is it bad to have 3 meals a day?

Acg already gave you the best answer but just to back it up, it doesn't matter how many meals you eat. In fact, my weight loss accelerated when I started doing what was convenient (no breakfast, small lunch, large dinner). Just stay within your Kcal goal and try to hit your macros.

I'm a huge believe that everyone is different and everyone's bodies work differently. What works for person A might not necessarily work for person B. Some people like to eat consistently every two hours or so, others work better having 2 or 3 square meals a days. I fall into the latter category.

A typical day for me is breakfast around 8-9am (cereal, porridge, omelette, PB and banana on toast, etc), snack at 11-11.30am, lunch at 12.30 (soup with bread, pasta or sandwich with nuts and fruit) snack between 3-4pm, dinner + yoghurt between 6.30-8pm then snack at 9.30pm, depending. Snacks are usually fruit, banana breed, cheese on wholegrain crackers. Evening snack is usually a few sqaures of dark chocolate. This is my ideal and works for me. I'm rarely hungry. Obviously, not every day is like this but I just take it as it comes.

Listen to your body, what it wants and when. If I don't feel like eating at a certain time, I don't. If I'm really craving something, I'll eat it.

That's what I do. Three meals a day and a snack if my calories allow it. Do what works for you.

3 meals...2 meals...7 meals....Just do what works best for you, stick within your calorie allowance and the weight will come off

Current thinking seems to be that it doesn't make a massive difference - the biggest difference will be doing whatever works best for you!

I think the best thing for me to feel "normal" in my weight loss is to eat a small breakfast and lunch and then sit down to a proper dinner with my other half in the evening. Is this ok? I know some people eat 5 meals a day but I don't think that would be effective with me as I would have to eat really small portions. Also I only get half an hour's break during the day at work as I run my own business at the moment so I don't know how I would find time to eat 5 times lol

It does not matter when you eat. All that matters is the calories. You don't even have to eat the same amount every day, some days can be low and some higher. You can plan your calorie budget however you want.

When I first started I tried to eat 5 meals but it was too much. I evolved to 3 meals and sometimes a snack. It also does not matter how much time between meals. Once I learned the right amount of calories for me to consistently lose I realized I had enough to eat by 5pm or sometimes even 3pm so I stopped for the day. I suddenly realized I was fasting for 15-17 hours (I've never fasted in my life before!) when I did that and the first 40 lbs dropped very consistently that way. When I told a co-worker about it, that I found the secret for me was mini meals and mini fasts he told me to look up Eat Stop Eat and it was exciting for me because it explained why it worked, about the HGH production in the body, etc. Then for the last 17 lbs I implemented the Eat Stop Eat intermittent fasting and just a couple days a week I only ate lunch. I continued to eat "normal" meals for myself. I'm not an emotional eater and don't binge. I keep things in control. I plan my treats and don't deprive myself and even allow for a few impromptu treats with friends. I've found my happy medium and flexibility with eating by not worrying about eating when others think I should, or skipping meals when I don't feel like eating, or even skipping a meal because I want to enjoy a nice dinner out with friends.

Now in maintenance I've evolved to skipping breakfast most days because I like heading straight to the gym and working out fasted. Then I just eat my maintenance calories the rest of the day, sometimes up until bed time. I love the flexibility.

So, it does not matter when you eat or how you space out your meals. Do what works for you. For some people too many meals makes it too easy to eat too many calories and stay in budget. Some people like to skip a meal to make the rest of their meals into an "eating window". Some people like to have 5 lower calorie days and 2 high calorie days (usually the weekend). It's really cool when you realize you can set up your calorie budget how ever you want for your lifestyle.

Oh by the way I did have my doctor check my hormones throughout the process and they were good. I have them checked anyway because I'm older and have thyroid, adrenal, and other hormone issues, but all was fine from obese to 10% body fat. And the DXA scan proved that I did not lose lean body mass or go into starvation mode. Nothing like scientific evidence to prove a point for you against emotional arguments.

I think the best thing for me to feel "normal" in my weight loss is to eat a small breakfast and lunch and then sit down to a proper dinner with my other half in the evening. Is this ok? I know some people eat 5 meals a day but I don't think that would be effective with me as I would have to eat really small portions. Also I only get half an hour's break during the day at work as I run my own business at the moment so I don't know how I would find time to eat 5 times lol

In some European countries it's a big breakfast, a big lunch and a small dinner. In the U.S. this seems to not be the case and my humble opinion is that it is what leads to weight gain. Big dinner, sit in front of the TV and then bed.

as long as you stick with your cal. amount it should be all good. i have my 3 meals with a morning snack and if i have cals left and am hungry i'll have an evening snack.