Skipping dinner?

FlowerFairy493
FlowerFairy493 Posts: 182
in Food and Nutrition
I usually have my biggest meal at lunch because I stay at home at the moment. So I can. But I have crazy candy cravings in the afternoons and at night. I put it down to lack of willpower. Because during the day I don't have this problem.

A friend of mine suggested that I eat all my calories for the day at breakfast and lunch, and one treat after lunch. And then keep myself out of the kitchen and away from food until the next morning. Will this work?

Replies

  • waxon81
    waxon81 Posts: 198 Member
    Do it the other way round. Follow intermitant fasting (IF). Don't eat until the evening and only eat within a certain timeframe eg. 5 - 9pm
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    Yes. It could work.
    This has nothing to do with "will power." Weight loss is about setting up your life and your day and your surroundings so that you can be successful.

    ETA
    I eat late afternoon and have a snack before bed. Those are usually the only two times I eat during the day.
  • AdventureFreak
    AdventureFreak Posts: 236 Member
    Do it the other way round. Follow intermitant fasting (IF). Don't eat until the evening and only eat within a certain timeframe eg. 5 - 9pm

    IF is still valid while skipping dinner. It is the time off that matters. Beat 12 hours without eating and you win. Skip dinner and eat bigger lunches and breakfasts. Throw in some bullet proof coffee too.
  • FlowerFairy493
    FlowerFairy493 Posts: 182
    Do it the other way round. Follow intermitant fasting (IF). Don't eat until the evening and only eat within a certain timeframe eg. 5 - 9pm

    IF is still valid while skipping dinner. It is the time off that matters. Beat 12 hours without eating and you win. Skip dinner and eat bigger lunches and breakfasts. Throw in some bullet proof coffee too.

    Bulletproof coffee? What's that? :-/ it sounds interesting.
  • FlowerFairy493
    FlowerFairy493 Posts: 182
    Do it the other way round. Follow intermitant fasting (IF). Don't eat until the evening and only eat within a certain timeframe eg. 5 - 9pm

    IF is still valid while skipping dinner. It is the time off that matters. Beat 12 hours without eating and you win. Skip dinner and eat bigger lunches and breakfasts. Throw in some bullet proof coffee too.

    Bulletproof coffee? What's that? :-/ it sounds interesting.

    Also I would have a timeframe of 7.20am - 13:00 to eat and then nothing until the next morning 7.20am.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    I did such a variation in the past, and after you get used to it after a week or two it becomes really easy. The way I stopped is because it was impacting my social life, unable to share food with friends or family after 4 pm or go out in the evening.
  • FlowerFairy493
    FlowerFairy493 Posts: 182
    I did such a variation in the past, and after you get used to it after a week or two it becomes really easy. The way I stopped is because it was impacting my social life, unable to share food with friends or family after 4 pm or go out in the evening.

    I go out so rarely, I'm sure I can see those as "cheat" days. I'm a stay at home kinda girl ;)
  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
    I eat a big breakfast, but a good lunch and dinner as well. I don't skip meals any more. Just three hours of not eating before bed so my reflux doesn't act up.
  • icrushit
    icrushit Posts: 773 Member
    Actually what I find quite effective has been the threefold combination of eating my last meal quite late, 7.00- 8.00pm, eating good proteins and fats in it so I am not hungry, and also cutting back on added sugar so I don't crave any foods. I always found it easy to eat in the evening, especially snacking on junk food as well as at night, but with the above and imposing an eating ban of nothing between 8pm & 9/ 10am, has helped. I must also say because most of my eating was snacking, logging my food has kept me accountable, as I can see right away how several little pieces of junk food can break my progress for the day. I do have to use my willpower sometimes, but not nearly as much as before, and with a diet with good protein and fat-rich foods, I'm generally not hungry which also helps a lot :)
  • dancingj2
    dancingj2 Posts: 4,572 Member
    I do not think that "skipping" a meal from time to time is either bad or good. I know sometimes I have had a large lunch and am just not that hungry at dinner time so I will either skip it or have something very small such as a piece of toast.
  • SrMaggalicious
    SrMaggalicious Posts: 495 Member
    I do IF from 2p to 8p. Killed my cravings because I get to (and have to) binge all my cals in a 5 or 6 hr window every day. I go to bed nice and full and wake with energy for my fasted training.

    but bottom line, it's not the timing, it's the final balance of cals that go in your mouth at the end of the day. My shifting my eating window to later has kept that consistent and has eliminated cravings.

