One meal a day

Romyarts2014

I'm really not sure regularly eating a whole chicken is healthy. Chicken is healthy in moderation, sure, but using it most days as your primary source of calories?

ALRIGHHHHT I GUESS I SHOULD OF BEEN MORE CLEAR


I CAN EAT A WHOLE CHICKEN !!!


BUT I DONT... JUST ENOUGH FOR MY CALORIES


THANK YOUUUU

Romyarts2014

I'm really not sure regularly eating a whole chicken is healthy. Chicken is healthy in moderation, sure, but using it most days as your primary source of calories?

I am so screwed then, cause I have chicken like everyday, and sometimes twice a day

looks like we are both in the screwed boat :sad:

Romyarts2014

Reality is this.... Do what works for you. Some people like to eat a little, often. Some don't. I have lost weight on IF pretty quickly .. there are a lot of benefits for ME Personally (Not based on science article, just my personal experience)

When eating one meal a day I (again, just me) Feel:
- Its a real easy rule "DON'T EAT' -
don't have to worry about scheduling or planning the day of food so I don't go over. Not counting points or filling out
spreadsheets

-With Only 1 meal a day, I naturally want to make it an excellent one
I look forward to eating, and plan a great home cooked meal. I stop at the store and get fresh ingredients, try new recipes
more often. I don't have to plan/prep/cook 3 meals a day .. just one, the effort is lowered and the satisfaction is raised.

- I feel a lot more open to new foods and veggies I previously didn't like
I hated onions really hated them. When a recipe called for them, i would as little as possible. When fasting I could really
taste the sweetness of the onion like never before. Now I add them all the time, same with broccoli and peppers. Food does
seem to taste a lot different when fasting (again, FOR ME)

- If I eat a big meal at night, I can fall right to sleep
I am not super hungry at night as I used to be. I eat that one big meal and I am good for the rest of the night. I don't know if
anyone else tends to go over calories especially in the evening, but I used to all the time. I would do well all day and then
mess it up at night.

- Super easy to track
Because its one big meal its pretty easy to enter into MFP and be totally accurate. I didn't forget to add a snack or extra side
of ranch with lunch salad.

- Naturally become more resilient to temptation
I found once I could fast for a few days, I became more confident about saying no to food I used to eat all the time, that I really
loved.

- Blood sugar lower for longer
Please note: The following is what I have learned on my own internet research, as such it may or may not be true, please
take it with a grain salt
I found that fat oxidization levels are at a mere 10% - 20% percent after eating, at about 4 hours after eating they jump to 50%
and after 6 hours its up to 80%. The Idea being I want to burn more longer and as efficiently as possible. The moment you
you eat food, your blood sugar goes up and fat oxidization level drops to nearly nothing and has to restart that climb back to
the top. You could probably accomplish a similar result with a low glycemic index diet as well.

The list goes on and on... I have tried a lot "Diets" but this simple rule of DON'T EAT seems to have lead me to healthier eating habits not through a program or rules or policies but through my own inner-personal desire.

:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

Romyarts2014

I'm not going to jump in on all the health discussions here, but I would just throw this out there: I'm in nursing school too, and I have to wake up crazy freaking early for my clinical rotations (4am, to be exact). If I didn't eat anything until 13 hours after I woke up, I don't think I'd make it. I'd be a heap on the floor of the hospital by noon.


If you're going to be waking up really early for classes, or especially for clinicals, I wouldn't recommend not eating until such a late time. Plus, with clinicals, you often don't really have time to sit and eat a proper meal halfway through- you're not guaranteed any breaks! So I'd definitely suggest you eat something before hand, or you'll be experiencing first hand the symptoms of low blood sugar.

Agreed. As a former nursing student, you'll be waking up for clinical around 4 AM and will be at clinical from 7AM-7PM on the days you have 12 hour shifts. You'll be running around like a chicken with its head cut off the whole time. You'll be on your feet the entire time. You'll be lucky to get your lunch break at the allotted time, let alone a break at all; as patients are first priority. Some days you'll find yourself stuffing your face in between seeing patients.

