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Meal frequency and timing in health and disease (2014)

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Re: Meal frequency and timing in health and disease (2014)

#21

Post by jsonmez »

volker48 wrote: post #20
jsonmez wrote: post #19

I fast until 5:00 PM every day and then only eat one meal. I've been doing this for about 1.5 years. I have been able to maintain a large degree of muscle and I am pretty ripped. Easy to adopt your lifestyle to and then you don't really have to count calories anymore. Plus, I never have to waste time eating or cooking breakfast or lunch.

I really don't understand the mentality that eating and/or cooking is a "waste of time". Not picking on you specifically it is a common idea and part of the idea behind products like Soylent. I prefer to enjoy the moments of preparing my food and eating it.

I cook my dinner, but I rather not cook multiple meals a day.

Re: Meal frequency and timing in health and disease (2014)

#22

Post by geomark »

jsonmez wrote: post #19

I fast until 5:00 PM every day and then only eat one meal. I've been doing this for about 1.5 years. I have been able to maintain a large degree of muscle and I am pretty ripped. Easy to adopt your lifestyle to and then you don't really have to count calories anymore. Plus, I never have to waste time eating or cooking breakfast or lunch.

I find it interesting that this is the traditional Buddhist monk meal plan, eat once a day, although it's lunch rather than dinner. There are several reasons for it that are all aimed at keeping monks' minds focused on their job which is practicing the Dhamma. One of those reasons is to limit energy intake so that monks don't have a lot of physical energy to get them into trouble thinking about things monks shouldn't be thinking about. So it's curious how you can maintain high energy levels and keep yourself ripped eating that way.

There are some cultural adaptations of the monk meal plan. Monks in some countries even eat three full meals per day due to the diet they follow. I'm referring to the traditional meal plan of one meal per day at lunch.

Re: Meal frequency and timing in health and disease (2014)

#23

Post by beachstartup »

volker48 wrote: post #20
jsonmez wrote: post #19

I fast until 5:00 PM every day and then only eat one meal. I've been doing this for about 1.5 years. I have been able to maintain a large degree of muscle and I am pretty ripped. Easy to adopt your lifestyle to and then you don't really have to count calories anymore. Plus, I never have to waste time eating or cooking breakfast or lunch.

I really don't understand the mentality that eating and/or cooking is a "waste of time". Not picking on you specifically it is a common idea and part of the idea behind products like Soylent. I prefer to enjoy the moments of preparing my food and eating it.

i'm a food guy, but i only really "enjoy" cooking on the weekends when i can take hours to do it, or try totally new things without having worked all day (more energy and mental horsepower to dedicated to it).

for example 80% of my weekdays are: 2 eggs s.s.u. in the morning for breakfast. chicken leg and vegetable seared and roasted for 30 mins. in cast iron and a basic salad for dinner. lunch is the same 5 or 6 restaurants that i know are cheap fast and healthy around my office, or i skip if i'm too busy.

i do fast occasionally when i've overeaten as part of my weight management strategy. i think the main reason i couldn't fast at lunch is social/habitual. also, friday team lunches are more elaborate.

Re: Meal frequency and timing in health and disease (2014)

#25

Post by JeremyNT »

volker48 wrote: post #20
jsonmez wrote: post #19

I fast until 5:00 PM every day and then only eat one meal. I've been doing this for about 1.5 years. I have been able to maintain a large degree of muscle and I am pretty ripped. Easy to adopt your lifestyle to and then you don't really have to count calories anymore. Plus, I never have to waste time eating or cooking breakfast or lunch.

I really don't understand the mentality that eating and/or cooking is a "waste of time". Not picking on you specifically it is a common idea and part of the idea behind products like Soylent. I prefer to enjoy the moments of preparing my food and eating it.

> I really don't understand the mentality that eating and/or cooking is a "waste of time". Not picking on you specifically it is a common idea and part of the idea behind products like Soylent. I prefer to enjoy the moments of preparing my food and eating it.

I think it's best summed up as "people enjoy different things."

