I'm developing an unhealthy habit where I don't eat all day to save calories for later.

It's good that you are noticing this pattern and keeping an eye on it.

As others are saying, it's probably not a big deal as long as you aren't making yourself feel like *kitten* and you aren't binging on complete junk. That said, for me, that was how severe undereating started.

I would save cals for the evening so I could eat junk food w/friends or drink, and then sometimes my plans would change or I just wouldn't end up eating that much for whatever reason, but I wouldn't account for the deficit post-social gathering. In college, banking calories became a daily thing instead of a now-and-then, thing, and things really got out of hand for me.

So, obviously I avoid banking cause I know for me, it's not ideal. But if it works for you and you can keep it in check, I'd say it's probably fine.

jessiferrrb wrote: »

Ironandwine69 wrote: »

This sounds like an addiction to calorie banking to me. You gotta deal with it

it sounds like intermittent fasting to me.

You know, it does sound like IF.

I do that almost every day, what's unhealthy about budgeting calories for your preferred eating time?

You're just doing intermittent fasting, there's nothing unhealthy about it! It's actually great for your body to go through periods of not eating to increase autophagy - basically dead cells get cleaned up and dumped out of your body, decreasing the chance of free radicals.

Eating once a day has a few names, one of them is "Warrior Diet". If you google that you'll see many people do it with great success.

I personally following a 16:8 schedule - meaning I fast for 16 hours and eat within a 8 hour window. This is a fancy way of saying I skip breakfast. I eat lunch at noon then dinner around 6pm, then don't eat again till the next day.

Works great for me, and I love having a big filling dinner every night.

I totally get what you mean. Some days I religiously watch my intake so closely that by the time I get home from work at 8pm I'm hit with a truckload of calories I need to eat so I don't lose any potential gains that day. But when I get the rationing just right I can enjoy a healthy amount of evening snacks and desserts. Love it. A successful diet/maintence is all about satiety to me. I ate 1000 calories by lunch yesterday (treated myself to mac and cheese) and I was starving all afternoon. Today I had 2 cod cakes and a large helping of steamed broccoli and cauliflower and I'm not hungry at all even though the calories are wayyyy less!

Geocitiesuser wrote: »

I need to start eating celery and other raw vegetables to hold myself over. I don't know why, but I didn't see how easy the solution was until I started posting this thread. .... So asking, brought me to my own answer! Celery, cucumbers, zucchini, etc, it is! Fiberous, refreshing, and delicious! Just realizing I had a jar of kimchi I could have brought to work too.

Does anyone else find themselves playing games with what they eat so they can eat what they "really want" later ?

IF. I don't eat until a little later in the day. You're all good. It's not bad/unhealthy.

Intermittent fasting works like that. I did it for years and only recently switched for medical reasons. I would eat a small snack at 2-3pm and most of my calories at dinner. It isn't unhealthy unless you aren't meeting your calorie and nutritional goals.

LAWoman72 wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

P.S. I don't really see how eating stuff all day, even low calorie stuff, is IF - eating is now the same as fasting? But who cares, really . . . .

No, you're right, it isn't...but who said that? I think the OP said he usually doesn't eat at all until a certain point? I will re-read the thread as I might have missed something.

OP said he forewent the shakes (on the post you're quoting), which means he didn't have them...?

The comment about IF was not Deeply Serious. It sounded like some might be comparing his veggie-eating fest to IF.

But yes, I read him as saying he skipped the shakes and (possibly then, possibly other times - unclear) it was challenging to get through the gym and taekwando. That part of my comment was serious. Under-fueling a workout can be a problem. Not life-threatening, typically, but maybe leading to lower calorie burn from the workout and/or slower progress, if it's more than a rare occurrence.

Really it's only "unhealthy" if you malnourished. If not, don't worry.

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