saving calories for dinner

laneyg79
laneyg79 Posts: 1
edited February 23 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm thinking it's probably not but if it's ok at all, I'd like to know :)

I don't like to eat in the morning. I'm just not hungry. I guess it's important though so sometimes I will take a few swings of almond milk or a Naked smoothie.

I would like lunch but I often skip it because I really prefer to eat a good/big dinner. That's when the whole family is together, eating something yummy that I've made, and in my dream world, I can just consume all the calories I should eat for a day at dinner time.

I know they say that you need fuel during the day but I do ok! I'm not saying I wouldn't do better if I had a healty lunch but really I feel like I do just fine.

I've never done Weight Watchers but I have heard of people "saving up points" like for a big meal or something. Is this sort of like that?

I'm not really worried about over eating at dinner time.... I get 1,200 calories a day and it's easy for me to stay well within that for dinner.

So... is this ok? I have dieted like this before and lost. Then ultimately I gained some back but now I want to loose again so about two weeks ago I started dieting and I've lost 8 lbs so it's really motivating!

If it's not ideal, is it at least ok to do sometimes... like when I know I might be going to a nice dinner and really want to indulge?

Thanks for any advice!

Replies

  • LoosingMyLast15
    LoosingMyLast15 Posts: 1,457 Member
    I'm thinking it's probably not but if it's ok at all, I'd like to know :)

    I don't like to eat in the morning. I'm just not hungry. I guess it's important though so sometimes I will take a few swings of almond milk or a Naked smoothie.

    I would like lunch but I often skip it because I really prefer to eat a good/big dinner. That's when the whole family is together, eating something yummy that I've made, and in my dream world, I can just consume all the calories I should eat for a day at dinner time.

    I know they say that you need fuel during the day but I do ok! I'm not saying I wouldn't do better if I had a healty lunch but really I feel like I do just fine.

    I've never done Weight Watchers but I have heard of people "saving up points" like for a big meal or something. Is this sort of like that?

    I'm not really worried about over eating at dinner time.... I get 1,200 calories a day and it's easy for me to stay well within that for dinner.

    So... is this ok? I have dieted like this before and lost. Then ultimately I gained some back but now I want to loose again so about two weeks ago I started dieting and I've lost 8 lbs so it's really motivating!

    If it's not ideal, is it at least ok to do sometimes... like when I know I might be going to a nice dinner and really want to indulge?

    Thanks for any advice!

    MY OPINION:

    i am not a fan of "saving all my calories" for one meal. i prefer to eat throughout the day. if i know i'm going to dinner or want to indulge i get in a really great workout so i can eat back my calories. you said yourself you did this before and lost but gained back (okay maybe not all but you did get back) so you're back at it again and low and behold you've lost 8lbs. do you plan on eating like this for the rest of your life? do you honestly think you're not going to gain it back once you lose whatever amount it is you want to lose and you go back to "normal eating habits".

    for me it makes more sense to establish good eating habits than follow a quick fix.
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
    Timing of meals is meaningless. You can save all your calories for one meal if you choose to. Intermittent fasting is very popular and those who do that sometimes consume 100% of their calories in an 8 or even 4 hour period. It's absolutely fine. The whole eating breakfast to fuel the day is basically cereal company propaganda. There is no scientific evidence to support that claim. Also eating several small meals does not "boost" your metabolism as fitness myth would have you believe. Total calories for the day/week are all that matter.
  • SharonNehring
    SharonNehring Posts: 535 Member
    It's ok to divide up your calories however you wish as long as it works for you and you have no medical issues to accommodate. You do need to make sure your meal is well balanced and supplying the right amounts of protein, fats, carbs etc.

    My only concern is since you said you've always regained in the past, maybe this isn't the best method unless you plan to continue to eat this way for the majority of your life. I personally favor developing healthy eating habits during this journey so that I'm not back here next year starting over but truly, to each their own.
  • 0somuchbetter0
    0somuchbetter0 Posts: 1,335 Member
    Timing of meals is meaningless. You can save all your calories for one meal if you choose to. Intermittent fasting is very popular and those who do that sometimes consume 100% of their calories in an 8 or even 4 hour period. It's absolutely fine. The whole eating breakfast to fuel the day is basically cereal company propaganda. There is no scientific evidence to support that claim. Also eating several small meals does not "boost" your metabolism as fitness myth would have you believe. Total calories for the day/week are all that matter.

    What he said ^

    It wouldn't work for me because if I let myself get super hungry I'm more likely to overeat. The thing is to know yourself and be honest about what works and what doesn't.
  • cattlegirl5000
    cattlegirl5000 Posts: 5
    Eating 3 meals and 2 snacks a day is very very important to maintaining your weight and weight loss. You will slow your metabolism down if you eat to few of times during the day. For example if you didnt eat all day and ate 1200 calories in one meal your body is going to store it assuming that you are going to starve it again in the following days to come. I have seen people who are 500 + pounds and only eat 1 time a day....This is a horrible idea. Eat Frequent. Plus Dinner should actually be your smallest meal of the day since you are the least active after 4 pm. No simple carbs past 4 pm unless you plan to workout.
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
    Eating 3 meals and 2 snacks a day is very very important to maintaining your weight and weight loss. You will slow your metabolism down if you eat to few of times during the day. For example if you didnt eat all day and ate 1200 calories in one meal your body is going to store it assuming that you are going to starve it again in the following days to come. I have seen people who are 500 + pounds and only eat 1 time a day....This is a horrible idea. Eat Frequent. Plus Dinner should actually be your smallest meal of the day since you are the least active after 4 pm. No simple carbs past 4 pm unless you plan to workout.
    You are a bit misguided in the advice you are giving. There is literally ZERO scientific evidence to support that eating more times a day speeds metabolism. In addition to that, there is PLENTY of research to support that calories, not number of times a day you eat, determine weight loss. Because you have seen people 500+ lbs eat 1 meal a day is meaningless. I have seen a 500+ lb person where yellow. Does that mean wearing yellow will lead to weight gain? Of course not. You are confusing a correlation with a causation. Eating carbs after 4pm is also meaningless.You can eat carbs whenever you want. It doesn't matter what your body stores in the short term. If you eat 1500 calories a day and burn 2000 your net loss is 500 calories. Timing cannot change that. If you eat those 1500 calories over 6 meals you will use the food for energy as you go and use a little bit of stored fuel to cover the energy deficit. If you eat nothing all day, eat 1500 right before bed, then sleep, you will store most of what you eat, BUT and this is a big but, you will have used more stored energy during the day because you didn't eat anything. At the end of the day the net energy deficit is 500 calories. The net result is the same and that is all that matters. I would love for you to provide some evidence to the claims you made. By evidence I mean research, not an opinion article making the same claims.
  • MaggieLoo79
    MaggieLoo79 Posts: 288 Member
    That's pretty much what I do. Coffee in the morning, a piece of fruit for lunch and then dinner. That's our family meal and the most important one. I don't get hungry during the day either. :smile:
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