The Challenge: Many Tiny Meals

A friend of mine, who has trouble losing weight even when he tried a low-calorie, raw food diet, told me how one time he did lose weight consistently: at a boot-camp-style retreat where the organizers worked the participants hard 2x a day and fed them a high-protein meal every 2 hours.

Eating every 2 hours and working out supposedly "speeds up your metabolism." There is a lot of hoo-ha out there both confirming and denying this assertion, so I wanted to try it.

I set an alarm on my phone to ring every two hours with the annoying message: "Time to eat another 200 calories!"

The challenge: Each meal had to take no more than 15 minutes to prepare; 200-260 calories; high protein (at least 30%-40%); and contain fiber-rich carbs from fruits and vegetables instead of bread, pasta or other refined grain products. Steaming instead of sauteing kept the calories low, and employing measuring spoons kept the oil and dressings under control.

Here's a pictoral record of my assembled tiny meals.
(You'll notice there are only four, not five. In the morning I had coffee and a fruit smoothie before my workout, not pictured.)

This works for the Weight Watchers PointsPlus program, too! Each meal was between 4 and 7 PointsPlus, and added up to a 29-point day. Right on target for my plan.

Morning Snack

Broiled tuna steak with steamed yam: 220 cals, 29% fat, 37% carbs, 34% pro

 Lunch

Two thin cheese & salsa omelets with an Asian pear: 230 cals, 24% fat, 44% carbs, 32% pro

"Mediterranean Tuna Fillet over Eggplant Marinara:" 260 cals, 38% fat, 31% carbs, 31% pro

Dinner (above) and Evening Snack (below)

Salad with broiled tuna and a nectarine: 230 cals, 37% fat, 21% carbs, 42% pro

As you can probably guess, there was a big piece of albacore tuna steak that got carved up in creative ways! 

Result: I had a lot of fun today inventing these tiny meals. Eating a tiny meal every 2 or 2 1/2 hours meant I was never hungry, except once: I felt a little hungry after my morning workout, but I could easily wait until my next alarm. Each tiny meal felt satisfying, and I never felt full -- just not hungry anymore.

Best of all, I didn't get bored because I was documenting it all for you guys! 

Felt so proud of my "Mediterranean Tuna over Eggplant Marinara" recipe that I posted it on Weight Watchers.com. I encourage you to try it.

Next time I'd double the portions and refrigerate or freeze them to always have a healthy meal close at hand.