Immediately after eating, one's metabolism rises temporarily to digest what has been eaten. It's called "thermogenesis." We all do it.
It's helpful to harness it. Exercise done during thermogenesis will burn more calories than exercise done at other times.
That means that if you get the amounts right, and the time frame right, and the right amount/duration of exercise-- you not only get a constant-fuel state and are never really very hungry (unless you've exercised your buns off), you ALSO burn not only most of what you ate, but a bit more.
You burn off weight most efficiently when you can balance all of that.
So-- the mini-meals alternating with activity WORK, powerfully and pretty painlessly. :~)