eating all my calories in one meal

nad1996

Hey guys im wondering if for example my maintenance calories is 1600 and I eat all of that in one meal like at lunch and then skip dinner will I gain weight? Cos my body if facing so much calories in a short period and might store fat? Or isit ok cos its kind of like intermittent fasting
Thx

Whitezombiegirl

My husband has eaten this way his entire adult life and is muscular and fit at age 50 so no, it won't make any difference.

Plus its now being advised to reduce number of meals per day with higher calories as its healthier for the gut etc.

sijomial

Your fat is stored energy - but it's not fixed, when you eat more than your immediate needs some of it will be stored as fat. When you have finished digesting your meal you will be taking energy (fat) out of storage.
So over the course of the day there will be times when you are in a surplus and storing fat, other times in deficit and burning fat, for a very small amount of time you may be in a perfect balance.

Eating one meal a day as opposed to several times a day is like filling up your car's fuel tank once a day or topping up your fuel tank several times a day with the same amount of fuel.

What matters is how much fuel (calories) you put in and not the frequency of filling up.

RodaRose

Here is the OneMealADay Group: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/20634-omad-revolution

williammuney

I do it all the time

queenb3701

I actually might try this, what time do you all eat your meal?

Bxqtie116

This is what's called Intermittent Fasting and it's perfectly normal. The longer your body goes until the next meal gives your body a longer period to burn off fat. Some people eat all their meals at one time, some spread their meals within a 6-8 hour window, some eat normal for 5 days and decrease their calories to 500 2x a week. If you're fine eating once a day, that may be the best thing for you provided that you don't have health issues that require you to eat more often.

williammuney

queenb3701 wrote: »

I actually might try this, what time do you all eat your meal?

10am

Bxqtie116

I'm doing the IF and my window for eating is 12-8. I never really eat until 8, I'm usually done for the day around 6-7.

JDixon852019

Every body is different. Try it out and collect data. Then spread out your calories and collect data. Compare the 2. Find your own answer.

Dannigreen31

Yeh I do this quite often. Still same amount of calories

kendahlj

This seems like a tough way to go.

singingflutelady

I do this but eat at around 1 pm

Alluminati

kendahlj wrote: »

This seems like a tough way to go.

I think eating breakfast in the morning is tough.

Alluminati

I also think eating small amounts of calories a throughout the day is tough. I'm constantly hungry and it leads to overeating by nightfall. I would rather wait and eat all my calories at night because I sleep better with a full belly. I have lost 50 lbs this way.

Whatever helps you stick to your calorie goal, OP.

Unknown

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Tretop76

I've sabotaged myself eating one meal a day. I guess it depends on the individual. For me it's not the way to go everyday. But I find myself wanting to live this way more than eating the small more frequent meals. All of the comments were very interesting and informative.

callsitlikeiseeit

my boyfriend is thin as a rail (very fit from his job but thin as a rail LOL) and if left to his own devices he only eats once a day.

its not uncommon for me to eat once a day, though i prefer twice.

Bxqtie116

kendahlj wrote: »

This seems like a tough way to go.

It's really not that bad. When you think about it, majority of those hours of fasting is when you're sleeping. If you eat dinner at 7pm and get up for work at 6 am, that's already 11 hours since your last meal. You're just basically skipping breakfast and eating lunch around 11-12.