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Two years ago I wrote a post under the category of fitness myths titled "Fitness Myth - Eating Once a Day to Lose Weight." Almost everything I have read in terms of diet has always been to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner with 2 snacks in between. Most popular fitness sites will say the same thing - eat 5 to 6 small meals a day.
Well, I never thought that the article I posted 2 years ago would get so many comments and mostly of people saying that eating once a day is GOOD for losing weight. Surprisingly, most of the comments state that eating once a day was the only way to lose weight. Even with all of those comments I still have to disagree just from my own experience. I don't like starving. I get moody and I get headaches if I haven't had enough to eat.
I do believe that eating more throughout the day (of the right foods) keeps you fueled for exercise as well as keeping you functioning in general. Besides, how can you get all of the vitamins and nutrients you need from one meal a day? Supplements are fine but they are to supplement - not replace food as your main source of nutrition. I just thought I'd bring this up again since the topic continues to generate comments on the post.
What do you think? Is it safe to eat once a day?
Yours in Health,
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I have a question… I wanted to post it on yahoo or something like its own topic but idk how. Did our ancestors or do some rural tribes now eat once daily? I was watching a show about two Maasai men visiting America and they said “Americans eat so much… and they’re ALWAYS eating.” One every corner, bus or car, house, office desk or school we are eating ALL THE TIME and them saying that made me realize that and wonder how often they eat and how often our ancestors ate…
I have been on the IF/One meal a day lifestyle for 14 days now. Have gone from 260 to 246 pounds (5’10, 44 years old) with a goal weight of 165 lbs. After the first three days, my food cravings have disappeared. My ability to focus and my energy level is off the charts, and I am doing cardo and resistance training regularly. I understand that people have opinions about diet etc…, but this lifestyle works for me. I have always followed the old adage: “Eat like a King for breakfast, Prince for lunch and a Pauper for dinner.” Look where it got me? Almost a 100 lbs over my ideal weight of 165 (which is what I weighed as a 23 year old stud). At this point should I worry about what the diet industry is selling? Eat 5-6 meals a day to “feed your metabolism.” That might work for some. Not me. I will check back in here periodically and let you know how I am doing.
Marshall
WEIGHT… noobs/newbies never say fat they always say weight… this is their first f*ck up in quest for a healthy bod.
All i can say without ranting about “one meal a day” is ridiculious…
body + mind needs energy throughout the day, need protein through out the day and fat throughout the day, eating one meal is like saying to your body… there you go…goodluck…
@Marshall.. yeah whilst the eat breakfast like a King etc is some what true… you obviously failed to take into consideration… calories in vs calories out! You obviously ate more calories than you were burning, and the body can only process so many calories at once, the rest is stored as fat.
Wow “Tyler” you are a genius.
@ Tyler “The genius” – 80 lbs , HBP, high cholesterol, gout, achy joints, impotence…all gone in 10 months due to Fast-5 diet (google it). Basically the same principle. One meal a day. And I am 50 yrs old. Now I make love like a rabbit, have energy like a bunny and increased mental focus…and I am much more mellow, too.
Hey, if it works, it works. Different strokes for different people. I have tried them all. This was easy. Stop trying to sound like some kind of expert, okay.
ok first of all eating 4 to 6 small meals a day will just make you fat like seriously thats no wonder all overweight people get fat because of that and the internet just says that because they want to make you fat plus they add all this information that i or some ppl dont understand…this works for me and all my craving have gone drown the drain…so if ur listening to some internet thinking that it will work you fisrt have to think about what works for you and dont act like some expert because its proven it works so yea…im not trying to praise this type of eating once a day rule but its really getting annoying how people say it doesnt work when they just say that because they’re simply clueless.
I agree jenko. Do what works for you. Eating 5-6 small meals a day didnt work for me. Eating once a day after 4 pm works for me. Clear mind, no bonking, lots of energy. And I have dropped 25 lbs thus far. Still miss my two-three pints a beer a day!
Let’s get real. Who said cavemen ate once a day?
Did they find a caveman diary among the fossils?
People and animals ate the same. They grazed. As they went about their business, you know, trying to stay warm, alive, hydrated, they picked at or up the raw food that God has provided. They were forced to move and be physical and ate while they did their thing, hence, the 5-6 SMALL, repeat, SMALL, like one hand full of food at a time small. It wasnt until we were growing wheat, eating bread and chowing down on domesticated animal meat that reports began to surface on heart disease and obesity. If you hadn’t faked being sick and stayed home from school because of all the candy you ate the day before you would have learned this in world history 101. I’m just saying…
Whether our ancestors ate one meal a day or not, they did have to go on empty for a while until they found food. Not only that but when an animal is sick, it fasts; when a human is nervous or anxious, they lose their appetite; and I know quite a few people, including myself, who cannot have breakfast without becoming sick, and none of us has any sort of disease or affliction that causes this. From my perspective, it’s a much more natural and intuitive system and it’s a hell of a lot better than counting calories and trying to plan and prepare six meals a day.
Not only that, but I know a handful of people who absolutely love the Warrior Diet, the Fast-5 Diet, and other intermittent fasting systems, and they find it easy to stick to. I seriously recommend finding the Warrior Diet’s website, it explains everything from a biological standpoint. And unless you try it, you really have no room to talk about it. All you’re doing is following mainstream “health experts” whom, like the rest of the health industry, often don’t even live by their own advice. I swear if I see another fat “nutritionist” . .
2 months ago I was 210 pounds, I am 5 ft10, by blood pressure was high, had constant, terrible, annoying, headaches and had huge trouble falling asleep.
…So its been two “terrible” months of eating just a healthy huge meal a day at around 8pm, consisting of pretty much everything I want but in a certain order.
Sleeping 7/8 hours a night, no longer a trouble, blood pressure better then when I was 20(I´m 29), headaches? I´m starting to forget what it is! Ahh, the down side, I´ve lost 15 pounds the first month, and now losing an average of 2/3 pounds weak. Another huuuge problem, my waist passed from the healthy 46 inches diameter to the unpleasant 39 inches!
I work around 12 hours a day at an office, if I feel weak (it happened 4 times till now, all in the first month) I eat an apple and a bunch of water. Bc I dont have time to workout, or maybe the will, I just do some pus-ups and sit-ups every morning (not more than 10 minutes of it).
To summarize,
Keep eating 5-6-7 or even a hundred 20 calorie meals per day, to really boost up your metabolism, thats the way! (and would actually reduce the unemployment rates since people would consider it a job, a darn difficult one!)
Ps: Dont do what I´m doing, I´m just killing myself!!
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