Is it unhealthy to skip meals?

Question

Before you answer... I'm NOT starving myself!
Let me explain... Prior to meeting my husband, who's family eats 3 meals a day (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and "grazing")...
My family and I, we only ate 2 meals a day, usually a late breakfast, and late lunch or early dinner).
Since I met my husband, I started eating as much as they did, and I have gained a lot of weight!

So is it okay, if I go back to the eating habits I had before I was married? Again, I am not starving myself. I eat when I'm hungry. For breakfast, I have a serving of milk, a serving of fruit, and a serving of yogurt. My lunch/dinner varies anywhere from a hearty sandwich (meat, cheese & veggies), or a plate of spaghetti.

Soooo, is it unhealthy!?

(Sorry for the loooong question! And thanx in advance for your responses!)

Answer 1

Practically all the answers here are concerned solely with calorie intake/burnoff - a sort of checking-account picture. There is one difficulty with this: the aspect of habit is neglected. You have keyed into that, which I think is good. Never underestimate the power of a habit. Your body gets into a groove, and it likes to stay there.

What that means for diet is that skipping a meal throws the system into a quandary: "Aren't I supposed to be fed?" Not knowing when the next meal's going to come, it will conserve itself - in other words, hold onto that fat. The flip side is, when the body knows it's going to be fed at a certain time (and yes, your body can tell time), it'll be happy. This is fairly well-established, though some findings suggest something surprising (see 2nd link below).

So ultimately it's your body: try different ways and see what works. What helps you keep weight down? What makes you feel good during the day? Ask questions like that, log 'em in notebook for future reference.

Methinks it'd be good to give each meal routine about 3 months to let the body adjust and get into it; any shorter and you probably won't get any results. Your husband is, I trust, supportive of your concerns and will do everything possible to help you out.

I hope this helps. All the best to you!

Answer 2

Weight loss & gain has the most to do with total calories more than when you eat them. The most logical reason you gained weight when you started eating 3 meals a day is that you ate the same amount of calories each meal no matter how many meals you ate each day. So before you were married, say you were eating 600 calories each meal. That is 1200 calories a day. Then you add a meal with spouse and that is a whole extra 600 calories each day every day. That will translate into 1.5 lbs gained EACH WEEK.

My suggestion would be to take a close look at what you eat each day and cut the calories by 500 each day to loose a pound a week. If you can eat 3 smaller meals each day to be able to enjoy your spouses company during meals, then you can continue 3 meals, but less quantity.

So whether you eat 2 meals or 4 meals like I do, what really counts is total calories. If you have the will power to eat less at each meal, statistically that helps keep your blood sugar more stable and keep your body from going into starvation mode so that the weight comes off easier. If this concept of how to property diet for weight loss is new to you, I highly recommend looking on the internet for meal plans that keep you at a certain calorie count so you can get a feel for what right portion sizes are etc.

Good luck!

Answer 3

Yes. Skipping breakfast is bad news for weight loss. Research shows that people who skip breakfast are more likely to be overweight. Point is, during the night our body is fasting and slows down - thus burning fewer calories. Eating breakfast helps to kick start our metabolism into action and makes weight loss easier during the day. Your metabolism also needs a kick every few hours so eat small meals every three hours or so make them small. Breakfast should be the largest meal lunch should me small and dinner should be the smallest. Also adding in a good workout plan will help a lot. Its all about metabolism. You need to mix it up stop snacking have set snacks ext. Try lean meats chicken and turkey and lots of fruits and veggies and not so many carbs. If you want pasta go whole wheat.

Answer 4

I strongly believe that you should listen to your body in all areas including diet and hunger. Don't eat at dinner just because you are "supposed to". Eat only when you are hungry and you will not have any weight problems. All the diet advice running around about you have to follow certain rules like eating right when you get up and eating every 3 hours are ridiculous. We were not stamped with diet rules on our forehead when we were born. But we were placed with an indicator that tells us when we are hungry and are full. If you listen to your body you will be healthy and lose weight too (though losing weight always takes a lot more time then putting it on does!) Sometimes I wake up really hungry and want something to eat so I eat. And other days I wake up and am not hungry till mid afternoon so that is when I have my "breakfast". Your body is not stupid, it will tell you when you need calories and stop you when you've had too much. Just listen to it and you'll be good. I definitely think you should eat like you used to it or what is most comfortable with you and just explain to your husband that the way he eats is not best for you.

Answer 5

No, as long as your eating enough to satisfy your body, your good. A nutrionist once told me, the person who made up the rule to eat three meals a day, wanted 3 meals a day. Your Fine with eating 2 meals a day.

Answer 6

If you would rather eat only 2 meals a day that should be fine.
But you can eat 3 meals a day if you eat smaller portions and not gain weight.
In fact your metabolism will be running at its highest if you eat more, smaller meals a day than eating fewer meals.

Answer 7

very you need a bowl of whole grain cereal in the morning and toast. thats too much dairy.

lunch have a sandwich meat and veggies
and a piece of fruit

for dinner eat a regular meal
cut out sugar greasy and fatty foods and cut out caffeine it comes in the form of coffee tea soda and chocolate

Answer 8

I think more and more "experts" are saying we should eat more smaller meals in a day. And not so much eating a few big meals a day.

gw

Answer 9

well, i think it depends on the amount of food you consume...