Two years ago I wrote a blog post on my fitness blog about the myth of eating once a day to lose weight. Surprisingly, that post still generates comments and if you read through the ones that are there, you will notice that almost all of them promote eating once a day. Over the years, I have read that eating healthy means eating breakfast, lunch, dinner, and 2 snacks in between. It is all too common to read about eating 5 to 6 small meals per day.
Personally, I would go crazy if I only ate one meal per day. When I haven't had enough to eat, I get moody and I usually get a headache. It seems too extreme to eat once a day just to lose weight. If you eat the proper foods and exercise, weight should come off just the same and in a much safer way.
I guess it will always be a topic of debate but it just doesn't make sense to me.
What do you think? Why do some people cling to doing this as a way to lose weight?
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
I find it too hard to regulate my blood sugar (like you with your headache and dizziness) if i only eat once a day.
physiologically, eating once a day doesn’t even make sense… it totally destroys your metabolism. the only reason an individual would lose weight from this would be due to the calorie restriction, but even a calorie-restricted diet with multiple meals during the day would make more sense than a one-meal-per-day regime.
first of all, your metabolism is almost completely dead in the morning after sleeping. that’s why you need to “break” the overnight “fast” – eat breakfast – and jumpstart the metabolism again. And then, you need to regularly stoke that fire by feeding it in small increments throughout the day. i don’t know how someone could only eat once per day! they’d have to feel sluggish and starving in the morning, bloated and disgusting after eating their huge meal in the afternoon, and then worn out and tired for the rest of the day. it makes much more sense to eat healthy meals consistently throughout the day.
i have no idea why some people would cling to this particular way of eating to lose weight… because it can’t be maintained long-term. your body would eventually transition into starvation mode and possibly ketosis if you truly only ate one meal per day!!! and forget about exercising – there’s not way these people could exercise and subsist off only one meal!
I don’t advocate eating once a day in the least, but I understand why it would “work” for some people. If you have psychological eating issues, only eating once a day means feeling in control of your body and your eating habits. It means you will probably lose weight more quickly and feel more powerful over your cravings. It’s not healthy, but it can work.
Like you, I cannot eat 1 meal a day. I used to try doing it, and I think it is one of the contributing factors to my hair loss later in life, as I started doing this when I was in my teens, and still growing. I did not do it to lose weight, but for religious reasons-we were encouraged to fast, to sometimes eat only 1 meal in the evening, and I think I was too young to do these things.
For those who are trying to lose weight this way, I think the desire to lose a lot of weight quickly drives the decision. It’s a painful, punishing regimen. I think they think it makes sense because they reason that they got fat because of food, so if they eat less of it, they’ll lose weight.
Unfortunately, those people don’t understand the human body and might be better off learning/understanding how food works in the body before trying to lose weight. Lack of knowledge may be the problem.
Ok, I am going to be the one and step out on a limb here and say… did you read those comments? Balanced meal? Small salad between 5 and 7 pm? Their meals consisted of 700 calories, maybe?
THAT IS WHY THEY LOST WEIGHT… and that is why they lost weight SO FAST… And VERY UNHEALTHY!
I believe int he clean diet (yet I do still monitor my calories in and my expenditure) and I have to say, what I read in those comments is systematic of an eating disorder. They are starving their bodies to lose 5 lbs or more a week. One commenter said she drinks very little and has never looked better in her life… ummmm… she is dehydrated! Of course!
Very unhealthy approach. Extremely unhealthy approach.
We are talking about small 200-400 (max) calorie meals, six times a day. Now, I do have to admit… I can not do the 6 time a day eating. But I can easily eat 4-5. I struggle with the six. I DO believe that you do not eat if you have not hunger signals, however if you are starving you allowed yourself to go to long.
Yet, I also no longer have a weight problem… 5′2″, 218 a year ago to 128 lbs now. I eat, I monitor, I shop smart and I live a very active lifestyle (with a little bit of laziness thrown in).
I think these people have NO understanding, as well as, promoting a very unhealthy lifestyle.
