Eating your biggest meal at lunch!

sweetie1975

I'm thinking of experimenting with this and I know it's not a new concept. I'd like to eat my biggest meal which would normally be supper during lunchtime to help with weight loss. How many of you do this?

PercivalHackworth

It won't help for weight loss. To make it simple, if your body needs more than you eat, you loose weight.
If you eat your biggest meal at lunch, it won't change anything, since it's the overall that matters

melsinct

Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't, depending on my schedule, especially if I have to go out to eat during the day with clients. You are still taking in the same amount of calories, so I don't think you'll lose any faster. However, if eating that way keeps you fuller longer then go for it. Some people do the 6 small meals throughout the day, others do a big lunch/small dinner...for me, I generally prefer a bigger dinner in the evening. If not I tend to get snacky at night. Find what works for you!

Lesa_Sass

I have found that when I eat a larger lunch, it keeps me fuller longer, which means I am not eating dinner at 5:30. If I can hold off until 6:30 or 7, then the chances are better that I will not snack later that evening. Which means less calories and more weight loss for me.

sweetie1975

What I mean by helping with weight loss is that I have found in the past that if I eat a heavier healthy lunch, then i'm not really that hungry for supper and not eating as much in the evening.

sweetie1975

I have found that when I eat a larger lunch, it keeps me fuller longer, which means I am not eating dinner at 5:30. If I can hold off until 6:30 or 7, then the chances are better that I will not snack later that evening. Which means less calories and more weight loss for me.

That's exactly what I'm talking about

erickirb

It won't help for weight loss. To make it simple, if your body needs more than you eat, you loose weight.
If you eat your biggest meal at lunch, it won't change anything, since it's the overall that matters

^ this

Meal timing, size, and frequency has very little to do with weight loss. TUless it helps you stay with your calorie target.

little_old_me

That's what my parents do. They are in thier 70's and since they aren't as active as they uses to be this helps keep thier weight down. I was thinking of doing the same. The more I eat at night the worse off I am.

theoneandonlybrookie

I often do, simply because we have a chef at my work and we eat for free! I actually don't like it, though. It means that I have to delay my run until even later in the afternoon.

poundhound52

Just been to the Doctor to start my weight loss program. Her recommendation was to not eat one "big" meal at any time but to break it up to 5 or 6 meals in a day. This has 2 benefits. It keeps the body in longer digestion periods increasing the metabolism making it (the body) feel like it's being fed. Important if you've had cycles of feast and famines and your body has taught itself to save for the famine times. Also, it helps keep the blood sugar levels leveled. I've only been doing this for a couple of days, so I can't give a yea or nay on the success, but it does make sense. She also recommended no snacking or eating after 6 unless I've just completed a cardio work out.

erickirb

Just been to the Doctor to start my weight loss program. Her recommendation was to not eat one "big" meal at any time but to break it up to 5 or 6 meals in a day. This has 2 benefits. It keeps the body in longer digestion periods increasing the metabolism making it (the body) feel like it's being fed. Important if you've had cycles of feast and famines and your body has taught itself to save for the famine times. Also, it helps keep the blood sugar levels leveled. I've only been doing this for a couple of days, so I can't give a yea or nay on the success, but it does make sense. She also recommended no snacking or eating after 6 unless I've just completed a cardio work out.

this was bad advice, for the famine response to actually happen will take days, not hours of not eating. And by eating the same amount of calories, your body will burn the same amount during digestion once averaged for the full day. And the eating after 6 is BS, if you didn't reach your calorie goal you should eat after 6, plus would this not go against her famine response "idea" when she told you to eat ofter. Wow she even contradicted herself with that one.

The reason many people say don't eat after a certain time is that that is when they typically over eat, but if you plan your day, and don't eat more than your caloric goal timing has little or nothing to do with weight loss.

I do find though if I do it one big meal I am sluggish as my body uses a lot of energy at that one time to digest the food. I eat small frequent meals for that reason, constant energy no ups or downs, but not for weight management.

