[kellyg]

Thank you everyone for your wonderful responses.

Technically, exercise increases metabolism (by approximately 10%), fasting decreases metabolism (by approximately 10%), and that exercise + food intake is synergistic for weight loss. Basically, when I decided fasting would be a good way to lose weight, I decided that I would end up eating way more than 100-200 cals which I would save by eating consistently (10% of a 1500 cal diet). The only problem is that dinner becomes binge time...I could easily eat 1000 cal in that one meal. Throw in breakfast, snacks, and I've hit the 1400 limit and then some. So I'm just trying to decide what is easier to maintain. I feel like if there was a way to control the binging at dinner time, my plan would work wonderfully. Nevertheless, at this point, I really don't have time to experiment with what works. I need to lose weight and lose it fast. In fact, if anyone has any suggestions on how to jumpstart my weight loss, that would be great. I was thinking of starting up with Atkins to get the whole ketogenic thing going for a month or 2 before calorie counting...

I'm going to aim for the 3 meals a day plan with a 300 cal breakfast, 300 cal lunch, and 600 cal dinner, because that 10% adds up over the longrun and it may help decrease my appetite at dinner time. Add to it a 300 cal workout daily, and I should be golden, right?

[Nola Celeste]

Skipping occasional meals won't harm your metabolism in the long run or cause you to enter "starvation mode" or anything. Think about how we evolved; food was scarce throughout much of our species' history, so chances are we didn't evolve like herbivores that graze all day or like carnivores who may eat a massive meal once every couple of days when they make a big kill. We're probably more like other omnivores (bears, boars, chimps) who get a big meal only occasionally and mostly thrive on smaller bits and bites as we run across a berry patch or catch the occasional small critter to nosh.

What skipping meals MAY do, though, is make you ravenously hungry and cause you to overeat once you do sit down to a meal. You'll soon figure out what your best "feeding times" are and will be able to eat accordingly.

I'm finding that three meals with maybe a late-night snack works well for me. Other people eat six or eight little meals throughout the day. A few people eat two meals a day and are fine with that. I'm unconvinced that any way is "best" metabolically as we omnivores are pretty flexible beasties, but you'll easily be able to tell which is best for controlling your appetite.

As for "jumpstarting" your weight loss, anything you do for the first few weeks is probably going to be at its most effective, whether you're calorie counting or doing Atkins. My philosophy has been to start with eating the way I expect to eat when I'm at goal weight and want to maintain; that way I won't be left at sea when I get to where I want to be.

[Natgar]

Originally Posted by ERHR

A calorie is not just a calorie. It matters a lot what that calorie comes from and when it is consumed, like the other posters here have said. If you restrict calories you will most likely lose weight, but that doesn't mean that you're getting healthier or that you're losing at an optimal rate.

I know this isn't exactly your question, but I've been reading a lot recently about how our bodies respond to glucose and how diabetes develops, for instance. (Someone please correct me if I get any of this wrong.) When you eat a meal with lots of carbohydrates (like your dinner, probably), your body produces a bunch of insulin to get that glucose into your cells. But if there is unused insulin left around after all the glucose is gone, it will make you hungry for more carbohydrates. Excess insulin in your blood can also cause damage to your cells so resisting your hunger is not a solution either. So you can't just think about your total calories in a day but rather how your body is going to respond to and use those calories depending on what they are from and when they are eaten.

I agree with the other commenters that I have been more successful in weight loss and controlling hunger by eating 5-6 small meals per day. And yes, sometimes I eat when I'm not hungry because I know I need food at that time or that if I wait I'll be ravenous later.

My opinion differs from yours. I believe to your weight a calorie is just a calorie and it makes no difference when you eat it. I am a Type one diabetic and have been for 36 years about. I have been treated by Nutrionists/dieticians/doctors in each country I have lived in for health not weight loss but the latest is that it doesn't matter when you eat or even if you skip a meal as long as (in my case) I ijnect suffiecent but not too much insulin and watch carbs. Ancient man did not eat 6 meals at set times. I think what is important is what your body is happy with - some people need 6 small meals and others are perfectly happy and healthy on one meal a day.

I believe one of the things that makes people fat is the sheer need to have to eat because its time to eat rather than they are hungry. I was once really thin and my Husband's family and most of mine are rakes and none of them eat if they are not hungry. My husband doesn't always eat breakfast because he only eats when he is hungry and stops when full. I gained weight because a new insulin made me constantly hungry - but another story. My Dad is in his eighties and has no cholesterol, has a strong heart etc and has only had 2 meals a day for 50 years - breakfast and lunch. Hehas always been very fit and slim and my Mum who was a model and is still tiny eats 1000 calories a day and has a cheat day once a week and she is incredibly healthy and attractive for someone in her 60's she got the diet from my Gran who ate like that till she died at 98.

All I am getting at is that we are all different and different things suit us for e.g I can't eat bananas because my sugar level becomes so high but other type one can but can't eat other things like apples which I can, which proves that our metabolisms and needs are different so find out what is right for you. It is good to watch your insulin level since they inject anorexics with insulin to male them eat but to your body (as far as insulin is concerned) a carb is a carb and the sugar in sweets and fruit cause the same increase in insulin.

[timkerbelle]

Some very good posts here.
I am torn on the issue of "a calorie is a calorie". In some ways, yes, I believe this is the case. But the bigger picture would still disagree. Some foods trigger binges, some foods keep you full longer, and of course some foods contribute to overall health whereas others blatantly don't.

I think that the frequency of meals is a matter of personal opinion. I hate eating too often, and really swear by intermittent fasting.
I think some people have an exaggerated fear of skipping meals, your body isn't going to go into starvation mode just because you skip breakfast and lunch a couple of times a week.
Like Nola pointed out though - if you get ravenous it might lead to binges which in turn will cause you to put on - but that doesn't really have anything to do with the fasting per se, more with how different bodies and psyches handle different situations.