Are you a hobbit?

As the days trudge on, I've come to realize the truth about me: I am a Hobbit.

Remember in the LOTR movies, when Aragorn woke to find the Hobbits making breakfast over a fire?  You remember...that impromptu breakfast and almost gave away their position.  Well, after he tossed the food and put out the fire, one of the hobbits says, "But what about second breakfast?  Elevensies?"

That hungry little hobbits words rang true for me.  (Mmmmm...elevensies....)

After some research (thank you,Wikipedia), I found out that Hobbits enjoy "at least seven meals a day, when they can get them – breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses, luncheon, afternoon tea, dinner and (later in the evening) supper."

Of course I don't eat that often but it's pretty damn close.  I eat breakfast around 7 or 8, lunch around 11, a large snack at 2 PM, dinner around 5 and then a heavy-protein snack around 8.  That's *counts on fingers* five meals.  And on the mornings that I wake up super early, I'll add in another meal to keep me going through the day.

Now, most people look at me strange when I tell them how many meals I eat in a day.  What they don't realize is that they are small meals, not the carb-heavy mega-meals that most people eat.  I'll have maybe 3 or 4 ounces of protein, veggies, and sometimes if I'm really hungry, a fruit. 

Lunch is always my biggest meal - I'm rarely starving in the morning and I don't like feeling extra full at night (makes me too sleepy to work).  I usually eat leftovers - I fix a double portion of food the night before and immediately reserve half of it for the next day's lunch.  That way, I'm not rushing around like a crazy loon, trying to find something paleo-friendly to eat.

For example, yesterday's lunch was a small bowl of chicken and white bean soup, a handful of carrots sticks and two wedges of apple with peanut butter (my kids talked me out of the other two):

 Dinner that night was another bowl of soup and about 3/4 pound of frozen broccoli.

A few days before, I had an omelet stuffed with the leftover BBQ chicken from the night before (no cheese of course) and carrots:

That was a very filling lunch, thanks to all the protein, so I wasn't hungry until dinnertime 5.5 hours later, when I had 4 oz of steak and brazed greens.

(And just in case you're curious, that's a small plate - about 6 inches across.)


I feel best when I eat this way (small meals approx every 3 hours) - I don't get overly tired after I eat, I have endless energy, and I feel like I have a lot of concentration and focus in the afternoon and evening, my prime working hours.

What about you?  Do you like to eat a lot of small meals or a few large meals?