two meals a day even better?

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Thu Dec 15, 2011 10:18 pm

Browsing on the Shovelglove board, I saw a reference to the exercise system of an German amateur athlete and early fitness expert named J. P. Muller, and I went and looked at his pamphlet published in the early 1900's. He had a recommendation regarding diet: he said those who worked hard labor should eat three meals a day; office workers, only two.

I might be able to pare it down even more if I didn't often wake up at 4 a.m., have to start teaching at 7:05, and get no break until 12:30 pm. I know when I was a tourist for a few months, walking a few hours a day and eating two generous meals plus a little dessert every day, I was at the lightest weight of my adult life. But little stress, either.

Any other non-manual laborers think they could live with that or is that pushing it, especially being out of sync with the meal structure of the culture?

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 12:25 am

I often eat just two meals daily and don't find it to be a problem at all. I also did this while I was working at a fairly active, very high stress job.

Blithe Morning · Post by **Blithe Morning** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 12:57 am

I eat three meals.

TexArk · Post by **TexArk** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 1:11 am

I started eating 2 meals a day a few months ago. I eat a large protein/fat breakfast and am not hungry again until 5:00 or so. I am satisfied and I have actually lost a few more pounds after thinking I had reached my natural weight and was at maintenance.

Who Me? · Post by **Who Me?** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 2:18 am

I would hate this.

I have a "hummingbird metabolism."

As it is, I eat four meals a day, mostly because I can't typically face breakfast so early in the morning, and generally only eat a piece of fruit or some bread.

mrsj · Post by **mrsj** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 11:19 am

I eat 2 meals a day. Brunch at about 1000 am. I get up at 0500 am. Then I eat dinner at about 7 pm. I'm not that active.

Joy · Post by **Joy** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 12:45 pm

When I eat a good breakfast and lunch I can easily skip dinner.

Often I will eat a little at dinner just to satisfy my husband but it is not much on most days. Maybe 1/3 to 1/2 plate of food. I eat it slowly and chit chat with my husband about how the day went for us.

If I ever had to skip one meal to lose weight I would.

Post by **reinhard** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 1:54 pm

This MÃ¼ller guy keeps cropping up on the boards here -- I'm going to have to check him out in earnest.

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/fitn ... ingle.html

His meal count rule certainly makes a certain amount of sense. I think the danger is difficulty of compliance. Some people on these boards have posted successfully doing 2 meal no-s over the years (just as others have reported doing 4). I personally would rather squeeze in some exercise and enjoy a third, and my guess is that'll work best for most people.

In terms of being out of sync, meal-wise, that's a real issue too. Because if you eat only 2 meals, you're probably not going to want to wait till lunch for your first. And that could be socially awkward. One way around this, if you kinda-sorta want to do MÃ¼ller/No-s, is to have three meals, but have breakfast (which is presumably the least social, at least in an extra-familial sense) be limited to (say) coffee and fresh fruit. Might be enough to tide you over to lunch, but not so much that it's quite a meal. And, though small, it's a nutrient dense mini-breakfast. Just a thought -- as I mentioned, I'll be sticking with full breakfasts myself.

Reinhard

guille · Post by **guille** » Sat Dec 17, 2011 7:57 pm

well

i think it depends on the person, for example, in the morning i get really hungry, so 2 or 3 hours after i wake up(after shower, exercise, meditation, morning activities) i have a full break fast, and my second meal is 6 hours after that, full food too, but after 7 pm, if i had my 2 first meals, i dont really get hungry, sometimes i will eat something sometimes i wont

so i guess sometimes i do 2 plates a day if at night i dont get hungry and i forget to eat, but thats what works for me

some people dont get hungry in the morning and get more hungry in the night, so is very subjective

i guess your body will tell you with hunger, if you dont get hungry...dont eat

r.jean · Post by **r.jean** » Mon Dec 19, 2011 2:14 am

Three meals works for me. Most work and school and recreational schedules revolve around a 3 meal structure so it is just easier. Between meal hunger will sometimes happen no matter how many meals you choose. I agree that 2 meals would be awkward (and would cause some real hunger problems for me). Four meals would be hard too because I would have to put more rules on what I ate at those 4 meals or I would gain weight.

To each their own!

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Mon Dec 19, 2011 2:56 pm

reinhard wrote:This MÃ¼ller guy keeps cropping up on the boards here -- I'm going to have to check him out in earnest.

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/fitn ... ingle.html

His meal count rule certainly makes a certain amount of sense. I think the danger is difficulty of compliance. Some people on these boards have posted successfully doing 2 meal no-s over the years (just as others have reported doing 4). I personally would rather squeeze in some exercise and enjoy a third, and my guess is that'll work best for most people.

In terms of being out of sync, meal-wise, that's a real issue too. Because if you eat only 2 meals, you're probably not going to want to wait till lunch for your first. And that could be socially awkward. One way around this, if you kinda-sorta want to do MÃ¼ller/No-s, is to have three meals, but have breakfast (which is presumably the least social, at least in an extra-familial sense) be limited to (say) coffee and fresh fruit. Might be enough to tide you over to lunch, but not so much that it's quite a meal. And, though small, it's a nutrient dense mini-breakfast. Just a thought -- as I mentioned, I'll be sticking with full breakfasts myself.

Reinhard

If you click on "My System" in the article, the complete book is available in a pdf file.

I consider three meals to be the norm, but usually only eat two meals daily. It's a rare day that I eat three. My first meal is generally late enough in the morning to be considered lunch. The second meal is then around 6 PM, sometimes later. It works for me.

I do occasionally feel hungry and have a growling stomach in the morning, but it goes away.

I think the meal that's skipped varies with the individual. I know there are more folks here than me who don't routinely eat breakfast. On occasion, however, I do eat breakfast and then a later midday meal. Then I may skip the evening meal. It's not written in stone.

I've not found eating two meals daily to be socially awkward at all. I usually know in advance if I'm going to eating with others, so I can plan accordingly.

MÃ¼ller wrote:There are more people who slowly eat themselves to death than there are who die of hunger. So do not always eat as much as you think you can stuff into you, especially at night, and do not believe that your hunger is always real; the feeling may be due to some fermentation in the stomach. A great deal of the food will probably pass through undigested. This wears out your digestive organs before their time...If you feel unwell it will most often be because your stomach is overloaded and in that case you will feel better for skipping a meal or fasting for a day and drinking nothing but water. The plainest meal with then taste delicious...But I am not a faddist. I believe in eating and drinking anything in moderation because with a reasonable amount of good exercise the digestion is so enormously improved that one need not worry about what to eat and drink. A glass of beer or wine with meals cannot do much harm, but everyone who takes plenty of concentrated spirits daily ought to know that he is breaking down his health by so doing, and in any case his power of resisting disease...Hard workers should rake three meals daily, easy workers only two.

milliem · Post by **milliem** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 1:49 pm

I often have 2 meals a day because I don't eat breakfast (I'm rarely hungry in the mornings, and by the time I am hungry it's too near lunch/I'm busy at work etc.) My eating schedule is generally lunch at 12-12.30, dinner at 6-7pm. However if my lunch isn't large I often start to get hungry at about 3-4pm so I will sometimes have a 'mini meal' around then and a slightly later dinner, to try and avoid overeating at dinner or snacking during the evening.

I did notice last week that I was generally only eating 2 set meals per day and was failing a lot by snacking in the evening. Monday and Tuesday this week I had 3 meals and successes. Not enough data to indicate a pattern but something I'll be keeping my eye on!