Food=fuel. You will NEED that fuel to get you through clinical, meaning you likely won't make it to 5PM having only consumed water all day.

my body will adjust , however in europe we dont have these extreme clinical things yall do like in america. I went to school there as well and by the time i was done with a day i felt like i couldnt do another..
its very nice pace here. with 1 hour break. and school is 10 minutes from my house enough to get my one meal in
and water really fills me

Romyarts2014

Oh man I wish I had the discipline to do one meal a day, because that meal would be 1700ish calories of pure epic gluttony. Mmmmm.......

ill probably get roasted for this BUT.. mfp said to eat at 2,100 calories. ive been at 1200-1400 calories per day within that meal.
Today I had chicken breast, cesar salad, cucumber a little krab and the tinyest bit of yoghurt all was at 1220 calories.
water rest of the day.
it has not been hard waiting but its only because im constantly going doing excercise, going to a store etc..
Anyone can do it.

aarondavitian

Throw in some healthy fats, make a dressing from raw olive oil and apple cidar vinegar, take 2 tbl of fish oil a day or coconut oil in a smootie......but 1200 is no bueno.
It just isn't.

You could be hurting your results.

Romyarts2014

Ok so I re went through all of the comments. I think I will add in one snack through out the day with 200-300 calories to get some more calories in. I have been floating between 1200-1400 and MFP set me at 2100. However I think staying at around 1500-1600 calories might be best ?

Romyarts2014

WOAH HOW COOL!!!!!

So i guess this guy dosent count? looks like his metabolism is horrid


https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1257158/from-363-4-to-197-7-lbs-my-one-meal-a-day-success-story/p1


https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1241325/how-to-do-one-meal-a-day-the-basics/p1

Showcase_Brodown

As repackaged from the informed responses, one meal is fine, do what works for you. The important thing is total calories for the day (or week, if you prefer). I usually do 2 meals, in which I have no problem getting enough calories/nutrients. If you can cram it all into one and it's not bothering you to go without food for that long, do it.

Romyarts2014

I dont even need to do the snack. i can do what ive been doing but ad a juice or something to add cals

It violates all modern dietary advice, but this is how our hunter-gatherer ancestors ate since the time before humans could even be called humans. And this is the ONLY way I know of that basically guarantees that you will lose the weight and keep it off forever. Not only that, but you will feel better and be sick less. I am living proof. Here are the basics...

#1) Pick a goal weight range--not a weight, but a weight range of about 15 pounds since we humans are always in a state of flux. This will change as you get more confidence and approach where you first set out to be at.

#2) Weigh yourself to begin with. Weigh yourself when you wake up and use the same scale.

#3) Continue to weigh yourself ONLY ONCE every seven days. Don’t break this rule! Pick a day of the week and weigh yourself on that day without fail. Body weight fluctuates, so don’t weigh everyday. You will psych yourself out. For every 3,500 calories reduced over 7 days, that is generally 1 pound of body fat lost. You lose weekly, NOT daily. So weigh weekly.

#4) Set aside a 4-hour window to eat in. It should be the same time everyday. It can be morning, noon, or evening. It won’t change the results, but keep the same window everyday.

#5) Eat your one meal within your window always. Do not vary the times.

#6) Eat with "the 4 ones" in mind…

A. Only ONE meal per day - no snacking or anything with calories afterwards. Any medications or supplements can be taken with the meal. Eat whatever you want. You'll find you crave healthier foods as time passes and your stomach shrinks. Don't worry about that now. Just no "junk food" (i.e. foods like chips or candy that you'd never want to make a meal of anyway).

B. Eat ONE average-sized dinner plate completely filled up - including any desserts, sauces, etc. No eating from containers or bags, but fill up your plate. Don’t starve (there is a difference between being hungry and starving, btw). The idea is not to starve, but to shrink your stomach back to a reasonable size. This is especially important if you are a binge-eater and can consume six plate-fulls of food and thousands of calories per day. Don't try to overdo your efforts. Fill up. It is mightily difficult to get more than 1,700 calories on one plate. This is a form of de facto calorie-counting, but also invokes the fasting portion to reset and regulate blood-sugar levels and metabolism. This is why this plan works when others do not. There is a reason why every culture the world over has historically had fasting as an integral part of their regimens. It helps the mind and body.

C. Have ONE calorie beverage with the meal - this will help get your calories (beer, milk, or juices, but should generally be no more than 12 to 16 oz in size). Save the calorie-free beverages for later as meal replacements. You want your body to associate them with no insulin production.