There are many forms of “eating disorders” and just like anorexics defend their lifestyle choices… so do CRASH DIETERS!
It is a shame.
Hmm.. yah i’d most definitely starve to death.. LOL!! No way i’d eat just once a day.. if you only eat once a day you’re obviously gonna lose… but not just fat.. muscle too! As soon as reality kicks back in, those pounds will come sneaking back on too!
No thanks!
I eat a Lot so for me eating breakfast means having Anything I want and i lost weight
i don`t feel terrible after i eat because i always ate a lot so my body is used to that
also i don`t eat much sugar and neither meat
i`ll eat nuts and fruit throughout the day
if i have this one big meal a day i lose a lot of weight even if i can eat over 3000 calories per breakfast
so eat as early as you can possibly 6 am and walk a lot drink water eat nuts and fruit afterwards
much easier for me than have two biscuits per meal and crave for more when dieting.
so yes i recommend one meal a day if it has enough calories and if you don`t do this forever.
and by the way i usually don`t ahve any cellulite and even if i walk when i get the chance(not that often), my job means sitting in an office almost all day.
anticellulite massage helps so much as well even if only to lose weight
hope it helps good luck with that.
P.S.:before being vegetarian it was really hard for me to lose weight, now it is much easier if i avoid sugar and not usually eat after 6 p.m.
I’ve eaten once a day (for the month of Ramadan, so not really weight loss) and never really had any problems with it, as long as that meal has enough calories, a good nutrient balance, and is made up of whole foods. I am a little lower energy, so I usually work out after the meal instead of during the day. The only times I’ve felt badly is if I eat badly at that one meal (i.e. sugars, processed or heavily fired foods, not enough protein…)
If you’re eating in an unbalanced way, eating once a day can be very problematic. But if you’re already eating healthy foods, your body generally figures out how to use its energy stores. I would ease into it though.
As we’re all individuals, we also require individual nutritional needs. I’ve lived on one meal per day for over three years now, work out at the gym 6 days per week, and am in training for my 30th triathlon. I am not however addicted to food, I never snacked, drank soda, or processed foods in the days of more then one meal, so this lifestyle is not difficult for me. When completing a 24 hour fast daily, you can be assured that all the energy typically used for digestion is being diverted to strengthening and repairing the body as a whole. You will not go into starvation mode simply because you are not starving.
Pre-agricultural man did not have the luxury of 3 square meals per day, and was lucky if he had one. Obesity and heart disease were not his demise, losing a race with a cougar however was, he had to be in shape.
Some of the above posts states that one meal per day deprives you of energy and this is simply not true. I wake up refreshed, full of life, and ready to tackle the day, food for me is nourishment for my body, and not to be abused like a common addict abuses drugs or alcohol.
To those critical of this lifestyle, please do your homework, in my opinion you have no idea what your talking about.
Ok call it unhealthy if you want but I had been fat my whole life…. tried every diet out there with no success. At 42 I finally started eating just one meal a day. Don’t get me wrong.. not a lame little meal. Anything in the world I was craving until I was stuffed. But after that nothing until the next AM when I woke up. I went from a size 16 to a size 4 and have been a size 4 since 2005. I never get that hungry inbetween meals and look forward to my daily meal very much. I can make occaissional exceptions like for birthdays etc. My lab work is perfect and I FEEL GREAT. If this is unhealthy then Ill just stay this way because me at 223 certainly was much much more unhealthy.
And look at Joe, he’s up at 3:55am with insomnia and wondering how he can get a healthy life style because he eats one unhealthy meal a day. I can’t see how one meal a day would benefit you in any single way unless your struggling with some serious medical condition. I personally like to maintain my metabolism through out the day with 4-6 meals, usually 4 but i shoot for 6. Breakfast is always super important for me, even if its only an apple, because thats what jumps starts my day, without it i feel sluggish. I workout 5 times a week and eat usually an hour or two before and and immediately after. I always work up an appetite in the gym.
