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.
Can I do this on a very low calorie diet as long as a majority of it is from protein? I need to lose the last few pounds. My body doesn’t handle fats well by the way (for whatever reason). Maybe its a digestive issue.
Depends how low.
And if you really need to drop those “last few pounds”, dropping more calories usually won’t work. You might benefit more from ramping up calories for a bit and then resuming dieting after a week.
I’ve been eating one meal a day for about 45 days, originally because it’s purported to be the most natural way to eat. Think beyond modern history where endless food is endlessly available everywhere a human goes in a day and more like adam and eve. We probably ate once or less a day simply due to the extremely high resource availablity required to make one complete meal. I guess i was feeling granola.
I have easily lost 10 pounds of belly fat, my energy levels are through the roof and i dont get the blues randomly or feel depressed ever! I’m not a nazzi about it like you recomend and i dont think i’ll ever stop eating this way. I’ve never felt better. BTW i’m recovering from a drug addiction, homelessness and major depression, so just prior to this change of habit, life was no picnic on a daily basis. Around the same time roughly 2 months ago I also started drinking apple cider vinegar with honey first thing in the morning and replaced my 2 monster energy drinks per day with Kombucha. This is a majic formula for me thats for sure.
Next up I’m gonna start doing a short intense workout once a day. I figure that this will really kick me into high gear!
Nice job, Tim.
Wow Tim…. your story is very encouraging. Jesus bless!
Hello, where do you buy your kombachu? Grreat job on your life going good!!!
I am so happy to read this article! I have been struggling with a recent diagnosis of hypothyroid disease (non-autoimmune) and at least a 30lb weight gain since my daughter was born 3 years ago. I have always been heavy except for when I was single for a few years and ate anything and everything I wanted, when I wanted. I naturally would eat one meal a day at dinner and only a cup or two of coffee in the morning. I assumed it was just my metabolism. I got married and my husband is a 3 square meal kind of person and I am the chef in the house, so I ended up eating even when I wasn’t hungry. I have been seeing a naturopath for over a year and just keep gaining weight. I kept having this feeling that I just need to stop eating during the day but thought my doctor would think I had an eating disorder. I finally got the guts to tell her that I wanted to stop eating during the day and only eat at night because that is the best I have ever felt in my life. To my surprise, I didn’t get a lecture on how important 6 small meals a day is, she told me to do it. I have been back on what I feel is a natural way for my body to eat for 4 days and I haven’t felt this good in so long! I thought it would be hard for me but I just didn’t eat breakfast and I wasn’t hungry and then I wasn’t hungry at lunch time so I didn’t eat. By about 4pm I started getting a little hungry so I started making dinner and ate by 6pm. I have been embarrassed to weigh myself for months so I won’t even have an accurate account of weight loss, but any improvement on how I feel will be good enough for me! I’m glad I’m not the only one that benefits from eating once a day!
Hi SarahR – You’ve encouraged me to eat one meal from now on…. I am gonna try to do even though I know it’s hard. Wish me the best 🙂
I’ve been eating this way for 16 months, I’ve lost 56lbs, doesn’t seem like much in that amount of time….but, my last diet (excercise and STARVING lol) I lost 46lbs in 4 months which was great but Damn I like food and hate excercising to have it. Eating whatever the hell I want at night keeps me energized during the day and STUFFED at night, all the while shedding lbs and not stressing about every bite I take. I did give up regular sodas and drink coffee in the morning. I’m so glad I read this, I was afraid my eating habit was becoming unhealthy.
Crazy. Awesome job.
So should I limit it to eating my one meal to an hour or two? I am typically a stop and start eater / some would call it endless grazing. Thanks.
You should make sure you’re eating in a calorie deficit to ensure weight loss above all else.
I have been on a ketogenic eating plan for about 7 weeks and am down 13lbs but things stalled out and I investigated the intermittent fasting and decided to start it today. I did read from a credible source, however, that the best time for the “eat like a fucking king” (LOL love your phrase) meal is between noon and 3pm whenever possible due to the higher insulin our bodies reportedly produce from food when consumed later in the day/night. So I’ll try to follow that but remain flexible. I’m excited, being that I love to eat and after decades of battling the restrictions of weight loss plans. I have never “dieted” and had such satisfaction and lack of hunger.
