to say that fasting has massively cut down our food bills?

[streth]

I know it's not for everyone but I’ve been doing intermittent fasting one meal a day for a while now and I’ve noticed a huge difference in our food shopping bills. I just eat once a day usually a good sized balanced meal in the evening and I’m genuinely less hungry the rest of the time. I don’t snack anymore and I’m not constantly thinking about food which has been surprisingly freeing.

My teens off their own backs have started eating just twice a day they say they feel fine and they're old enough to make those choices themselves. We still eat nutritious food but we’re just eating less often and wasting far less.

Food bills have gone down significantly and with prices being what they are right now it’s honestly been a relief I know this wouldn’t work for everyone and I’m definitely not saying it’s suitable for people with eating disorders or anyone with specific health needs. But for us it’s made a real difference both financially and in how we think about food.

AIBU to think this kind of fasting can be a practical option for some people in tough times?

I'm not talking about calorie intake as the only measure though, or about counting them, just about having an idea of your intake.

People with disordered eating can also convince themselves they're being incredibly healthy but don't really have the measure of what they're putting into their bodies. I don't see how having zero awareness of your calorie intake gives any real credibility to claims of 'but I'm healthy'.

Edit: I should add - I'm not criticising what you're doing. I know well that what works for one person will be criticised if it's not there square meals at set times.

Clearly. 3 nutritious meals works well though.

@streth totally agree. I started this 6 months ago and love it! And o it didn’t occur to me really that I would save so much doing it, but it’s a huge saving because even in my eating window, I’m just not as hungry so eat far less (but better quality. For years I was harassed about not eating breakfast so used to force myself to have it - I love being free of constantly planning meals….

I’m with you. It’s become normalised to eat 3 meals a day (often with desert) and to snack loads in between and that’s why we have an obesity crisis. People are eating more calories than they need. Two healthy meals a day is enough for many people and is actually quite common in other cultures.

I do eat twice a day sometimes and other days three small meals, and often do 14:10 quite naturally. I could just eat once a day on mounjaro (and do if I'm having a blow out lunch or something) but I have to be careful that it doesn't stop me exercising, affect my ability to concentrate, or make my blood sugar or pressure go very low.

In the nicest possible way - that's great for you but I'm not interested in descending into people telling me what they do and how many meals they can make for how many people for what money, which is how this always goes. Ultimately it's probably relative to each family and their own circumstances. I find it more expensive in particular because I'm spending more on fresh food that I ever have, and I have to buy it more than once a week because it's hard to find good quality fresh food.

My favourite example of this is a colleague who told me she had completely cut out UPFs “no nasty UPFs for me!” Then she had lost weight by IF. “It’s so great! The nutrient dense food, the lack of UPFs, I feel amazing!!!”

I asked her what she ate. No breakfast. For lunch, every Monday she emptied a tin of chickpeas a tin of tuna and a red onion into a bowl. She took it to work every day with salad leaves.

she ate 1/4 of a tin of tuna, 1/4 of a tin of chickpeas and salad leaves each day and had convinced herself this was nutrient dense. WTAF?!?

I think she had a normal ish dinner. So about 900 calories a day.

it only lasted about 2 months mind.

So, to clarify, fasting is in fact a thing.

I agree with this.
I have consistently had 2 meals a day for ages and it works best for me. I have also generally standardised what I have for those meals so that I rationalise the food that I buy. E.g. Fage yogurt, raspberries, chia seeds, teaspoon of maple syrup for breakfast or variations of that. For dinner 200g of veg e.g. pak Choi, onions mushrooms peppers etc all sauted with maybe oyster sauce with a 100g protein e.g. small steak, fillet of salmon and all the variations thereof. So there’s no waste as i take the desired protein out of the freezer in the morning and just need big pile of suitable veg so it’s quite varied as well. And definitely quite cheap. I’m quite boring with food though.

Well you’ll notice it was in quotation marks

”fasting” it’s not even a thing it’s just skipping meals

pretending your eating habits are beneficial because uneducated religious zealots decreed uneducated followers should do it hundreds of years ago isn’t really the flex you think it is. Those people knew/ know nothing about the physical or emotional impacts of skipping meals- neither of they care.

