Healing the gut- my version!

Planks! My 5 minute plank workout is coming along great! :D I can now officially hold a regular plank for 2 minutes and a side plank for a minute. YaY! I still take quick breaks when switching between plank variations but I think I'll be fine without them soon. The up-down planks are coming along too and aren't as intimidating. Goals for the end of February- do the whole 5 minute set + 1 minute of Up-Down planks without stopping! Also, I want to hold a regular plank for 2.5 minutes (or maybe even 3).  I feel like yoga is helping out a lot planks too because it does require some ab work and it has a lot of back exercises.

How did I manage to get to the upper end of that scale???

Also check out my Nutritas Health Articles- inulin, haddock, broccoli rabe, amaranth, medjoor dates, scallions, gooseberries, cinnamon, star anise, maca. Make sure to check them out and like them on facebook ;)

I've been very much inspired by purely twins lately!!! Their whole heal the gut journey has been amazing and I kind of wanted to experiment as well. My digestion has definitely improved since coming off of my prior junk food years :) However, I do notice that I get bloated when I'm hungry or don't eat for prolonged periods of time (like 4-5 hours+). Apart from normal hunger symptoms, my tummy gets distended, gassy, and just feels bloated. Anyone else experience this?

It's fine when I'm at home because it's so easy to just eat an apple or some other snack in between meals. However, when I'm in the lab... well you can't have food in the lab for obvious reasons. Also, I'm not going to leave the lab to stand there and eat an apple... Not when I'm all into my experiment. Forget it!

Solution? This is something I've wanted to try for a while but never made it a habit. It's nice and simple- have four smaller meals throughout the day instead of 3 meals and a gazillion snacks. I know some people have 6 tiny meals a day but I'm not sure if that's for me. There is conflicting research out there with some saying that it's better to eat really light throughout the day as it keeps your blood sugar levels stable. Other people say that food will get stuck in your gut if you eat a little throughout the day (sounds ridiculous). So, like with most nutritional advice- I'll just go with how it feels for my body. All I know is 3 meals a day means I'll be snacking a lot and not necessarily on healthy things. Plus I feel like I function better when my tummy is satiated but not over-full.
My plan is to have not necessarily smaller meals but eliminate snacks. Since I'd be eating more frequently, I shouldn't be feeling hungry for snacks ;) To start I'm thinking 4 meals about 4 hours apart with water/tea in between whenever I'm not in the lab. I'll just play it by the ear and see how things go :)

Do you guys prefer to have the traditional 3 meals a day or do you like having smaller meals throughout the day?