To ask how many meals you eat each day?

[Jolleigh]

I'm 25 and most of my friends are a similar age to me. I've found that I don't really know anyone who doesn't have children who eats 3 meals a day. I personally just eat when I'm hungry (though I'm 8 months pregnant with my first so that's more frequent nowadays). What does everyone else do?

I would also question the "I'm not hungry" thing; appetite is in part controlled by zinc levels in the body (zinc is a necessary part of the appetite controlling mechanism, and also necessary for being able to taste things properly) - so if you don't eat properly for an extended period of time, then it's quite likely that your zinc levels are not at their optimum, which could affect both your taste capability and your appetite, making it a bit of a vicious circle.

I love breakfast as I'm ravenous by then! I eat 3 meals plus tea and biscuits a few times a day. I have a fast metabolism and am breastfeeding so I'm losing weight on that amount.

"I think 3 meals a day is usually too much unless one of the meals is very light (just a single piece of toast, say, or a banana, or a bowl of vegetable soup) unless you have a physical job, that is."

I count breakfast and lunch as meals even though they are small meals. I am never hungry first thing in the morning and can't get my head around the fact that some people wake up hungry. But I always have breakfast - a small bowl of porridge, a small bowl of cereal or a slice of toast, plus a cup of tea.

Lunch is usually a light meal. Today I had some soup and a roll (no butter). Often I will have salad or a sandwich.

I eat more in the evening and tonight I am doing sausages and mash with loads of vegetables. I can't face fruit early in the morning, and make up my five a day at lunchtime and in the evening instead. I don't snack very often as it puts me off my food.

I agree that there are a lot of posters with unhealthy eating patterns on here.

Have I understood correctly Kendodd that your children only get one meal a day? Or is it two small meals and one big meal (which is what we do)?

And all this 'just eating when I feel like'...food is more than fuel! I like eating a meal, a nice proper meal in the evenings with my fellow-inmates of the Inferiority Complex. And indeed being hungry for that meal means not having eaten a large amount at, say 5pm and that in turn means eating lunch (and possibly the aforementioned small snack).

Food is nice. Nice food is particularly nice. Life is short. Eat nice food. With other people in a sociable sort of manner. Or failing that a decent book.

*motherinferior - "something blokey".

As I joked to a friend the other day. Now I have incipient osteoperosis that means the medical profession think of me as having the body of a 70 year old woman. They like to categorise things.

In the old days it would have been something like a slightly less than fatal jab from a broadsword during a battle or gout from too much wassailing.

Instead I get an old lady disease. This is not what I planned for my dotage.

Food is indeed delicious and fabulous, but no point in eating if you're not hungry.

1-2 meals a day here. Never eat breakfast, can't stand eating until I've been up for at least a couple of hours.

If I'm in the office, I'll usually have something around lunchtime, more for the break than anything else. If I'm at home, 'lunch' can be anything anywhere between 11-3pm.

Will usually have dinner with ds around 7ish.

No eating disorders here either! Always had a small appetite and now I'm older I limit carbohydrates and eat plenty of fat which means my blood glucose is much more stable and I very rarely get ravenous.

3 meals, ideally all hot!

Ie porridge or eggs for breakast, or bacon roll

Hot lunch ( baked potato with filling, pasta, noodle soup, grilled cheese)

Hot dinner (meat and 2 veg, shep pie, stir fry, pasta, rice or similar)

I find grazing and snacking not very satisfying.

Also, it seems that on 3 square meals a day one's weight remains stable.

Once a day. I usually have a peice of fruit about 2pm. Occassionally a yogurt about 4pm and eat a meal about 6.30/7pm.

Thats it.

YY Cliff I also much prefer hot food and hate when I have to eat cold food, eg, when out and about and the only choice is sandwiches etc. I don't understand the people who don't/won't eat more than one cooked meal per day.

I also agree that cooked food helps keep weight stable and I think that this is because the alternative (sandwiches/biscuits/crisps/cakes) are much more carby and calorific, so when people say 'I'm not very hungry, I'll just have a sandwich' they are actually consuming more calories than if they had had a cooked meal in lots of cases.

Those of you who are commenting that some people here have unhealthy eating patterns, would you consider my (pre-pregnancy) pattern unhealthy?

I'd only eat twice a day. Either breakfast or lunch (normally lunch...as an earlier poster mentioned, breakfast food is rubbish!), plus a large evening meal. Evening meals are always cooked from scratch (I love cooking and eating). If I'm hungry between meals, I'll drink and possibly have a snack, often fruit.

Is it the fact that I don't eat 3 square meals that makes it unhealthy?

I can find eating with female friends a bit of a challenge.

As they seem to eat so little, I feel like a freak with my steak and ake pie with mash....ahem.

I wonder if a fast metabolism is something you are born with, or something that develops depending on eating habbits?

I find it a mixed blessing, skipping a meal can make me feel right ratty, tearful even.

OnIlkleymorebat, YES, I hate a sandwich from the fridge! So unsatisfying you then need crisps. Or chocolate. And not even enjoy it.

When I'm working 3, being cereal for breakfast, sandwich for lunch and hot meal for tea, plus snacks.

Weekends maybe 2 plus snacks as might have a late breakfast and an early bigger tea.

"I don't understand the people who don't/won't eat more than one cooked meal per day"

For a start, I am not prepared to cook two meals a day, secondly I don't have the appetite for two cooked meals a day either as my other meals are small snack like meals.

2-3 depending on what I can afford. Often swap with OH so that atleast one of us have dinner every day. Not optimal when pregnant but hey ho! Have to have something for breakfast though, or I can't function :)

I don't understand the people who don't/won't eat more than one cooked meal per day

I think this is quite typical for the UK. For some reason there is an attitude that one cooked meal a day is more than enough. It is quite different in other countries where every meal tends to be cooked. To each his own I guess.

I have 3 meals. I don't usually snack. I have two children and I am 36 weeks pregnant.

7am - breakfast
12.30 - lunch (usually soup or salad)
about 4pm I have a piece of fruit
7.30/8 - dinner

I'm a creature of habit!

3 meals per day

That's pretty extreme MoreBeta. Have you had it checked out by a doctor?

And 4 meals a day. One at around 05:30, something at 11am a snack at about 3pm and dinner at about 8pm. The 'meals' could be anything from a big plate of veg and meat/fish to a handful of walnuts.

I eat 3 x per day, similar amounts/calories each time, no snacks

I'm not a dietician , but AKAIK there is nothing magic about the number 3, the shape of the meals or the temperature of the food. It's about the balance and quality of what you are eating. Some people also find that if they go without eating for too long they get unpleasant symptoms.

I think most people know that surviving all day on coffee or diet drinks, biscuits and fags isn't very healthy. You might not be overweight but you are not looking after your body :-(

I eat loads compared to many of you on this thread, but I exercise most days and use an extra 700-900 calories so I'm a healthy weight . But I still don't eat crap all day .

Usually two, sometimes get away with one. If I have breakfast, I skip lunch. If I skip breakfast, I'll have lunch. Always have cooked dinner, other than when OH is working lates because I can get away with not eating dinner, cooking his and telling him I ate earlier.

Previously suffered with bulimia and periods of not eating at all. Thought I was completely recovered but being pregnant has really ruined my body image and I feel massive guilt if I eat. I only snack on fruit, other than rare occasions I feel like I can handle the guilt if I do eat chocolate. I hate being like this and it's making it hard to enjoy pregnancy :(