How Many Meals a Day Should I Eat if I Want to Lose Weight?

"Q: I heard breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Will it affect me if I miss breakfast on a fast day?
"There is no scientific evidence to prove that breakfast is any more important than lunch or dinner for adults. As a matter of fact, there is no scientific evidence proving three meals per day are any better than one."

Above is a quote from Brad Pilon's book, "Eat Stop Eat" which can be found at:
http://www.eatstopeat.com/?vtid=eatblogeat&utm_expid=7760520-13&utm_referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fbradpilon.com%2Fbooks%2F

When I found the above quote among the FAQ's in Brad's book it addressed a particular thought that I had been having about whether I could simply eat a good meal once a day and fast the rest of the time in order to speed up my weight loss. Also wondering if I could try that every day, or just a few times a week.

I had the idea to do that once before (which I blogged about) but I got waylaid by worry. I was worried that I would not be able to go that long every day without having a snack. That got turned into "two snacks" and soon it was three meals again, so I never actually tried it out.

Now that I have the experience of fasting "under my belt" I think I could actually do it. Without planning to, I did it yesterday (Saturday) and noticed I lost a few pounds this morning even though I ate two meals last night within a few hours of one another. As I thought about it, I don't think I went overboard on the daily calories, although I only made guess-timations on the calorie count.

Since I belong to the 5:2 Diet group on Facebook I've been reading how the other participants are doing with their calorie counting and actually eating small meals on their fast days. They go for about 36 hours twice a week, on average, and eat 500 cals during their fast. Then on the other days they are supposed to eat "normally" but most of them count calories on those days, too, keeping it under whatever level they have calculated to fit their body and metabolism. They seem to lose an average of  about a pound a week doing all this.

For myself, when Dr Robbins measured my body's daily caloric burn on her machine it came to 2400 per day.  This means that I could eat 2400 calories each day and I would not put on any more weight. She wanted me to eat 1800 calories a day and I went off the deep end when I tried calorie counting. I could not keep my intake that low and counting calories is such an offensive way to eat. I ended up gaining weight as I resisted the whole idea and quit doing it. (I blogged about that, too. LOL)

Brad suggests fasting for 24 hours straight with only water or calorie free drinks and then simply eating normally on the other days. "Eating normally" to Brad means not increasing your intake to compensate for the time that you spent fasting. This makes sense if your goal is to reduce your weekly calories and lose weight, along with all the other health benefits that come from fasting.

I tried those diets, too, that said you should eat 4 or 5 times a day and found that easier to take emotionally than calorie counting, but "many meals" turns out to be tedious to do in real life, also. Either counting calories, or eating many small meals in the day, turned out to be, for me, a lot of hard work, in addition to the rest of my life. I find that either method forces me to worry about food and eating all day long. I'd really prefer to not have to think about that all the time.

On the other hand, the "Eat Stop Eat" program does seem to work for me and my daily life. It is so much easier to simply not pay attention to food during a fasting period and then look forward to having a good meal at the proper time, when I break the fast. Amazingly, I find, that I don't mind how I feel when I'm not eating. Having an empty stomach is kind of a treat. Who knew? LOL

I find that when I resume eating that my body gets back all its old "feelings" again. It is a little bit odd to find out that processing food puts a "drag" on my body. I feel more sluggish and full and not so light and efficient as I feel when I'm fasting.

Since Brad says there is no real scientific evidence that I have to eat breakfast or even eat three meals a day, let alone, four or five, I see no problem with simply holding out on my eating until dinner time each day and then have the meal I would really like to have.

I always fear that someone is going to get all scared that I'm going to have 22,000-calorie Sumo meals but that is not what I am talking about. I'm talking about a regular, ordinary, dinner with or without dessert as the occasion fits. And then stop eating for the day.

Under those conditions, even having another snack at the end of the day should not be a problem but I'm not going to build that in. That is the mistake I did last time. I built in the snack then they got out of hand. I am kind of an odd duck. If I build it in, then it somehow gets translated into my mind that not only "I can" but eventually "I have to" and I don't want to trigger that response either. I'll just plan on eating normally, for me, and that's the end of it.

Sometimes I don't know if all this is just a "nice thought" or an actual "plan." It feels like a plan, at this moment so I'm going to try it out and see how it goes. I'm always flexible if I'm nothing else, so I'm not going to worry about it.

Another thing... on the 5:2 Diet facebook group page they have been talking about chia seeds so I got mine out and made up a batch. I used to take two tablespoons full like everybody always directs when you read about them, but I never really noticed any particular effect with that and it soon fell by the wayside. If I cannot see the benefit, I usually just leave it behind. Today, I filled a cup with the gelatinous solution of chia seeds in water and drank it down.

My belly feels as full as if I'd eaten but I don't feel the drag on my body. I'll have to wait and see if there are any other side effects. I'm hoping it will keep the plumbing moving along, too.

Anyway, that's where I am today.

Be back soon,

Marcia

excerpt from "Eat Stop Eat" by Brad Pilon: