One meal a day

Romyarts2014
Romyarts2014 Posts: 201 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hey everyone,

So I just wanted some input.


I started a new plan for myself and i can tell its already going to be the start to something amazing.
I decided to eat 1 meal at 5pm with a healthy dessert . I have never been a breakfast person and I would usually snack at lunch time on unhealthy things. Waiting until 5 pm and drinking water gives me the full feeling that grazing through out the day does not.
Or to constantly think about the meals i have to prepare etc. I will be going to nursing school in september and things will be hectic. So eating one meal a day is the best way to go RIGHT?


My friend said its not good for my metabolism and that i would gain it back if i were to eat breakfast.
Im sorry but I call BULLsh** :grumble: back in the caveman days people were to busy looking for food they only had 1 meal a day. and was there obesity NOPE.. plus if your goal is to get your calories in should it matter when. Its easy for me to stay busy in the morning and excercise until 5pm hits and than i have my 1 meal, yoga, tv and bed.

Is it to good to be true, or do you think if you eat one meal a day within your calories, excercise and build a calorie deficent that i will loose weight

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Replies

  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    As long as it is one huge meal - over 1200 - you should be fine. I'd kill someone around 2:00 - but if it works for you...
  • Jess__I__Can
    Jess__I__Can Posts: 307 Member
    Calories can't tell time.

    Meet your daily caloric goal and do what works for you.

    I only eat between noon and 8pm, and only 2 meals and 1 snack.
  • Dagmere
    Dagmere Posts: 16
    Sumo wrestlers eat only one or two meals a day. They never eat breakfasts. They exercise on empty stomach...Go figure....
  • Jess__I__Can
    Jess__I__Can Posts: 307 Member
    Sumo wrestlers eat only one or two meals a day. They never eat breakfasts. They exercise on empty stomach...Go figure....

    That's pretty sweet broscience there.
  • sunflowerhippi
    sunflowerhippi Posts: 1,099 Member
    I find I do best sticking to my calorie goals if I wait till 12-2pm to have my first food of the day. I drink water and keep busy all morning and don't really notice I am hungry at all until it is later in the day. I still hit my goal of 1800 calories just fine.
  • Dagmere
    Dagmere Posts: 16
    Sumo wrestlers eat only one or two meals a day. They never eat breakfasts. They exercise on empty stomach...Go figure....

    That's pretty sweet broscience there.

    Those are facts. Food for thought.. why they do that...
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    Those are facts. Food for thought.. why they do that...

    Source?

    Also since you have details on what sumo wrestlers typically eat, let's talk about their total calorie intake too.
  • Jess__I__Can
    Jess__I__Can Posts: 307 Member
    They also eat an insane amount of food and sleep when they aren't training. Here's a thread for you: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1336738-starvation-mode-and-muscle-growth-2-most-common-excuses
  • Dagmere
    Dagmere Posts: 16
    Those are facts. Food for thought.. why they do that...

    Source?

    Also since you have details on what sumo wrestlers typically eat, let's talk about their total calorie intake too.

    http://www.eatingfree.com/newtrition/nutripedia/did-you-know/how-to-eat-like-a-sumo-wrestler.aspx
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    Those are facts. Food for thought.. why they do that...

    Source?

    Also since you have details on what sumo wrestlers typically eat, let's talk about their total calorie intake too.

    http://www.eatingfree.com/newtrition/nutripedia/did-you-know/how-to-eat-like-a-sumo-wrestler.aspx

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/9155494/

    It's the calorie surplus making them gain weight. It's not meal distribution and there's a large amount of data to support that.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    Regarding the original post: I think it's fine provided you can adequately nourish yourself and meet calorie and macro needs in 1 meal. Most people probably cannot.

    The differences in fat loss aren't likely to be significant whether you eat few large meals or several small ones. Go with whichever gives you better adherence.
  • pythonsweb
    pythonsweb Posts: 49 Member
    I only eat 1 meal a day, I start in the morning with the first bite and take my last bite at night :D
  • MeMyCatsandI
    MeMyCatsandI Posts: 704 Member
    I have an eating window between 11am-7pm, which for me is usually 2 meals. I tried to shrink my window to 4 hours for a while but I found that I could meet my calorie goal, but I could NEVER meet my macro goals-especially fiber. Specifically, I didn't have room for fruits and veggies because I was too full of other food.

