Can you really lose weight by only eating once per day and eating a small meal?

Question

My sister in law has lost a TON of weight in only about 3 months (50 lbs). She said she did it by only eating once per day and even that is a small meal. She doesnt exercise at all.
But I thought that if you hardly ate anything you wouldnt lose weight because it would slow your metabolism. So is she lying or do I just not know the 1st thing there is to know about losing weight?

Answer 1

Well, have you seen her lately and is she smaller? If she has lost that much, you would definitely notice. You are not supposed to only eat one small meal a day because it does slow your metabolism. If your body doesn't have food to use for energy, it goes into starvation mode and stores what you do eat into fat. If you eat small meals every 3-4 hours during the day, your body always has food for energy and it will not store it for future use. I follow south beach and eat every 3-4 hours and have lost 40 lbs. You do not have to starve yourself to lose weight. Successful weight loss is based on eating the right things and then doing some sort of activity to burn what you do eat.

Answer 2

This is true for some people. That is why the world faces so many anorexia problems. Some people do have the body composition that will allow them to eat nothing and lose weight. This is extremely unhealthy.

If one is looking to lose weight you should consult a professional. You should eat 6 small meals per day to increase your metabolism this will help burn those calories. Drink half your body weight in water each day. Find a daily exercise routine that works for you and switch up so you are working all your major muscle groups this will get you in the shape you are looking for and you will be healthy.

Answer 3

Eat 5 6 small meals a day instead of 3

Answer 4

the key to loosing weight is eating several small healthy meals a day, drinking 64 ozs of water, and giving up the soda. I lost 48 lbs between Jan 1st and Easter last year by eating 3 small healthy meals, and 2 snacks a day plus drinking 64 ozs of water and no soda. Portion control is key, you can't eat too much of any one thing. You have to be sure to get enough veggies and fruits, but little in the way of fats and meats. When dieting chicken and fish are better for you than beef. I really love grilled talapia its so good. I would wrap it in some foil and add a tiny bit of "I can't believe its not butter" and a little Mrs. Dash for seasoning. Its great!!! Good luck!!! remember to loose the weight slowly and in a healthy way, if you loose it too fast you are likely to gain it all back. I hope this helped.

Answer 5

She may have but - she has altered her metabolism. And once she starts eating normally she will regain everything and more. And may have set herself up for diabetes in the future. As for not exercising - she may have lost more muscle than fat. she may be the right weight but still over fat.

I eat 5-6 (or more) times per day, every 2 or 3 hours. I keep my body stable and eat small amounts that get burned up and don't have a chance to get stored as glucose or fat. I don't have a weight problem and never have. I started dance at 2 years of age- and never liked the idea of being too full.

Answer 6

It is scary to hear anyone that avoids the smart way to lose weight. What is so terrible about a balanced diet and a regular exercise routine?

Any doctor will insist that these two elements are the only way to lose weight intelligently. Don't you want to make a life important decision in an intelligent way? Of course you do!

Dont' worry about other people's experience or opinoins, unless they are physically fit (not just thin) or are advising you on a professional basis. If you don't want to visit a doctor or personal trainer, then here is the advice that you were waiting for in a "chat room" to help you with your personal health.

Eat a balanced diet of Protein, Carbs, and fats everyday. You know where to get the info, any drugstore, interenet health watch or health magazine in your library. Add water as a staple to your lifestyle, as well as 7-8 hours sleep. Start walking, light jogging, biking or light aerobics to your day...yes, get out there and start moving for 20-30 minutes.

This combination will give you the fuel to function properly and still provide the energy to exercise on a regular basis. YOU MUST EXERCISE! You can exercise every other day if you want, just to start. Then add a day after the first 2 weeks.

Dont' think that you are going to starve yourself and look like an aerobic model, EVER! Only aerobic models look like that from years of exercise and controlled dieting. Sorry for the tough love here. But this is reall knowledge, not just "chit-chat" at Starbucks with the girls.

YOu didn't gain weight in one day, you shouldn't expect to take it off in one day either.

Answer 7

If your sister in law has lost that much weight by starving herself I think she has some problems ahead of her. Yes it is possible that she has done this but totally the wrong way.

If you deprive your body of food it adapts and gets better at storing fat and so when she comes off her diet, (which she will as it is not sustainable) she will put on the weight that she lost but also put on more weight as the body has adapted to her diet and has got better at storing the fat.

To lose wheight you are better off eating smaller healthier meals. Dieting does not work period, because you can never healthily sustain a diet for a long period of time.

A healthy breakfast, a healthy lunch and a healthy Dinner if you need to snack or feel hungry snack on almonds which although are high in fat are the correct type of fat which will actually help you reduce collesterol and lose fat (the bad kind)

Drink loads of water and treat this as a lifestyle change rather than a diet

Answer 8

I found the book to be very informative and easy to read.

I've lost 17 pounds in 12 days, I'm just concerned that I'm losing too much weight, too quickly. I will admit I haven't followed the guide exactly. I'm not sticking perfectly to the listed foods and meal plans (but mostly) and doing very little exercise, but the weight keeps flying off.

It clearly works and if I'd followed it exactly I think it would scare the living daylights out of me because of the amount that I'd lose. So thanks again for the information. I've never purchased anything like this before because they are usually full of trash, but 3WD has been a pleasant surprise.

Get started today!

Answer 9

Your metabolism can only slow down so far. What your body does when your metabolism slows down, is it increases its rate of nutrition removal in order to more efficiently process the food. It does this to get the most out of the reduced amount of food being eaten. Food only contains so much nutrition, so even if your body becomes extremely efficient at nutrition removal, you still cannot remove more calories then are present in the meal to begin with. Exercise will burn calories, but it is more important for other reasons, such as developing muscles, strengthening bones, reducing stress, and improving the cardiovascular system. Your sister-in-law's body is either converting fat or muscle (depending on whether she has fat left) to energy in order to carry on her normal routine: shopping, cleaning, walking even standing, because her small daily meal isn't providing enough energy for these activities (as evidenced by her weight loss). She may run into problems later in life (such as a weakening of her bones) due to her lack of exercise and food intake, but she can lose weight by just cutting food intake.

Answer 10

you can lose weight but it is not a good way...after awhile your body will think it is starving and will start burning food slower and then she will gain the weight back no matter how little she is eating....it is better to eat 5 small meals a day to get your metabolism running high and lots of roughage helps