Reverse meals/portions
 

I watched a special on TV this weekend about a lady who lost a significant amount of weight by her breakfast being her largest meal, mid-size lunch, and light dinner.

I was thinking of applying this concept to South Beach. I'm only on Day 3 of Phase 1. Could I do this, if I was still have my planned snacks in between? Or is it vital to South Beach to have each meal equal and balanced?

I don't see any harm in trying this as long as you're not getting excessively hungry in the evening. It actually works better for me to eat less later in the day due to heartburn issues at night. I have seen this suggested before in other weightloss articles. I don't recall Dr A. mentioning it in the books though.

Oh yeah, the "Backwards Diet", I heard about that some time ago...it was started by a woman named Tricia Cunningham, I believe. It certainly makes sense, "scientifically", since you have more of a chance to burn the calories during the day via activity when you eat the big meals earlier. With my diabetes, I try not to "eat big" later in the day anyways, as it upsets my AM blood sugar. I might apply this to SB too :), at least, to some extent.

As long as you are eating on plan, you can have your meals in any order you wish. I usually have my biggest meal at breakfast or early afternoon, and then have a light supper. Speaking for myself, if I have a big meal at the end of the day, I get indigestion and heartburn. Plus, I become a couch potato in the evenings and don't burn off as many calories.

I usually have the same sized meals...all on lighter side (compared to what I *was* eating anyway). But I think this would be fine as long as you get in all your veggies, water, protein, etc.

I am just NOT hungry in the AM so it doesn't work for me!

Cool! I think I'm gonna give it a try. I'm thinking I'm most def. more active throughout the day than at night. Even though I work in and office, I am up and down a lot throughout the day. Once I get home from work it's plop on the couch, except for walking the dog. Let's see if I can force some food down this morning.

Thanks!

I think the point of having 3 well rounded, somewhat equal meals daily with snack in between is too keep us from getting too hungry and overeating or going off plan, and also to keep our blood sugar from fluxuating too wildly throughout the day. I think its important to stick with the portions recommended for each meal, jmo.

I'm slowly transitioning to this. Although I'm not hungry enough for a big breakfast, I have a breakfast at about 7 and another decent size snack about 10 - so together, they make a fairly big breakfast. I'm finding I'm not as hungry for an afternoon snack or a big dinner as I am for my morning snack.

Hi! This is actually a really old concept. I think it was Ben Franklin that said something to the effect of "eat breakfast like a king, and dinner like a pauper". The exact quote is something way more esoteric than what I said, but that's pretty much the idea. Anyway, that dude was pretty ahead of his time!

It goes like this - "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and supper like a pauper." :)