SKIPPING MEALS
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odalys60
Posts: 8 Member
so i have a question, i k ow that skipping meals isn’t healthy but for the past couple of weeks i haven’t really been eating much. i’m a college student and finals have been keeping me busy. i’ll eat my first meal of the day around 5 or 6. can this affect me negatively in the aspect of weight loss?
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Replies
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Skipping meals isn't unhealthy, so long as it isn't contributing to an overall unhealthy diet or approach to eating overall.
Lots of people do intermittent fasting and don't eat their first meal until late in the day. Nothing wrong with that.
It's your overall caloric balance (i.e., maintaining an energy deficit, so that CI<CO) that determines whether you are going to lose body mass, not the timing of your meals.7 -
so i have a question, i k ow that skipping meals isn’t healthy but for the past couple of weeks i haven’t really been eating much. i’m a college student and finals have been keeping me busy. i’ll eat my first meal of the day around 5 or 6. can this affect me negatively in the aspect of weight loss?
If you are still meeting your calorie requirements for the day, but instead doing it over a shorter period of time it isn't unhealthy (unless you are filling up on foods with little nutritional value and not meeting minimum's needed with protein, fat and essential micronutrients).
If you are constantly undereating day after day then it will negatively impact on your health. It can cause extra muscle loss, brittle nails and bones, thinning of hair, fatigue, depression.....4 -
Doesn't matter when you eat or how many times a day you eat, just that you're hitting your calorie targets.4
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College finals on an empty stomach? That's just plain nuts!
Your brain can't function properly if you are starving your body throughout the day.
Think of a car. How well does the car function if there is little or no fuel in the tank? Eventually, even the battery, which controls other functions in the car, will cease to operate because the motor has to be running in order for the battery to charge.
Food is your body's fuel. Especially for the brain.
If the argument is "no time" then opt for meal replacement drinks or nutrition bars at least in the short term.
Ultimately your habit of not eating until the evening is going to cause issues. Eat, girl, eat!17 -
When you do eat are you getting the proper amount of calories, protein, etc? If you are and are not hungry, irritable, tired, etc all day then you should be fine eating once a day. If you are only eating 600 calories a day because you are skipping other meals then it is not fine.5
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College finals on an empty stomach? That's just plain nuts!
Your brain can't function properly if you are starving your body throughout the day.
Think of a car. How well does the car function if there is little or no fuel in the tank? Eventually, even the battery, which controls other functions in the car, will cease to operate because the motor has to be running in order for the battery to charge.
Food is your body's fuel. Especially for the brain.
If the argument is "no time" then opt for meal replacement drinks or nutrition bars at least in the short term.
Ultimately your habit of not eating until the evening is going to cause issues. Eat, girl, eat!
There's many people who do IF protocols and eat later in the day, do OMAD etc. As long as calorie and macros/micros goals are being hit it's all good.5 -
Skipping meals is fine so long as it doesn't affect your ability to get in everything you need for a healthy diet (I personally would have problems with protein and what I consider adequate veg on OMAD, but others do not -- I just can only eat so much volume at a time).
What concerns me much more than skipping meals and not eating until late is: "for the past couple of weeks i haven’t really been eating much" -- that does seem a possible problem. Is there something going on that might be causing that?4 -
Check out Dr. Jason Fung on intermittment fasting. You fast for 16 hours eat for 8. You can skip breafast. It changes your metabolism, insulin, etc. You can change the hours, days, etc. If you have test one day just go ahead and eat breakfast and the re-start. You still watch carbs and sugar. Xmas and holidays eat and then re-start. High school and college wrestlers have used fasting for years to cut weigh and keep it off.21
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Stop eating after dinner at 7:00 PM. Start eating at lunch 12:00 noon until after dinner.16
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College finals on an empty stomach? That's just plain nuts!
Your brain can't function properly if you are starving your body throughout the day.
Think of a car. How well does the car function if there is little or no fuel in the tank? Eventually, even the battery, which controls other functions in the car, will cease to operate because the motor has to be running in order for the battery to charge.
Food is your body's fuel. Especially for the brain.
If the argument is "no time" then opt for meal replacement drinks or nutrition bars at least in the short term.
Ultimately your habit of not eating until the evening is going to cause issues. Eat, girl, eat!
The human body is nothing like a car.
As long as the OP is getting adequate nutrition - whenever she chooses to eat - she'll be fine.7 -
jbuckley1953 wrote: »Stop eating after dinner at 7:00 PM. Start eating at lunch 12:00 noon until after dinner.
