Few people have yet to experience the glory that is eating one meal a day.
- No, eating one meal per day won’t make you fat.
- It won’t make you lose all your muscle.
- And it won’t screw your metabolism into the ground.
But it does allow you to feast like a fucking king every single night while eating your favorite foods.
And no, this isn’t a scam and there isn’t even any secret “guru” magic behind it.
It’s really just common sense.
But fitness and common sense is a lost art these days.
If you follow it, eating once per day JUST WORKS.
And if you’ve struggled with more traditional diets that make you eat 3-6 meals per day, then this may be the most stupidly simple way for you to successfully lose weight, ever!
If you’ve dreamed of eating 24 ounce steaks, with a mountain fries and ice cream, EVERY SINGLE night while still losing fat and building muscle then read on.
Eating one meal per day in a nutshell
The basic idea behind eating one meal per day is simple.
Every day, you eat one big ass meal (preferably at night). The basic idea is to get the majority of your calories in a single meal.
And during the day, you don’t eat anything.
However during the day you can eat 1-2 pieces of fruit or some protein after you workout.
This allows you to eat much more, feel fuller, and better adhere to your diet.
Remember, eating one meal a day is NOT magic
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When I first started eating one meal per day, I had this weird belief that eating once per day gave me the power to lose more weight than traditional diets.
While this might seem like the case, nothing could be further from the truth.
It might be nice to believe that eating once per day causes all these different hormones to change in my body that helps me to burn “more” body fat.
But that’s just not the case.
And insulin levels – everyone always brings up fucking insulin levels.
Don’t worry about your damn insulin levels.
Just focus on creating a calorie deficit – that’s the only way to lose weight and always will be.
Eating once per day just happens to be a great way to create a deficit that many people can actually stick with.
For example, let’s say you need to eat 2000 calories per day to lose weight.
Diet #1 has you eating 3 meals and 2 snacks.
Diet #2 has you eating one meal.
In the end of the day, calories are exactly the same.
You’re just splitting your calories up a lot more in Diet #1.
That’s it. There is no magic. Just simple math.
5 reasons why you should eat one meal per day
I originally came across the idea of eating one meal per day from the Warrior Diet back around 2008.
At that time I was brainwashed by all the “eat 6 meals per day or die” BS and the Warrior Diet was my first foray into intermittent fasting.
Hell, even Terry Crews does intermittent fasting.
I’m not saying it works for everyone, but if you love to feast every single day, have more energy, and potentially be 200x more productive during the day, then maybe this something you should give a shot.
Here are 5 reasons I recommend eating once per day:
Reason #1: Increased energy
How many times have you eaten lunch only to feel super tired 2 hours later? It sucks.
We’re all told lunch is supposed to give us this magic boost of energy, and maybe it does for some people, but I’ve found that most people just fall into a 2 pm slump where they eat lunch and their productivity shoots down the drain.
When you fast throughout the entire day, you experience this amazing surge of energy that lasts the entire day.
Reason #2: Never feel deprived when dieting
One of the many reasons people fail at diets is because they don’t get this sense of satisfaction with what they’re eating and how much they’re eating.
When you follow the conventional 6 meals per day model, you have survived on a couple of hundred calories every few hours.
At the end of the day, you just never feel satisfied.
You feel like something is missing…
Ironically, eating once per day solves this problem for most people.
The act of fasting throughout the day is a very powerful appetite suppressant, so when you have your massive feast at the end of the day, you practically feel “stuffed” every night.
Reason #3: More time & more productivity
Imagine how much more work you could get done if you didn’t have to worry about eating during the day.
No more worrying about that mid-morning snack, no more stopping at subway during lunch, and no more 2 pm energy slumps.
All this time you save can now be used to do more productive things that truly matter (like looking at pictures of cats online).
Reason #4: EVERYTHING tastes better
Fast the entire day, then eat a grape.
Just one grape.
I guarantee that grape will be the best tasting grape you’ve ever had in your entire fucking life.
Look, I don’t know the scientific reason for why food tastes so much better after a fast, and frankly, I don’t care.
But some of the best meals in my life have been after a long fast.
Reason #5: Because eating cake every night is awesome
Do you know what’s awesome? Cake.
