Anyone cut fat eating just one or two meals a day?

[redmelly]

I'm reading a lot about IF and would love to hear from people who use this approach to limiting their calories. I don't like the 5-6 meal a day approach. I like big meals!

Thanks in advance for any opinions.

[Marius_Ursus]

Yeah, right now I'm on dietary restrictions and eating only one meal per day, dropping a lot of weight, some of it muscle, most of it fat. Depending on your current goals, it's a viable approach to fat loss, just be aware some muscle will go, too.

I don't like it very much, but what are you gonna do?

[redmelly]

Thank you! I have a lot of fat to lose and have quite a bit of muscle already, so I don't mind sacrificing a little muscle to lose the fat. However, I am lifting heavy, just to try and minimize the muscle loss.

Yeah, right now I'm on dietary restrictions and eating only one meal per day, dropping a lot of weight, some of it muscle, most of it fat. Depending on your current goals, it's a viable approach to fat loss, just be aware some muscle will go, too.

I don't like it very much, but what are you gonna do?

[redmelly]

That is what I've always heard, but now I"m seeing people on this board who are having great results with IF.

you ned to eat more then 2 meals

if you eat more frequently and less at every meal your metabolism will raise-more fat loss

[tjwoody]

well i eat 1 big meal a day have a small lunch and I take protein with my meds and fish oils in the morning, stick to P and F mostly during lunch. dinner,my post workouts, are HUGE. i love it. im back to cutting and it seems to be helping but the main thing its doing for me is i feel nice and full at night and sleep well!

[HairyScandinavian]

Thank you! I have a lot of fat to lose and have quite a bit of muscle already, so I don't mind sacrificing a little muscle to lose the fat. However, I am lifting heavy, just to try and minimize the muscle loss.

While I can't speak to the IF ideas because I haven't tried them I think if you have a lot of fat to lose as you said that a more traditional approach should be effective for quite some time. I've gone through a couple phases in my life where I lost large amounts of weight, first time did it wrong and lost tons of muscle but put some more time into it a few years back and did much better. None of the strange out of the ordinary diets did much of anything for me, though I did enjoy Keto because I'm a meat eater/griller. I love the idea of IF, but there's just no way I could eat enough in a couple meals to get my calories in without going to calorie dense junk like ice cream or something silly like that. It's not magic, in the end it's all about calorie reduction.

[redmelly]

That is what I need - to feel full at night because if I am hungry I stay up too late and feel awful the next day. Also, I am never hungry in the mornings and have more energy during the day if I eat light. That's always the way I have been.

well i eat 1 big meal a day have a small lunch and I take protein with my meds and fish oils in the morning, stick to P and F mostly during lunch. dinner,my post workouts, are HUGE. i love it. im back to cutting and it seems to be helping but the main thing its doing for me is i feel nice and full at night and sleep well!

[Brackneyc]

you ned to eat more then 2 meals

if you eat more frequently and less at every meal your metabolism will raise-more fat loss

Prove it.

[ironwill2008]

I'm reading a lot about IF and would love to hear from people who use this approach to limiting their calories. I don't like the 5-6 meal a day approach. I like big meals!

Thanks in advance for any opinions.

I don't use IF myself, but follow the journals of a few successful bodybuilders on this site who do. IF works to build muscle as well; it's not just for reducing body fat.

Here's an excellent thread on the topic:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=131542323

you ned to eat more then 2 meals

if you eat more frequently and less at every meal your metabolism will raise-more fat loss

Disregard ^^^^this. This statement has no basis in fact.

[bigtallox]

if you eat more frequently and less at every meal your metabolism will raise-more fat loss

It's broscience, bodybuilding myth. The only reason to eat more than 3 meals a day is if you can't met maintenance levels with 3.

[Sergibob]

I just ran a recomp following the blue print training program and the warrior diet (similar to IF) let me tell you that I drop about 3% fat in 4 weeks while keeping and even adding a bit of muscle. Total caloric intake is important if you eat more than what you use, will be very hard for you to drop fat. IF/warrior diet are great ways to undereat.

If you want to minimize muscle loss: try to add BCAA/leucine during your fasting, lift as heavy as you can, have some refeed days, I normally refeed 2 days a week specially on heavy workout days.

hope this help

[Old-Time-Lifter]

In the end it boils down to calories in -vs- calories out. That's about it, break it up how ever you like.

[redmelly]

Thanks for all of the responses! Hopefully I can report some good results in the near future.

[jmborr]

Yeah, right now I'm on dietary restrictions and eating only one meal per day, dropping a lot of weight, some of it muscle, most of it fat. Depending on your current goals, it's a viable approach to fat loss, just be aware some muscle will go, too.

