It may not make much sense, but it's better to eat more, smaller meals throughout the day than three big meals. However someone who eats more often will lose or keep weight off because they are not depriving themselves of food when they are hungry and actually don't become hungry often. This is great for losing and keeping weight off. If you don't get hungry, you probably won't go looking for a quick snack and eat something that will put weight on you.

By eating more meals, your body never has time to get hungry where you feel it. You are still hungry when you eat but it's not that growling stomach type of hungry you normally have. This makes you eat less at each meal and balance out the amount of food in your system throughout the day. Because of this, you don't crave things seen in commercials while watching TV causing you to eat a pint of ice cream that you didn't really want. Your body gets to digest and burn the calories you ate over a shorter period but since there are fewer calories to burn, it is easier and you don't gain weight easily.

It's pretty easy to switch to this habit by using break times at work or home and have a small meal. It doesn't have to be a meat, vegetable, side dish meal every time either. It can be something like yogurt and carrot sticks with salsa. This may seem more like snacks than meals but the right combinations during the day will keep your metabolism guessing and then it can't stop. And you won't feel like you are cooking or making extra meals every day. In the beginning you may still eat more at regular meal times, but as you get used to the new eating pattern you will eat less because you require less.