Do you know what’s not awesome? Not eating cake.
Cake makes everything in life better but with traditional dieting, you aren’t allowed to eat cake, which sucks.
Everyone needs more cake in their life (scientifically proven), so why not have a slice…or two, every night.
When you only eat one meal per day, you can afford to have some cake every night since your calorie budget is so much bigger.
Is coffee, water, tea, or diet soda okay during the fast?
Yes, as long as it’s zero calories, it’s fine.
Coffee and tea is actually a great appetite suppressant.
Eat 1-2 pieces of fruit during the day
While it’s totally fine if you can go the full day without eating anything, a lot of people do get hunger pangs no matter how much experience they have with intermittent fasting.
In this case, you can have 1-2 pieces of fruit throughout the day. This shouldn’t add up to any more than 200 calories plus you won’t feel a huge drain in energy compared to eating something high in carbs like a granola bar or a sandwich.
I recommend 2 large apples due to the large fiber and water content to keep you full
Supplement with some whey protein after you workout
If you train hard with weights 3-4 times per week while fasting (and you should) and follow the 1 meal per day diet then you should consume some 100% whey protein powder after working out so you don’t go half the day without any protein in your system.
I’m not really anal about the post-workout “window of opportunity,” but it’s best to get some protein in within 2-3 hours after your workout.
Why 100% whey protein? Because it has the most complete amino acid profile which is great for muscle growth and recovery.
As for which protein powder is best? Try Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey Gold Standard.
The one meal per day approach might not work great for muscle building
You can absolutely build quality, lean muscle by eating once per day.
BUT…some people need A LOT of calories to put on muscle and if you’re supposed to eat 4000 calories per day, it’s going to be pretty hard for some to get that in one meal.
So unless you have a huge appetite, I would probably be better off splitting it up into 3-6 meals.
For more info on gaining weight and building muscle, check out these posts:
Eating one meal per day vs. other intermittent fasting protocols
Eating once per day is just one version of intermittent fasting.
And there are dozens of other fasting/feasting protocols out there that play with different fasting and eating windows.
But after looking at all of them, you’ll notice that the majority of them have the same underlying concept – fast for an extended period of time and get the majority of your calories in a small eating window.
Let’s look at some of the other intermittent fasting systems and how they compare to eating once per day.
One meal per day vs. 16/8 Leangains
If you follow Leangains, this means you’ll be fasting for 16 hours per day and eating for the other 8 hours.
During the 8-hour eating window, you’ll typically be eating 2-3 main meals.
There really isn’t a big difference between a Leangains style fast and eating once per day. The main difference is in the eating window and that all boils down to personal preference.
One meal per day vs. Eat Stop Eat
Eating once per day and Eat Stop Eat are not the same thing.
Many people confuse the two since they both involve 24-hour fasts.
Here’s the difference:
Eating once per day – Fast for 24 hours, under eat during the day, and get your entire daily calorie intake in one meal, every day.
Eat Stop Eat – Completely fast for 24 hours 1-2 times per week (no calories at all), eat a “normal sized” meal at the end of the 24 hour fast.
The problem some people might face is defining what “normal sized” means. It’s basically telling you to not eat until you’re stuffed and make sensible food choices.
But if you want to get more technical, your meal after an ESE style fast should be no more than 40% of your daily calorie intake.
Read my Eat Stop Eat review here.
ESE forces you to create a massive calorie deficit on your fasting days while the one meal per day approach simply changes up your meal frequency but you still get the same amount of calories every day.
One meal per day vs. 2 meals per day
Nothing different here besides meal frequency. If you want to eat 2 meals per day, that’s fine, just make sure your overall calories are the same by the end of the day.
Can you mix and match different diet & fasting approaches
Absolutely!
I am all about diet flexibility.
If you want to follow the one meal per day approach one day and do 2-3 meals per day the next, that’s totally fine.
For example, you can structure your diet to look something like this:
- Monday: 1 meal
- Tuesday: 2 meals
- Wednesday: Eat Stop Eat
- Thursday: 1 meal
- Friday: 1 meal
- Saturday: 4 meals
- Sunday: 1 meal
Remember, a calorie deficit is the most important thing to create when dieting.
