One Meal a Day, is this OK?

htowey

So my family and I have started a mini BiggestLoser competition last week and my mom has stocked the house with healthy foods and has made some changes to our normal dinner recipies to make them healthier (ex, switching from beef to turkey in chilli and going whole wheat breads and pastas) but my big question is, will I be ok if I only eat dinner. Currently I'm about 70 lbs over weight. I wake up really early for work and don't have time/not hungry for breakfast and I usually work through lunch (if i eat at lunch time i get very tired for the second half of the day). I drink a cup of coffee and tons of water (like 3 bottles) at work everyday and then come home to dinner. I've lost 9 lbs in the first week so I am losing weight but I wanted to get other peoples opinions on only eating once a day.

aolmeda8787

I do the exact same thing and have been losing a lot of weight. Pretty sure it's not the healthiest way to go but if it works for you and your schedule then why not. Just make sure for dinner you eat lots of veggies and get your protein. I take a multivitamin daily so I feel that helps with the not eating breakfast and lunch. It's not that I try to skip those meals I'm just never hungry until dinner time. With only eating once a day you for sure stay within your calorie limit. If you do want a snack tho eat fruits or nuts. My favorite is rice pudding with alittle bit cinnamon. Hope this helps and good luck !

htowey

how much weight have you lost if you don't mind me asking

aolmeda8787

So far I have lost 22 lbs in less than a month.

Laurend224

You can eat once a day as long as you get all your daily calories into that one meal. Welcome to the world of intermittent fasting.

AbbieBeckett

How many cals would you say are in your average dinner?
Yes, you will obviously lose weight, but it sounds pretty unhealthy to me, as well as impossible to keep up in the long run.
Someone else in your family may win the biggest loser competition by sticking to one meal a day, but if you do this properly, by using a safe calorie defecit, you're more likely to be able to keep the weight off for the rest of your life, not just for this family competition

mctheresa

No its never ok to eat only once a day . assuming you are eating a healthy dinner and the right portions , you are not getting the nutrients if that is all you are eating for the whole day . you could end up with many health problems if you keep eating that way ,also the calorie intake recommended to you from this app is what you should be eating daily within 200 calories of the top amount , losing to fast is a sure way to gain all your weight back once you go back to eating normally and trying to maintain your weight loss , you shouldn't consider it a diet , but a life long commitment to eating healthy

SLLRunner

Laurend224 wrote: »

You can eat once a day as long as you get all your daily calories into that one meal. Welcome to the world of intermittent fasting.

This.

Otherwise, it's just one of those unsustainable diets to lose weight really fast.

SLLRunner

AbbieBeckett wrote: »

How many cals would you say are in your average dinner?
Yes, you will obviously lose weight, but it sounds pretty unhealthy to me, as well as impossible to keep up in the long run.

I echo the question above.

However, it is not unhealthy to eat only one meal a day if your calorie and nutrition goals are being met. Intermittent fasting is common. However, I could not do it because I don't have the willpower and I like spreading my food throughout my day.

Always_Smiling_D

As long as you are hitting calories and nutrients in one meal that is more than fine.

rybo

teeselynn wrote: »

No its never ok to eat only once a day . assuming you are eating a healthy dinner and the right portions , you are not getting the nutrients if that is all you are eating for the whole day . you could end up with many health problems if you keep eating that way ,also the calorie intake recommended to you from this app is what you should be eating daily within 200 calories of the top amount , losing to fast is a sure way to gain all your weight back once you go back to eating normally and trying to maintain your weight loss , you shouldn't consider it a diet , but a life long commitment to eating healthy

Do not listen to this. Eating once a day is fine if you get all the calories you need.

rybo

Also just because you go from beef to turkey doesn't neccessarily make the chili any healthier.

SergeantSausage

I did one meal a day for nearly two decades and am doing fine today. Somehow, I even managed to put on 50-ish pounds over 20 years doing it, too.

Couldn't do it now, though. Restricted calories and heavy exercise make me too hungry all the time if I do on one meal a day.

Make your calorie goal/quota. Divide it into 10 meals, or eat 1 big one, it won't matter a bit.

SLLRunner

SergeantSausage wrote: »

.

Make your calorie goal/quota. Divide it into 10 meals, or eat 1 big one, it won't matter a bit.

I love grazing....

