The FastDay Forum

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.

Tommy does a meal a day - http://www.eatlowcarbhighfat.com/

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.

Just wanted to second this. That really is the most important thing, it seems to me.

Yeah, I don't think we're going to see eye to eye on this one. That sounds like a heart attack to me.

It is a myth that a high fat diet increases the risk for cardiovascular disease. My dinner consisted of high quality, natural foods with a tad of crap in the BBQ sauce but hey... It was good.

I don't have an opinion regarding having one big meal per day (perhaps your stomach might disagree with you though) but I can assure you that it is not a myth that a high fat diet increases the risk for cardiovascular disease unless the fats you eat are olive oil, avocado and similar.

On the other hand, just two cheeseburgers doesn't sound like a big meal to me...

Yeah, I don't think we're going to see eye to eye on this one. That sounds like a heart attack to me.

It is a myth that a high fat diet increases the risk for cardiovascular disease. My dinner consisted of high quality, natural foods with a tad of crap in the BBQ sauce but hey... It was good.

I don't have an opinion regarding having one big meal per day (perhaps your stomach might disagree with you though) but I can assure you that it is not a myth that a high fat diet increases the risk for cardiovascular disease unless the fats you eat are olive oil, avocado and similar.

On the other hand, just two cheeseburgers doesn't sound like a big meal to me...

They where homemade double cheeseburgers. Believe me, it was a big meal.

In regards to fat and cardiovascular disease, I know that it is not as simple as it being a myth. I got a bit snippy since I am just tired of these old statements that eating saturated fats causes heart disease, that one should eat a pound of carbs per day, one should eat six times a day, that the body handles all fuels the same way and that only calories in/out matter. Sure, you can find studies supporting all of these claims, but you can also find studies disproving them. Most of the time the ideas are not derived from studies though, but just taken out of thin air based on nothing but hearsay.

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.

I have only read some article in the media about this study. Do you think it was a proper study with solid findings or a debacle like the scientific work in Forks Over Knives? Was the link between not having breakfast and increased risk for heart attack isolated or could it be that men who miss breakfast do a lot of other mischief that can cause the increase?

In regards to fat and cardiovascular disease, I know that it is not as simple as it being a myth. I got a bit snippy since I am just tired of these old statements that eating saturated fats causes heart disease, that one should eat a pound of carbs per day, one should eat six times a day, that the body handles all fuels the same way and that only calories in/out matter. Sure, you can find studies supporting all of these claims, but you can also find studies disproving them. Most of the time the ideas are not derived from studies though, but just taken out of thin air based on nothing but hearsay.

I don't know about a pound of veggies, or six meals, or fuels. I do know that if you eat saturated fats, you will end up with a heart condition. And that is definitely based on studies and the number of young people who died of heart attack and their arteries were blocked because they ate all sorts of fatty crap.

Veggies are fairly low carb in general and the link between saturated fat and cardiovascular disease is much more complex than that. But for another thread perhaps.

Sorry, I meant a pound of carbs...

In regards to fat and cardiovascular disease, I know that it is not as simple as it being a myth. I got a bit snippy since I am just tired of these old statements that eating saturated fats causes heart disease, that one should eat a pound of carbs per day, one should eat six times a day, that the body handles all fuels the same way and that only calories in/out matter. Sure, you can find studies supporting all of these claims, but you can also find studies disproving them. Most of the time the ideas are not derived from studies though, but just taken out of thin air based on nothing but hearsay.

I don't know about a pound of veggies, or six meals, or fuels. I do know that if you eat saturated fats, you will end up with a heart condition. And that is definitely based on studies and the number of young people who died of heart attack and their arteries were blocked because they ate all sorts of fatty crap.

You believe it and lots of other people do as well. That doesn't make it true, though. Lots of people used to believe the world was flat, too. The thing about studies is that they "prove" lots of incorrect things. For every one that proves saturated fat is the cause, there is another that comes behind it proving it wrong. I don't put a lot of faith in studies. How do you decide whether to believe the first one or the one that disproved it? They change their story every day. I think most people just believe the one that got the most media attention. Sad, because a lot of hype doesn't make it any more true, either.

It is not a matter of belief, it is a matter of science and experience.
As per how do I decide... easy, it depends on who writes a paper or a book that I read.
Mind you, I live in a country where these studies never reach the media, so that is not the case here.

I had read quite awhile back in my early low carb days that if you are going to carb binge, it is better to do it within a 1 hour window due to the way the body releases insulin, so that may support the one big meal theory. I have always kept this in my mind when I have a cheat meal and I do believe personnally it does have some truth to it. I have noticed when I spread out a cheat day (Like Christmas day) eating carbs for a longer period of time, I pay for it more the folwwing days.

I am getting ready to go on vacation this week for 9 days with family and trying to figure out a gameplan. I have lost 62 lbs so far but want to at least maintain during vacation, and know I will be facing good food. I don't think I can do full fast days but may try to just do 16:8 or one big dinner every day.

Guitar: I will be in a similar situation soon and what I likely would go for is a low carb hotel breakfast (eggs, bacon etc) and then a huge meal out in the evening. I eat carbs in my big meal every day, but obviously optional. I have also read that if you are on a binge, it is better to do it quickly.