This post is purely about meal timing and frequency
I’m not talking about what you’re eating, or how much your macros should be.
I have very definite(and controversial) ideas about those things, but that’ll come in another post, because I want the focus entirely on how to schedule your meals.
Basic idea is to find a way to rest your digestive system 12 to 16 hours a day at least. If not more.
Goal should be to get to 16 hours of fasting daily.
The easiest method would be to bring forward your dinner time by half an hour every week or two, giving your body time to adapt to the fasting.
3 MEALS PER DAY
This is what most people think they’re doing.
In reality, they’re also snacking in between. So they end up on a 4 or 5 meal a day plan.
Breakfast at 7am
Lunch at 2pm
Dinner by 6pm
This is an eating window of 11hrs.
It is not ideal, but it’s better than what most people are currently doing.
In reality, most people will have tea with snacks at 4pm and dinner at 10. That’s an eating window of 15hours.
This is a surefire way to failure and disease, but that’s what the general population thinks is normal, and they’re shocked if you tell them not to eat after sunset. Their loss.This is an awful way to eat, to be honest.
If you can compress your eating window to 8 hours, it can work.
Another workaround is to skip breakfast, but I’m not sure of the long term implications of that practice.
Pros
– your family won’t nag you about missing meals
– psychological satisfaction of doing what you have been brainwashed to do
Cons
-you have to be super strict about your diet
-calorie counting will be needed
-will automatically cause overeating in most people
2 MEALS PER DAY
This is what I’m currently following
Breakfast at 8am
Dinner at 4pm
If I do feel hungry before bed, i might eat just a single fruit. But that happens only once in two weeks or so
Bedtime by 9pm
Pros
– no serious calorie counting, just be sensible with portion sizes
– breakfast can include some cheat type foods, usually things like bread/cakes/sugary years that I have a weakness for. Not on a daily basis though. Maybe once a week, when I’m not working and morning exercise has been especially intense.
– easy to sustain
– doesn’t impact social life much. If i have a dinner to attend, my 4pm meal gets shifted to 8pm max. If food is being served after 8pm, I’ll avoid the function altogether
– since this method provides a 16 hour fast, weight maintenance is effortless, even if you occasionally mess up on the diet
Cons
– diet has to be watched, not completely carefree like the one meal a day plan
– take getting used to, but easier than the one meal a day plan
ONE MEAL PER DAY
Pros
– saves 2 hours a day that you’d otherwise be spending on eating
– less meal prep
– more freedom in what you eat, no need to restrict as much as you would with a the meal per day plan. Even the not so healthy foods do less damage when you’re eating only once a day
– effortless fat loss
– better sleep
– probably healthiest option for most adults without any pre existing illnesses
– more time in ketosis
– better autophagy, therefore better control of autoimmune disorders, reduction in cancer risk
– better control of metabolic syndrome, possible reversal of metabolic syndrome if you started making this change early enough
– no calorie counting. Zero.
Cons
– takes getting used to
– wreaks havoc on your social life
– not suitable for growing children or pregnant women
– not suitable for people trying to gain muscle mass