Anyone do one meal a day?

annalisbeth74

I posted this in the keto group and haven't gotten any bites yet, so I thought I'd try here.

Does anyone do just one big meal a day? I've been doing LCHF for 4 months now and have been totally keto for about 2, and lately I've sort of lost interest in eating past lunch. I have coffee with HWC for breakfast, a normal lunch, and when I get home from work I'm just not hungry enough to eat an entire meal. I usually end up snacking on almonds and babybels, just to get my protein in, but half the time I don't even want that much.

Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this, and if just one meal a day is okay?

Kitnthecat

I hardly ever go into the keto group even though I aim for keto.

Yes, I do one meal per day most days ! I started trying this out during the IF challenge in July. My old routine was to eat 2 meals daily since lunch had became unnecessary while eating keto. I simply wasn't hungry. But since I joined the challenge, I decided to skip breakfast and lunch and just eat one big meal at supper. I really like this eating pattern....to fast for 23 hours, and eat for one hour.

I have found that I seldom experience hunger. I do drink BPC usually in the am, but not always. (I can't give up my coffee when fasting.) So my typical weekday starts with coffee, then more coffee at work, and 8-10 cups of water throughout the day. Then I eat supper until I am full. But I can only eat so much, so I find that on average, my caloric intake is now lower than before when eating twice per day. I usually make sure to eat a variety of foods and by doing this, I don't feel that I am missing nutrients.

The most amazing thing I have discovered is that I have even energy levels all throughout the day. I am sometimes not even hungry by the time I am due to eat supper, but I usually do eat that meal anyway. On the weekends I like to do an extended fast of varying lengths of time. I will always eat if I get hungry or feel unwell. This could be anywhere from 30 to 66 hours so far.

I definitely think that eating one meal per day is fine. If lunch is the meal you like to eat, why not try skipping eating last lunch and see how you like it ? I figure that this is all a learning experience, and I learn something new each month, and I have learned that this pattern of eating suits me beautifully. Good luck !

Cheesy567

annalisbeth74 wrote: »

I posted this in the keto group and haven't gotten any bites yet, so I thought I'd try here.

Does anyone do just one big meal a day? I've been doing LCHF for 4 months now and have been totally keto for about 2, and lately I've sort of lost interest in eating past lunch. I have coffee with HWC for breakfast, a normal lunch, and when I get home from work I'm just not hungry enough to eat an entire meal. I usually end up snacking on almonds and babybels, just to get my protein in, but half the time I don't even want that much.

Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this, and if just one meal a day is okay?

My first thought is "listen to your body." Go along with it and see how your body responds. I notice that after days when I go above my carb goal and/or eat foods that are not on the AIP plan that I'm not as hungry the next day. I'll often have a broth or coffee for breakfast, then may or may not have lunch, and usually have a dinner. (I have to have broth or some protein with some medications I take throughout the day, but I have minimal food other than that). It's not something I try to do, it's simply listening to my body's cues.

I have a hard time getting my protein goals in that way, though. I try to eat 100-130gm protein (I'm 286 lbs, and have an autoimmune neuromuscular disorder so I can't afford to lose muscle mass), and simply cannot do that in one setting. So for me personally, one meal a day is not sustainable.

But if it works for you, and you can get your protein goal in, then why not try it for a week or two and see how it's going?

annalisbeth74

Ahh... Thank you! I feel better knowing that there are others out there doing it too. I'm tired of fighting it. One meal a day it is!

SlimBride2Be

I'm more or less eating one meal a day these days with some nuts and protein snacks (I don't call a chicken breast a meal!!). I have dinner with my fiancé every night so I've been gradually cutting down the other eating outside that meal.

pedidiva

Sometimes. If I am not hungry, I won't eat. believe me, I have enough fat stores to last me a long time. Usually, it's 2 meals/day.

chaoticdreams

If I'm not hungry I don't eat, so some days I only eat dinner with a few snacks. This is especially true on the weekends as I tend to sleep till noonish and go out.

kirkor

A lot of the LeanGains guys only do 1 meal a day: https://www.reddit.com/r/leangains

annalisbeth74

kirkor wrote: »

A lot of the LeanGains guys only do 1 meal a day: https://www.reddit.com/r/leangains

I've heard about that program. Thanks for the link! I'll definitely do some reading up this weekend.

BTW, I skipped lunch today, per all your advice; my friends and I were planning on eating out at my new favorite steak place, and I was worried I wouldn't be hungry enough if I ate (funny, I never liked steak before LCHF!). I've never been able to finish my meal there before, but I sure did tonight! Damn, that was some good filet!

lodro

I play around with it. If I know I want to have dinner, special occasions, I'll eat a little around 2 pm, some nuts, salad maybe and have dinner. But most days I eat a big lunch around 2 pm and have a snack or green salad in the evening.

kirkor

annalisbeth74 wrote: »

kirkor wrote: »

A lot of the LeanGains guys only do 1 meal a day: https://www.reddit.com/r/leangains

I've heard about that program. Thanks for the link! I'll definitely do some reading up this weekend.

LeanGains per se isn't 1 meal per day, but a lot of guys do that for convenience sake.
The full LG protocol includes IF, heavy weight training, meal timing around workouts, calorie & macro cycling based on work and rest days.

azcowgirrlup

I sometimes do only one meal in a day, but I don't plan it that way. If I am not hungry, I will forget to eat, usually because I had a very filling BPC.

KenSmith108

I'm starting to have trouble with lunch. I don't like the idea of drinking my calories but I think I've come to a crossroad. Maybe I'll be borrowing from the BP coffee idea. This is something I never experienced in my life, I was always first in the chow line.

GaleHawkins

One meal a day will knock people out of ketosis because that much protein at once and half of it converting to glucose. If that is not a deal for a person then go for it. Peter Attia writes about when he was doing one meal a day if you want to Google his name and subject.

If I want to lose weight I do about a 1300 calorie breakfast including almonds, coconut flakes, a boiled egg and a 800 calorie cup of coffee thanks to adding 5 tablespoons of coconut oil and 2-3 tablespoons of heavy whipping cream. The other meal will come at 3-5 PM which is 5 eggs fried over easy medium (whites do not run and yellows very thick running) and 6 strips of fried bacon along with four cups of coffee with 150-200 calories in each cup from use of half and half.

Last night about 10 PM I was hungry and ate about 100 calories of cottage cheese a cup of green tea plain and a couple sticks of celery. No over night weigh loss per scales but no gain either.

I think IF (intermittent fasting) is why I lose on two meals a day which still is around 2600+ calories a day. I am down about 40 pounds over the last year but was not very good at doing very low carbs/very high fats at first.