    If you can get all your nutrients, macros, and calories out of one meal there is no reason not to. But it might be harder to do than you think!
  • Dagmere
    Dagmere Posts: 16
    Those are facts. Food for thought.. why they do that...

    Source?

    Also since you have details on what sumo wrestlers typically eat, let's talk about their total calorie intake too.

    Of course it is about intake and burn of calories. You will always loose weight once you burn more than eat. But here is the problem.
    When you don't eat breakfast and starve yourself for most part of the day, you slow down your metabolism and also you teach your body to conserve every possible amount of energy. .. which means your body learns to storage fat.
    If one meal a day works for you.. it is better to eat it in the morning, because you have time to burn calories throughout the day.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Those are facts. Food for thought.. why they do that...

    Source?

    Also since you have details on what sumo wrestlers typically eat, let's talk about their total calorie intake too.

    Of course it is about intake and burn of calories. You will always loose weight once you burn more than eat. But here is the problem.
    When you don't eat breakfast and starve yourself for most part of the day, you slow down your metabolism and also you teach your body to conserve every possible amount of energy. .. which means your body learns to storage fat.
    If one meal a day works for you.. it is better to eat it in the morning.

    Tell that to this guy...

    DSC00316.JPG

    I'm sure he and other IFers would love to know how their metabolisms are being slowed down and how they are storing fat...

    http://www.leangains.com/

    As someone else stated already....pure bro-science and really, just old wives tales.
  • eric_sg61
    eric_sg61 Posts: 2,925 Member
    Those are facts. Food for thought.. why they do that...

    Source?

    Also since you have details on what sumo wrestlers typically eat, let's talk about their total calorie intake too.

    Of course it is about intake and burn of calories. You will always loose weight once you burn more than eat. But here is the problem.
    When you don't eat breakfast and starve yourself for most part of the day, you slow down your metabolism and also you teach your body to conserve every possible amount of energy. .. which means your body learns to storage fat.
    If one meal a day works for you.. it is better to eat it in the morning.

    Tell that to this guy...

    DSC00316.JPG

    I'm sure he and other IFers would love to know how their metabolisms are being slowed down and how they are storing fat...

    http://www.leangains.com/

    As someone else stated already....pure bro-science and really, just old wives tales.
    Also this guy
    eat-stop-eat.jpg
  • SugaryLynx
    SugaryLynx Posts: 2,640 Member
    Those are facts. Food for thought.. why they do that...

    Source?

    Also since you have details on what sumo wrestlers typically eat, let's talk about their total calorie intake too.

    Of course it is about intake and burn of calories. You will always loose weight once you burn more than eat. But here is the problem.
    When you don't eat breakfast and starve yourself for most part of the day, you slow down your metabolism and also you teach your body to conserve every possible amount of energy. .. which means your body learns to storage fat.
    If one meal a day works for you.. it is better to eat it in the morning.

    Tell that to this guy...

    DSC00316.JPG

    I'm sure he and other IFers would love to know how their metabolisms are being slowed down and how they are storing fat...

    http://www.leangains.com/

    As someone else stated already....pure bro-science and really, just old wives tales.

    ^this.

    I wake up at 7am. I don't break my fast until around 12pm. Lose weight on 1900 calories. Sounds like crap to me. oh, and tonight imma have a 1200 calorie snack right before bed.
  • Dagmere
    Dagmere Posts: 16
    http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/negative-effects-eating-one-meal-day-3296.html
  • PunkyDucky
    PunkyDucky Posts: 283 Member
    Those are facts. Food for thought.. why they do that...

    Source?

    Also since you have details on what sumo wrestlers typically eat, let's talk about their total calorie intake too.

    Of course it is about intake and burn of calories. You will always loose weight once you burn more than eat. But here is the problem.
    When you don't eat breakfast and starve yourself for most part of the day, you slow down your metabolism and also you teach your body to conserve every possible amount of energy. .. which means your body learns to storage fat.
    If one meal a day works for you.. it is better to eat it in the morning, because you have time to burn calories throughout the day.

    download.gif
  • SugaryLynx
    SugaryLynx Posts: 2,640 Member
    http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/negative-effects-eating-one-meal-day-3296.html
    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/meal-frequency-and-energy-balance-research-review.html

     "While work in rats and mice, for whom everything happens faster, has found that a single meal can lower metabolic rate, this is irrelevant to humans. Skipping a meal will not affect human metabolic rate at all."
  • njbrennan14
    njbrennan14 Posts: 1
    Have you checked out intermittent fasting? There is a book called The Fast Diet that explains in depth. They suggest two days a week. I wonder if you would be better cycling on and off as opposed to every day? Good luck!!
  • TheStephil
    TheStephil Posts: 858 Member
    If you can get your calories and your macros in, it doesn't matter when you eat. I personally need to eat breakfast quickly after I wake up but I have low blood sugar so I tend to pass out if I don't eat within a few hours of waking. If I didn't have that issue though I'd wait until noon or later to eat since my hunger is always higher at night and I like big meals.