00trayn

I definitely eat my biggest meal at lunch, but it's only a difference of 100 calories. My diary is public to see a typical day for me. I find that I have to go the longest between meals for lunch and dinner, and I workout before my dinner in the evenings. I need the fuel or else I won't have the energy to workout. I also have an afternoon snack (usually an apple). It works well for me and I'm not tempted to snack all afternoon at my desk. I also make sure it has plenty of protein, or else I'll just be hungry an hour later even if i ate 400-500 calories.

My schedule is 250 calorie breakfast, 400 or so calorie lunch, 100 calorie snack, 300 or so calorie dinner and a 150 or so calorie snack. That's a baseline of 1200 calories and I tend to go over that a bit for a total of 1300.

jbahrami

I love to see all of the responses...it really helps to answer a lot of my questions too.

bcattoes

I often do on the weekends, but during the week I have a desk job so I have a pretty light lunch. Otherwise I get sleepy in the afternoon.

jojociecie

Basically, this is a good idea for some people, but I don't do this for a few reasons....That much food in the early part of the day puts me into a sort of food coma...I get lazy and don't want to be active. The other thing is that I'm hardly hungry at that time of day...plus....I won't have a nice dinner around 5, to look forward to. ;~) But, this would be a great idea for some!

ninjapixie87

I have started eater larger lunches (but not necessarily my "largest" meal) for two reasons:
1. I'm fueled up for my workout, and not running on empty.
2. I'm less hungry and less cranky in the evenings, when it finally comes time to eat dinner. (Since dinner is after I get home from the gym, it's usually late to be eating a large meal.)

The one downside for me is that I tend to get sleepy/sluggish after lunch.

Shweedog

I eat when I am hungry and stop when I am full. As long as I stay within goal I am good to go. If that means I eat a big lunch well then so be it. If it means a big dinner well then so be that too.

ahealthy4u

Switch up play around with your food to see what works best for you. Never hurts to try we are all diffrent have fun and good luck to you.

galegetsthin

I dont eat any BIG meals. I try to have 6 - 200 calorie snack meals. I will eat a bit at 8, 10, 12, 2, 4 and 6. I will make dinner for everyone and have 200 calories (give or take 30) for dinner, then I will also eat it at some point the next day so that I eat both leftovers and a new meal once a day, then I will eat fruit, veggies, various forms of protein. That way, I am never far removed from something yummy, and I am never really hungry because I have recently eaten. Some days it is hard to get them all in, and some days I am a little over, but it is healthy foods and it evens itself out. I LOVE celery sticks stuffed with dried chopped apricot and ricotta cheese and peanut butter apple slices.

Fit2befitZ

Due to my client schedule I do this and it has helped me. My lightest meal is dinner and I love it that way. My lunch is heavier than other meals but not substantial enough to put me in a food coma, LOL.

monkeypantz

My lunch is heavier, as it fuels me for the day. I eat lunch around 1pm and then dinner at 8pm....so that's a 7 hour gap, and during that 7 hours I hit the Gym and do a lot of house work too, so I need the energy.

I also try and make dinner a little carb lighter than my lunch.

It works for me

GeoJenna223

I am specifically responding to the "eat after 6" thing. According to both my nutritionist and personal trainer: Your body has no idea what time it is. If I was unable to eat after six, I wouldn't be able to eat dinner period because I don't go to the gym until 6 and I don't get home until 8.

If I am hungry right before bed, they would rather me have a very small snack (i.e. a baby bel cheese, or a half a slice of turkey) than go to bed with my stomach growling. I asked both of them if this was advice they were giving me because they both know my schedule and workout regiment and they both said the advice was applicable to everyone.

