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How to convince myself that I don't need to eat 3 meals per day?


Alex K Chen

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so sometimes i eat breakfast, lunch, or dinner for the **sake** of eating breakfast/lunch/dinner.. just because i feel like i have to eat it, even if I'm not particularly hungry.

 

Or I just think that "I need to eat", but this thinking automatically primes me towards finally eating (b/c I don't want to get too distracted by hunger).

 

How do I remove myself from this temptation?

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Alex,

 

From your Quora profile, you're clearly a very rational guy, not to mention a prolific question asker & answerer! Having asked 44K and answering 2K questions on Quora, how do you find the time to engage over here on the CR Forums?   ;)xyz

 

If you want to cut down on your meal frequency, you can look to the science to convince yourself that having elevated glucose and fat in the blood for long periods of the day due to frequent eating is unhealthy. My answer to your question about postprandial inflammation is one good example. That should be enough motivation for a rational person like yourself to at least give it a try.

 

Then just do it. You'll find once you've started eating fewer meals it is much easier than you think it will be, and frees up a lot of time and energy with meal prep, eating etc, so you'll be able to post more Quora questions!

 

--Dean

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Here is a quote from the video below of researcher Mark Mattson, a proponent of intermittent fasting, that might help you get over your feeling compelled to eat 3 meals per day:

 

Why is it that the normal diet is three meals a day plus snacks? It isn’t that it’s the healthiest eating pattern, now that’s my opinion but I think there is a lot of evidence to support that. There are a lot of pressures to have that eating pattern, there’s a lot of money involved. The food industry — are they going to make money from skipping breakfast like I did today? No, they’re going to lose money. If people fast, the food industry loses money. What about the pharmaceutical industries? What if people do some intermittent fasting, exercise periodically and are very healthy, is the pharmaceutical industry going to make any money on healthy people?

 

--Dean

 

Why fasting bolsters brain power: Mark Mattson at TEDxJohnsHopkinsUniversity

 

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  • 1 month later...

I have been working on confining my eating to a couple hour eating window. I keep myself out of the kitchen in the morning and go about my business until about 2 pm when I have a late, and filling, lunch. Before then, I focus on getting most of my water for the day. I drink a lot of it with lemon or lime. After lunch, since I have had such a filling meal, I do fine until I have a small dinner several hours later. It has really cut back on the snacking for me, and I don't miss having breakfast. If you really love breakfast, you could start it off by pushing it back a few hours and combining it with lunch. Keep pushing it back until you get it to the time frame you want it. Drink herbal teas or whatever to help.

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I also liked a lot the TED's lesson of Mattson and for about four months tried to skip the breakfast drinking only tea and coffee before going to work. But I noticed that some days I was too nervous (reacting more nervous than usual with students during lessons). In those days I also usually fasted for 32 hours (from dinner of thrusday to breakfast of saturday morning). In the last months I think I have  found  a more appropriate regime. I do breakfast, usually almond milk plus flaxseeds and some nuts and some times an apple in addition to the usual tea and coffee. But I practise also a sort of intermittent fasting, skipping the dinner monday and also skipping friday dinner and saturday breakfast (doing so a 24 h fasting). (saturday morning I have no classes :) ). This new regimen is also more suitable to my family relationships, and my BMI is relatively stable (21.9) , I am tall 1.82 m and weight is 72.5 kg. I notice that in the days when I know to fast I eat more at lunch....

 

 

-Cloud

 

PS Dean I am experimenting, after having watched you, the use of a bike desk, just arrived. great idea, thanks!

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  • 2 weeks later...

so sometimes i eat breakfast, lunch, or dinner for the **sake** of eating breakfast/lunch/dinner.. just because i feel like i have to eat it, even if I'm not particularly hungry.

 

Or I just think that "I need to eat", but this thinking automatically primes me towards finally eating (b/c I don't want to get too distracted by hunger).

 

How do I remove myself from this temptation?

 

 

Google the concept:  "Surfing the Urge".  It is a willpower technique used in various settings such as quitting smoking.

 

Once you reset your circadian rhythm to 2 meals a day, it becomes no problem because your body has been conditioned.  It's the issue of having the willpower to get from Point A to B.

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