To think that my friend's new diet of eating once a day is bound to fail?

[DoorToDecember]

My friend has decided to lose some weight, she probably has around 50 lbs to lose and could do so sustainably and in a healthy way.

She has been reading some dieting forums and pro anorexia forums and has joined a group of mad women who have collectively decided to stop eating breakfast and lunch and only eat dinner, from now on. Today was her 3rd day and I must say she has become noticeably more grumpy and often feels faint or nauseous with hunger by 11am.

AIBU to think this is unhealthy disordered eating and whatever she loses she will gain back after she starts eating more meals?

How can I encourage her to be more rational and sensible wrt her eating without seeming preachy?

I think most dieters fail in the end, that's the nature of going on a diet...it's not sustainable long term.

She'll soon get fed up of feeling faint and nauseous.

You can't. She needs to work it out herself. I doubt that she is stupid, just desperate for something to work.

Just be there as a friend and don't say anything about the one meal a day thing when she stops doing it.

It's not necessarily a bad way of eating, I don't think. It gives the body a chance to 'catch up' and, as long as what she is eating in the one meal is healthy macro-wise and hits a certain number of calories, then I wouldn't have an issue with it.

I hardly ever eat breakfast because I hate it - will skip lunch if I'm out and busy - but will always eat dinner with the family. Just because somebody feels faint if they don't eat on waking doesn't mean that everybody does. Your friend will have to find a way of eating that works for her - perhaps a couple of hundred calories each for 'breakfast' and 'lunch' with main meal in the evening? She needs to look into that for herself, there are plenty of resources out there.

Pro-ana forums are not a resource. Why is she looking on those exactly?

There are pro-anorexia forums?!

I usually eat once a day during the week, in the evening.
Two cups of tea in the morning, two cups of coffee and lots of water at work, home and a bit of fruit, then an evening meal around 7-8pm.
Not on a diet, just busy.

I don't think that it's necessarily a bad idea - I often don't feel hungry at all until dinner time so don't bother with meals until then. If she is hungry and feels faint and grumpy, then she will probably work out how she can manage that in her own time, but if she is 50lb overweight then she probably already has disordered eating habits, so it's a bit late to worry about that.

Yes the internet's a scary place steff

My friend does this. Only has lunch. She did lose weight when she was sticking to it. But it wasn't sustainable especially for social occasions etc. And it doesn't address any food issues.

Why don't you just be direct and say this is silly and you're concerned about her?

Personally, speaking purely in terms of what diet methods work not whether this is sensible or not, I think anything works if you're in the zone. Any cutting out of any meals or foods will work if you stick to it and are determined to eat less.

Tbh I did this a few years back. Yes at first I was hungry but after 3/4 days I got used to it, I would have a proper lunch and then eat 5 bits of fruit the rest of the day. Worked really well dropped lots of weight and kept it off too. Only thing it went back on when I met my DP who wined and dinned me too much in the early part of our relationship, and he won't let me do it again. But I was the healthiest I'd ever been and the happiest in terms of my look/size.

She will fail. Friend of Anna sites do get removed regularly but they just change the search words.
I wish they would get taken down, they make me sick. It's partially thanks to those I have a 6 stone sister with a heart murmer and every phone call I get I'm expecting to be told she's died.

of course it will fail, and make her hell to live with/damage her health.

anorexia is a mental illness. These websites are destructive and spread it. The people behind them need treatment, not to be writing websites.

please try to persuade your friend to see sense or get help, whichever is appropriate.

I really don't mean to be antagonistic, but how does eating once a day damage your health? Surely if you are eating enough calories to sustain you then it doesn't matter how many instalments they come in?

There's absolutely nothing wrong with it. A big meal at about two and I find I don't want to eat anything for the rest of the day and I don't like breakfast either. I lost piles of weight doing this and kept it off too.

It doesn't damage your health at all as long as you are getting all the nutrients you need. There's been scientific studies that show massive health benefits of eating this way. Google it.

It's a way that I find to be effective and sustainable.

That or periodic fasting.

Yep totally disordered and not good.

I started cutting out lunch every other day and swiftly moved to having 'dinner' every other day. My dinner consisted of an apple and if I was brave a cheese sandwich. I get down to 7 stone.

Not good! If she's doing it to loose weight and solely for that purpose chances are she'll just fail. If she's doing it for other reasons; control, punishing herself, self hatred etc then she needs to get some professional help, it's a slippery and surprisingly quick slop to slide down.

I eat only once a day. I eat no meat only fish and the bulk of my diet is vegetables. I also avoid bread. I'm a slim healthy weight and I've eaten this way for the past 8 years, I do have lunch occasionally, probably once very month of 2, if I'm going out or have been unusually physically active and feel a hunger pang.

I think everybody is different and what might the correct way of eating for one person isn't the same for another.

I often only eat once a day, have done for years.

I have to force myself to eat during the day at times.

Fasting is good for you, eating once a day is not bad for your health.

Disordered? I often eat like that, especially when DH is away. I'm busy, don't have a huge appetite. Meh. With 50lb to lose she'll be fine.

According to the nutritionist Dan Benardot, it's far better to eat little and often than to go too long without food. So instead of eating 3 meals a day, he advises splitting them in half so you eat 6 times a day at regular intervals. She's making herself more prone to putting on fat and losing muscle by not eating regularly (OK, it's more complicated than that but I'm too tired to look up my course notes, sorry).

Fasting is perfectly normal and healthy and a good way to lose weight. There are fasting groups on here!

Searching pro-ana sites for "advice" however, doesnt sound like a good sign to me

Unless she has an intrinsically disordered attitude to food, eating once a day is not automatically a bad thing. For lengthy periods of time, I've only eaten dinner in the evening, with maybe some fruit or some miso broth in the day, and I'm a healthy weight, and don't suffer from food hang ups.

I would have thought once a day was actually pretty close to 'natural' eating for a human.

Other animals don't eat all day, why would we need to?

I have a coffee for breakfast, often skip lunch and eat a mahoosive dinner.

Works for me, not sluggish or hungry or anything like that and I am constantly moving.