There are 2 key concepts in this section. Eating should be dining and that should be spread over 2-4 meals each day.
Dining takes eating to a higher level. Having a relaxing experience and richly nourishing yourself makes the whole food experience a very positive one. I’m not saying every meal has to be a holiday production but I’m suggesting we all stay in the habit of making eating a joyous occasion. It's trendy to say this augments our "relationship with food."
When we slow down a little, chew our food fully and consume comfortably, good things happen. Digestion works better. Satiety comes on a little sooner. And sharing a meal with others fosters a communal human experience. As opposed to rushed, stress-filled gulping, dining facilitates hormonal upregulation that drives bodcompopp.
The 2-4 meals distribution has significance for your goals and caloric needs. We’ll break that down further in some upcoming sections but we’ll simplify the concept here. If you are trying to cut body fat and consume less total calories, go for 2 meals. 3 meals per day is great for maintenance. And 4 meals will be necessary to support hard training or bulking/gaining phases.
Just like in your workouts, you can train your body to the system and it will adapt. Setting up a meal schedule has been shown to improve body composition and regulate appetite. Your body will recognize the pattern and you’ll generally be eating When Hunger Ensues Naturally (WHEN) and you’ll rarely have that famished, ravenous appetite from erratic eating patterns which can be potentially catastrophic.
Eating those EBD foods in a regular meal pattern (at least most of the time) establishes blood glucose control. This in turn helps you to maintain insulin sensitivity and normal metabolic health.
Snacks can also have a place for The Lifetime Athlete. There will be times when you need a pre-workout bump, you missed a meal, or are just a little extra hungry. Heed the signals your body gives you and use snacking effectively. However, like supplements, this is a practice which should look more fractal than consistent.