So just because you’re following a one meal per day diet doesn’t mean you literally have to eat one meal per day, EVERY SINGLE DAY.
If you want to go out and have brunch on Sunday, then screw it, have 2 meals that day. Don’t be obsessive about this stuff.
Recommended Reading: The 1000 calorie diet
The one meal per day FAQ
I’ve compiled a list of commonly asked questions from readers about eating one meal per day.
Hopefully, this answers all your questions and gets you on the right path.
What kind of foods should you eat?
There isn’t any single food that you should or shouldn’t eat.
If you have specific macro/calorie goals, you still need to hit them. The only difference is you have the luxury of hitting them in a single meal so for those that like to eat a ton of food in one sitting, you’re going to love this way of eating.
But obviously, you need to get a hefty amount of protein, a good amount of carbs, and some fat.
So something like a massive steak, some roasted potatoes, a big ass salad, plus some cookies and ice cream would make for a pretty epic feast.
Recommended reading: “What Are The Best Foods To Eat?” Here’s Your Answer, Now Stop Asking Me
How many calories per day should you eat in my one meal?
I recommend multiplying your bodyweight in pounds by 10-12 to get your daily calorie intake.
Use 10 if you have 50+ pounds to lose or if you’re a woman. Everyone else can start with 12.
This is just an estimate. It’s impossible for any formula to accurately tell you your daily calorie needs.
How many hours should you wait before going to sleep after you have your big meal?
Doesn’t matter. Sleep whenever you want.
What does this do to the metabolism?
Nothing bad. Read this article on metabolism myths for more info.
How long can you eat one meal per day for?
As long as you want. This isn’t a quick fix diet.
Eating once per day is a real, long-term approach to dieting that can work for as long as you want.
Does it matter whether you eat your one meal in the morning or at night?
Nope doesn’t matter at all.
It’s a matter of personal preference. Most people do it at night.
If you eat your one meal for breakfast or lunch, you might feel sluggish and tired the rest of the day since you have so much food in your system.
Could eating one meal per day be bad for you? I keep reading other articles online that say it’s bad for you.
No it’s not.
Most people criticizing eating once per day are just woefully ignorant. Read those articles, and you’ll find it’s just people making assumptions without any real-world data.
Can I eat McDonalds for my one meal?
Sure, but I wouldn’t eat fries and Big Macs every night.
Use some common sense here.
You can still eat the foods you love, but you should still be eating mostly whole, nutritious foods for maximize your health and performance.
I love to drink coffee. Can I drink coffee during the fast?
Yup, coffee is a great appetite suppressant to use while fasting.
Can I add milk and sugar to the coffee?
I would stick with zero calorie sweeteners if possible. A splash of milk is fine, but don’t go overboard.
Is eating one meal per day guaranteed to help you lose weight?
Of course not.
It will only work if you put in the work.
I know the majority of you reading this are looking for some magic fat loss hack but eating one meal per day is not that.
You still need to make sensible food choices and you still need to be consistent like any other diet.
Nothing is guaranteed in life.
I tried this diet and it doesn’t work for me? What do I do?
Impossible to say. Maybe you’re eating too many calories. Maybe you’re not tracking your calories correctly.
It’s usually one of those two problems.
Why do you recommend the main meal to be eaten at night?
Whatever you want but try to make it sensibly healthy.
That means something like grilled meat, a carb source like rice/pasta, some veggies, and maybe some ice cream at the end is great.
Obviously food choices vary from person and culture, but use some common sense.
Can you drink alcohol while doing this?
Having one drink per night is fine.
Everything in moderation.
Should you exercise before or after your meal?
Again, it doesn’t matter.
It’s all up to you. Find what works best with your schedule and lifestyle.
Do you need to count calories while eating one meal per day?
I personally recommend tracking calories when starting out, only because it gives you an unprecedented level of tracking.
If you’re not losing weight, then you know exactly why and you can adjust calories accordingly.
I never want people to become obsessed with tracking calories, but it does give you a level of precision that you can’t get anywhere else.
But as you become more advanced and can recognize/estimate portion sizes more accurately, then you can back off from the calorie counting.
What if you get hungry when fasting?
Here are some tips:
- Drink plenty of water, black coffee, and tea.
- Chew sugarless gum.