Eating minimeals does not raise your metabolism. There is no proved science that shows an increase in metabolism. Why would you want to raise your metabolism anyway? A lower metabolism may lean to slower aging. Minimeals can lead to an unhealthy obsession with food. If a person is going to eat minimeals for weight loss, they’d better count calories and plan the night before. Also consider how trainable the body is. It can be a drag to eat minimeals at first, but then you find you are hungry at 6 times a day (or even 14 if you follow THAT ridiculous diet). Living a food-centered life is no way to live. I eat one meal a day, am a martial artist and have tons of energy.
no wonder why most americans are fat… they´re all like: “Uhhh… never skip breakfast because you´ll die!!!”…”you are anorexic”….”that can´t be healthy”…..RIGHT….but been obese surely is healthy…….halfwits
calorie shifting, intermittent fasting, one meal a day, the warrior diet…..they´re all about the same thing: CALORIE RESTRICTION!!!…. which IS till this day the best proven method to lose weight, reduce signs of aging and prolong a healthy life
it´s the same thing with ANY diet that restricts your caloric intake…. you can do the South Beach diet or whatever the heck diet….it´s all the same…. shut your mouth and stop eating so much.
If you are a diabetic then the best bet would be to do the whole 6 small meals to keep the blood sugar steady…. if you are not.. then stop crying like a baby and give it a try.
you won´t go into the so called “starvation mode” (the biggest myth in diet world) if people actually gained weight from lack of food….then people wouldn´t die from starvation….(think Africa)
the best time to have your meal is at night….. just think about it…. how many of you feel like taking a nap after eating?….if you skip breakfast and perhaps have a glass of fresh fruit and vegetable juice you WILL feel amazing and energetic…. dinner time you may have your average 1600 calories from fruit (fruit first….always, because it digests quickly), salad, soup, main course and even dessert (not 3 brownies you pigs)…. and you´ll also sleep like a baby.
use your common sense though….. don´t stuff yourself till the point of barfing…. you´ll obviously end up rolling around in bed all night.
and please for the love of God……stop eating shit…. food is not meant to come in a box and have 50 unpronounceable ingredients.
drummer: You are right on. I eat once a day. My dog eats once a day. I really feel great (so does my dog). I think it is nuts to think that we all need to eat six small meals a day. I can’t physically eat that much food – if so, I do want to barf. I am a small person. I am busy. I don’t have time to obsess about what my next small meal is going to be. It makes me hungrier and hungrier to eat all day. It’s quite liberating not to think about food all of the time. I have tons of energy and I feel lean. I eat my fill for dinner and I enjoy every bite. I work near a restaurant and when I walk by I see people gorging themselves on huge quantities of food and they are mostly bloated, puffy or fat. I certainly don’t feel like I am missing out! Maybe it’s not for everyone but I feel better off because of it.
Yea Most of these people talking bout 4-6 small meals are most probably over weight, theres no way they re fit, how can u buy such garbage, the media only tells you that cuz they want you to keep eating and keep the garbage food industry in business
I eat one meal per day, usually dinner, but I don’t do it for weight loss or anything like that. I have stomach problems were i feel either sick or in pain after a meal, especially breakfast. So I end up skipping breakfast, going to school, coming home, unless i go to work, and if I do go to work then I eat a snack, but usually I come home, have dinner, exercise and go about my day. Ever since I started eating once per day, I actually can wake up in the mornings, and I feel great the rest of the day, but that’s most likely because I don’t feel sick like I did when I would eat ( and I didn’t eat big meals to begin with, just toast or something for breakfast and still feel sick to my stomach) If you’re gonna only eat once per day, then make sure it’s healthy foods and plenty of water and exercise.
I eat once a day. It’s a good way to remain very thin. The great thing is I feel a whole lot better too. I sleep better and have so much energy. I drink lot’s of water too. I have to double my amount sometimes because i’m only 5ft 4 and I wouldn’t want to go down to 90lbs. I’m a good 100lbs right now, and I try to remain 100 lbs only. It’s easy though. Oh and I lost 15 lbs this way, in 3 weeks. No joke.