    ETA: Also, this eating window helps with the social aspect of eating...i can have something after work w/friends if I want...and can eat until 8pm. I just have to keep the cals within my specific range.
  • rjordison
    rjordison Posts: 10
    I've started breaking my day down into time frames. I eat breakfast at 9, lunch at 12 then nothing until tea time which is usually quite late after my little girl has gone to bed at around 7.30-8pm, it keeps me from peeking in the fridge at around 9pm like i used to. I have completely removed all snacking when i am at work though now when I'm home more on my days off it is becoming a bit harder to stick to it between lunch and tea time so i've added in a 3pm snack of fruit. This seems to be working :)
  • Shropshire1959
    Shropshire1959 Posts: 982 Member
    I tend to sit whilst eating dinner .. I find skipping upsets my IBS :-p
  • FlowerFairy493
    FlowerFairy493 Posts: 182
    Actually what I find quite effective has been the threefold combination of eating my last meal quite late, 7.00- 8.00pm, eating good proteins and fats in it so I am not hungry, and also cutting back on added sugar so I don't crave any foods. I always found it easy to eat in the evening, especially snacking on junk food as well as at night, but with the above and imposing an eating ban of nothing between 8pm & 9/ 10am, has helped. I must also say because most of my eating was snacking, logging my food has kept me accountable, as I can see right away how several little pieces of junk food can break my progress for the day. I do have to use my willpower sometimes, but not nearly as much as before, and with a diet with good protein and fat-rich foods, I'm generally not hungry which also helps a lot :)

    I wouldn't be able to skip other meals though. I must have breakfast otherwise I fail at my workouts in the morning. And lunch I should eat also. But I'm fine with skipping dinner as I go to bed early. I think the reason she suggested I do it this way is because by the time my candy cravings hit my eating window will be over and then I can't indulge in anything. Not even food.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    I did such a variation in the past, and after you get used to it after a week or two it becomes really easy. The way I stopped is because it was impacting my social life, unable to share food with friends or family after 4 pm or go out in the evening.

    I go out so rarely, I'm sure I can see those as "cheat" days. I'm a stay at home kinda girl ;)

    Then it may be just right for you. Give it a try and see if it works. Once you get over the initial "getting used to" period, you'll be fine.
  • gothomson
    gothomson Posts: 215 Member
    I do IF as often as I can and I find it really helpful, what you are proposing sounds like that. As long as your taking in good quality food and not neglecting your proper calorific deficit / nutrients, I say go for it!
  • icrushit
    icrushit Posts: 773 Member
    I wouldn't be able to skip other meals though. I must have breakfast otherwise I fail at my workouts in the morning. And lunch I should eat also. But I'm fine with skipping dinner as I go to bed early. I think the reason she suggested I do it this way is because by the time my candy cravings hit my eating window will be over and then I can't indulge in anything. Not even food.

    To be honest, I couldn't skip any meals myself, and need to have some sort of consistency otherwise it screws up my eating routines. Definitely breakfast, lunch, dinner, and some snacks for me, although I imagine if you do what you do regularly, it could work, as its worked for many, just not me :)

    I have experimented with shortening the window in which I eat, but found once it shrunk past a window of 10 hours (10am to 8pm for me), it effectively equated to skipping breakfast, which I wasn't interested in doing. In fact I find it very difficult to eat beyond a certain amount due to my natural appetite right now eating lower carb, and the days I would eat a very late breakfast, I would find it very difficult to eat as much as I needed to in the remaining part of the day. I guess this is why IF tends to work for so many people, although if I was eating more carbs I suspect I would have no such problem cramming food in before the day was out.

    I can see where your nutritionist is coming from, and would only ask if its sustainable. If so, go with it, but late evening eating can be tackled other ways too, like I mentioned in my previous post, so just know there are other ways to go too. In fact, I've gone from being someone who found it impossible to resist late evening and middle of the night eating to someone who has not ate past 8am until the following morning, at least since changing my eating habits the last 6 weeks.

    Good luck with however you go, and just remember the best option, is the one that suits you, and is the most sustainable :)
  • MityMax96
    MityMax96 Posts: 5,778 Member
    I usually have my biggest meal at lunch because I stay at home at the moment. So I can. But I have crazy candy cravings in the afternoons and at night. I put it down to lack of willpower. Because during the day I don't have this problem.

    A friend of mine suggested that I eat all my calories for the day at breakfast and lunch, and one treat after lunch. And then keep myself out of the kitchen and away from food until the next morning. Will this work?

    Will it work??
    Well that depends on you.

    I myself skip breakfast, and do not eat my first meal till post workout, which is usually around 1 pm
  • LaurenGetsFit2
    LaurenGetsFit2 Posts: 35 Member
    Either that, or (as mentioned above) IF--I usually eat breakfast, skip lunch, and then eat a healthy, normal-sized dinner around 6pm or 7pm and then not allow myself to eat after 8pm. Most of the time I'll have a healthier dessert option like fruit sprinkled with cocoa powder or cinnamon, or plain popcorn (I get the natural, "simply salted" microwave kind; or the 100-Calorie kettle corn packs! Mmmm!) within that 1-2 hour window, just so I don't feel deprived.

