For the past couple of weeks I've been trying to analyze my eating habits to see where I fall short the most, and the answer is undoubtedly the nights, when I just can't control myself at all.

Today I tried out intuitive eating, and I realized that I'm not that hungry in the daytime, so I just didn't eat anything (I actually didn't feel hungry all day), and I'm ok with that because I know that I'll stuff myself in a few hours.

My question is, is it ok to just have one big meal at night and not eat much, if anything, in the daytime?

I've heard it said that "A calorie is a calorie." Some people I know have had short-term success with eating one large meal a day, as long as it was creating a calorie deficit.

The down side to it is that it may slow your metabolism. They key to 5-6 small meals a day is that your metabolism is constantly burning calories each time you eat smaller calorie meals/snacks.

I've noticed something similar to what you describe - I eat light during the day because i'm busy at work. When I get home is when I have a high calorie meal. my issue is that I have to incorporate exercise back into my schedule.

So, is it ok? I would say as long as you're eating within your caloric limit and exercising - then see how it goes.

Good luck!

Some studies have found a metabolic advantage to dividing calories between small frequent meals evenly over one larger meal. Other studies have found no difference and a recent study found 2-3 meals had an advantage over six.


At any rate, the metabolic difference is generally quite small, so it generally pays to choose what you find most comfortable. You have to ask yourself whether burning an extra 50-100 calories per day (being overly optimistic, it's probably more like 0-25 for most of us) is worth following a pattern that doesn't fit your hunger patterns.