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
=================
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.
=================
Have you tried the one meal per day diet? Let me know what you’re experience was in the comments.
I started the OMAD for about months ago. In the morning (with an empty stomach) I do either a 2 hour walk or a 1 hour 15 minutes run, after some yoga and abs exercises. Normally the yoga takes away the hunger, so, can “stretch” a few hours more without eating. Normally I have a late lunch or early dinner, at about 4 pm. I prefer steamed food, not too much raw food. I moderate bread, sugar, milk products and alcoholic drinks.
I had a bit of a headache the first week, however, now I feel full of energy, lost some weight although I’m not really overweight. And yes, somehow I feel the body works better, smoother skin, hair grows quicker and better sleep at night. Maybe it is not the ideal diet for everybody but it is worth trying. However, it takes discipline and perseverance, but if you get through the first 2 weeks you will feel and see the difference!
Glad it worked out for you, Danielle.
I came up with this alone a year ago while doing army training. This works really well, in the space of 2 months I lost about 2.5-3 stone. Although I was not eating for training either, my meal would be a standard evening dinner like a shepards pie, maybe larger than a standard portion by 50% but that also helped loose more weight fast.
I this up as I figured others must have done this too. This time round I am going to aim for 1.5-2 stone in 3 weeks.
Is it bad to loose weight too fast? Well yes it can cause more damage than good, however for some of us it works. I study biology so I understand the effects I am causing my body and am happy with the risks even with counter measures in place.
Note.. No counter measure is flawless.
yes rapid weight loss can be bad especially if you want to preserve muscle mass. And statistically speaking, most people who try to lose weight “fast” never maintain it for the long haul.
I haven’t done this yet, but I’ve been doing a version of ESE for about a week. Not a lot of time, but I really enjoy it. I’ve been mixing things up a bit, trying it with Bulletproof coffee (that stuff wrecked my insides) and with nothing, usually ending the fast day with dinner. So more or less, I’ve been eating regularly every other day, and on the fast days not eating till dinner.
I like the idea of OMAD. I know I can do it. I do think better when I don’t eat, especially at work. I think this is the route I’ll be taking going forward. I don’t know how much I weigh because I don’t own a scale, but I’m clearly obese. Probably 250-260 lbs, which is near the highest I’ve ever weighed. I’m ready to lose it.
Awesome, seth. Def ditch the BP coffee. Adding 500 calories worth of butter to your coffee to burn fat is just ridiculous.
I agree. I first heard of IMF from a roommate who was a Bulletproof junkie, but it only messes me up. My first official day of OMAD went great.
You can do it yes! I’ve been doing it for over 2 years with great results
Just found this diet I’m starting it today wish me luck, need to lose a few pounds x
Good luck, dawg.
This is great advice. I have been doing eat stop eat as the 5.2 diet for 4 months. I feel much healthier than I ever have and love to eat well. I have lost inches and weight but have got a bit scared and too rigid for my own good-I don’t want to miss out on family celebrations. Having one meal a day not counting calories helps where fasting is too rigid some days- I can fast a different day or do a couple more ‘one day one meals’. The key is not thinking all or nothing and not going back to constant grazing on pointless crap (my downfall- it’s unsatisfying and makes me fat and lazy!) Better to have a great feast at the end of the day!
This diet it GREAT!!!!! been on it for 2 weeks and dropped weight like a rock!!!. Starting weight was 270.1 and now 257.7 (Male) Try this Diet, IT WORKS Awesome!!!
Awesome, Donny!! Congrats.
I have a tub of protein powder, a bottle of green tea and only enough money for 1 meal a day in the week anyway.
aged 28 5 ft 11″ weight : 15stone. Aim to hit 13 stone with moderate exercise.
See you on the otherside i guess
Uh this isn’t a “one meal per week” diet. Remember you still need to eat every day.
