Has one meal a day worked well for anyone?

[EternalStench]

I'm about 2.5 stone overweight, middle aged and just can't seem to diet anymore.
Thinking of just doing one substantial and healthy meal a day to lose the weight.
Has anyone had success with this?

I would say have st least two. Up your healthy protein intake and reduce your carbohydrates . This should help. Have plenty of vegetables fruit and water

Thanks @BCBird. Of course, you talk complete sense but I'm struggling with this! It feels like as soon as I start eating, I just carry on craving food all day.
I thought it might be easier to just not bother eating til dinner with the family.

I know two people who this has worked well for - first a friend who lost about 6 stone in about 8 months. She would have a cup a soup if she felt really hungry but stuck to one meal a day. I don't know how she had the willpower to do it but she did!

Second person was my friends daughter who was quite overweight but went to Uni and came back 3 stone lighter 6 months later. Although conscious of her weight, it was mainly down to laziness to start with - she couldn't be bothered to cook for herself more than once a day and after a few weeks she found she had lost a few lbs and that boosted her to carry on. She says the first few weeks were hard but she got into the swing of it - I think it helped that she was doing student/teenage hours a lot of the time i.e. staying up late, getting up late the next day and then it wasn't so long to wait to have something to eat about 5/6pm.

I do the same, once I have started eating I don't stop, the floodgates are open. I am trying Intermittent Fasting to shut down my eating windows, it is sort of helping.

Yes! I lost 5 st. After 10 years of trying all sorts, it turns out this was the instant winner.

You’ll feel shitty for 3 days tops, then it’s just life. My friend did just black coffee the rest of the day. I did tea with some milk, same effects.

I was the same with the food floodgates 😅

Fun fact that inspired me: no food (glucose in particular) for 14 hours switches your body into fat burning mode.

IME it’s a great way to lose because I don’t obsess about ‘what’ I’m eating… the question simplifies to ‘what time.’

It gets much easier to follow this way of eating as your body and mind get used to it. Try it for a while — go into it expecting it will be a bit tough but with faith it gets easier — and bet you’ll be pleasantly surprised!

as soon as I start eating, I just carry on craving food all day

This really resonates with me.

OMAD works easily for me when I am low carving. During the switch over to low carb I spend a couple of days with the voice in my head screaming eat, now.

Once I am 'fat adapted' I can much better control my appetite for food. I have smoke fat stores to be burned do I let my body have at it.

You would be very welcome over in the low carb bootcamp threads, there is lots of discussion and help from fellow low carvers and some very knowledgable people.

I did a meal a day about 20 years ago when I was mid twenties... lost about 2 stone fairly quickly and recently started again (a few months ago - weight loss slower but definitely working). Working out an average after the initial water loss week I am losing 6 pounds a month, although I had 4 stone to lose on total and I am fairly inactive at the minute. I tried slimming world early this year and lost about 4 pounds a month on that.

I have been told by a dietician (that I know as a friend - not as a client!) that my eating would be considered disordered. I know some people feel the same so I wouldn't recommend anyone do the diet without researching it.

I always only really enjoyed my evening meal but wasted a lot of calories in snacking rubbish! It can be limiting at first, so many things you can't do like meeting friends for lunch or having afternoon tea, although technically you could change your one meal to earlier in the day - I always find it difficult to get back into the routine after a change like this though. I usually have my evening meal between 7-8, but always eat between 6-9pm.

I drink the odd cup of tea with almond milk (just because I drink almond milk - no specific reason!

Drink plenty of fluids during the day - you will be used to getting some fluids from your food that you won't getting anymore on this diet.

Pre plan your dinner so that it is a healthy meal and has enough calories, it can be easy to eat loads at the beginning because you are so hungry but over time it eases, and you do become quite full quickly.

Don't stock up on junk, and reward yourself with a lovely, healthy well-balanced meal. Not pizza and cake (although I have those days occasionally!)

Always check medications - some of them need you to eat first. My multi-vit requires a full stomach so I take it after dinner.

It was hard getting into it, I would say it took three weeks or so to stop feeling ravenous in the hours before dinner but once it was my routine it worked really well. Its working for me and I am fairly lazy so I'm planning to keep it up.

You will be hungry and end up binging. The best thing to do is focus on high protein for meals and snacks. Reduce carbs like bread and pasta and cut out most junk and takeaways. If you eat protein itl fill you up longer and you will be less likely to binge on rubbish than if you are hungry and only eating one meal a day.

