The FastDay Forum

Today is a feed day and a bank holiday here and we will have a big lunch so it will be my only meal of the day. It's what I do when I have a big family lunch or when I know we'll go do the restaurant with my partner. It's to compensate in a way. I think it helped me to not gain any weight. It's not 2500 cal, though, I couldn't eat all that in one meal, not even in a day...

Also all that meals are big but very very very long, 1h30 and more

Some of the Fast Five/IF people work their way toward eating once a day. The author of that book does recommend a window from 5-10pm. But, I have seen a few online forum discusions where people have cut that back to 4 or even 2 hour windows. If I were going to attempt it (and I may sometime down the road) I would want to eat a big meal followed by a dessert a little later. Or, maybe a small snack/brunch/appetizer followed by a big meal a bit later with all eating coming within 2-3 hours.

I know that my appetite isn't large enough anymore to get in enough calories in one meal unless it involved large amounts of sugar and frozen alcoholic beverages. And, the sugar is what I am trying to stay away from the most. So, not sure it would work for me right now. But, it might be the perfect thing for you...what have you got to lose by trying?

Interesting experiment, DomDom. I'd like to know if you find it sustainable - eg. what will happen when you go out for a meal or go on holiday? And if you have to extend your eating window from 4 hours to, say, 8 - will that affect weight loss and/or how you feel?

You won't know till it happens, I guess, so I'll just watch this space, shall I?

Meanwhile, enjoy experimenting!

Simcoe: Do you have any sources supporting the claim that eating fewer meals will cause more fat to be stored? My reading so far does not indicate this.

Also, I don't plan on exercising after consuming such a meal. That may look funny and probably feel awful.

The question is not 'eating fewer meals' - it is eating 'one massive meal'. If you have looked around this site on what to eat on your fast days, most recommend fat/protein and maybe complex carbs. The reason is basic, but it is not a simple issue. Think of 'fast acting' pills and 'time release' pills. A carb pill is fast acting. A fat/protein pill is time release. If you eat a carb pill on a fast day, it will be digested quickly (quickly converted to blood sugar), used and you will be hungry again. If you eat a fat pill, it will be digested slowly and the blood sugar level will remain constant for a longer period of time. You will not get as hungry as quickly.

The question is what happens if you eat a couple of handfuls of fast acting pills all at once? They are all digested quickly, blood sugar levels spike and the body must deal with all of the blood sugar it does not need. It does that simply by converting the sugar to fat.

This is why current research has identified the 'low fat' (high carb) diet as a leading cause of the 'obesity epidemic'. You eat a lot of carbs, they are quickly digested and converted to blood sugar, the body can't use it all, it is deposited as fat, and you are hungry again and need to eat - more carbs.

Sorry for the non-scientific language, but I'm not a scientist. This video might help, but it is long (and dry).
the-5-2-lab-f10/topic6811.html

Anyway, by eating a massive amount of food all at once, your blood sugar will spike because of the carbs, and be added to by the slower digesting fat/protein, and the body will have to do something with all of that blood sugar. It converts it to fat. Whether and when that fat will be burned depends on the rest of your diet, exercise and amount of calorie restriction.

But I go back to why? Why eat this way? What are the benefits you have read about in a book? What is your goal? Like I said, I really don't care how you eat, but I am interested in learning if there is a real, research driven reason for eating this way.

I am with you on the carb stuff, simcoe. I am not convinced that a massive meal will cause less fat loss quite yet.

As to why, I am just trying to find the WOE that suits me best. I am already fairly sure that it is not one meal. Simply too much food. Fasting today but going to do a 4 hr window tomorrow and go from there. What I like so far is that I stay full a very long time. Yesterday I got hungry about 3pm. It is now 10:30am on a fast day and food is not interesting yet.

I want to get the most bang for my buck. I want to minimize the amount of food I eat to stay satisfied the whole day. I could easily eat 4000-5000 kcals a day if I ate 6 meals in a day. So far shrinking the eating window I stay satisfied 20-22 hours of a day on half the amount of food. I like being hungry a couple of hours before dinner. It makes the meal so much more enjoyable.

Interesting experiment, DomDom. I'd like to know if you find it sustainable - eg. what will happen when you go out for a meal or go on holiday? And if you have to extend your eating window from 4 hours to, say, 8 - will that affect weight loss and/or how you feel?

You won't know till it happens, I guess, so I'll just watch this space, shall I?

Meanwhile, enjoy experimenting!

I don't see going out being a big problem. Restaurants have a lot of food. Buffets may be a good choice. On holiday, which I recently had for 3 weeks, I found fasting tough. I snuck in one good and two halfass fast days over the three weeks, causing a 4kg gain. I have now had 3 good fasts since and 3 of these kgs are gone. I hope to be back on all time low by Tuesday which is my weigh-in day.

