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is eating one meal a day ok?

i’m trying to lose weight, and i have a tendency to over eat as i’m recovering from years of binge eating.

i can usually manage a little while without eating, and usually get hungry in late afternoon, so if i just have one large meal at this sort of time, with no additional exercise, will i lose weight fast?

Reply 1

Pepperoni Guy

As long as it's healthy.

Reply 2

Surnia

Original post by koorgan

Do you actually need to lose weight?

If you genuinely do, because you are over your BMI, you need to lose weight healthily, not fast; a sensible rate is 0.5-1kg (1-2lbs) a week. You need to make sure your body is getting all the nutrients it requires and you'll not do that in a single meal.

You should speak with your GP for proper diet advice; you sound too aware of your ED and overeating and have gone in the other direction of controlling your food intake too much. There is good info out there (like on trusted websites such as https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-weight/start-the-nhs-weight-loss-plan/)
but I think this is a more complex case and you need to know the proper approach to take. Seek professional help, and good luck.

Reply 3

Nutritionist

Hi there, if the meal you eat is less calories than your daily expenditure then you’ll lose weight. But you won’t lose any more than if you had multiple smaller meals that totalled the same calories as the one large meal.

In terms of how fast you’ll lose weight, that’s impossible to predict without knowing your energy requirements and how many calories you’re consuming. You do need to consider the sustainability of this though. If you crash in weight fast but then revert to old habits once you reach a desired weight then you’ll just gain weight back. Try to think of weight loss as a sustainable change to your lifestyle rather than an acute quick fix. Personally, I’d recommend the approach of eating multiple smaller meals so that there’s more variety and nutrient requirements can be more easily met. But if you find this approach works for you and could be sustained long term, then go for it.

Consider a weekly weigh in to see if you’re losing weight/how fast you’re losing weight. I’d generally recommend ~1% bodyweight per week as opposed to an absolute number such as 1kg per week.

EDIT: I’d also highly recommend you include at least some form of exercise. Both to aid the weight loss and also for your general health.