Are 3 meals a day important? Ad does sleep really effect anything?

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  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    I'm really bothered by sleep deprivation in lots of ways (more hungry, less will power, more stressed/anxiety issues, lack of energy, mood issues, so on), but a schedule like OP mentions (about 6 hours per night) is wonderful for me. It's an issue when I'm routinely sleeping less than 5 (or waking up all the time).
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
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    jgnatca wrote: »
    I'm more worried about the sleep deprivation.

    If she's sleeping from 11pm to 7am she's getting enough. If she's regularly sleeping from 1am to 6am she's likely not getting enough. Her profile also says she's 18 and younger people recover from lack of sleep faster.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    Lack of sleep can also impact performance, reduction in performance can impact the calories out side of things...

    agree ..when I try to lift and I am exhausted my lifts absolutely suck...
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
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    Make sleep a priority. Having enough helps you in other parts of your life too.
  • FitPhillygirl
    FitPhillygirl Posts: 7,124 Member
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    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Why should no one eat after 8 pm?

    People can if it fits into their calorie goal. I hear a lot of, you shouldn't eat after a certain time or you'll gain weight. I eat something everyday after my late evening workouts and I haven't gained any weight.
  • FitPhillygirl
    FitPhillygirl Posts: 7,124 Member
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    ndj1979 wrote: »
    smaller meals throughout the day often helps with weight loss
    6 Meals a Day for Weight Loss
    http://www.webmd.com/diet/obesity/6_meals_a_day

    complete and total myth ....

    you need a calorie deficit for weight loss.

    You can eat six meals a day and be in a calorie surplus and you will gain weight.

    Correct. I eat 6 to 7 small meals a day for medical reasons and not to lose weight. There are times when my weight dropped too low and I simply added food to my small meals to gain a little back.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    Eileen_S wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Why should no one eat after 8 pm?

    People can if it fits into their calorie goal. I hear a lot of, you shouldn't eat after a certain time or you'll gain weight. I eat something everyday after my late evening workouts and I haven't gained any weight.

    When I was losing 95 lbs I ate dinner between 9 and 10 most nights, because I don't usually get home until after 8. Perhaps regularly skipping dinner would have been helpful, but I suspect not.
  • FitPhillygirl
    FitPhillygirl Posts: 7,124 Member
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    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Eileen_S wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Why should no one eat after 8 pm?

    People can if it fits into their calorie goal. I hear a lot of, you shouldn't eat after a certain time or you'll gain weight. I eat something everyday after my late evening workouts and I haven't gained any weight.

    When I was losing 95 lbs I ate dinner between 9 and 10 most nights, because I don't usually get home until after 8. Perhaps regularly skipping dinner would have been helpful, but I suspect not.

    I'm not an advocate Of skipping meals. Perhaps skipping a meal here and there does help with short term weight loss because you are cutting the amount of calories needed. However, this is not good for long term weight loss.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,988 Member
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    Kalikel wrote: »
    Sleep is important for me. I lose more when I sleep more. I crave sugar and carbs when I don't get enough sleep.

    How many meals I eat doesn't seem to make much much difference. I usually have five or six little ones. I feel more energetic. When I ate two or three big meals I'd feel stuffed, but then get really hungry before the next one. No fun there. So, I stick with a bunch of little ones. Little meals also help me get a bigger variety of food into my diet, which is very helpful, nutrient-wise. :)

    Ya, I "accidentally" ate an 800 calorie breakfast once and found it didn't keep me fuller for much longer than my normal 400 calories breakfasts.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited November 2015
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    Eileen_S wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Eileen_S wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Why should no one eat after 8 pm?

    People can if it fits into their calorie goal. I hear a lot of, you shouldn't eat after a certain time or you'll gain weight. I eat something everyday after my late evening workouts and I haven't gained any weight.

    When I was losing 95 lbs I ate dinner between 9 and 10 most nights, because I don't usually get home until after 8. Perhaps regularly skipping dinner would have been helpful, but I suspect not.

    I'm not an advocate Of skipping meals. Perhaps skipping a meal here and there does help with short term weight loss because you are cutting the amount of calories needed. However, this is not good for long term weight loss.

    I'm not into skipping meals either (in terms of regularly missing a good chunk of your planned daily calories), but I don't think there's any magic or science to any particular number of meals being correct. I like 3 meals or 3 meals plus one planned snack, depending on my workout schedule, but that's a personal preference -- lots of people do well on 2 meals or 5-6 meals.

