Thread: Need Help w/ MRPs For Weight Loss

Hey all this is my inaugural post here, however I hope to be making many more! I did some searching and it looks like this forum is one of the most active muscle and fitness places out there in cyberspace, so I figured this would be a good spot to get some answers and get started.

First off I'm 29, 50 lbs overweight, and looking to do something about it. I recently got married. When I was in high school I was in the gym a lot, I actually enjoy it, just haven't had the right motivation to go back. Also I just started a job that for the first time in my life has me outside in FL in the summer working in the sun for 8 hours a day. So at the very least keeping my employment will ensure my cardio.

From everything I can gather, the six small meals a day program seems to be the most popular diet regimen. Problem being I don't have the time to prepare and eat six meals a day. I was reading an article that said the best way to lose weight and maintain muscle when trying to get in all your meals is by using MRPs. Problem is they didn't mention how that works. Do I want to do breakfast before I leave, 4 MRPs then dinner, or eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner and fit the other MRPs in when I can, or all MRPs and just dinner? I understand that most likely the article writer meant when you can't cook or carry food use a MRP. My question is what's the most effective way to use them to cut weight?

I know this was a lengthy post to get to that question, just wanted to provide some background.

Originally Posted by setotitan

Hey all this is my inaugural post here, however I hope to be making many more! I did some searching and it looks like this forum is one of the most active muscle and fitness places out there in cyberspace, so I figured this would be a good spot to get some answers and get started.

Welcome to IM

Originally Posted by setotitan

From everything I can gather, the six small meals a day program seems to be the most popular diet regimen.

Although that frequency of eating has some popularity, that popularity is not a testament to its effectiveness. There is no evidence to suggest that eating six times a day has any direct, positive benefits in regards to fat loss.

Originally Posted by setotitan

Problem being I don't have the time to prepare and eat six meals a day.

Neither do many, many people -- myself included. Eat as many times a day as you are comfortable; be it once, twice, or ten times. It doesn't matter. What is important is that you are able to maintain a caloric deficit over time. It's entirely unfair that many diet programs 'require' individuals to eat six or seven times a day to lose fat. To be blunt, it's bullshit.

Originally Posted by setotitan

I was reading an article that said the best way to lose weight and maintain muscle when trying to get in all your meals is by using MRPs.

If 'MRPs' are meal replacement powders, there is probably a 99.9% chance that the article was sponsored by the company selling those MRPs.

Originally Posted by setotitan

My question is what's the most effective way to use [MRPs] to cut weight?

I highly recommend ignoring the dieting program outlined by that article. Rather, read the Getting Started link in my signature and focus particularly on the part about dieting. In short, we ask that you sign up to fitday.com or FatSecret (they have a pretty cool app that I use with my iPhone) and track your calories for a week. Eat like you would normally eat. After you've done that, come back with the average grams of fat, protein, and carbohydrates that you eat each day. We'll go from there.