At my thinnest this was me. I was 24 and involved in dance and worked lunches at a restaurant. I would eat a late lunch/early dinner and then go to dance.

I don't think it's as unhealthy or disordered or unusual as other PPs insist. Three meals a day is arbitrary- not every society functions this way. Also, you don't see people piling on heavy people who are sedentary.

Anonymous wrote:Oh OP again. I am 5'7, I was 163 and now I am 145. I am not scary skinny at all, about a size four.

So you lost roughly 20 pounds in one month. Sounds healthy

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I want to know how people do this and cook for their families. I am stuck in the kitchen where I snack. I would love to be binge-watching something with a glass of iced tea and nothing else instead of cooking dinner but I have too many mouths to feed. I think about food all freaking day--what to put in the lunches, what to make for dinner, what to make for dinner the following night. I would rather not think about food at all.

What year is this?

Who feeds your family? Your kids? Do you even have kids?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I want to know how people do this and cook for their families. I am stuck in the kitchen where I snack. I would love to be binge-watching something with a glass of iced tea and nothing else instead of cooking dinner but I have too many mouths to feed. I think about food all freaking day--what to put in the lunches, what to make for dinner, what to make for dinner the following night. I would rather not think about food at all.

Eh, most of us aren’t the house cooks. I have a full-time job, hobbies, and a personal life.

So then, food just magically appears on the table for breakfast and dinner, and your kids' lunchboxes are just magically full of heathy, nutritious foods? Wow, what's your secret?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I want to know how people do this and cook for their families. I am stuck in the kitchen where I snack. I would love to be binge-watching something with a glass of iced tea and nothing else instead of cooking dinner but I have too many mouths to feed. I think about food all freaking day--what to put in the lunches, what to make for dinner, what to make for dinner the following night. I would rather not think about food at all.

Eh, most of us aren’t the house cooks. I have a full-time job, hobbies, and a personal life.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^because there's no way you are getting the necessary, probably even the minimal, amounts of protein, minerals, nutrients, and fiber that you need daily. There's just no way

Weight is only small part of the picture when it comes to your overall Health and Longevity. The obsession with it to the exclusion of all else is mind boggling

Why no way? One meal a day can be nutritionally balanced. NP but I do one meal a day that’s 1500-1800 calories. When I eat three meals a day I can easily put away2500 calories or more no problem as a 5’7 female which is why I’m overweight. It’s sooo much easier for me to eat fewer calories eating one meal a day.

OP might be undereating though.

In one meal? That's a binge.

No it's not.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Although I would not be able to do this one-meal-day thing i will say that several decades ago my college boyfriend did the same thing. he was 50 pounds overweight and just decided to eat one meal a day. He could eat as much as he could stuff in, but just one meal. He lost the weight, and to this day he has kept it off (we are still in regular touch). He now eats big once a day and very light the other 2 meals. For him, big meal is at night; light breakfast and lunch.

that's different than eating only one meal per day. I eat a very light breakfast because I can't handle food in the morning. I eat a small lunch and eat a snack during the day, then eat a lightish dinner. The trick is smaller portions (some cases really small, like a 5 yr old size meal) frequently, low cal foods, and movement.

That’s the trick for YOU. Smaller frequent portions didn’t work for me. IF has and is so much easier for me to stick to.

Yes, this. Why do some people INSIST that every body is the same? Small, frequent meals are terrible for me because it makes me feel hungry all the time. I am able to control my weight pretty much without effort just by sticking to two full meals a day. I just don't think about food the rest of the time, which is so freeing.

My brother has eaten this way pretty much his entire adult life. He eats at noon and midnight (he works 3-11pm and sleeps 3am-11am). Breakfast for him is 2 pieces of fruit, a pastry, a yogurt, coffee. Sugary but it gets him thru his day and he doesn't think about food. I am in awe of that! He will make a big dinner at midnight when he get home from work -- appetizer, main course, the works. He doesn't snack. He works a very physical job and has remained lean his whole life -- extremely muscular; no gyms, no working out -- his job does that for him.

I suppose you could adapt this to more regular hours --say, eating at 8am and 8pm. Nor for me, but reading the postings here some folks are very disciplined about mealtimes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lol at the idea that competitive bikini models are really fitness oriented.

