ONE meal a day?

Hypsibius

So, with friends in from out of town for restaurant week -- we ended up going to a restaurant every night. I didn't want poo-poo the idea (and it was a freaking blast with some great food)... but what I did do is skip breakfast and lunch both days to account for the Restaurant Week 3-course meal and drink at the end of the night.

Seems to have worked. Weight didn't shift... in fact went down.

Is this a "healthy" way to eat? Anybody do a day fast or one big primary meal a day? And drawbacks?

kommodevaran

If you get in enough of what you need every day and not too much over time, and your digestion etc doesn't suffer, it's healthy. I can't see any drawbacks if it doesn't make you lose control, or conversely, develop an eating disorder.

It's something people do, so much so that it has a name - "one meal a day", even an acronym, OMAD.

I don't do it, I prefer to split my daily intake into three meals, but also to keep those meals somewhat together, as in postpone breakfast a bit and have an early dinner. A normal day for me thus fits another IF "protocol", 16:8 or 18:6, funnily enough.

timtam163

As long as you aren't distractedly hungry, and as long as you are getting adequate calories and not dipping too far below your goals, it should be alright in the short run? I'd imagine that with time it would wear you down, but restaurant week is only for a week so you're probably not doing too much longterm damage. If you do get distractedly hungry or your energy takes a dip, it wouldn't hurt to incorporate some whole fruits and veggies as snacks during the day. Just tune into your body and see how you feel.

H_Ock12

I have eaten one large meal a day for a little over six months now. It works for me (losing and maintaining). On days that I lift or run later in the day, I might have a protein shake or Rx bar prior to my workout and then my meal immediately afterward.

InkAndApples

I generally eat one meal per day out of laziness. It hasn't hampered my progress at all.

cwolfman13

I don't know that I could get the calories in without feeling pretty ill...

when I do know I'm going to have a big blow out though, I tend to skip breakfast and have a pretty skimpy lunch...but I'd really struggle with not eating anything all day.

monica_delarosa

There is a book called The Warrior Diet that is similar to this. My mom is doing it successfully.

RodaRose

Here is a group: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/20634-omad-revolution

trigden1991

Recently I've been extending my fast so that I'm only having 1 meal and a shake. No negative effects so far.

Sheisinlove109

I'm not a doc but it seems like it would mess with your metabolism and sugar levels. Maybe check with your doc or a nutritionist. For loss itself probably has same rules of CICO.

For me personally if I don't eat by 10am I'm frustrated easily, get tired and my stomach doesn't love it when I do eat.

lemurcat12

It doesn't work for me (I normally don't care about the bread on the table but if I haven't eaten at all I go nuts, and outside of restaurants I'd have trouble getting enough calories and, in any case, enough protein and veg), but if it works for you I think it can be great.

yirara

I'm currently on a phone and cannot post or check properly, but I remember reading a while ago that extended fasts might have some influence on metabolism of mainly women which made them more suceptable to get diabetes later in life. It was somehow stress related, and didn't occur in men. Again: currently can't check unfortunately, thus if someone wants to debunk this please go ahead.

kommodevaran

yirara wrote: »

I'm currently on a phone and cannot post or check properly, but I remember reading a while ago that extended fasts might have some influence on metabolism of mainly women which made them more suceptable to get diabetes later in life. It was somehow stress related, and didn't occur in men. Again: currently can't check unfortunately, thus if someone wants to debunk this please go ahead.

I can't debunk it per se, and I'm not a scientist, but it just smell like bad science to me. The metabolism thing is perfect to scare people, and especially women. Without context, like what extended fasts means, it's hard to know what extended fasts do, why, and how. What if we instead look at it as stress and restricting food intake severely leading to disinhibition, and repeated disinhibition leading to obesity, and obesity leading to diabetes?

livingleanlivingclean

I have done it in scenarios like you're describing, but I wouldn't do it as an every day thing as I don't think I could personally eat a diet I considered healthy with sufficient serves of vegetables/fruit in only one meal without bursting and having digestion issues.

xxzenabxx

I'm eating one meal a day and feel awesome! I'm not too strict but sometimes I'll eat two but no more than that. It's really healthy because it gives the intestines and other organs proper time to digest food hence better overall health.