Is it bad to skip meals altogether

GlorianasTears
GlorianasTears Posts: 212 Member
edited November 23 in Health and Weight Loss
Because I don't have an appetite. But i don't want to be damaging my body by not getting my nutrition I don't know what to do

Replies

  • Momepro
    Momepro Posts: 1,509 Member
    A missed meal here and there is fine as long as you are not underrating too much. If you are regularly eating only one or two meals a day, you are still good as long as you are hitting your nutritional goals. Some people are all day grazers, and some people do better with fewer but larger meals.
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
    edited December 2017
    GlorianasTears wrote: »
    Because I don't have an appetite. But i don't want to be damaging my body by not getting my nutrition I don't know what to do

    Well done for asking for advice. Are you feeling healthy otherwise? If not, see a doctor.

    Is it your goal to lose weight? If so, skipping meals is one way some people control their calorie intake, by eating at a time that suits them. Nowadays it's called Intermittent Fasting.

    If you're trying to gain weight, and/or you're eating less than 1200 net calories as a woman (1500 as a man), you're risking health problems.

  • Whitezombiegirl
    Whitezombiegirl Posts: 1,042 Member
    Three meals a day is a modern western way of eating. It's been different at other times in history. Many cultures today have different patterns of eating.

    As long as you get enough nutrition and have enough energy , then times don't matter.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    Undereating often leads to loss of appetite. Even if your goal is weightloss, loss of appetite is not a good thing, because you have to eat. But you don't need an appetite to eat, you can eat anyway. If the problem is that you're forcing yourself to eat food you don't like, the solution is obvious.

    You need regular refueling. "Regular" is a wide range; all you have to do is to get in enough of all the nutrients you need every day, and not too much of anything over time. If you don't eat for a day here and there, there's no problem. Routinely undereating is a problem. Undereating is useless as a method for weightloss, because you'll overeat later. If you're undereating consistently, over time, you'll be malnourished and underweight and sick. "Skip meals altogether" is ambiguous. To stop eating completely is not an option, we have been through that. But if you prefer to snack of graze through the day, you can do that. The same rules apply.
  • livisuzanne
    livisuzanne Posts: 22 Member
    I've actually been worried about this too. I don't always eat "lunch," but I try to have a substantial snack during my lunch break to keep my blood sugar from crashing, and I have something mid-afternoon. I just feel better eating small meals throughout the day to keep me going rather than having 3 specific meals. The frequent meals has been recommended to me by an endocrinologist, my primary care physician, and my dietician, but when i track my food and I see "breakfast lunch dinner," I get worried about trying to eat enough calories in one sitting. It just doesn't work for me.
  • Whitezombiegirl
    Whitezombiegirl Posts: 1,042 Member
    livisuzanne wrote: »
    but when i track my food and I see "breakfast lunch dinner," I get worried about trying to eat enough calories in one sitting. It just doesn't work for me.

    This bothered me too, so I used the setting function to create one big category I labelled 'food', but you change it 5 meals if you wanted. Whatever fits best for you.
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    livisuzanne wrote: »
    I've actually been worried about this too. I don't always eat "lunch," but I try to have a substantial snack during my lunch break to keep my blood sugar from crashing, and I have something mid-afternoon. I just feel better eating small meals throughout the day to keep me going rather than having 3 specific meals. The frequent meals has been recommended to me by an endocrinologist, my primary care physician, and my dietician, but when i track my food and I see "breakfast lunch dinner," I get worried about trying to eat enough calories in one sitting. It just doesn't work for me.

    You can edit the labels to better fit your personal preference. I do breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as snacks, drinks and vitamins (so I remember to take them). The big thing is to consistently hit your calorie goals on a daily or weekly basis. How you fit the food in is up to you, as long as you are not undereating on a regular basis.

    You are a clear case where the defaults don't work and the medical advice you've received is far more useful than some dumb website settings :)
  • baseballtoros
    baseballtoros Posts: 6 Member
    I do intermittent fasting. I eat from 11am to 8pm but I make sure I get my nutrients in those hours. I have just started logging them and researching what I need for my age and lifestyle. I have had to really adjust my eating do to my age and changes I have seen in my body. Lots of research to be done.
  • vingogly
    vingogly Posts: 1,785 Member
    edited December 2017
    I eat a good breakfast, and have two or three snacks during the day but skip lunch. That leaves me with more calories to use for dinner and evening snacks. Haven't seen any negatives like lack of energy or hunger as a result. The French tend to eat a light breakfast and a heavier lunch, with dinner in the evening, later than we typically eat it it here in the U.S. so as others have said there's nothing sacred about our tradition of divvying everything up into "three squares".
  • MsHarryWinston
    MsHarryWinston Posts: 1,027 Member
    I eat regularity during the week but on weekends sometimes I skip a meal (like yesterday) sometimes I skip two, just depends on how I’m feeling. If I’m not hungry I don’t bother because i know I’ll eventually have an extra hungry day. Sometimes I bank calories for a special occasion or for eating out.
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    It depends on how it is affecting your overall nutritional intake.

    Is it making you, on the whole, undereat? If not, then it's fine.

    Some people naturally don't eat meals and make up by eating larger ones later. A lot of people practice intermittent fasting, and skip breakfast. They'll eat lunch, and then maybe have a snack, then dinner and dessert. They're total daily caloric intake will still be the same as if they had eaten breakfast, they just spread their food out differently.

    Are you compensating in some way for skipping your meals by eating more at other times? That's the important question. If it all balances out, then you're fine.

    If not, then perhaps you should speak to your doctor. Chronically under eating isn't healthy.
  • Fitnessmom82
    Fitnessmom82 Posts: 376 Member
    I think it's fine. I miss a meal every once a while when I'm too busy or just not hungry. Sometimes I'll skip lunch if I know dinner is going to be huge. I could never skip meals on a regular basis, though. I look forward to pretty much every meal. Listen to how your body feels, you'll be able to tell what works for you!
  • picturebook
    picturebook Posts: 13 Member
    Nutritionally, yes it is fine. However, if you have struggled with binge eating or an unhealthy relationship with food it is an awful idea.
  • catgoondog
    catgoondog Posts: 15 Member
    Eating when ur hungry. And stopping when filling full is the best, listening to ur body....
  • catgoondog
    catgoondog Posts: 15 Member
    baseballtoros wrote: »
    I do intermittent fasting. I eat from 11am to 8pm but I make sure I get my nutrients in those hours. I have just started logging them and researching what I need for my age and lifestyle. I have had to really adjust my eating do to my age and changes I have seen in my body. Lots of research to be done.
    baseballtoros wrote: »
    I do intermittent fasting. I eat from 11am to 8pm but I make sure I get my nutrients in those hours. I have just started logging them and researching what I need for my age and lifestyle. I have had to really adjust my eating do to my age and changes I have seen in my body. Lots of research to be done.

  • catgoondog
    catgoondog Posts: 15 Member
    Hi, may I ask ur age? For I find it all depends on how tall u r, and how active u r, To what weight u should be And how many calories u r meant to input....
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