As far as the OP's question: It turns out for me that my highest caloric intake is during lunch, but that is because I don't eat starches for dinner to try to keep my carbos in check (advice the nutritionist gave me that is not necessarily applicable to everyone else). I do try to eat 5-6 times per day and stay under my 1600 cal goal no matter what exercise I do (My diary is public, if explored you will see that I have stopped logging exercise on this site. I don't want MFP to alter my cal goals, I want to be able to see exactly how much I have left. I track exercise cals via my polar HRM.)

Anywho. Good luck everyone!

Just been to the Doctor to start my weight loss program. Her recommendation was to not eat one "big" meal at any time but to break it up to 5 or 6 meals in a day. This has 2 benefits. It keeps the body in longer digestion periods increasing the metabolism making it (the body) feel like it's being fed. Important if you've had cycles of feast and famines and your body has taught itself to save for the famine times. Also, it helps keep the blood sugar levels leveled. I've only been doing this for a couple of days, so I can't give a yea or nay on the success, but it does make sense. She also recommended no snacking or eating after 6 unless I've just completed a cardio work out.

candiceroma

I was just looking this up because I had started eating a larger lunch and found this practice so helpful in keep me full when I'm most active. I have heard the suggestion of eating 5-6 meals a day, and I hate it, because it honestly keeps my whole day centered around eating. I prefer to eat 2-3 times a day. I'm eating 1200 calories a day or less (depending on how active I am--I'm an editor, I do a lot of sitting), so none of my meals are really large per se, but 200 calories or so in the morning, 600 midday, 400 for dinner. It works for me.

Joehenny

I like my big meal at night. You won't overeat if you take 5 mins to plan.

wild_wild_life

I eat when I am hungry and stop when I am full. As long as I stay within goal I am good to go. If that means I eat a big lunch well then so be it. If it means a big dinner well then so be that too.

Crazy talk!

I'm usually hungrier during the early part of the day than at night so lunch is usually my biggest meal. A lot of people seem to be the opposite. It's good to try different things and see what works best for you.

guessrs

I think it's worth a try. I find I'm more satisfied and don't feel like so hungry later on

eksero2k

I get my food for free at work, so I always have my biggest meal for lunch, it's working out pretty good so far!

aliciamarieUF

All I have to say about this is...I live in Italy. The Italians have a small breakfast, huge lunch, a small snack later on during the day, and a small dinner. It‘s rare when I see obese people walking around here. Maybe we can learn a little something from them.

Chadomaniac

I'm thinking of experimenting with this and I know it's not a new concept. I'd like to eat my biggest meal which would normally be supper during lunchtime to help with weight loss. How many of you do this?

Calories = weight loss


Doesn't matter when you eat them . It matters how many you eat

nikkylyn

I eat two lunches.. Breakfast at 7. Snack at 930 (sometimes if Im hungry depends on bfast) lunch at 11 and lunch at 2 dinner snack at 4 dinner at 6 ish... I try to make each meal around the same amount of calories. Around 2-300 calories. I dont always eat every snack, it depends on the day.. Or if I plan a huge meal I will go lighter on the calories for rest of meals so it evens out. I dont think it matters when you eat them. I think the issue is if you go to light during the day you may binge on dinner.. Maybe then a bigger lunch would be better.

English_Edd

I suspect like a lot of people my work (IT) means I'm sitting behind a desk most of the day and I cannot eat when I feel like it. I have no access to hot food at lunch time so my main meal is at dinner 6-7pm. I have always presumed that if I load up on food (calories) at a late time of the day and then go to bed my body is hardly active and doesn’t require all the energy it has just consumed, therefore storing the rest. I know this is probably rubbish but that's how I always saw it.

I live by the burn more calories than you consume theory and so far it's working fine for me. Last night I started to cut my lunch and dinner carbs out (potatoes, bread, rice, pasta) but up until now I have lost 54lb consuming everything I did before but in lower quantities and drinking lots of water.

There are so many different opinions on the best way to do things, even from experts. Find what works for you and remember the burn more calories than you consume to lose weight ‘rule’, but do it healthily and don't crash diet. I don’t crave foods as I still eat them.

That’s my 2 pennies worth anyway