Why?2 -
jbuckley1953 wrote: »Stop eating after dinner at 7:00 PM. Start eating at lunch 12:00 noon until after dinner.
Why?
Fungus8 -
College finals on an empty stomach? That's just plain nuts!
Your brain can't function properly if you are starving your body throughout the day.
Think of a car. How well does the car function if there is little or no fuel in the tank? Eventually, even the battery, which controls other functions in the car, will cease to operate because the motor has to be running in order for the battery to charge.
Food is your body's fuel. Especially for the brain.
If the argument is "no time" then opt for meal replacement drinks or nutrition bars at least in the short term.
Ultimately your habit of not eating until the evening is going to cause issues. Eat, girl, eat!
Nah. Anecdotally, there's a lot of individual variation in intake-timing needs and responses. I'd hope OP would have a clue if her concentration or memory were suffering, and would've figured out how to fit in some snacks if they were.
Some people do well OMAD (one meal a day), some don't. OP, if you're doing fine, and you're getting adequate calories and nutrition most days for long-term health, any eating schedule is OK.
Be attentive for any negative consequences that may creep up on you from long-term cumulative consequences of an altenative schedule, and adjust if necessary, but otherwise you can eat on any schedule that seems to suit you.8 -
i have been feeling fine by just eating once a day. what i have noticed is i’ve been sleeping way more. i’m always tired now and i don’t know if it has to do with the way i’m eating. I would say not only is that affecting me but i have been having personal problems going on that have made me lose my appetite. i know something is up with me bc i’ve been out of it lately. hope everyone is doing good and thanks for the concern0
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i have been feeling fine by just eating once a day. what i have noticed is i’ve been sleeping way more. i’m always tired now and i don’t know if it has to do with the way i’m eating. I would say not only is that affecting me but i have been having personal problems going on that have made me lose my appetite. i know something is up with me bc i’ve been out of it lately. hope everyone is doing good and thanks for the concern
Fatigue is normal from studying a great deal . . . but it can also be a sign of undernutrition. Further, if you have a weight loss goal, sleeping more usually translates to burning fewer calories (we burn some while we sleep, but usually fewer than when awake).
You might want to grab some protein bars or something easy, keep them at hand, and see if you do better with a bit more regular eating.
An experiment of a few days to a week should be enough to give you an indication of whether your eating schedule is the issue (though that short a time might not be enough for you to fully recover . . . but it seems like you should at least feel yourself picking up a bit within a week.)
Take care! :flowerforyou:1 -
jbuckley1953 wrote: »Check out Dr. Jason Fung on intermittment fasting. You fast for 16 hours eat for 8. You can skip breafast. It changes your metabolism, insulin, etc. You can change the hours, days, etc. If you have test one day just go ahead and eat breakfast and the re-start. You still watch carbs and sugar. Xmas and holidays eat and then re-start. High school and college wrestlers have used fasting for years to cut weigh and keep it off.
No, don't. Fung is a proven quack and has been debunked numerous times. Outside of specific health issues, there is no advantage to low carb or IF unless it helps you stay in a calorie deficit (and that doesn't seem to be an issue for you). Certainly there are no metabolic advantages, and insulin is a normal part of the process your body uses to convert food to energy.jbuckley1953 wrote: »Stop eating after dinner at 7:00 PM. Start eating at lunch 12:00 noon until after dinner.
This doesn't even make sense.5 -
i have been feeling fine by just eating once a day. what i have noticed is i’ve been sleeping way more. i’m always tired now and i don’t know if it has to do with the way i’m eating. I would say not only is that affecting me but i have been having personal problems going on that have made me lose my appetite. i know something is up with me bc i’ve been out of it lately. hope everyone is doing good and thanks for the concern
How much weight have you lost in the last 4 weeks and how many more pounds do you need to hit your goal weight? That fatigue could be a sign of undereating so I am curious as to what the scale reflects.1 -
I don't know what your financial situation is but if you have a little extra $$ to spend, buy some protein shakes and protein bars. When I was in school I NEVER had time to eat right. I was either binging on convenience food or just eating nothing. My lifesavers were CLIF bars and Premier protein shakes (I buy them at Walmart, Sams Club or Meijer). On a calorie restriction they can be a whole meal. I can almost guarantee you'll have more energy and be less lethargic if, rather than eating say a 1200 calorie meal at dinner time, to dial that back and instead have a meal replacement bar or shake for the other two meals.2
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Also, I'd recommend a multivitamin! I take One A Day Womens'. It helped me a lot with my lethargy.1
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