seems legit, and many have gotten great results that way, but as they say there are many ways to skin a cat.

Those same experts are probably attempting to sell you a solution or product that helps you achieve your goals with that approach.  While there is nothing inherently wrong with that, just don’t be fooled into thinking it’s the only way you can find success.

As I mentioned here calories are the largest key to fat loss.  How those calories are broken down throughout the day could be in 6 meals, 4 meals 2 snacks, or any other variation that fits your lifestyle.  That means we need to use our head and figure out what works based on our work schedule, family commitments, and the many other obligations that we face day to day.  And realize that will look different for each one of us.

It may be easier to just buy the 6 meal program that has a lot of nice “Before and After” photos of the results of others.  You know the one where the guy looks like death in the first photo and in the second is in great shape, overly tan, and smiley.

The reason these types of program work so well a lot of time,s is because we can just plug and chug so to speak.  We go and stock up on the foods the program tells us to buy, we follow the meal plans, and completely stop eating all the foods we like and enjoy.

For the first few weeks we are pumped about the program and adherence comes pretty easy.  We don’t mind skipping the ice cream for a pile of vegetables, and the fries are foregone for carrot sticks.  You’ve probably even made some pretty good progress and lost some body fat.

However, once the shiny new car smell wears off we start to crave the foods we cut out, it’s a huge burden to take a break every 2 hours to make sure we eat, and we start to feel like we’ve failed if we miss meals.

Therein lies the rub.  We tend to be overly dogmatic in our approach to applying that program without taking into account our lifestyle.

While executing those programs may have gotten us some results ,you know what will happen when the 12 week program comes to an end and we start back on a steady diet of beer and chicken wings.  If the program hasn’t truly taught us how to make long term realistic changes, then we are right back at square one.

If the 6 meal approach works for you great go for it.  However you can be just as successful with a one meal a day approach if that better suits your needs, because at the end of the day it is total calories that count.  Of course I’d remiss if I didn’t mention that with certain medical conditions you may need to find an approach that best addresses those needs as well, but even then we still need to keep in mind what works for us.

A healthy nutrition plan does not mean that your are destined to a life of dull, tasteless food.  In fact I’d go so far as to say a healthy nutrition plan involves a little ice cream (our whatever your guilty pleasure of choice) from time to time.  Find new and tasty ways to season and spice different foods for variety, and be sure to try new foods as well.

Much of our culture and family events revolve around food, and as long as we make conscious decisions about how much and when we choose to indulge, you shouldn’t feel like you are an outcast due to trying to stick to some unrealistic meal plan.