Let's ask what actual athletes do - I seriously doubt they eat one meal a day.

https://www.outsideonline.com/2109091/fasting-could-make-you-faster

https://barbend.com/intermittent-fasting-benefits/

https://primedlifestyle.com/2018/01/07/why-top-athletes-only-eat-one-meal-a-day/

https://deadspin.com/the-greatest-male-gymnast-of-all-time-eats-just-one-mea-1818839852

You can't possibly think those are credible information sources. Actual athletes fuel their bodies. They don't starve them.

Why don't you actually read these articles with an open mind? I remember being shocked that ultramarathoner Scott Jurek was a vegan, which defied conventional wisdom about athletic performance. When I ran marathons in the 80s, carb loading, Gu and Gatorade were considered absolute necessities.

There isn't one "right" way to eat.

true. but I seriously doubt there are a huge number of actual athletes who eat 1x/day. That would be one huge meal.

Stop being so literal. Even OP said she will eat more than one meal if she feels like she needs to. We are just pushing back on the idea that it's impossible to be healthy and/or athletic if you do any kind of fasting. One meal a day would be pretty extreme for most of us, granted, but there are some people on this forum who insist on calling everything an eating disorder.

This entire thread is about a person who eats *one meal per day*, you post dubious articles in response to someone saying that actual athletes probably don't eat one meal per day, and then snap at PP for "being so literal" when s/he rationally points out that there are probably not a huge number of athletes who eat once per day? Come on.

Also, why would you be surprised that an ultra marathoner could be vegan? That diet can easily accommodate the kind of training needed to complete ultras. One meal per day, or even significant fasting? Not so much. No one is saying that one diet works for everyone, or that everyone needs to eat a diet comprising 80% carbohydrates. We're simply saying that, hey, given the energy demands incurred by most athletes, it's unlikely they could be competitive at their sport if they only ate once per day. It's not rocket science.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lol at the idea that competitive bikini models are really fitness oriented.

Let's ask what actual athletes do - I seriously doubt they eat one meal a day.

https://www.outsideonline.com/2109091/fasting-could-make-you-faster

https://barbend.com/intermittent-fasting-benefits/

https://primedlifestyle.com/2018/01/07/why-top-athletes-only-eat-one-meal-a-day/

https://deadspin.com/the-greatest-male-gymnast-of-all-time-eats-just-one-mea-1818839852

You can't possibly think those are credible information sources. Actual athletes fuel their bodies. They don't starve them.

Why don't you actually read these articles with an open mind? I remember being shocked that ultramarathoner Scott Jurek was a vegan, which defied conventional wisdom about athletic performance. When I ran marathons in the 80s, carb loading, Gu and Gatorade were considered absolute necessities.

There isn't one "right" way to eat.

true. but I seriously doubt there are a huge number of actual athletes who eat 1x/day. That would be one huge meal.

Stop being so literal. Even OP said she will eat more than one meal if she feels like she needs to. We are just pushing back on the idea that it's impossible to be healthy and/or athletic if you do any kind of fasting. One meal a day would be pretty extreme for most of us, granted, but there are some people on this forum who insist on calling everything an eating disorder.

I do this too. I don't like being full at night, so I eat my main meal at lunch. On weekends I have a light breakfast and an early dinner and that's it, although I do snack on weekends. I'm not skeletal, but I'm 5' 3" and over 50 and exercise regularly and this works for me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Although I would not be able to do this one-meal-day thing i will say that several decades ago my college boyfriend did the same thing. he was 50 pounds overweight and just decided to eat one meal a day. He could eat as much as he could stuff in, but just one meal. He lost the weight, and to this day he has kept it off (we are still in regular touch). He now eats big once a day and very light the other 2 meals. For him, big meal is at night; light breakfast and lunch.

that's different than eating only one meal per day. I eat a very light breakfast because I can't handle food in the morning. I eat a small lunch and eat a snack during the day, then eat a lightish dinner. The trick is smaller portions (some cases really small, like a 5 yr old size meal) frequently, low cal foods, and movement.

That’s the trick for YOU. Smaller frequent portions didn’t work for me. IF has and is so much easier for me to stick to.

