Does anyone eat just 1 large meal a day?

[NoTiGG]

Just curious if anyone has tried this. Aka the Warrior diet.

The main problem i have with it is eating enough calories in this one meal. Since i'm active and male i need about 2 thousand a day.. in one meal thats kind of rough. I can only seem to get maybe 1400-1600 .

It interests me...

[kmamma]

how about just two meals? I've heard that's more normal for humans than three meals. breakfast was usually meant just for weaker folks.

[jazzharmony]

I wouldn't be healthy on one meal per day but I think grazing is healthiest. I have never thought three larger meals was a better plan than 5 smaller meals spaced evenly. I eat smaller amounts throughout the day and feel healthy, active, and strong

One enormous meal mid day would wreak havoc on my blood sugar and I would think it would slow the metablolism.

I am too active to not take in calories regularly.

[Tcarwyn]

The way i picture paleo people eating is that they would have one large meal during the day, a kind of communal sharing type thing. But I think people grazed through out the day as well, especially when gathering. I mean, have you ever gathered anything that could be eaten unprocessed without eating some on the spot ( like berries and fruits, salad veggies things like that?). So maybe men would only eat one meal per day???


So...I dont know. I kind of like the idea...I would take your mind off off food for most of the day. I definately dont think it is appropriate for children...

Tanya

[quietserena]

I eat two meals a day and do better on it. Grazing isn't for everyone, imo.

I shouldn't do one meal a day (though it has been known to happen because I really get too hungry that way and I think that affects the quality of my milk. And I really do think it is extremely hard getting enough quality food in one meal. Just imagine the amount of greens you'd have to eat! There's no room for that. I guess with practice you could make room..

The funny thing is my great-grandmother eats this way too. She's convinced that snacking is what makes people put on weight. Well, that can be true if snacks are not of the right kind.

[NoTiGG]

well my thoughts were that your body would adapt to absorbing that much protein / calories in one meal and it might not work right away.

The funny thing is... someone mentioned insulin. That is exactly what this diet is better for. Through periods of intermittent fasting / over eating it is better for your insulin levels than even undereating.

and besides... we are not ruminant animals... which have several stomachs for food to ferment in while grazing. It seems to me that the diet may be better for me. I just don't want to get any skinnier than i already am ;p

[kallyn]

NoTiGG, maybe you should try alternate-day fasting instead. That way on the days you eat, you can eat as much as you want whenever you want and you won't run into the "cramming" problem.

[tboroson]

I do believe, as omnivores, our bodies will generally adapt to any style of eating within certain fairly broad limits. So, the fact that we're all used to eating three or five meals a day doesn't necessarily mean one big meal a day couldn't work.

There's something compelling about this. I do believe that paleo people would have grazed all day, as they were gathering food; but, this diet plan does allow for that - it's not true fasting all day, it's just limiting the amount and kinds of foods that are eaten during the day. Honestly, it's the kinds of light, easily gathered, no prep needed foods that make sense in that "nibbling while gathering" context.

I'm not convinced on it, but I'm open to most food ideas as long as they're whole-foods based, until they're proven bad.

[newcastlemama]

I seem to be eating more like 2 meals a day at this point. I seems like the fat/meat are keping me satiated better. I used to wake up starving when I did low-fat. I could not start getting ready without breakast first. Now I generally eat an earlyish lunch(big meat salad) and dinner(meat and vegetables) and maybe a small snack (nuts/fruit) maybe. I was worried there was something wrong with me because I am not hungry as much. (I am not pg or bf either). Maybe I am more in touch with "hunger" signals, when before I was just having a blood sugar crash and thinking I was hungry. I feel gross if I eat in the AM and I am not hungry.

Jen

[kallyn]

For any interested parties, here are some informative intermittent fasting posts by Dr. Eades:
http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/?p=278
http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/?p=279

Lots of info in the comments, too.

[newcastlemama]

This is from Kallyn's second article:

We ourselves follow this diet. We eat one meal a day sometimes, a couple of meals others, and sometimes three squares. If we’re not hungry we don’t eat. We try to fight off the culturally induced feelings of, Oh, it’s lunchtime, so I must we must be hungry: let’s eat.

This is what I do.

The Maker's Diet has fasting like this. I think you fast all day until dinner and then resume eating normally the next day. You do this 1 day per week.

I read a story about an overweight woman where a nutrionist told her she should not eat until she was truly hungry. She did not eat until 1-2 days later! She was able to lose by getting in touch with her true hunger.

Jen

[NoTiGG]

i myself like the feeling of hunger... and have noticed that food tastes better when i eat when i am reeeally hungry, and also that it digests better. I think i might try it out for a while. im just worried about:

I eat alot of fat so im worried alot of fat will inhibit the secretion of hydrochloric acid to digest the protein

food combination... if im eating everything in one meal some foods don't combine well.... I will probably use gelatin and broth to try to make everything coalesce into some whole thing but i think nuts and seeds mess up your protein digestion of meats

overeating... i can do the undereating part just find but im not sure that overeating i can handle as much... especially the required alotment of calories

losing weight. i guess its must a matter of numbers. as long as i can eat enough calories i will be fine

Here is a sample meal for me on a typical day of food i would have:

1 pound of salmon steamed in a clay pot for less than 20 minutes, very rare with skin (600 calories)
3-4 egg yolks, whole eggs boiled in water so they come out not runny but not hard.. very soft (100 calories)
400 calories worth of brown rice cooked in broth
broccoli (as much as i can eat, maybe 100 calories?)
butter to go on the broccoli and brown rice ( half a stick all together? 400 calories)

then for *dessert*

a handful of walnuts with coconut oil, raw honey, raw chocolate. (300-400)

so i guess thats 1900 calories hmmm. not bad ;p

[JaneS]

That's all in one meal?