    I just think it's funny that some people insist that one must not eat after some specific time that would mean I shouldn't eat my dinner (especially since it didn't hurt me to eat later).

    This is relevant here (although I don't think you and I are disagreeing), since OP was told not to eat after a certain time even after she said that one of the issues was adjusting to an atypical schedule, which could well mean different eating and sleeping patterns (in terms of time of the day) than most people.
  • FitPhillygirl
    FitPhillygirl Posts: 7,124 Member
    edited November 2015
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    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Eileen_S wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Eileen_S wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Why should no one eat after 8 pm?

    People can if it fits into their calorie goal. I hear a lot of, you shouldn't eat after a certain time or you'll gain weight. I eat something everyday after my late evening workouts and I haven't gained any weight.

    When I was losing 95 lbs I ate dinner between 9 and 10 most nights, because I don't usually get home until after 8. Perhaps regularly skipping dinner would have been helpful, but I suspect not.

    I'm not an advocate Of skipping meals. Perhaps skipping a meal here and there does help with short term weight loss because you are cutting the amount of calories needed. However, this is not good for long term weight loss.

    I'm not into skipping meals either (in terms of regularly missing a good chunk of your planned daily calories), but I don't think there's any magic or science to any particular number of meals being correct. I like 3 meals or 3 meals plus one planned snack, depending on my workout schedule, but that's a personal preference -- lots of people do well on 2 meals or 5-6 meals.

    Oh, I agree. But if a person is eating 2 meals or 6 meals a day and taking in the amount of calories to lose, gain or maintain as I am doing. I don't believe that eating 2 meals a day is the same thing as skipping a meal. To me skipping a meal would be if a person normally ate 3 meals a day that are lets say 400 calories each of example, and then cuts one of those meals out, for a total of only 800 calories a day. This is meal skipping and as I said above, only good for "short term" weight loss, not long term....
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    Eileen_S wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Eileen_S wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Eileen_S wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Why should no one eat after 8 pm?

    People can if it fits into their calorie goal. I hear a lot of, you shouldn't eat after a certain time or you'll gain weight. I eat something everyday after my late evening workouts and I haven't gained any weight.

    When I was losing 95 lbs I ate dinner between 9 and 10 most nights, because I don't usually get home until after 8. Perhaps regularly skipping dinner would have been helpful, but I suspect not.

    I'm not an advocate Of skipping meals. Perhaps skipping a meal here and there does help with short term weight loss because you are cutting the amount of calories needed. However, this is not good for long term weight loss.

    I'm not into skipping meals either (in terms of regularly missing a good chunk of your planned daily calories), but I don't think there's any magic or science to any particular number of meals being correct. I like 3 meals or 3 meals plus one planned snack, depending on my workout schedule, but that's a personal preference -- lots of people do well on 2 meals or 5-6 meals.

    Oh, I agree. But if a person is eating 2 meals or 6 meals a day and taking in the amount of calories to lose, gain or maintain as I am doing. I don't believe that eating 2 meals a day is the same thing as skipping a meal. To me skipping a meal would be if a person normally ate 3 meals a day that are lets say 400 calories each of example, and then cuts one of those meals out, for a total of only 800 calories a day. This is meal skipping and as I said above, only good for "short term" weight loss, not long term....

    Okay, that's what I suspected, and I agree.
  • vczK2t
    vczK2t Posts: 309 Member
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    IMHO, eating 3 "meals" a day is important. but if you have one main meal and 2 "snacks" that's better than one big meal for the day.
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
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    vczk2t15 wrote: »
    IMHO, eating 3 "meals" a day is important. but if you have one main meal and 2 "snacks" that's better than one big meal for the day.

    Eating just one meal a day with no snacks is fine for people who don't have a medical condition. As long as their calorie intake is appropriate a single meal isn't going to stop weight loss or cause issues. There are some people who simply can't stop eating once they start, so a single meal works better than 2, 3, 5, 6 or any other number.
  • robertw486
    robertw486 Posts: 2,390 Member
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    I just don't like to eat much earlier in the day, and often eat the majority of my calories after about 3 PM. I've done this for years, and as often as not I have a good 60-70% of my calories to eat in the later part of the day and evening. And if I work out, I have a LOT of eating to do.

    It's not unusual for me to be eating at 11 PM or later. I even log my food more based on my single day awake period vs the actual day starting at midnight. It just makes more sense to me. I don't want to start a days logging with calories I consumed just before sleep.


    As for sleep... I tend to suck at it and go in bad patterns. But it is important, and I catch up when I can.