Finally, it’s refreshing to see this type of advice without all the “political correctness” of nutrition. I have tried so many diets, even tried long water fasts that just resulted in weight coming back on faster than ever. I am an all or nothing kinda guy, and I believe intermittent fasting is for me. I am trying a 72 day trial period at which my only meal will be breakfast the first 24, lunch the second 24, and dinner only for the third 24. I will maintain a log and see how it all compares at the end. I am 49 yr old male who started at 252 on Jan 8th. Today I am 245, once the water weight is dropped, I am hoping for about 3-3.5 lbs per week. Thanks for sharing.
Never tried the 72 day trial. Good luck.
Good Info Keith,
I am going to give this a shot starting Sunday and going to shoot for 90 days. I have tried different diets over the years and the best results were Nutri-System. But who want to spend that kind of cash yearly to do that? I workout daily, but my diet is what is killing me. I need to find a meal plan that won’t cause me to binge or fall off the wagon and this seems like a good fit.
I recommend checking out this post if you want a good overview on how to setup your diet without the binging – https://www.fitmole.org/create-perfect-diet-plan/
I forgot to ask, what if you are doing HIIT? I am in that phase of my workouts right now. So do I take the protein shake before or after the workout? Thanks
Doesn’t matter. Try to get some protein within 2 hours of after training though.
Hi
my levels of energry during the day (from 8am till 8pm) are quite good
from 8pm till 10pm(my training time) my energry just explode(still fasting). Than after all that long day(still energized) I open my 1h window(3000calories) and after consuming all that I can’t sleep cause Im still full of energy. Is there something I can do? lower carbs intake? from one site is a good thing cause I got energy but laying in bed and canot fall asleep is just crazy.
Why restrict to a one hour window? The window can really be as big as you want.
I actually started the one meal diet on my own ( without knowing it’s actually a ‘thing’. Today I thought I’ll look it up on the net and found this article. I think it’s going to be great for me. It’s only been a few days and never once did I feel hungry during the day( I used to crave food when I ate more often). Let’s see what it does it for me in three months time. Thanks for the info.
no prob
Hi Herinder
How much weight have you lost so far? I started 4 days ago and lost 4 lbs.
Thanks Keith very beneficial article. I will definitely try it. Actually I just learned that prophet Muhammad had mostly one meal or zero meal per day diet and he was known to be very strong in wrestling.and similar account is available about the diet plans of other prophets of Islam,Christianity and Judaism.
I’ve been doing this diet for about 3 weeks and have already lost 4 kg – It really works guys!! Plus I hate restricting myself when it comes to the food I love, this way I don’t have to cut out anything!
Nice Tracy.
I have been intermittent fasting for 6 months now. I started at 210lbs at 6’2″. I started with eating once a day every day. Big meals un portioned and usually fairly healthy. I started shredding weight down to 180-185 comfortably. Then I foun out as this article says, I can eat really whatever the hell I want and I will still maintain loosing weight that I wanted to loose. After getting to 175 I was getting close to the lean weight I wanted to be, so I started spacing out my eating in a day and instead of cramming it all in one sitting, I was giving myself a 2hr meal window where I ate really whatever I wanted still, including the gfs baking, pigging out thru the holidays all day for multiple days and entire bags of chips multiple nights. Some weekends I’m gaining weight back up to 180-190 when I cheat and I go back to 22hr fasting periods and I am back down to 170-175 in 3 days. So the window is a great way to not jam so much food in at once and be able to prolong the enjoyment of eating in a day. The weight loss is honestly just a part of the fasting bonuses. Fasting every day lets your body flush the toxins this world is force feeding us thru our food markets to our industrial pollution. I have almost no chronic muscle and joint pain any more, my snoring completely stopped and has helped my relationship with my partner, I have had two toe nails now that were infected with some sort of fungus that now fell off and grew fresh new toe nails underneath after 10 years of nothing else working. My eyes are brighter, I sleep 100x better, I am in a better mood, and the list goes on. This way of eating has completely changed my life and I suggest everyone try this and make your life better too!