- Stay busy and productive. People eat more out of boredom than anything else.
How much water should you drink?
At a minimum, enough to stay hydrated.
Also, if you’re pissing green, then you probably need to drink more water (and see a doctor).
The “8 glasses per day” recommendation is pretty solid.
I will say that drinking more water can help ward off hunger pangs.
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Have you tried the one meal per day diet? Let me know what you’re experience was in the comments.
I hv been depessed cas f my weight ,. M ready to apply by tommorow just to high my self esteem . . Pls tell does it seriously works .. Should i do any exercise with this too , n how many kg i will loose in a week . Pls reply
i can’t understand you.
I mean i want to loose weight soon . . Does to have one meal really works. How much weight (kg) I would loose in 0ne week . . My current weight is 68 kg n height 5 Feet n 4 inches . . Pls help me
Hey Neu, I can understand what you’re asking. Please excuse the rude author who doesn’t seem to have the time to actually help people. Anyway, to answer your question, it does work! I did this back when I was in college for a week and lost 3 lbs. I was overweight at that time after being unable to continue dancing in school and ended up gaining weight rapidly. I didn’t continue after that first week because I was actually under eating at the time unfortunately and it caused me to have extreme hunger and feel faint. However, I recently started eating one meal a day again and have started to lose those last few pounds that were just hanging around. Don’t be scared just give it a try. I don’t count calories but I do have a rough estimate, which is about 1200-1500 every day. When I did it before I ate whatever I wanted, junk and processed foods. However, this time I’m choosing to be healthier and as a vegan I only eat plant based foods. So I usually eat thick vegetable soups, potatoes, squash, beans, plantains, salads etc. Feel free to eat whatever you like (processed and junk in moderation if you’re able to). Whole foods of course will keep you satisfied longer, and that includes good fats (avocados, olives, nuts, seeds, coconut etc) and leaner meats. And since you’re only going to eat once a day it’s important to get in needed vitamins and minerals. Just stay consistent. It took me two weeks of eating two meals a day to switch over to eating one a day. The energy is amazing and my appetite has decreased. I’m losing weight and I don’t have much to lose. I’m 5’3, 119 lbs. Just trying to get to my comfortable weight of 115 which I ended up overshooting from re-feeding after I ended a juice fast. If I can lose weight while my metabolism was shot for a period of time, you can too. Much luck!
I’m not being rude. I try my best to help out and answer every comment on my site. I don’t get notified of comments left by the same person, which is why i didn’t answer right away.
But thank for answering and contributing 🙂
i lost weight the fastest in my life when i was only eating one big meal a day. it was totally by accident, though. i was partying a lot and keeping odd hours and got used to eating this way without realizing it. a couple of weeks later i realized i had dropped ten pounds without trying or feeling deprived! unfortunately when i went back to school i started eating “normally” again and put it all back on. i was just thinking of trying it again, on purpose this time, but wasn’t sure if there would be any long-term repercussions i didn’t know about. thanks for the article!
Question – I need to lose weight and saw your other post about chugging whey protein. Can I still “chug” a couple of times a day on the days that I don’t work out then have the one meal at night for the same effect? I need 150 grams of protein for your suggested weight loss program and am not sure I could get that in one meal.
yes that’s fine.
This absolutely works. But I’d recommend not eating too much cookies, icecream and stuff like that. It will still work because it’s hard to consume too many calories in one sitting. But I think it’s important for your health to get your nutrients also I think lack of nutrition plays a part in people overeating. So try to incorporate some greens if you can. A meal for me is like two 4oz servings of fish, spinache, broccoli sometimes baked beans, potatoes, peas etc. I try to avoid all other meat besides fish and I watch my carbs. But you really don’t have to, it’s just a personal preference. When I first tried this method like 11 years ago I ate whatever I wanted. Basically lots of shitty food, but I dropped weight effortlessly. I believe it’s how humans are meant to eat. Hunt n gather all day, feast at night.
I have been doing this for the past couple of weeks and I love it! I used to follow a strict paleo diet which ended up driving me insane-i missed being able to go out to eat and order what I REALLY wanted!
