Eating Fewer Meals on the Road to a Six Pack — A Good Idea?

Sometimes, it’s all about simplification. When you’re trying to get a six pack, you just want to focus entirely on that. No distractions, nothing to stop you from reaching your goal.

And that’s great. I’m all for that attitude, even if it eventually has to balance out with a more overall approach to fitness in your life. We all gotta start somewhere.

What’s the Problem, Then?

For a lot of you reading this, getting a six pack is going to be all about fat loss. And when it’s all about fat loss, there’s no way to avoid making some big changes in your diet. You have to eat differently if you want to lose that gut and build up those muscles underneath.

For Some People, Fat Loss = Cutting Down on Meals

If you’re eating 3 meals plus a snack, it might suddenly come naturally to you to cut out one of those meals in order to consume fewer calories.

Just for a bit, you say – just until you lose that initial amount of fat and can start working on building up that six pack.

This is the worst thing you can do.

Don’t Cut Down on Meals. Increase Your Meals.

It seems counter-intuitive to hear, at least to some. If you haven’t approached a workout program in the past, the idea of eating 5 or 6 meals during the course of the day might seem like something reserved for bodybuilders in their bulking phase. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

The main reason you need more, smaller meals throughout the day?

Because 3 big meals (or even worse, just 2), are no good for your metabolism and blood sugar.

In the simplest terms: your body isn’t going to be functioning at its best when you’re letting it go slightly hungry and then overloading it. It’s not going to let you get the energy you need to do your workouts as hard as you need to do them to get a six pack, and it’s not going to burn fat as efficiently, either.

There are lots more explanations for why 5-6 meals are better than 2-3, but that’s the fundamental part of it: your body just works better with more, smaller meals mainly due to the fact that your metabolic rate increases and you have a constant stream of energy all day long for you to do your workouts and any other activities you might have.

How Can I Start Switching to This Plan?

It’s not hard. Even if you’ve got a pretty strict schedule, where you eat with your family, girlfriend, wife, boyfriend, or whoever, every day – there’s no reason you can’t adjust your portion of the meal to fit better with your more-meals plan.

Eat something in-between breakfast and lunch. Don’t consider it a snack – consider it a small, balanced meal. Do the same between lunch and dinner, or adjust all three so that it’s more well-spaced-out.

When you sit down to eat with others, just make sure your portions are sorted in advance. This is a great opportunity to start cooking more, too, because it allows you to make the eating and portion-size decisions.

Cutting Down on Individual Ingredients, Not Meals

The simple truth is that it is not just about the amount of meals you eat, but also what goes into those meals.

Currently you might actually be eating more calories in your 3 meals due to wrong food choices then you would in 6 meals with the right ones. You should be focusing on reducing sugar if you’re consuming too much. Or getting your carb consumption better in-balance with your protein and good fats.

But whatever you do, don’t think the solution is just to eliminate a meal. That’s never an option.