An example for you: I'm a cyclist. I love to assemble and work on my bikes, because I derive enjoyment from the process of working on the things I will use. This is incredibly similar conceptually to a cook who enjoys cooking their meals; it's not a "waste" of time for either of us, because in each case we derive satisfaction from the act of working on the thing we will eventually enjoy.

I also really enjoy eating (good) food. And so you might think that I would share the same interest in food preparation that I have in bicycle maintenance, but I absolutely do not. I cannot stand cooking, for reasons that I could not really articulate. It simply does not quite manage to tickle the right parts of my brain.

Left to my own devices I'd probably subsist mostly on "good enough" food that requires little or no preparation (such as nuts and fruit). I understand Soylent from this perspective, and the intermittent fasting / one meal a day thing makes a great deal of sense to me as well.

Re: Meal frequency and timing in health and disease (2014)

#27

Post by clentaminator »

volker48 wrote: post #20
jsonmez wrote: post #19

I fast until 5:00 PM every day and then only eat one meal. I've been doing this for about 1.5 years. I have been able to maintain a large degree of muscle and I am pretty ripped. Easy to adopt your lifestyle to and then you don't really have to count calories anymore. Plus, I never have to waste time eating or cooking breakfast or lunch.

I really don't understand the mentality that eating and/or cooking is a "waste of time". Not picking on you specifically it is a common idea and part of the idea behind products like Soylent. I prefer to enjoy the moments of preparing my food and eating it.

I think it just comes down to frequency, "necessity" of an activity, and context.

Someone might like driving, but are they going to enjoy driving to and from a work environment every day of the week? Perhaps. They might enjoy it so much that they love it. And the work might make it worthwhile. But making that thing a requirement seems like an easy way to transform it into something that's just not as fun as go-where-you-want-when-you-want free drive.

I think it just comes down to whether or not you you're forced into doing something as a means to an end. Cooking for subsistence rather than for pleasure, for example.

Re: Meal frequency and timing in health and disease (2014)

#28

Post by miseg »

randlet wrote: post #17
mei0Iesh wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That includes sleep? If you sleep 8 hours, awaken at 6 AM, then eat at 2 PM, it's a 16-hour restriction period? I naturally go longer than that without eating each day. If you skip breakfast and lunch times, and include the hours you're asleep, it's easy to "fast" for closer to 20 hours or more every day. I wouldn't force that though, I think everyone is different, living different lifestyles, and their optimal eatin…

That's correct. Lots of people do 16/8 fasting. It's easy to get used to skipping breakfast and having your first meal 5 or 6 hours after you wake up and then only eat in the following 8 hour window. I use intermittent fasting as a very effective way to keep my total daily caloric intake in check. If there are side benefits on health that is a cherry on top. A typical day for me would be up at 7 am. 2 or 3 cups of st…

I find it's almost "too easy", during the work week anyway.

Re: Meal frequency and timing in health and disease (2014)

#29

Post by randlet »

miseg wrote: post #28
randlet wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's correct. Lots of people do 16/8 fasting. It's easy to get used to skipping breakfast and having your first meal 5 or 6 hours after you wake up and then only eat in the following 8 hour window. I use intermittent fasting as a very effective way to keep my total daily caloric intake in check. If there are side benefits on health that is a cherry on top. A typical day for me would be up at 7 am. 2 or 3 cups of st…

I find it's almost "too easy", during the work week anyway.

Not sure I understand. Why would easy be a negative?

Re: Meal frequency and timing in health and disease (2014)

#30

Post by galaktor »

jsonmez wrote: post #19

I fast until 5:00 PM every day and then only eat one meal. I've been doing this for about 1.5 years. I have been able to maintain a large degree of muscle and I am pretty ripped. Easy to adopt your lifestyle to and then you don't really have to count calories anymore. Plus, I never have to waste time eating or cooking breakfast or lunch.

Same here. During the week at work, I drink water and/or tea or coffee with the occasional blob of coconut oil during the day (not technically fasting). I work out in the mornings and have a plentiful meal around 18:00 in the evening.

On weekends I tend to eat a big breakfast and small dinner instead.

I prefer to eat at home in a relaxing environment, where I can enjoy the food. Eating at work just isn't something I can enjoy.

This has been working for me for well over a year. YMMV, of course.

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