Your “credible” source is not true. Timing doesn’t matter as much as what you personally prefer.
I wanted to ask, I saw the comments about eating as much fruit as you want. Can you eat the fruit throughout the day, without hurting your metabolism? So say I had a few pieces of fruit in the morning, my big meal was lunch, and then I ate a few more pieces of fruit in the evening. I’d still lose weight fast, do you think? Thanks for all of your help, I love reading these comments and your responses.
No need to worry about your metabolism. Yes, what you described would work.
I am trying to follow the GM diet..but after the long day I can’t resist my self to have atleast a small dinner. Is it going to help me? The entire day I do it perfectly.. but at night it’s really difficult for me. I will be glad if you enlight me.
What is a GM diet?
It is general motor diet sir.
I don’t support that diet. Really not a great long term plan.
I’ve been on one meal a day for a week now. I have tons of energy and focus after adopting this diet. I have unbelievable mental clarity now and it’s so noticeable, others see it too. I workout with heavy weights three times a week and haven’t felt the need to do post workout shakes. On a side note, my sinus condition has improved miraculously??? lol No clue what’s up with that?
Haha nice.
Low gluten/carb clears sinuses. I’ve been on a no gluten/no dairy for 4 years and have gotten a cold only once in the entire time! Whereas before, every winter I’d have non-stop post-nasal drip, stuffiness, rhinal inflammation, you name it. Good luck!
I have been eating 1 meal a day and fasting at least 20 hours (moved it up to 22 hours in the last year) for over 3 years straight! I did not do this to lose weight. I have always been thin. I am a 39 year old male. I run 20 miles a week and exercise and lift weights every day. I eat a high fat low carb diet. No processed food. Body looks much more tone and I am stronger, BUT my LDL cholesterol number tripled! I assume this is because of the last 9 months of pretty intense cheese eating. I feel fine and actually weigh less than I did in 2013. I do not read much about this side of the story. I think my protein intake may also be too high because my urine PH was low for my last check up. I eat lots of animal based food (eggs, chicken, fish, cheese, etc…). I am posting this to see if anyone else has had my issues. Perhaps high fat is not for everyone or does LDL total really mean nothing….
Watch the movie “Cereal Killers.” It will answer your LDL & low carb high fat questions. Or just google low carb high fat cholesterol particle size. Your way of eating is excellent.
I know the benefits very well and I have no major questions concerning the diet itself, I am just stating what happened to me and that I don’t hear about that side of the story often (Very high LDL number). Sadly the LDL particle size test is not a standard test. I probably should get it, but still a 300 LDL total seems like a very large number to most people. I wonder if the total LDL number is totally useless. I also wonder if so-called super high (LDL) cholesterol in totally healthy/fit appearing people is even a legitimate measure of anything. Also few people talk about how high protein can sneak up on you in a high fat diet and what that might cause. High protein does knock you out of ketosis apparently. You eat a lot of Salmon then you eat a lot of protein also (not just its glorious fat). Bottom line: should very healthy/fit looking people on high fat diets with NO processes foods, but with protein sneaking in there from Salmon and eggs worry about a 300 LDL number and does it even mean anything?
So people who feel hungry all the time can do the one meal a day diet?
You can, but it might not be best if you get hungry all the time.
Does it matter if I make my one meal a day lunch instead of dinner? Thank you for your help!
no.
Great article!
Very informative.
Also, this line: “Everyone needs more cake in their life (scientifically proven)”, had me dying laughing. Truth in comedy 🙂
Cake = life.
I just started today (12/13/16), i miss my old body, am currently 291lbs I used to be 229lbs 3 years ago. Although that still too much for a 5’7″ 24 year old. My head hurts and my stomach hurts but its probably because i just started to today. Am planning to have a protein shake only for about a week and weigh myself again next tuesday. How much weight do u think i can loose by having a shake with 24 g of protein, 11 g sugar and 17 g of carbs just for one week, no work out?
That’s a really bad idea. No reason you should eat so few calories. I’d do something more sustainable and long term.
Does eating one meal per day not dramatically reduce your metabolism?
No