Apazman

Don't listen to anyone but your own body. If your body responds well to intermittent fasting, then do it. Too many times on this site, people will say "Don't do that, its unhealthy" or "that will never work" what they should say, is "that doesn't work for me, or I believe that is unhealthy". Yes, there are unhealthy behaviors, but if you think back 200+ years ago, it was not uncommon to only eat 1 meal a day. if you were poor or just a hunter, you weren't guaranteed 3 meals a day. In addition, there wasn't this idea of refrigeration either. So given all these factors, once a day is totally find especially if it works for you.

htowey

I think im getting about 2,000 calories at dinner maybe less, I haven't been counting the calories really just eating what my mom makes for dinner (yes i still live at home =[ ) but we always have a lean meat, two types of vegetables and then something like rice or potatoes (we've tried to cut back on the potatoes) and i've stopped drinking juices and beer and sticking with water trying to eliminate those calories

ems212

I used to do that, and then I realized I was wayyyy too far under my calories each day. Now I "snack". I don't eat meals at meal times, but I make sure that I'm not just eating one time a day...especially not at dinner time. I try to stop eating after 5 pm so I can have at least a 14 hour fast each night.

SLLRunner

htowey wrote: »

I think im getting about 2,000 calories at dinner maybe less, I haven't been counting the calories really just eating what my mom makes for dinner (yes i still live at home =[ ) but we always have a lean meat, two types of vegetables and then something like rice or potatoes (we've tried to cut back on the potatoes) and i've stopped drinking juices and beer and sticking with water trying to eliminate those calories

Since you're new at this, have you thought of tracking your calories for awhile?

AbbieBeckett

htowey wrote: »

I think im getting about 2,000 calories at dinner maybe less, I haven't been counting the calories really just eating what my mom makes for dinner (yes i still live at home =[ ) but we always have a lean meat, two types of vegetables and then something like rice or potatoes (we've tried to cut back on the potatoes) and i've stopped drinking juices and beer and sticking with water trying to eliminate those calories

If you really are hitting 2000 cals then this is totally fine, IM fasting is brilliant and works! I assumed you would be having small, low cal meals so I apologise for that.
The only thing that doesn't add up (unless you're eating a really huge portion) is how lean meat, veg and rice would equal 2000 cals.
Good luck at reaching your goals, I wish you success! xx

Laurend224

htowey wrote: »

I think im getting about 2,000 calories at dinner maybe less, I haven't been counting the calories really just eating what my mom makes for dinner (yes i still live at home =[ ) but we always have a lean meat, two types of vegetables and then something like rice or potatoes (we've tried to cut back on the potatoes) and i've stopped drinking juices and beer and sticking with water trying to eliminate those calories

Track and log your calories to make sure you are eating the correct (for you) amount. You don't need to give up or cut back on potatoes or rice, and you can absolutely have beer and still lose weight.

htowey

"AbbieBeckett wrote: »

The only thing that doesn't add up (unless you're eating a really huge portion) is how lean meat, veg and rice would equal 2000 cals.
Good luck at reaching your goals, I wish you success! xx

my mom ussually sautees the vegetables in oil, garlic, breadcrumbs ect. and the rice is sometimes rice-a-roni which has butter and milk in it i think... again im guessing on the calories i'm not 100% sure

GiveMeCoffee

htowey wrote: »

"AbbieBeckett wrote: »

The only thing that doesn't add up (unless you're eating a really huge portion) is how lean meat, veg and rice would equal 2000 cals.
Good luck at reaching your goals, I wish you success! xx

my mom ussually sautees the vegetables in oil, garlic, breadcrumbs ect. and the rice is sometimes rice-a-roni which has butter and milk in it i think... again im guessing on the calories i'm not 100% sure

Log what you eat on here. It helps a lot, and you want to make sure you are getting enough food, plus when your weight loss slows down or stops it will help you look at ways to improve. Without the information you won't know what is happening.

Now eat 1 time a day or eat 20 times a day, it comes down to overall calories. I typically eat 1-2 meals a day and have done so for the past 2 years.

brandigyrl81

I'm not an advocate for eating once a day but you have to do what works for you. Try your once a day method and see how you feel. If eventually you begin to get hungry throughout the day, don't sit there and let yourself starve, as this can lead to binge eating, begin to eat small snacks throughout the day. Also, if you're exercising, eating once a day may become pretty tough. Lastly, you don't have to eliminate potatoes, rice, beer, juice, etc. in order to lose weight. Learn to enjoy these in moderation...which means you need to start tracking your food in your food diary.