What can the six meals a day diet plan do for you?

The six meals a day diet is popular for both losing and gaining weight in bodybuilding circles, but one doesn't have to be a bodybuilder to benefit from it. There are a lot of common sense reasons to consider the six meals a day diet plan.

At first, it may seem counterintuitive to eat that many meals a day if you wish to lose weight. However, one would not take their normal three meals per day and double them. That would surely be a recipe for diet disaster. No, on the six meals a day diet plan, one divides their daily caloric intake up into six meals per day. Of course, the daily intake on the diet will have to be slightly lower than the normal intake. So, one will be eating six small meals.

There are a few reasons why the six meals a day diet plan works. However, the main reason is that it avoids the feast and binge syndrome that many people encounter when they decide to lose weight without a specific plan. Going without eating for most of the day and then pigging out at night is a great way to gain a lot of fat. Your body starts to think you're starving, then, when you eat, it stores as much fat as it can, in case it's going to have to wait a long time for food again. Another reason is that going too long between meals can put your body into a catabolic state, where it feeds on muscle-and the less muscle one has, the fewer calories their body will burn at rest, making it easier for them to gain fat. One very pragmatic reason is that the six meals a day diet tends to keep one from feeling hungry, and constant hunger is the reason many weight loss plans fail.

Probably the hardest part of the six meals a day diet is to figure out how many daily calories one has been taking in before starting the program. Spend some time to get this number as accurate as possible. The, subtract 200-300 calories from that total and divide that number into six healthy meals. Two or three of the meals will probably be more like snacks (an apple and a small yogurt, an energy bar, a protein shake). It's probably not necessary to say that chips and a soda are not the kind of snack you want to include. You need healthy food with plenty of nutrients, not empty calories. After a couple of weeks, you can adjust the caloric intake up or down, depending on the results.

The six meals a day diet can help you lose OR gain weight

The same diet can be used to gain weight. One would just take their normal caloric intake, add 200-500 calories, and spread it out over six meals. Once again, adjust the amount of calories after a few weeks. Just be careful to keep the gain mostly muscle mass by not going overboard with caloric intake. The main pitfall with the gaining version of the six meals a day diet is eating too much at one meal, then not being hungry when it's time for the next. Of course, since one wants the added weight to be muscle, strength training is mandatory in addition to the eating plan. As a matter of fact, weight training and aerobic exercise are also a great idea on the six meals a day diet if you're using it to lose weight.