Hi Domdom,

Well, I do 16/8 every day but the reality is more like a 4-6 hour window rather than 8 but that is just how I like to eat. About half the time I eat only one meal per day so giving me a 24 hour fast. Last week, due to a few lunch dates I ate only once a day for 4 days in a row, day 5 was a 3 hour window and then days 6 + 7 were lunch only again. Today is lunch again with friends. I don't calorie count and I do have wine as I love to have a little bit of food with my alcohol. One of my cousins has only ever eaten 1 meal per day for his whole adult life and he is 70 years old, just done the Great Glen walk which is 90 miles in 5 days and is as thin as a lathe. Des O"Connor (A British singer of almost 80 years old) only ever eats one meal per day and he is slim, healthy and looks about 25 years younger than he is, he does not look as though he has had a face lift either!

I don't count calories but I am mindful, for interest sake only, of what I eat and I do like clean, healthy food whenever possible. One restaurant I was in has calorific values on the menu so I knew that I had eaten in excess of 2000 calories for that meal, my TDEE is about 1400. My weight has never been so stable, I am now 7 lbs below my target weight and my body seems resigned to staying this weight whatever I eat or drink. This has only been possible thanks to 5:2 and I have never felt so well, people frequently comment about how well and healthy I look and this has positively changed my life.I don't believe it is harmful or bad for you in any way, in fact, I personally think it is an extremely healthy and enjoyable way to live and I plan to continue indefinitely. On the other hand, my husband could not do it but that is the beauty of life, we are all individual and we all have to do what suits us and our personality so, good luck and keep us posted as to how it goes for you,

Ballerina x

Great stuff Ballerina! I am quite impressed with a smallish woman being able to eat in excess of 2000kcal in a sitting. I can do it, but it is hard work.

As for the rest of the story, I am going to use it as inspiration.

Is Des O'Connor still going?! I thought he died....

I don't think 2000cal would be too hard to put away at once - depending on the form of the calories! Chocolate/creamy desserts and alcohol would make that a doddle!

I can see how one meal a day can work - I have realised that I prefer 'proper' meals to small meals with snacks. If I eat little & often I never feel full and I just graze and eat more. If I have discrete meals I am less likely to overeat and can go for several hours without any rumbles. This is just how we used to eat years ago before we were told to snack all the time, and even more years ago I think people did tend to eat just once a day. Some people feel hungrier after a big meal but I just don't - if I have small regular meals I am just constantly in 'eat' mode and never feel satisfied.

I would find it hard to give up breakfast but I reckon I could manage quite happily on two meals - a mid-morning brekkie and an early substantial dinner. Better for the digestion eating in the middle of the day too - I can't sleep on a full stomach (or empty for that matter!). Of course on feed days I eat 3 meals - but I am happier to have a bit more for the meals and nothing in between (although again the 4pm snack happens quite regularly!)

I think what is important, which we all seem to be doing here, is relaxing around food and also being mindful (without getting obsessive) and working out what is best for us.

[carorees]

I'd suggest you look up the Warrior Diet for info about having one large meal a day. I know this ids what they do. Also, leangains which I think uses a 5-hour window.

My worry is that to reach your TDEE in a single meal you have to fill up on calorie dense foods and have little stomach capacity for vegetables! I think the idea of having a small and a large meal close together in a short eating window would work but I'd recommend that one of the meals was high in vegetables.

The recent study on increased heart attack risk among men who skip breakfast is a bit worrying. I think that the eating window should be earlier in the day rather than later if possible. My reading of the scientific literature suggests there is a circadian rhythm to our metabolic process which may favour eating earlier. The skipping breakfast study also found an increased risk associated with eating late at night.

Domdom wrote.................

" I am quite impressed with a smallish woman being able to eat in excess of 2000kcal in a sitting. I can do it, but it is hard work. "

Domdom, it is a gift

Ballerina x

Isn't this basically the warrior diet?

I had heard of the Warrior diet but had no idea what it was so I've just googled it and it seems it is one meal per day eaten after 6p.m. It also looks as though it is adopted by people wishing to look like latter day warrior/ gladiators with huge bulging muscles! Mmmmm, not a look for me so I will stick with what I am doing which is perfect for me.

Ballerina x

@DomDom - re. the all your calories in one meal: I've seen 'somewhere' on my low-carb travels that it's not recommended to take in more than 12g carb in one sitting. Unfortunately I can't remember where. And I don't think that they gave a rationale for that, but one might guess that it's to do with spiking insulin. PhilT is a bit of a low-carb guru - he might know : FatDog waves at @PhilT.

I remember working out the cals in an Indian meal we went out for (not easy, as I was guesstimating from MFP) and it was over 2,000 cals *, and it wasn't excessive in my view, just a great meal out. I'm really happy now to only eat 1 meal, when I know its going to be a biggie.

*quite a lot of that was lager

@DomDom - re. the all your calories in one meal: I've seen 'somewhere' on my low-carb travels that it's not recommended to take in more than 12g carb in one sitting. Unfortunately I can't remember where. And I don't think that they gave a rationale for that, but one might guess that it's to do with spiking insulin. PhilT is a bit of a low-carb guru - he might know : FatDog waves at @PhilT.

Not met that specifically. but 12g of rapid carbs will multiply your blood sugar by 2 or 3 (bloodstream holds a total of about 5g).