D. Finish within ONE hour. Eat and be done with it.

#7) After the meal, only calorie-free liquid consumption can be had, like water, coffee, and teas. Diet sodas and water enhancers are also an option, but teas and coffees are preferred since they aid in weight loss tremendously and have next to no calories at all. It is best, however, to vary your beverages since you build up resistance to the weight loss effects if done every single day. Mix them up.

*** If you are diabetic and have unsafe blood-sugar drops, you can use juices to raise it back up, but only if medically necessary to do so. You don’t want your pancreas active during fasting. ***

#8) At least twice a week at meals, consume 1 cup of the juice of your choice with two tablespoons of raw, un-distilled apple cider vinegar. This is an old folk remedy, but will help enormously in losing weight. It makes the body more alkaline and has a plentitude of health benefits.

#9) Allow one splurge day per week. For this splurge, you still eat one meal, but ignore the one-plate/one-beverage rules. Try not to gorge, but it’s ok if you do (generally, when you are more thirsty than hungry, you can stop eating). The splurge will push your metabolism into high gear and help to make up for any deficiencies. Vary your splurge days, but never have two splurge days back to back unless you are close to your goal weight.

#10) Do not deviate from any of the above rules. You can have what you want, but you only have 23 hours at the longest until your next meal. Don’t get talked out of it. OMAD doesn’t “teach your body to store fat,” does not “mess up your metabolism,” and is not “unhealthy.” Don’t listen to the parrots. They only know what they hear from the nonsense dietary wisdom of their time, which happens to be false.

This will work if you do it. “The shakes” will go away and you’ll feel better as the weeks progress, although the first week will be difficult. It is no different from a drug addict having to detox. You must learn to break your dependence on food. Your following your cravings and psychological eating is what made you need to lose weight in the first place, not pigging out at Thanksgiving. By eating at the same time everyday, you will never again struggle with weight for as long as you do this. But your body will always go for what it is IN your stomach instead of ON your stomach if you keep up the multiple feedings. This is why those who carry on about eating multiple times a day either don’t lose weight, or don’t lose beyond a certain point. Serious weight loss requires being a little hungry, even though this is against modern dietary advice.

This demands some sacrifice, yes, but the difficulty passes, and it calls for less sacrifice than merely “moderating” portions three times a day. It is precisely because this is difficult that you know it will work--because anything worth anything costs something. Don’t give up. It doesn’t matter what anyone else says or does. For you, you eat once a day. Stick to that resolution and the pounds will fall right off!

Apazman

Reality is this.... Do what works for you. Some people like to eat a little, often. Some don't. I have lost weight on IF pretty quickly .. there are a lot of benefits for ME Personally (Not based on science article, just my personal experience)

When eating one meal a day I (again, just me) Feel:
- Its a real easy rule "DON'T EAT' -
don't have to worry about scheduling or planning the day of food so I don't go over. Not counting points or filling out
spreadsheets

-With Only 1 meal a day, I naturally want to make it an excellent one
I look forward to eating, and plan a great home cooked meal. I stop at the store and get fresh ingredients, try new recipes
more often. I don't have to plan/prep/cook 3 meals a day .. just one, the effort is lowered and the satisfaction is raised.

- I feel a lot more open to new foods and veggies I previously didn't like
I hated onions really hated them. When a recipe called for them, i would as little as possible. When fasting I could really
taste the sweetness of the onion like never before. Now I add them all the time, same with broccoli and peppers. Food does
seem to taste a lot different when fasting (again, FOR ME)

- If I eat a big meal at night, I can fall right to sleep
I am not super hungry at night as I used to be. I eat that one big meal and I am good for the rest of the night. I don't know if
anyone else tends to go over calories especially in the evening, but I used to all the time. I would do well all day and then
mess it up at night.

- Super easy to track
Because its one big meal its pretty easy to enter into MFP and be totally accurate. I didn't forget to add a snack or extra side
of ranch with lunch salad.

- Naturally become more resilient to temptation
I found once I could fast for a few days, I became more confident about saying no to food I used to eat all the time, that I really
loved.

- Blood sugar lower for longer
Please note: The following is what I have learned on my own internet research, as such it may or may not be true, please
take it with a grain salt
I found that fat oxidization levels are at a mere 10% - 20% percent after eating, at about 4 hours after eating they jump to 50%
and after 6 hours its up to 80%. The Idea being I want to burn more longer and as efficiently as possible. The moment you
you eat food, your blood sugar goes up and fat oxidization level drops to nearly nothing and has to restart that climb back to
the top. You could probably accomplish a similar result with a low glycemic index diet as well.