You got me confused. If you eat only once a day, aren't you producing a high insuline spike that will store the fodd as fat? Also, will your metabolism decrease if you don't eat anything else for the next 23 hours, as compared as eating many times a day?

[Sergibob]

You got me confused. If you eat only once a day, aren't you producing a high insuline spike that will store the fodd as fat? Also, will your metabolism decrease if you don't eat anything else for the next 23 hours, as compared as eating many times a day?

Don´t believe everything you read or hear..........
There is a good research on this topic i.e."maximum muscle minimum fat"is a good book that explains all the biological principals of fat loss following the approach of 1 big evening meal......

[HoustonTXMuscle]

Don´t believe everything you read or hear..........
There is a good research on this topic i.e."maximum muscle minimum fat"is a good book that explains all the biological principals of fat loss following the approach of 1 big evening meal......

Agree. As for "believing everything you read or hear......" May read the majority of posts in these forum, but my #1 rule is to listen to no-one but my coach.

[Brackneyc]

dont fell like it

Then stop posting things that are known to be myths. Troll

[ironwill2008]

I'm not Marius, and don't usually answer others' quotes, but felt this post needs addressed.

You got me confused. If you eat only once a day, aren't you producing a high insuline spike that will store the fodd as fat?

You have to look at food/calorie intake from the standpoint of the entire day's energy expenditure. If, for example, your calorie maintenance level is, say 3000 calories, and you eat 3000 calories, then regardless of how this 3000 calories is partitioned (eating it in a dozen meals or only one, or any number in between) , it can't result in stored fat since it isn't over maintenance.

Also, will your metabolism decrease if you don't eat anything else for the next 23 hours, as compared as eating many times a day?

No. There will be no difference in BMR due to meal frequency. Here's just one of a multitude of studies done on this subject. And while this study used 2 meals (rather than just one) as a basis for comparison, I see little need to find a 'one-meal' study; the results will be the same:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8...ubmed_RVDocSum
This shows no difference on the effects of 2 meals per day compared to 5 meals per day on DIT (diet induced- thermogenesis), BMR, and Energy Expenditure -- no increase in metabolic rate.





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[jmborr]

You have to look at food/calorie intake from the standpoint of the entire day's energy expenditure. If, for example, your calorie maintenance level is, say 3000 calories, and you eat 3000 calories, then regardless of how this 3000 calories is partitioned (eating it in a dozen meals or only one, or any number in between) , it can't result in stored fat since it isn't over maintenance.

I understand this, but the assumption here is that maintenance is independent of meal frequency. I thought that BMR increased with meal frequency and thus maintenance did as well. I see below you make the case this is not correct.

No. There will be no difference in BMR due to meal frequency. Here's just one of a multitude of studies done on this subject. And while this study used 2 meals (rather than just one) as a basis for comparison, I see little need to find a 'one-meal' study; the results will be the same:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8...ubmed_RVDocSum
This shows no difference on the effects of 2 meals per day compared to 5 meals per day on DIT (diet induced- thermogenesis), BMR, and Energy Expenditure -- no increase in metabolic rate.

Thanks for the link!

One never stops learning wrong stuff and then un-learning it

[mark74]

I'm still liking my big breakfast which features mostly fat. Once I get the fat in me I'm happy to nibble for the rest of the day. Semi-healthy nibbling. Not like carrot sticks. A little meat, a little veggie, a couple of nutritional shakes, honey buns (I'm only human).

[bigtallox]

I'm still liking my big breakfast which features mostly fat. Once I get the fat in me I'm happy to nibble for the rest of the day. Semi-healthy nibbling. Not like carrot sticks. A little meat, a little veggie, a couple of nutritional shakes, honey buns (I'm only human).

Eat the honey buns first thing in the morning or after training, both are good times to cause an insulin spike.

[ironwill2008]

I understand this, but the assumption here is that maintenance is independent of meal frequency. I thought that BMR increased with meal frequency and thus maintenance did as well. I see below you make the case this is not correct.

Just as an aside, the only way I know to really boost your BMR is to add more and more metabolically-active tissue--muscle mass.

One never stops learning wrong stuff and then un-learning it

I agree 100%.

I have also found that the more I learn, the more I realize I don't know.

[Marius_Ursus]

You got me confused. If you eat only once a day, aren't you producing a high insuline spike that will store the fodd as fat? Also, will your metabolism decrease if you don't eat anything else for the next 23 hours, as compared as eating many times a day?

All myth.

[KingLerxst]

Okay so in reading this does it really matter then when you eat or how often? Opinions seem to vary a little bit but if there is no difference between eating 1-3-5 meals metabolism wise why would you just eat once? Save time? I'm not beyond attempting this it's just that if there really is no "need" to eat only once a day, and no real benefit to eating several meals day, and no difference metabolically with regard to meal frequency...then it doesn't seem to matter.