Now I eat 1 quest bar around 1 or 2 (170 cals) and then have my big meal for dinner-always with dessert, of course! I have slow metabolism even for my young age of 16, so I really haven’t been loosing a ton of weight, but it’s nice to be able to maintain eating whatever I want!
actully I’ve done it before .. I used to have my big ass meal every day around 05.00 p.m and it works I’ve reached 76 kg after I was 90 kg but it takes time
Hello Keith! I was wondering if can i eat this one meal per day in the morning? just to have enough time to burn all the calories again during the day… I don’t like to have a big meal at night and after a couple hours go to sleep..
Thanks 🙂
yes morning is fine.
I haven’t personally done one meal per day, but it have been doing intermittent fasting for over a year now (2 meals a day) and my energy level has significantly changed, and I’ve lost a ridiculous amount of weight. I still have a few more pounds to lose, and every time I try to go to one meal a day I find it near impossible to do so. So, did you do anything to prep your body to get to that point? Or did you just jump right into it?
1 meal per day isn’t going to make you lose fat faster than 2 meals per day. It’s simply a more enjoyable way for some people to achieve a calorie deficit.
Yes I tried it and it worked. I ate one Greece yogurt for lunch and ate big dinner.
Does it matter how late you eat your one meal? A lot of times I don’t get time for myself til the evening because of kids and whatnot. The earliest I eat is maybe 7pm and latest could be 9:30! How late is too late for my one meal? Or does it not matter?
no doesn’t matter
Hi. I wanna try this diet, but I have some questions_
1. If I eat a big meal and then sleep, won’t it make me gain kilos because I am eating and then do nothing but sleep?
2. I don’t know how many calories I should it per day… I saw you have said to multiply 12 with your how much you weight in pounds, but I don’t know how much that means … I multiplied and it result 780 but aren.t these too few calories? I.m not american so I am not used to pounds and lbs, that by the way I don,t know what they are…
3. Also, I am 16 and 1,57 m. Will my age slow the process of losing weight? If I.m aprox 65 how many time will I have to do the diet so I can lose at least 15 kg?
4. Won.t this diet affect the health?
5. After I stop.dieting and eating normally 2 meals a day, will I start to gain wieght?
Thanks a lot!
I wouldn’t do this diet if you’re 16.
Hey, this is a really interesting post. I’m going on holiday in 4 weeks. I have put on nearly a stone in 6 months. If I do this diet how much can I look to aim for loosing in 30 days? I need to drop a minimum of 11lb to be at a happy weight, also Can I continue to drink loads of water through the day as if I eat loads of crap at night surely that would pile on the cellulite? Or am I wrong…
depending on your starting weight, it’s very much possible to lose 10 pounds in a month. Don’t eat crap..this isn’t a “don’t give a fuck about what you eat” diet.
Feel free to drink as much water as you want.
I weigh 73kg and I’m 5’2. Still possible? I started today and im feeling great already I didn’t even feel sluggish after my meal or bloated which is the first in a while x
Today at lunch I had a grilled chicken sandwich with all the veggies and fries with cheese dipped in ranch. With a non sweet tea.
If I don’t eat for the rest of the day will that be ok for this diet or should I try to eat better with my one meal?
Because right now I feel like I just messed up my whole diet and want to eat whatever I want for the rest of the day!
seems like too few calories and not enough nutrients. Your goal isn’t to restrict calories even further with this diet, it’s simply a way to backload your calories into a single meal so you can eat more but overall daily calories are still the same.
That picture of that [chubby] kid was just un-called for & rude :[
poor guy, what if he sees this article? Imagine how he would feel. Not cool.
seriously?
I’m 6.1 and 110 kg. I’ve been thinking about this kind of diet for a while, but wasn’t sure, and you always hear the 5 meals a day recommendation. I do notice everything you mentioned in the article. Feeling more active during the whole day, and actually enjoying your meal at the end. And it’s way easier to do than restricting yourself every time. You don’t feel as anxious to eat anyway when you do. It gives some peace of mind not having to worry about taking time off to eat during the day. I’m an University student atm and those lunch breaks really consume your time and energies.
On a side note, it also saves you money.
I don’t usually comment on articles and posts but I had to thank you for this one. I’m doing this diet from today and will share my experience after a couple weeks.
Again, thanks for the info OP.
no problem 🙂