The list goes on and on... I have tried a lot "Diets" but this simple rule of DON'T EAT seems to have lead me to healthier eating habits not through a program or rules or policies but through my own inner-personal desire.

:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

Thanks.:)

arguablysamson

Bottom line: OMAD works.

Nuff said.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

Romyarts2014

Bottom line: OMAD works.

Nuff said.

Huh

One meal a day

mfp2014mfp

I couldnt do it because I turn into super cranky lady if I dont eat regularly, but if it works for you, why not, I wish you all the best :flowerforyou:

prettygirl326

You're right. The last reserve your body pulls from is protein. When you do water facts for a very longtime, you start by losing water weight, then fat then muscle. Once the body is done pulling from stored glycogen, it will burn fat at a high rate converting it to energy.

vinyladdict

My wife and I started eating one meal per day on Monday the 16th. I'm 6'5" and started at 341, while my wife is 5'2" and started at 154. Water consumption for myself is about 1 to 1.5gal per day, while my wife drinks between .5 to .75 gal perday. Since then, I have lost 14 lbs while my wife has lost 6.5. Other than normal chores around the house, we have been mainly sedentary. I've read articles and forums about this lifestyle, and a lot of people eat what they want within a two hour window per day. I would love grill up cheeseburgers, bake pizzas and eat pastas once a day to lose weight, but it's not optimal. I used to weigh about 425 and lost over 100 eating high protein with low carb veggies. The past couple of years I've been up and down, eating small meals per day and counting calories, to come home to same bland dinner of a protein and veggies. It got old after a while.

What I like about this diet is that I can have some carbs when I get home. A medium sized red potato, a few pieces of sushi, an ear of corn, a serving of baked beans, a slice of cornbread, whatever. I've read that you can stay in ketosis if you can be within 50g of carbs per day. We also incorporate one caloric beverage, that's not a soda, into our diet. I have a beer while my wife has a glass of Fusion juice. Dinner just tastes so good and it's not as boring as eating the same type of meals to lose weight gets. Coming home to a huge salad, medium tater, a lean burger, and a tasty beer makes me feel a little more normal.

There's a difference from feeling a hunger pain and thinking you're starving and actually starving. Water curbs hunger quite well. If you need a small snack to get you through the day, just make it a healthy one.

I feel great, have lots of energy, and have been sleeping like a bear. Waking up 10-12 nights a night is down to about 2-3 now.

ljb304

Also a don't knock it until you try it note for those who say they couldn't got that long without food or they would have no energy, be cranky, etc.

I thought that too, but still decided to give fasting a try. I've never been less cranky in my life (except with my husband but there's no help for that ) and I have more energy than ever too.

NinjaJinja

I'm a two meals a day kind of girl. I've never been keen on breakfast, not even as a kid. Breakfast was thing I had to force myself to eat because lunch was too late in the day for me to get to without starving completely to death. If left to my own devices I would eat my first meal around 10 am. This was clearly not compatible with school. Now that I"m an adult and have a fairly flexible job, I can push lunch off until 11 with the help of a cup of coffee. Another cup in the afternoon to tide me over until dinner. Dinner is the big meal. This arrangement works well for me because when I was regularly eating breakfast and dieting, I didn't have enough calories left over to fit in a good sized portion of the meals I could actually cook. Solution was to cut out breakfast and save the calories so I could have a nice dinner. I don't miss breakfast at all - I can sleep in a bit now instead of having to get up and eat. I also found that even when I did eat a 300-400 calories breakfast at 7 am I was starving to death by 11 am. One cup of coffee around 9 am now and I'm barely hungry come 11. Eating more frequently actually makes me MORE hungry. A large meal once a day can hold me for 12 hours though. Go figure.

vinyladdict

It is still an adjustment that I am not eating 3-4 small meals and then dinner everyday, but I feel incredibly normal doing one meal a day. My wife and I are enjoying the consistent losses in weight, uptick in energy, and better sleep. Everyone that I have talked to about our lifestyle change have been highly critical except for one person. There are pluses and negatives to any kind of diet one may partake in. However, I see eating one large healthy meal a day a lifestyle change and in no way a, "Fad diet."