    Your metabolism isn't going to crash after a few hours of not eating. If you don't eat for a week then sure.
  • WhyLime113
    WhyLime113 Posts: 104 Member
    It's certainly not inherently bad, but I can see it being difficult. First, you'll need to be able to meet your minimum calorie goal (I presume yours is around 1500, give or take) in one meal which may mean you'll have to continue eating when you're full, and may make yourself sick. As well, you need to be extremely balanced with that one meal, you can't make up for it later. So you need to have an appropriate distribution of fat, protein, and carbohydrates, firstly, but you also need to ensure you're getting enough of each vitamin and mineral, among other micronutrients.
    Basically, I'm not sure it's feasible, and it may actually be more work, not less. And I don't think there's much research on it, just a lot of anecdotal evidence (that's all those muscular men are; they're just anecdote) so it's difficult to say.
  • Ilgamuth
    Ilgamuth Posts: 17
    If it works for you, then go for it! Try it out and if it works for you that is great, and if it doesn't then there is no shame in trying something else until you find what works for you.

    My biggest question is with all the exercise you will be able to eat enough calories in a single sitting. The other question is if this is truly sustainable.

    Like others have done here I would point you towards intermittent fasting if this is something you feel is right for you.
  • sdps745
    sdps745 Posts: 33 Member
    I only eat 1 meal a day, I start in the morning with the first bite and take my last bite at night :D

    :laugh:
  • SrMaggalicious
    SrMaggalicious Posts: 495 Member
    Those are facts. Food for thought.. why they do that...

    Source?

    Also since you have details on what sumo wrestlers typically eat, let's talk about their total calorie intake too.

    Of course it is about intake and burn of calories. You will always loose weight once you burn more than eat. But here is the problem.
    When you don't eat breakfast and starve yourself for most part of the day, you slow down your metabolism and also you teach your body to conserve every possible amount of energy. .. which means your body learns to storage fat.
    If one meal a day works for you.. it is better to eat it in the morning.

    Tell that to this guy...

    DSC00316.JPG

    I'm sure he and other IFers would love to know how their metabolisms are being slowed down and how they are storing fat...

    http://www.leangains.com/

    As someone else stated already....pure bro-science and really, just old wives tales.

    ^^^^this..I do a 20/4 IF schedule and I'm not in 'starvation mode'.
  • Kelly_May88
    Kelly_May88 Posts: 9 Member
    Oh wow! I'm so glad I found this thread!!!!

    years and years I've spent listening to ppl tell me to make sure I eat breakfast.. eat 3 meals a day.. eat 6 small meals a day etc etc etc...

    An old Dr actually told me my weight problem was that I wasn't eating enough, because I was only eating 1 or 2 meals a day.

    SOOO glad I found this thread.
  • AlyssamR6712
    AlyssamR6712 Posts: 114 Member
    If you want my personal opinion i think it's an awful idea.. i would starve, but if you find it works good on ya... if not.. then you might wanna stop trying to take the easy way out and work for it (ie prepping your meals if your so busy). I know your focus is wieghtloss, but i don't think its healthy to only eat one meal a day in the long run..
  • Sora4ever
    Sora4ever Posts: 98 Member
    Just some questions for the OP....are you a caveman? Do you hunt for your food and only manage to hunt enough for one meal a day? I'm just wondering why you brought up the whole caveman section in your post.

    I don't mean to sound sarcastic but I hate it when people say "cavemen used to do it" or "our ancestors lived like this" because we have evolved. Todays environment is completely different than that of extinct species. We have gradually changed over many many generations. We have adapted to our environment and our dietary needs have evolved as well.

    Something about starving all day and then binging on 1200 calories doesn't sit well with me. But to each his own. What ever floats your boat.
  • mayfrayy
    mayfrayy Posts: 198 Member
    IF can have great results.
    if you are weight training add in some greens / fibre in the morning. helps get some micros.

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