I think it depends what your job is and how much activity you do in the day. Sometimes the shakes and the sugar drop can make you feel quite sick. If you feel that way it may be best to have a mid-morning snack too to get you through it.

Said with such certainty 😂

Even though there is clearly evidence of people who haven't done that and have managed this way of life for long periods of time.

Mumsnet does bring about some weird comments sometimes doesn't it.

I’m the same - if I have breakfast it just makes me hungrier.

I’m doing intermittent fasting. Not quite got to 8:16, it’s more like 10:14 but you have to start somewhere!

Yes I do this a lot and it really keeps the weight off.

I did it for a few months & felt fantastic. Full of energy & clear headed. Then I got COVID and fell back into comfort eating.
In the early days I would breathe through the hunger pangs and they do go. I found it easier the days I was working. I so looked forward to eating in the evening. A healthy meal, some fruit and some kind of treat. It does take some discipline but so much easier than trying to eke out smaller meals through the day. It always does boil down to discipline though whatever eating style you adopt to keep weight down in my opinion.

How long did it take you to lost the 5 stone? And the one meal a day that you had, would it be a very large meal or standard sized?

It works for me but I'm incredibly short so my calorie "allowance" to be in deficit is really small

My food/calorie intake to maintain is 1400

Once I eat I am just hungry.

Late lunch of veg stir fry and then early dinner is about the only way I can eat 2 meals healthily. Definitely low carb high protein helps.

I’ve been doing this for years to control my weight. I’d rather eat one decent meal per day then several unsatisfying meals.

If I’m on holiday or going out to lunch, etc I’m not strict, but on a normal day it’s only one meal.

It’s rare that I feel actual hunger these days. I love food and this way I’m not obsessing constantly about what I eat. I eat anything I want for dinner, as long as I try to control the portion size.

Far from being disordered, I think this is the way humans have been eating for tens of thousands of years. I doubt cavemen or even medieval serfs we’re eating three meals per day plus snacks.

@drkpl

Different things will work for different people.

the shakes and the sugar drop can make you feel quite sick

For me, this is a sign of not tolerating sugar and starchy carbs very well.

Now I eat low carb high fat I find I just don't get those shakes/duck feeling. It minimises the insulin in my blood and gets me off the blood sugar rollercoaster required to balance sugar and insulin.

I've worn a continuous blood glucose monitor to have the objective evidence that even fasting, my blood sugar remains very stable. I just don't get those shakes and sick in the stomach feeling which are such a part of my life when I have eaten starchy carbs a few hours ago.

Even when fasting (water only) for 48 hrs once fat adapted I had no genuine hunger pangs. Turns out that I eat mostly because I am bored or looking for entertainment or just to treat myself.

One meal a day means I still get the vitamins (esp water soluble ones ) and fibre that my body requires to keep functioning well with the least amount of effort spent on cooking and cleaning up.

I reccomnended it, only once low carb high fat way of eating has been established.

Ok. You've convinced me. I'm going to go for it.
I've been fasting til about 1 or 2 anyway so I'll try to hold out a bit longer.
What's another 4hrs, hey?

Take a look on the fasting forums.
I've gone from eating non stop to a typical 4/5 hour window. I'm usually only hungry during that window. I would normally have two meals, one small and one large and one or two snacks if desired. I think I could easily manage one meal a day most days but I've a fair bit to lose and want to eat nutritionally well.
I eat in a caloric deficit but I feel fasting has enabled me to do this much more easily as the constant hunger and desire for sugar just isn't there.
Good luck

I think about 4 months or 5 months, maybe less. People were shocked. Big meal, whatever I wanted, but at some point I learned about Macros and figured out high fat, low carbs worked best to see the scale move.

I also walked a lot with a backpack and would walk home with it full of groceries. Supermarket is half-hour away, that walk would make me a bit heavier the next day (muscles inflamed) but 2lb lighter the day after, every time!

My skin was a little loose after but it’s mostly tightened up now. (I’m almost 40)

I'd recommend skipping breakfast, then having a meal at midday & one at tea / dinner time.

Cut down on carbs & sugar.

Starting out with something so extreme as one meal a day might be unattainable, then lead to ditching the whole thing.

Go slow and see how you feel but don't starve yourself!