What is your opinion on skipping meals when you aren't hungry?
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alwaysbloated
Posts: 458 Member
Or saving calories from meals to eat later on, for a special occassion or cheat meal?
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Replies
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Saving calories over a day, or even over a couple days for a big meal is fine, as long as you are aren't stinting yourself too much.
As far as not eating if you aren't hungry, well if you truly aren't hungry, you probably don't need extra calories at the moment. Again as long as you aren't making yourself sick, and it's only once in a while, you are probably fine. Some people don't need as many meals in a day, some people do better eating only one or two meals, and using thier calories up at once instead of over the whole day.7 -
I don't eat until about 2pm most days as I'm naturally a night time eater.
No problem doing it as long as you get your nutrition in each day.4 -
And I save around 150 calories week days to eat out or have a few drinks at a week end.0
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alwaysbloated wrote: »Or saving calories from meals to eat later on, for a special occassion or cheat meal?
Look at your weekly goal not daily4 -
I'm all for skipping meals if you don't feel hungry. Obviously at some point your body will demand nutrients, if it doesn't feel hungry yet, I don't eat the meal. But I don't have specific meal times anyways, so sometimes my lunch would be at 12:00, sometimes at 15:30
Saving for special occasions, have never thought about that, think that would demand too much self control for me to be already in a deficit and to cut kcal out of that even more to eat something..nah1 -
If I’m not hungry then I don’t bother to eat. My appetite can be pretty fluid where it just bumps along like a flat line and the I go super not hungry and might have a day or two of super low calorie days and then back to normal and then a couple of days where I’m super hungry so I eat over calories a bit and it basically all evens out. Now that I’ve been tracking for almost a year I can see these days for what they are and just roll with it.4
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My opinion is that skipping meals and low calorie days are fine, even more often than just before an event, but with caveats:
1. It shouldn't push your overall deficit over time too high - that would be chronic undereating which isn't good
2. It shouldn't push you into an extreme hunger rollercoaster of skipping meals, feeling hungrier, loss of control, overeating
3. It shouldn't encourage an unhealthy mental perception of food like "fewer calories is better, food is my enemy", or worse, disordered thinking patterns, or even worse, eating disorder if you are prone to it.
If you do it in a calm and controlled manner and know that it's just a calorie management system, then I don't see any issues with it. In your specific case, occasionally saving up for a higher calorie meal or day, it's usually less likely to create problems, but still, be mindful and take action if you find yourself over-restricting, over-compensating, or losing control.8 -
It depends on what happens later, and over time. Does it even out or do you end up overeating?
I think "skipping meals" is vague enough to make many people panic. Eating regularly is good, but eating regularly can be anything from eating something every hour, to one meal per day.1 -
Nope... I try and eat often even if I'm not hungry. My body goes into starvation mode and keeps extra fat when I starve it. If I eat when I'm not hungry, I only eat what is good for my body. If I wait until I'm hungry, my brain and body argue about what to eat. I consider my options when I'm hungry. I think more like "what I can eat that makes sense" when I'm not hungry.26
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I skip my snacks when I'm not hungry, then I consider those calories a bonus on the weekends or when I get snacky another day. I sometimes skip breakfast if I don't workout, but I try not to. I'll always eat lunch and dinner, but maybe only half a portion if I'm just not hungry.0
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Actually "starvation mode" doesn't exist and you don't keep extra fat when you "starve" it. If starving actually was apparent, then starving people shouldn't be skinny and malnourished.DennysWifeMrsMattox wrote: »Nope... I try and eat often even if I'm not hungry. My body goes into starvation mode and keeps extra fat when I starve it. If I eat when I'm not hungry, I only eat what is good for my body. If I wait until I'm hungry, my brain and body argue about what to eat. I consider my options when I'm hungry. I think more like "what I can eat that makes sense" when I'm not hungry.
The fitness industry has duped a lot of people into thinking you HAVE to eat several meals a day to "keep your metabolism going" or "burn fat". In physiology....................that's NOT how it works.
If eating more often keeps you from being hungry, then fine. But eating more often means you have to space out your calories per meal and whether you eat them all in several meals or just a couple, as long as you're in a deficit, you'll lose weight.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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DennysWifeMrsMattox wrote: »Nope... I try and eat often even if I'm not hungry. My body goes into starvation mode and keeps extra fat when I starve it. If I eat when I'm not hungry, I only eat what is good for my body. If I wait until I'm hungry, my brain and body argue about what to eat. I consider my options when I'm hungry. I think more like "what I can eat that makes sense" when I'm not hungry.
No, it doesn't.
As for not eating when you are not hungry, why force yourself to eat calories that your body doesn't want? Have a larger meal or an extra snack later in the day (or week).2 -
I look at my calories on a weekly basis. Some days I'm hungrier then others so I eat more. Other days I'm not as hungry so I'd eat a little less.
At the end of the week I'm still eating my maintenance calories so I don't lose or gain. Works great for me for when I was losing weight and while maintaining.3 -
No issues with this, but keep it in moderation. I eat a light breakfast and lunch simply because I don't want anything heavy in my gut while I'm working. I eat the majority of my calories later at night when I'm relaxing and playing with my family.1
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alwaysbloated wrote: »Or saving calories from meals to eat later on, for a special occassion or cheat meal?
My opinion is that it works for me. That's about as far as it goes though.
Some days I am hungrier than other days so I some days I eat more than other days. And some days I don't eat much even though I may be hungry because I know I'll want to splurge tomorrow (or maybe I splurged yesterday).0 -
DennysWifeMrsMattox wrote: »Nope... I try and eat often even if I'm not hungry. My body goes into starvation mode and keeps extra fat when I starve it. If I eat when I'm not hungry, I only eat what is good for my body. If I wait until I'm hungry, my brain and body argue about what to eat. I consider my options when I'm hungry. I think more like "what I can eat that makes sense" when I'm not hungry.
Skipping one meal here and there is not starving your body.
But that aside, I find the differences in people so interesting. I am the exact opposite. I find that if I'm eating when not hungry I'm more likely to eat purely for pleasure, which may not always be what is best for me. But if I wait until I'm really hungry just about anything will suffice so I usually make more sensible choices.2 -
I can't recall a time when I wasn't hungry come time for a meal. I've skipped on snacks because I'm not hungry, but I'm usually pretty much ready to eat come meal time.
I don't necessarily save calories from meals to eat later...but if I know I have, say a BBQ or something in the evening that I will be going to, I typically eat a bit lighter during the day and/or I may naturally eat a bit lighter the next day if it was a big feast.0 -
Assuming we're not talking about anything extreme or overly 1-sided, it's fine. Your body is constantly adjusting to conditions, and is remarkably adaptable/resilient. If things are balancing out over time, then short/finite time periods are largely irrelevant.
Don't dismiss the mental aspect though, as that can be a bigger deal for some than simply banking/balancing out calorie needs.1 -
If there was ever a time I wasn't hungry at meal time I would totally skip eating. I wish that would happen for me.2
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