“Try to stick to small, frequent meals throughout the day,” a dietitian told the Eat This, Not That website in September. “I think that’s very important to speed up the metabolism to make sure you’re not feeling overly hungry.” “Early observational studies showed that people who were grazers—meaning they ate small meals throughout the day—tended to be thinner than those who were eating larger meals,” says Brad Schoenfeld, associate professor of exercise science at Lehman College in New York City. “But, of course,” he adds, “correlation is not causation.” Why would grazing keep you trim? “The general hypothesis is that if you eat more frequently, it will stoke your metabolic furnace, helping you burn more calories,” says Schoenfeld.