Eating one meal per day
(48 posts) (24 voices)-
Any of you eat just one meal per day? If so, what benefits or negatives have you experienced? What would you typically eat in that one meal? Do you eat this way every day or only couple it with your IFs?
Just curious.
Posted 3 weeks ago # -
PrimalK
MemberI'm just embarking on this myself.
For me, not eating throughout the rest of the day means I am much more alert at work, have more energy and don't suffer from the post-lunch slump I tend to get (yes, even on a low-carb, high fat, decent protein meal). It works for me, anyway.
My plan is to do this Monday to Friday and then probably eat 2 meals on each of Saturday and Sunday.
What I eat in one meal does vary and I probably need to eat more, but I'm doing OK for now. It generally involves salmon/beef/lamb and veg of some description (not potatoes). I'm going to try getting some coconut oil in me too, to up the fats. I also take an Omega 3 supplement.
I can't think of any negatives really. I haven't had any headaches like I would have done on a carby eating plan, that's for sure. I haven't even really been that hungry. For instance, I'm about 22 hours in and I'm not suffering any hunger pangs. I probably will when I get home and start cooking though!
Posted 3 weeks ago # -
misathemeb
Memberi've been doing 2 meals a day for the past 14 days and that seems to be doing well. i attempted to do 1 day but my tummy was overwhelmed even when i tried to spread it over 2 hours. i was just stuffed so i'm gonna stick with IF'ing breakfast and eating lunch and dinner
Posted 3 weeks ago # -
PrimalK
MemberWell, I think everyone is different. I've never been a huge eater so eating a slightly larger meal tonight isn't really going to give me stomach problems. There's only one way to find out - and that's try it yourself!
I think lovestoclimb is a fan of eating this way, and he has more experience than me.
Posted 3 weeks ago # -
Primalchild
MemberUsually I eat twice a day; breakfast and dinner. I'm taking Krav Maga classes three times a week. Two of them are in the evening. I've found that eating after I come back at about 9:00 makes it tough to have a good night's sleep, so I've been skipping dinner on those nights.
For breakfast, no matter what day, I have bacon and eggs, and maybe a little bit of leftovers, and a couple spoonfuls of coconut milk. No problems so far.
Posted 3 weeks ago # -
hannahc
MemberHey DCKMB and PrimalK, I'm actually experimenting with this also! I went down to two meals per day more than 3 weeks ago (had 3 meals once because I was hungry), and realized after my meal on Saturday last weekend that I literally wasn't hungry on Sunday. So I didn't eat until dinner, which was an amazing meal of roast duck and (no sugar) pumpkin custard. Duck has A LOT of fat (and it is so so good), and I wasn't hungry the next day, Monday, until 3pm! So I waited until my stomach actually said "I'M HUNGRY!" and ate my lunch at 3. I ended up not being hungry for dinner since my lunch was so late.
I was hungry for breakfast this morning, so I ate then, and I'm finally feeling a little hungry now, so I'll eat dinner around 5pm probably. This was actually somewhat of a breakthrough for me. I've been really trying to learn what my body needs, and to listen to when I'm truly hungry and when I'm full (the latter is much harder to determine still :). Once I stopped overfeeding myself, I was able to feel that true need to eat, rather than just being bored, or on a sugar crash (in the old "healthy whole grain" days). I'll end up with 2 meals today, and we'll see what happens tomorrow. I decided not to officially try to IF any particular meal, just to wait until I'm hungry to eat, and eat then. That way, my body learns that when it tells me I need food, it can trust that I'll eat (which I'm hoping will help my body reach it's ideal homeostasis).
It's such a simple concept, it's almost embarassing that I have to officially teach myself how to listen to my body and respond accordingly to hunger. We're all still learning though, right??
Posted 3 weeks ago # -
MightyMite
MemberThis is why programs like BreakFreeLife will epsouse "eating windows" (like fasting for 20 hours with a 4 hour eating window). This means you get a time span to consume your food, as opposed to stuffing your face all at one time until it requires a forklift to remove you from the dining table. This works a lot better if you can actually monitor yourself and stop eating before you get to food coma and also start eating before you're so hungry that the leftover package of Trader Joe's Meatless Balls is beginning to look great.
Posted 3 weeks ago # -
ASnutrition
MemberEveryone is going to do what works best for themselves, I just hope anyone who is getting into IFing is careful. This isn't something you can really screw around with, especially if you are new to the primal lifestyle. If you are truly fasting, make sure it is that, and not that your are getting a "high" off starving yourself. Im not accusing anyone here; I just want people to be careful. It's very easy to slip into an eating disorder wtihout even noticing it. Many people can attest tot he natural high off not eating..
Make sure your getting enough nutrients, focusing on amino acids (key for healthy brain chemistry) and fats. On top of that, if your liver and kidneys are not too healthy right now because of a previous or current condition (like adrenal fatigue), fasting isn't for you just yet. I've mentioned it before, toxins are stored in fat. So if your accessing fat stores consistently (fasting) then toxins are going to need to be eliminated, without healthy organs, this won't happen or at-least won't happen efficiently.
