3 meals and a snack page

[Kris C]

I've only been Primal for 22 days. I embraced Primal quickly and easily and have been loving it. I devour these forums daily. My progress has been a big motivator for me in my quest to health and a lean body.

That said, I read a lot about IF and skipping meals. I just cannot seem to not have 3 meals a day. Not always at set times, but I can't seem to be able to give up a meal, or IF, without feeling too hungry. Here is a typical day for me:
Morning meal, generally between 6:30A and 8:30A (weekends maybe 9:30A): 2 or 3 eggs with spinach and feta, sometimes bacon, cooked in a bunch of delicious butter. Bacon prepped in microwave due to space and time.
Lunchtime (1100A to 1:00P): Salad with leftover meat and cheese, or tuna with mayo on romaine. Or just leftovers.
Dinner (5:00P-6:30P): MEAT! Steak, chicken (breasts or whole roasted), fish (salmon or barramundi most often), (will be adding pork soon as I learn how to prepare it well). Any of those with roasted veggies (potaotes on occasion, carrots, green beans), steamed veggies, anything except the veggie/grain corn. Or a salad.
Snacks: pistachios or 72% dark chocolate, macadamias, deviled egg, a ricotta creme I make (full fat of course), cheese

That's just an example. Usually it's just one of those snacks per day. Oh, and I have no interest in making a shorter eating window. I am a huge believer in one CW eating idea, the family meal and I won't let that go. Much too important to me. And I don't necessarily need to do IF ever for all I care. I just wonder how I can get to a point where maybe I can skip lunch or breakfast without being absolutely famished.

[lizch]

You've only been primal for 3 weeks. IF came naturally to me after about 6 months, when blood sugars had been so stable for so long that my body/brain didn't panic if I missed a meal.

I think long before you think of IF, you should consider dropping the snack.

[Goldensparrow]

Agreed...I tried IFing after 3 weeks, and it was a disaster. Wait longer for sure. I'm giving it at least 2 months before I try again. I honestly think it might've had something to do with making me sick this weekend. Don't rush your body...it will be disastrous.

[runnergal]

Dont push it.

This is one of those things that is pushed TOO hard in my opinion. IF is supposed to come naturally. IF only means eat when you are hungry, dont eat when you are not.

Some people it comes easy to, many of them stated that they immediately felt relief on PB that they no longer "had" to eat 6 times a day like BFL or other plans. I was not one of those. I embraced 6 meals per day about 15 years before it became fashionable. For me, where I am now IF is ONLY eating 3 or 4 meals in a day and not continually grazing and I only manage that 3-4 days a week at most.

[Kris C]

I wasn't looking to truly IF now, or even ever really. So would it be a good assumption on my part that it takes time for my body to adjust to even skipping a meal? Do most people consider skipping a meal an IF? Or is IF mostly a longer time frame? Or is it whatever works best for you? I am just trying to map my next set of goals (try to have something small monthly to reach) and wondering where I should go. Fitness: one real pushup. Nutrition: haven't yet decided.

[runnergal]

Mark defines IF in many flexible ways. It seems like the majority of people on this site go for the leangains style of IF which is a short eating window and a long fasting window. But Mark has also defined it as maybe the person who eats breakfast and dinner. It is at it's core anytime you are not eating, you are fasting.....some just do it longer than others.

I dont think IF is a goal. Maybe to some it is, but I would look elsewhere for a nutrition goal. Maybe its related to the snack. Maybe its related to dairy or nuts. Maybe it is related to finding a better source of one food. Maybe it is related to listening to hunger cues. Maybe its related to letting go of goals.

[Kris C]

Thanks for the info. I wasn't necessarily looking to IF. I was more curious about how people manage to go from a generally early morning meal to an evening meal without feeling so hungry. I just can't get through without even a snack along with my 3 meals.

[JenCat]

I think you just need more time. I was like that for a long time- had to have three meals, or I would get shaky. Now I comfortably eat 2 meals and a snack. I wasn't particularly looking to IF, but just naturally go 15-16 hours almost every day.

[aboutsaffron]

i don't really think skipping meals is something that MUST be done on PB, just something that can be done since blood sugars stabilize after awhile. My work schedule definitely stops me from skipping - i can skip breakfast if i feel like it, but since i work with the public, it's not as if i can eat whenever i want. if i don't eat lunch at my scheduled time, i regret it.

if your way of eating works for you, there's no reason to change it just because lots of other people are IFing.

[duckmama]

I've been primal for about 2 months, and I'm officially IFing yet. There have been a few times where I've skipped a meal simply because I was busy at work or I wasn't hungry. But that happened more by accident than a planned IF. Being a person who loves food, my brain can't quite wrap itself around an intentional IF yet. It's like noon rolls around and my stomach and brain automatically say "I'm hungry! Time to eat!" I tried intentionally to skip breakfast a week or so ago, and I was so hungry and felt awful by lunch time.

So for me, I'm not too hung up on IFing yet. If I skip a meal unintentionally, then woohoo for me. But I think I'm not quite there yet with an intentional IF. Like others have said, I may need to be into this longer before it will really work for me.