Just seems like it's a question of eating the calories you need to maintain/grow/lose depending upon your goals, nothing else.

I'm probably over simplifying it but seriously I just don't get it.

[BillReilly]

In the end it boils down to calories in -vs- calories out. That's about it, break it up how ever you like.

This.

I'm a many meal a day person, only because I don't like big meals. When I designed my diet for the summer, I simply reduced the size of all meals to fit the calorie goal for the day. It is not rocket science. I'm amazed by the number of myths that I see regarding diet.

1) Honestly track you calorie intake for a month.
2) Figure out your average daily intake.
3) Divide your calories by your weight. You have your calories per pound.
4) Multiply your desired weight by your calories per pound and build a diet to hit that number every day.

In time, you will hit your goal.

[Brackneyc]

Okay so in reading this does it really matter then when you eat or how often? Opinions seem to vary a little bit but if there is no difference between eating 1-3-5 meals metabolism wise why would you just eat once? Save time? I'm not beyond attempting this it's just that if there really is no "need" to eat only once a day, and no real benefit to eating several meals day, and no difference metabolically with regard to meal frequency...then it doesn't seem to matter.

Just seems like it's a question of eating the calories you need to maintain/grow/lose depending upon your goals, nothing else.

I'm probably over simplifying it but seriously I just don't get it.

For me personally, meal timing has to do with one thing....not being constantly hungry. I eat smaller meals to avoid that feeling. Now if a person is medicated, I can see where meal timing can become far more critical. My only issue with those advocating IF was that meal timing NEVER matters. That is poor advice, and comes fro a position of ignorance. Meal timing is super critical if you are one certain meds, and if for instance you are diabetic, poor meal timing can literally kill you.

Certain types of diets are just fine (IF, high carb, low carb etc...), given a state of good, normal health. That same diet (IF for example) is not a good idea for a heavily medicated diabetic (which I was). Before someone says they are diabetic and do IF...good on them. But, I have taken meds and missed ONE scheduled meal, and had my Blood Sugar drop to 50. Do that enough times (or even once), and you are looking at a potential coma.

Now that I am unmedicated, I can eat less meals if I choose. Problem is, I still suffer occasionally from low Blood Sugar. For me, smaller meals throughout the day are ideal.

[Marius_Ursus]

Okay so in reading this does it really matter then when you eat or how often? Opinions seem to vary a little bit but if there is no difference between eating 1-3-5 meals metabolism wise why would you just eat once? Save time? I'm not beyond attempting this it's just that if there really is no "need" to eat only once a day, and no real benefit to eating several meals day, and no difference metabolically with regard to meal frequency...then it doesn't seem to matter.

Just seems like it's a question of eating the calories you need to maintain/grow/lose depending upon your goals, nothing else.

I'm probably over simplifying it but seriously I just don't get it.

That's the Cliff's yes.

Put another way, the amount of food you eat plus the nutrition consumed in the foods you eat, in any given amount of time is what accounts for body composition.

[Jtbny]

I'm just finishing a fifth week of doing IF. As far as ease on my life, it works for me. My eating window is 2pm to 10pm. I thought I would be hungry during the day but I'm not, and I don't feel any different training fasted either. I want to give it a good 8 weeks before I evaluate the results but as far as ease of life, for me, it works great!

[Marius_Ursus]

also if you eat enough cyanide you are gona los a lot of fat,and gain 40lbs of muscle in 20 days

I know you're blowing smoke, but cyanide in small amounts will do no harm and will eliminate parasites.

I'm just finishing a fifth week of doing IF. As far as ease on my life, it works for me. My eating window is 2pm to 10pm. I thought I would be hungry during the day but I'm not, and I don't feel any different training fasted either. I want to give it a good 8 weeks before I evaluate the results but as far as ease of life, for me, it works great!

You'll probably do well. I was doing Berkhan's version of IF for a while then tweaked it a little and have been very happy with both my hunger and the results. When my eating schedule is back to normal, I'm going to go back to eating that way (my adjusted Berkhan model).

[Brackneyc]

I'm just finishing a fifth week of doing IF. As far as ease on my life, it works for me. My eating window is 2pm to 10pm. I thought I would be hungry during the day but I'm not, and I don't feel any different training fasted either. I want to give it a good 8 weeks before I evaluate the results but as far as ease of life, for me, it works great!

Guess maybe I am missing something, but an 8 hour eating window is huge. I was under the impression (from reading here) that the eating window was far smaller than that. Hell, maybe I am doing IF and don't know it. I can do 8hours fasted (in conjunction with 8 hours of sleep) and never miss a beat.