Too many calories at once?

kapzilla
kapzilla Posts: 84 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Can consuming a lot of calories all at once be a bad thing?

I'm on ADHD medication, and it kind of suppresses the feeling of hunger. I mean I can eat, but it's like I forget to. Well it happened today, the only thing I've had calorie wise is some coffee, with sugar and 2% milk. I just forced myself to sit down and eat a bag of veggie crisps.

So now I'm wondering if I should go ahead and eat the tuna salad that I made earlier, but can there be a thing as too many calories at once?

Mondays are usually the day that I'm really bad about remembering to eat, because I'm doing things with my children. I just don't want to sabotage myself when I'm just starting this.

Replies

  • ZarrX86
    ZarrX86 Posts: 38
    I would like to know the same thing, and I kind of think i know the answer, but same thing happens to me. I go to work, eat about 500 calories, then 6 o'clock rolls around and im really hungry so i eat the rest so about like 1100 or so. I know its better for your body to digest the food in spurts not all at once, but does the old calories in calories out still work?
  • questionablemethods
    questionablemethods Posts: 2,174 Member
    I don't think so. There are lots of people who practice "intermittent fasting" and might go 12-18 hours without eating and then eat all of their calories in 1 or 2 meals. It can be a successful form of caloric restriction and doesn't seem to have negative side effects for those who do well with it.
  • funkyspunky872
    funkyspunky872 Posts: 866 Member
    No, you could save your entire calorie goal just for one meal EVERYDAY and still lose weight. I do NOT recommend this, of course! :) But, it honestly wouldn't make a difference... And every now and then seems perfectly acceptable to me.
  • kapzilla
    kapzilla Posts: 84 Member
    That is a relief to hear that! I'm gonna go eat my tuna salad now! LOL
  • Apazman
    Apazman Posts: 494 Member
    I don't think so. There are lots of people who practice "intermittent fasting" and might go 12-18 hours without eating and then eat all of their calories in 1 or 2 meals. It can be a successful form of caloric restriction and doesn't seem to have negative side effects for those who do well with it.

    ROCK THIS!
  • Bobby_Clerici
    Bobby_Clerici Posts: 1,828 Member
    It's not optimal but if you are backed into some corner, why not?
    I prefer to spread my meals through the day for several reasons, and people argue back and forth, but it just makes more sense.
    Sometimes logic is simple.
    Good luck!
  • hopingforhealthy
    hopingforhealthy Posts: 26
    It's obviously not advisable though. It puts a huge strain on your digestive system and can result in stomach aches and bloating.
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    I eat 1800 calories in about 2 meals. There's nothing wrong with eating big meals if it fits your calories. I couldn't do the 6 small meals a day, I like feeling full and it works.
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    It's obviously not advisable though. It puts a huge strain on your digestive system and can result in stomach aches and bloating.

    I doubt the OP's tuna salad is going to cause a huge strain on digestion.
  • nikka488
    nikka488 Posts: 8 Member
    I agree. I think at the end of the day it's calories in vs. calories out. My final meal of the day tends to be between 1100-1400 calories. Granted I eat a lot per day (~2800 calories) but I always find my last meal of the day a catch up on my daily goal/nutritional requirements. My days tend to look like this:

    ~375 calories when I get up (6am)
    ~450 2 or so hours later (8:30am)
    ~600 @ lunch (After my workout)
    ~50-280 afternoon snack
    ~1200+ dinner (After training & 2+ hours before bed)
  • betho217
    betho217 Posts: 50 Member
    When I first decided to start eating healthy I met with a nutritionust and she said that I should aim for 500 calories per meal. Anything consumed beyond 500 calories your body will more likely store as fat. I would love to find a study or two to back this info up.
  • rebecca_florida
    rebecca_florida Posts: 184 Member
    It doesn't matter in terms of your weight loss, but for me eating smaller meals on a regular schedule keeps everything else, um, regular and helps prevent highs and lows in blood sugar. You don't want to be around me when my blood sugar gets low.....:mad:
  • funkyspunky872
    funkyspunky872 Posts: 866 Member
    When I first decided to start eating healthy I met with a nutritionust and she said that I should aim for 500 calories per meal. Anything consumed beyond 500 calories your body will more likely store as fat. I would love to find a study or two to back this info up.

    I don't think you'll find anything to back that up because it's complete and utter bullsh*t.
  • VMarkV
    VMarkV Posts: 522 Member
    I consume all my calories (2000+kcal) in a small time frame of about 2 hours...actually, digestion is perfectly fine so long as food volume isn't too overwhelming (you can only eat so much low calorie vegetables). The advantage with digestion is combining good ratios of fat, protein, and carbohydrates. Enough fat to stimulate bile production to emulsify food.

    Insulin response is actually quite favorable/stable since all three macros are combined and since digestion is delayed - ultimately, carbohydrates are converted into blood glucose at a very, very slow rate (as opposed to eating a carb heavy meal with little/no fat).

    <---As you can clearly see, I am loaded with fat (sarcasm), seriously calories-in vs calories expended...
  • Pspetal
    Pspetal Posts: 426 Member
    Its just a question of calories in calories out. Doesn't matter how many meals you have or how many calories each meal is. All that counts is the number of calories at the end of the day. You can eat 7 meals of 200 calories each or 2 meals of 700 calories each. Same thing really... I need to feel full after a meal. Small meals and snacks don't cut it for me....

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