Yes, this. Why do some people INSIST that every body is the same? Small, frequent meals are terrible for me because it makes me feel hungry all the time. I am able to control my weight pretty much without effort just by sticking to two full meals a day. I just don't think about food the rest of the time, which is so freeing.

+1. Two regular meals a day plus coffee with cream for breakfast is perfect for me. I'd be just super annoyed and distracted if I tried to eat several small meals throughout the day. Sounds like constantly having to think about and plan calibrated meals while also never feeling satisfied. I'm sure it works for some people, but would be terrible for me. I'd rather have fewer but more satisfying meals. I've never been a big believer in snacking anyway -- I feel like the American compunction to constantly eat is bizarre.

I believe it messes up people's natural hunger/fullness cues because they never actually feel real hunger and so they just eat all the time. This is actually sold as a benefit of the constant snacking by some diet plans...you will never feel too hungry, so you therefore won't overeat. But my experience is it just makes it so your own body doesn't provide any reliable cues as to what it needs and you just eat constantly.

three small meals and a light snack is not constantly eating. Good grief.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lol at the idea that competitive bikini models are really fitness oriented.

Let's ask what actual athletes do - I seriously doubt they eat one meal a day.

https://www.outsideonline.com/2109091/fasting-could-make-you-faster

https://barbend.com/intermittent-fasting-benefits/

https://primedlifestyle.com/2018/01/07/why-top-athletes-only-eat-one-meal-a-day/

https://deadspin.com/the-greatest-male-gymnast-of-all-time-eats-just-one-mea-1818839852

You can't possibly think those are credible information sources. Actual athletes fuel their bodies. They don't starve them.

Why don't you actually read these articles with an open mind? I remember being shocked that ultramarathoner Scott Jurek was a vegan, which defied conventional wisdom about athletic performance. When I ran marathons in the 80s, carb loading, Gu and Gatorade were considered absolute necessities.

There isn't one "right" way to eat.

true. but I seriously doubt there are a huge number of actual athletes who eat 1x/day. That would be one huge meal.

Anonymous wrote:It's interesting that people are so outraged by this. Clearly the OP is a healthy weight and not starving herself.

I'm a light breakfast, big lunch, light dinner, no snacks person. I end up fasting for 12 hours typically in a 24 hour cycle and unless I have a social occasion, rarely eat past about 6:30pm. It's super easy for me to maintain my weight doing this.

I just don't think what the OP is doing is so awful. I do think your body would adjust to it and be fine.

My personal observation is the small meal/snacky people are overly obsessed with planning/thinking about food. But whatever works for people.

uh, you have a very standard 3-meal a day schedule. that's different from 1 meal a day.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^because there's no way you are getting the necessary, probably even the minimal, amounts of protein, minerals, nutrients, and fiber that you need daily. There's just no way

Weight is only small part of the picture when it comes to your overall Health and Longevity. The obsession with it to the exclusion of all else is mind boggling

Why no way? One meal a day can be nutritionally balanced. NP but I do one meal a day that’s 1500-1800 calories. When I eat three meals a day I can easily put away2500 calories or more no problem as a 5’7 female which is why I’m overweight. It’s sooo much easier for me to eat fewer calories eating one meal a day.

OP might be undereating though.

In one meal? That's a binge.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lol at the idea that competitive bikini models are really fitness oriented.

Let's ask what actual athletes do - I seriously doubt they eat one meal a day.

https://www.outsideonline.com/2109091/fasting-could-make-you-faster

https://barbend.com/intermittent-fasting-benefits/

https://primedlifestyle.com/2018/01/07/why-top-athletes-only-eat-one-meal-a-day/

https://deadspin.com/the-greatest-male-gymnast-of-all-time-eats-just-one-mea-1818839852

You can't possibly think those are credible information sources. Actual athletes fuel their bodies. They don't starve them.

Why don't you actually read these articles with an open mind? I remember being shocked that ultramarathoner Scott Jurek was a vegan, which defied conventional wisdom about athletic performance. When I ran marathons in the 80s, carb loading, Gu and Gatorade were considered absolute necessities.

There isn't one "right" way to eat.

this.