adjusting to fewer meals per day

[amchrista]

Hi all-

I'm about a week into whole30 and i'm struggling to eat less frequently throughout the day. I'm used to eating about 6-7 mini meals (i have low blood sugar) and I really want to train my body to only need 3 meals. I've made my meals really big and followed the template, but I'm still getting that hunger in between at about the 3-4 hour mark, no matter how big my last meal was. Is this normal, how long does it take to stop being a "sugar burner" and most importantly, should I snack when hungry or push through? I feel like my body will never adjust if I snack when hungry.

[Beets]

Tom himself said he was eating more than three meals at first. (I think he said four or five?) Your body will still adapt as long as you are following the template and not feeding yourself pure sugar boosts every couple hours. (Which is why it's good to eat a mini meal per the template, protein + veg + fat, instead of fruit or nuts.)

The three meals thing does take time so don't be hard in yourself.

[Tom Denham]

It took me more than a year before I got comfortable with 3 meals per day. I ate 4 or 5 meals per day routinely that first year and sometimes 6. There were a variety of reasons that I did not progress faster to 3 meals per day, but don't worry if you need to eat 4 or even 5 meals per day to be comfortable. Just stay with the meal template guidelines - http://whole9life.com/book/ISWF-Meal-Planning-Template.pdf - and eat often enough to be comfortable. I do think it is important to eat real meals and not "snack" on fruit or nuts when you feel hungry. Snacking satisfies your stomach okay, but does not give you the balanced nutrition that your body really wants so meals or mini-meals are better than "snacks."