    I've also found it helps to be like, "Okay, self, it's cool to have this one thing. But enjoy it, because it's not going to turn into a pig-fest, here, and it's your one treat. Because you're awesome, and you deserve it." Haha. Like they say, eat a little bit so you don't feel deprived, but keep your head and don't let it get out of control. I used to suffer from the "Oh. I had one piece of candy, but now...I think I want another. I really want another. Yes, I have to have one more." And then the sugar/candy binge would commence, and before I knew it a couple hundred Calories of sugar would have to be logged into MFP. -_- Slowly, though, I'm learning to give myself some freedom, but not to much.

    It's all about balance and harmony when you're trying to get healthy---everything in moderation, and even too much of a good thing can be a bad thing.
  • Cyclingbonnie
    Cyclingbonnie Posts: 413 Member
    I never intentionally skip meals. When I skip intentionally I tend to overeat when I do finally eat. Occasionally I will get involved doing something and will go right on through meal time. I realize it when my stomach starts growling. If I'm several hours passed meal time I will eat a snack to back off the hunger and wait till meal time to eat, but that is the only time I skip.
  • healthygreek
    healthygreek Posts: 2,137 Member
    Mon-Fri, I eat a 350 calorie breakfast, then lunch around 1 then nothing but a little snack till the next morning.
    My body naturally wants the most food at lunch so I eat most of my calories at that time.
    Sat and Sun, I skip lunch except for a small snack and eat a large dinner cause we go out to dinner on the weekend.
    This works really well for me and I been doing it for years. I'm at goal now.
    I call myself a bulk eater cause I'm not satisfied unless I have a lot of calories at least once a day.
  • GillianMcK
    GillianMcK Posts: 401 Member
    If you're craving carbs, could it be to do with the overall amount of calories you're eating, you might be eating too few calories for what you're doing??
    How many calories are you eating a day and what exercise are you doing, does it fit your TDEE or is it a bit low and your body is looking for energy boost (and going for the quick fix of sugar)??
    Personally I eat pretty much throughout the day, glass of whole milk, protein shake about an hour later, porridge about an hour after that, high protein lunch, normally a chicken breast (currently on high fat/protein, low carbs but that's just what I'm doing at the moment), full fat greek yogurt after lunch, another glass of milk, do my run/workout about 2hrs after that (higher sugars in the milk can make me crash half way through my run if I have it too close to the run), back home, dinner, then bed, so I graze throughout the day and never get hungry (I'm on approx 1750 calories and losing about 2lbs a week)

    You can only try these things for a couple of weeks and see how they go, it's entirely up to yourself, just because it worked for someone else, doesn't mean it'll work for you, but you won't know unless you try.
  • FlowerFairy493
    FlowerFairy493 Posts: 182
    If you're craving carbs, could it be to do with the overall amount of calories you're eating, you might be eating too few calories for what you're doing??
    How many calories are you eating a day and what exercise are you doing, does it fit your TDEE or is it a bit low and your body is looking for energy boost (and going for the quick fix of sugar)??
    Personally I eat pretty much throughout the day, glass of whole milk, protein shake about an hour later, porridge about an hour after that, high protein lunch, normally a chicken breast (currently on high fat/protein, low carbs but that's just what I'm doing at the moment), full fat greek yogurt after lunch, another glass of milk, do my run/workout about 2hrs after that (higher sugars in the milk can make me crash half way through my run if I have it too close to the run), back home, dinner, then bed, so I graze throughout the day and never get hungry (I'm on approx 1750 calories and losing about 2lbs a week)

    You can only try these things for a couple of weeks and see how they go, it's entirely up to yourself, just because it worked for someone else, doesn't mean it'll work for you, but you won't know unless you try.

    I doubt I eat too little. I'm 5'1, 21, 132lb, and eat 1500-1600 calories a day. I do weight training 5 times a week and do some cardio which burns approx. 200 calories a day.
  • DeadliftAddict
    DeadliftAddict Posts: 746 Member
    Why would you skip or not eat in the evenings? That's when you have your cravings right? Eat when your body wants you to eat. Not on some time schedule like "oh it's this o'clock I should eat."
  • FlowerFairy493
    FlowerFairy493 Posts: 182
    Why would you skip or not eat in the evenings? That's when you have your cravings right?

    Because it makes me eat an entire cake...and I'm not able to stop once I start.
  • FlowerFairy493
    FlowerFairy493 Posts: 182
    Why would you skip or not eat in the evenings? That's when you have your cravings right? Eat when your body wants you to eat. Not on some time schedule like "oh it's this o'clock I should eat."

    I listened to my body 2 months ago. I gained 6 pounds.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Well you can try. But every time I've gone over my calories and wanted to skip dinner... I ended up starving at 9pm and not making great choices.

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