To eat one meal a day

[Lemonite]

Trying to lose the last 10lbs to get to my goal weight.

It's the most stubborn 10lbs in the bloody world. I track every calorie, I drink only water, exercise a lot, no snacking between meals or takeaways, no treats, no booze, essentially no fun whatsoever!

But it's not budging. And that's at 1300-1400kcals a day, consistently. But the past 2 months I've not lost a gram.

So - that must be my maintenance kcals. Would it be unreasonable to eat one meal a day (dinner) of around 800-1000kcals to just get this 10lbs shifted? Would it mess with my metabolism?!

Any tips I'd appreciate!

You're not eating enough for the level of activity you're doing OP.

Ditch the scales, up your protien and use a tape measure and seriously, stick a rest day in there somewhere.

I was going to suggest this too - years ago when I did 5:2 (or hardcore 4:3) the advice when you’re plateauing was to ensure you up your calories to your TDEE on the non fasting days.

I couldn’t quite get down to 500 calories on fasting days (was more like 700) but it still worked.

I'm wondering who set your goal weight, & on what basis ?

Strip off, stand in front of a mirror.

I'm guessing that you look good if there's a mere 10 lbs between you & some arbitrary perfection.

We're all different shapes & sizes - e.g I had a mum-tum as a skinny 10year-old !

On paper, I couldn't agree more. I really thought the last weight would come off slowly but surely! My bmi is still high ish (towards upper limit of healthy).

I eat between 110-140g of protein a day at the moment - I'll look at where I can increase? I've tried measuring to track progress but I'm rubbish at getting the tape the same place so it changes by an inch or so in the same measuring session so I gave up!

Yikes I couldn't ditch the scales. I'd be too worried about my weight creeping up. Admit I definitely need to put a rest day in. I did try to, but then I convinced myself a gentle 5k run is so short it doesn't really count as proper exercise, so out I go...

Thank you for the replies really appreciate the thoughts/advice

When I stall, I have a weekend off and eat whatever the hell I want. Might even have a whole week off. Can guarantee I'll gain upto 4lb but drop the gain plus a lb or 2 once I'm back on it. Its like the start of a diet all over again.

It's depressing.

I spent years yo-yo dieting, convinced that once I was thin I would be happy. Never sustainable. I'd achieve my 'goal weight' and then relax a bit and put the weight right back on.

OP - why do you have a goal weight and what do you hope to achieve by reaching it? Are you prepared to spend the rest of your life restricting your diet and denying yourself enjoyment from food? Is it worth it?

The most freeing thing for me (after a lot of therapy) was coming to the realisation that thin doesn't = better. Now I eat what I want and because I'm no longer restricting and obsessing over food I maintain my weight and I eat when I'm hungry - sometimes that does mean only eating one meal a day but it's not because I'm denying myself food! No I'm not as slim as I always strived to be, but I'm 1000x happier.

if you can fast overnight for 14 hours then that allows your good gut bacteria to deal with food, so much better for you, then obvs avoid sugar and i cut down on carbs as that's the way my body lets me lose weight

This sounds like the beginning of a problem tbh. Something isn't adding up if you're doing all that exercise on 1400 calories a day either.

Along with Jason Fung look up Gin Stephens. Many who follow her IF approach do One Meal a day, but many others do a variety of other fasting approaches. A clean fast is essential...so nothing other than plain/sparkling water, black tea or coffee. People see huge health benefits and weight loss is just an added bonus. I'm doing it for the past 2 months and absolutely loving it. My mood and energy are way better and I've lost inches...and I tried every diet under the sun and nothing worked. I was hugely sceptical at first but there's a lot of science backing it up.

My blood sugar drops and I can't cope on 9ne meal. Divide the calories up as others are suggesting.

My DS did this the year before last as he wanted to lose some weight. I thought he was bonkers at the time but he lost the weight mega quickly and two years later hasn’t gained it back.

My bmi is still high ish (towards upper limit of healthy

If you work out every day and consider a gentle 5k as a day off, then your body composition may indeed be that of an athlete. BMI is recognised as not being reliable for athletes.

Might your gym have a set of 'smart' scales that can give you a reading for body composition and percentage body fat? Boditrax, InBody etc are the brands I have come across. There are bound to be many others.

A personal BMI and body fat percentage may give you a better idea of the right target.

LowCarb is often used in conjunction with Intermittent fasting. Once your body is running on fat, and if your body has sufficient fat reserves, eating one meal a day can work really well.

Hope you find this interesting

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Science-Low-Carbohydrate-Performance/dp/0983490716/ref=mpssa111?crid=25L54NIWNPA10&keywords=volek+and+phinney&qid=1657482699&sprefix=volek+and+phinney%2Caps%2C127&sr=8-1

@FinallyHere thanks very much!

Luckily my gym have started smart health checks, this is actually what prompted me to lose more fat.

My muscle mass is okay, 75% of total weight, but my weight isn't far off overweight BMI wise and my body fat is 23%. Very low visceral fat though. I definitely look 'soft' and the flab around my middle is the worst.

Thanks for the link! Still no budge on the scale this morning. Yesterday I walked 21k steps, 10k run, 20 min weights workout and ate 1100 kcal. Off to the gym now.

Maybe this is just what it takes to tone up? I know they say it's dedication and hard work.

What % are you targeting? Low visceral fat is great health wise. 23% fat is really quite low for women.

Ideal body fat percentage for women
Category
Percentage
Athletes
14-20%
Fitness
21-24%
Acceptable
25-31%
Obesity
>32%

I thought fasting was good fir the body every now and then

*Yesterday I walked 21k steps, 10k run, 20 min weights workout and ate 1100 kcal. Off to the gym now.

Maybe this is just what it takes to tone up? I know they say it's dedication and hard work.*

This doesn't sound remotely healthy

This level of obsession is what's unhealthy. What is stopping you from being happy right now, at a mere 10lbs over your decided number?

yanbu OP, despite what others might think this is a super healthy way of doing it! and maintaining it. Humans weren't made to eat three meals a day. Only the last few generations that we have! Fasting is great for your metabolism.

Do you feel happy living like this?

(Meant kindly)

I did this at the end of last month. Only for a couple of weeks and lost 8 pounds. Problem is that it re-triggered my binge eating disorder which I thought I ahd put on ice and I have put that back on and more since.

So, if you have had any issues in the past with binge eating or bulimia (which used to be my other problem) I would tread carefully.

I've been doing this for around 15 years, NOT as a weight thing, but to keep my IBS under control which it does.
I eat whatever I like, but only one meal, dinner.
I never eat breakfast but will occasionally eat lunch, maybe once a month if there's a reason, a meal out with friends or similar, but then I take buscopan and immodium.

So many red flags here.

You are not eating anywhere near enough for that level of activity.

You have a worrying attitude to scales.
You can’t take a rest day from exercise.

Where are you aiming for on the bmi scale?

Listen to your body. Starve yourself and yes, you will lose that 10lbs. Start eating normally again and it will go straight back on. Your body has found a weight it wants to settle at so stop trying to fight it so hard and relax a bit.

I have no issue with fasting, I do it myself most days (16:8). The OP's other comments, however, are a bit concerning.

I’m unintentionally doing this at the moment and it’s really not that bad, once you make it to 2ish you’re nearly at dinner anyway.

Mines not for weight though, I’ve out of my own money now my maternitys half and electricity is so expensive and luckily it’s wayyyyyy to hot to eat anything at the mo anyway xxx