Bottom line here: Do what works best for you, and remember we are focusing on tackling health holistically, not from just a bf percentage or scale weight. This is a lifestyle.
Posted 3 weeks ago # -
hannahc
MemberAS I do agree with you about being careful, I've never had an eating disorder, but I was getting dangerously close to very "disordered eating" when I was losing weight the CW way.
I also don't want newbies or lurkers to think we're all about starving ourselves and calling it Intermittent Fasting either. And I actually did try IFing a bit too soon when I started eating Primally, and found that it was too much for my system at that time. I didn't even think about it again for another 4-6 weeks, and through that time my body adapted to burning fat much more efficiently.
After nearly 4.5 months, I did my first real 24 hour IF, and it was because I actually wasn't hungry, not because I had a goal of waiting 24 hours to eat. I could see a lot of people getting into bad habits by trying to force their fasting, which is why I'm focusing on listening to my hunger signals and eating when I need to. I want to be in tune with my body, which is one awesome aspect of this lifestyle as a whole :)
Posted 3 weeks ago # -
lil_earthmomma
MemberI've naturally dropped down to 2 meals a day since becomming primal. It wasn't a choice, it just happened. I would eat a great breakfast, and then not want anything till dinner.
On days that I do yoga, I IF till dinner. I like doing the yoga on an empty stomach. I don't feel hungry or dizzy or weak, just sharper, if that makes sense?
Posted 3 weeks ago # -
Certainly understand your points, AS. I'm not looking to starve myself. I'm looking to drop blood sugar numbers. And I'm looking to be more in tune with my hunger signals instead of just eating because I'm *supposed* to. This has absolutely nothing to do with bf % or weight.
Certainly don't want to give newbies the wrong impression either.
Posted 3 weeks ago # -
The past 2 weeks I've had great succes with 2 meals a day. Seems like that is the naturally occuring trend around here. It has dropped my fasting sugars into the 80's. And I'm off medication. A couple of those days, I was not hungry at all and felt like I could have just eaten dinner and been fine but I ate lunch because I didn't want to push it. I feel at this point, eating once a day would be probably be a once a week occurance with twice a days most prevalant.
Interestingly, when I skip breakfast, fasting blood sugars the next day are lower than when I eat breakfast-skip lunch-eat dinner.
Posted 3 weeks ago # -
SerialSinner
MemberWith time, IFing has turned out to be really simple to me. If I want to IF, I eat a lot before doing so. A big fatty meal will suppress my hunger for 12 hours easily. IF I want to fast for longer, then I eat even more. Fat is clue though.
So basically, if I take a huge meal, IF for 24 hours, and break the IF with another huge meal, I could keep going indefinitely.
Posted 3 weeks ago # -
PrimalK
MemberAS - I totally agree with your comments. I am relatively new to primal eating and ventured into IF early BUT I am not starving myself. I've managed pretty quickly to work out what my body is telling me and what does or doesn't work.
You do make a very good point.
@hannahc - it's wonderful being so in tune, isn't it?!
Posted 3 weeks ago # -
klcarbaugh
MemberI agree with the food starvation thing... I got addicted to eating less than 1000 calories a day (while running 15-25 miles a week) for a few months and before you knew it I was full-on anorexic for over a year and a half. I actually think that the dieting caused me to get addicted to wanting the scale to drop further and further instead of the other way around.
Ifing is NOT the same thing. If you are hungry beyond a slight discomfort than stop the fast and go eat an animal.
That is why we have to adjust to burning fat before IFing. If you are very hungry than you are either doing it too early, you need to eat more before the fast, or you haven't adjusted your carb level low enough to run off of fat stores problem-free.I am not sure how scientifically sound the toxin thing is, but Dr. Eades recommended giving blood (1 unit packed red blood cells and 2 plasma) every few months when you are loosing weight to get rid of some of the crap that circulates your body. It makes sense to me and certainly cannot hurt.
Posted 3 weeks ago # -
AuH2Ogirl
Memberklcarbaugh - Maybe there was some benefit to bloodletting back in the day? :)
I've been not hungry at breakfast sometimes and eat anyway before work, because I'm so conditioned from years of blood sugar drops to eat regularly. Maybe I'll try just taking breakfast to work and eat it if I'm hungry, but if not, then just skip it. I've been IFing on weekends pretty well - starting at 16 hours and trying to work up.
Posted 3 weeks ago # -
Tarlach
MemberI eat one meal a day, most days. If I exercise at night then I am usually hungrier the next day (no surprises there), so I will then eat two meals that day.
I am more alert all day and sleep better.
I typically eat 1.5-2lb of meat. Most of the time with nothing else.
Posted 3 weeks ago # -
eva
Memberi eat 1 meal a day about 3-4 days a week. depending on hunger levels. eating that way suits me in every way. energylevels are good and usually no or very little hunger before meal. i excercise mostly fasted in the mornings and i eat my 1 meal in the evening. I eat about 1 lb of meat, fish, fowl or offal, some vegetables also. sometimes also coconutcream for fat.
Posted 3 weeks ago #
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