Sure, it seems inconsistent when you first consider it, but research has indicated that the best way to build and maintain muscle as well as burn the most fat is to eat smaller meals frequently. For long, the most recognized method to burn the most fat was by eating three meals a day, with some people eating two or fewer meals each day.

Even so, if you really want to build muscle and burn the most fat, the fact is that eating only three meals a day will not have a positive effect on your results. This is because when there are long periods of 4 hours or more between meals, the body naturally slows down the fat burning metabolism in order to conserve energy. This is a simple survival technique used by the body to stay healthy during times of starvation.

Since your body cannot possibly know that there is a fridge full of food 10 feet away from you, if you don't eat for 4 hours or more, the natural survival mechanism will kick in.

During this period that the body considers to be a "famine," it will burn less fat as well as break down lean muscle tissue. Since muscle is a metabolically active tissue that actually burns calories all on its own, this will further slow down your metabolism. This is clearly not a good thing if you really want to burn the most fat.

In addition to the decreased fat burning and increased muscle breakdown, taking long breaks between meals will destabilize blood sugar levels, increase hunger pangs, and lower energy levels.

In order to burn the most fat and keep the body's fat burning processes working efficiently and effectively, focus on consuming smaller meals more frequently throughout the day. You should ideally have 5–7 small meals at every 2 to 3-hour interval.

This might be difficult at first and may seem like a lot, but in time, if you keep at it, you will simply get accustomed to it.

Remember that this does not imply that more calories should be consumed in day. Ensure that the caloric content of your small, frequent meals is the same as the two or three big meals you would normally eat during the day.

If you follow this approach, you will obviously burn the most fat; additionally, this is a much healthier approach. If you eat only two or three large meals throughout your day, you will end up consuming much larger food portions than the smaller food portions consumed in the several smaller meals. This type of eating is hard on your body's digestive system as it is forced to absorb many nutrients at one time; also, this type of eating causes your blood sugar levels to skyrocket.

Smaller, frequent meals ensure that your blood sugar levels remain steady, which is critical when trying to burn the most fat; they are also easy to digest.