Ahh ok. You do you but no one else is allowed to say what they do. Ok now i know i will keep my thoughts to myself. Apologies

To be fair that sounds like Very Fast 800, which is ok for most people to do for a couple of months.

I lost a stone and a half in 8 weeks doing it in 2021. The problem for me was it only worked in lockdown. As things opened up again in May/June, I was out and about more and exposed to normal things like alcohol and carbs everywhere, I've never felt cravings like it and went absolutely mad for any stodge and alcohol and put all the weight back on by September.

Everything in moderation is much better for me. And I was having nowhere near enough fibre just having meat/fish and veg, basically, even with pulses.

A salmon fillet or steak everyday of the week is quite cheap is it? 😂

There are always going to be some who take things to extremes. Thankfully you saw her batshit eating for what it is and accepted that this in no way represents what fasting is about.

Sounds like it worked well for you at the moment as a weight loss diet. But are you still losing weight? And some point you’re going to need to start maintaining a steady weight instead of losing, and you might find you can’t eat enough calories in one sitting to do that without stomach ache. I certainly can’t.

I think the op is making good valid points and receiving some really cheeky answers. She isn't preaching in any manner. She is explaining.

I tend to think of it as Mindful Eating. The fact is we are governed, by our up bringing , habits, set meals times and our own bad habits we pick up along the way .

If we concentrated on the nutritional value of our food intake, rather than the calorific value we might be healthier, healthier and wiser, I.m.o..

For years I was brought up and continued to have my main meal at night. I ate loads thought the day, waiting for my dinner. I changed to having my main meal at lunch time, and guess what, I stopped eating rubbish before and after the meal.

The other thing is that we eat when we are actually thirsty, not hungry.

But that is not what I said.

But it is. I quoted the bit where you said it. If you have changed your mind and want to retract it, fine, it's probably what you should do. However, as long as you're sitting there denying the words under your username, I'm not much inclined to trust anything else you say.

Fasting works for you, great. But I'd stop short of offering it as a "practical option for some people in tough times" because it's tone deaf and kind of offensive.

A big daddy is 99g protein I need more than 100g. Once a day wouldn't work for me.

Fasting has it's place. If your natural appetite is 2 meals a day then that's alright. It is also, as a PP said about the eating window and getting the calories in. So not necessarily cheaper food bills.

Some people I know are in the habit of fasting Mondays to even out the weekends indulgences. It works for them.

Sorry I should have said - there’s just me and I’m quite well off and I’m talking small 100g portions of the protein so a pack of 4 e.g. salmon might do 8 meals as I freeze them in 100g portions. Everything is relative though.

I don’t even know what a big daddy is 😂 it doesn’t sound like it provides 30g fibre too though 🤨

I’m actually maintaining now, not losing any more weight. One of the benefits for me is that this way of eating helps prevent the usual weight gain around Christmas or holidays.

I’ve had no issue getting enough calories in one meal, but everyone’s different.

100g Salmon is only 25g protein. That and some yogurt and chia seeds is very little.

And the 200g of sauted veg??

I have nothing to retract because I stand by what I said, and I have been consistent throughout. I said it can be a practical option for some people in tough times, not that it should be done by everyone, not that it is a solution to poverty, and not that people should go hungry. There is a big difference between sharing a personal experience that happens to save money and prescribing it as the answer to a systemic problem.

Calling that tone deaf ignores the fact that people are already changing how they eat to cope with rising costs. Some of those changes are harmful, and some like structured fasting when done safely can actually be manageable and even beneficial for certain people. Pretending that any discussion of food choices in this context is offensive shuts down real practical conversation.

You are free to disagree with my view, but accusing me of lying or twisting words simply because you dislike the point I made is unnecessary. I am being honest about my experience, and I have gone out of my way to acknowledge the limits of it. You do not have to agree, but I am not going to apologise for sharing something that has genuinely worked for me and my family

What would one typical meal be , please op?