Another meal???

[redsquirrel]

Ok, kids- need your opinions-

I am still trying to lose weight. 10lbs would really make me happy. I do not want to add any more mass. In fact, I'd be fine with losing some. Basically what has happened since the pregnancy and what not, is I've kept the muscle but gained fat. So, I totally got on the wagon this week, and it's on....what I'm on the fence about is whether or not to add a 5th meal now. Basically about an hour after I eat dinner @ 8:30, my final meal; my tummy is growling an hour later. First meal is at 9:30 in the morning, and 8:30pm is the last...13 hr fasting time

I'm on the fence about this....Now I know 5 meals is optimum for burning calories and maintaining muscle. But, is overall calorie reduction better??

Here's what I've eaten so far this week:

Monday:
M1-2 whole eggs, 1 white...1/2c oatmeal
M2- whole wheat torilla w/4oz chicken,2 TBSP black beans,2 TBSP cheese
M3- shake, rice cake w/ PB, & apple
M4- 1/2 c wheat pasta w/ pesto & 5oz chicken

Tuesday:same, just no apple @ M3, & 4oz salmon w/ 2 c, green beans @ M4

Wednesday:
M1- 2 whole eggs, 1 white. 1/2 grapefruit
M2- 4oz chicken, 3/4c mixed veg, 5 oz sweet potato
M3- shake & rice cake
M4- 5oz flank steak, 2c broccoli

Thursday
M1-3 -same as Wed.
M4- 6oz rainbow trout, 2c green beans

Friday-
M1- 2 whole eggs, 1 white. 1/2 grapefruit
M2- 2 chicken fajita rollups (office lunch :( )
M3- 3oz chicken, 1/2c mixed veg, 3 oz sweet potato
M4- 1/2 whole wheat spaghetti w/ tomato sauce & 93% lean gr, beef. salad

So, what you guys think? I started drop sets for my workouts this week, and I'm couple that intense workout with 45 minutes of cardio done per day. 3 days a week doing cardio at lunch, and weights after work.

[coffee-guy]

I'm going to assume you're doing cardio between m2 and m3 and working out between m3 and m4 (and I'm assuming you already have some sort of PWO shake that isn't listed). If that's the case I would advise you to just add one more whole meal by replacing m3 (mostly the shake and rice cake ones) with something like m2 or m4. Then I would just make the shake and rice cake meal either right before your evening workout or right after (as close as you can "comfortably" get it that is). Of course if there is not a PWO shake then the above would make perfect sense for a first step as well...

If this doesn't make sense or if I am just way off base please give me some feedback as I feel like maybe I'm not understanding EXACTLY what you wish to accomplish etc....

[redsquirrel]

FH- I actually am not having a PWO shake...M4, however is only about 1 hr after my workout. So, since I eat M4 so soon after my workout, if I do M# right after, then I'd have to push dinner back, but have a bigger gap between meals. And, yes- I am doing most of my cardio between M2 & M3.

[redsquirrel]

I actually added a 5th meal.....I was just flat out STARVING an hour and a half after my 4th meal. And, my fasting time was too long.

Just 1 whole egg & 3 egg whites.

Funny how quickly your body remembers...After we built our house, and then the baby drama, my diet has been all over the place for the most part. I've only been doing this for 2 weeks, and I've already noticed some significant things:

1) I am hungry every 2 hours. I am now looking forward to mealtime...getting mad if I have to wait awhile! :)
2) My sleep is WAY better
3) On cheat day, I consume much less at any sitting.