Everyday Systems

Sorry for such a silly question, my book has not arrived yet, but I was wondering because 2x my first week this was what I did. I ate breakfast, ate my lunch pretty late (around 3) so when I made dinner for my family @ 5pm I was not hungry at all. How important is it to eat 3 meals a day?

NoS doesn't actually prescribe how many meals to eat per day, just that you don't snack outside of planned meals. There are people who eat 2, 3 or 4 meals per day, it's all about what works for you! I'm sure you won't fade away or abandon all hope from eating one meal less on one day

On those days you did not eat with your family, did you fail later on? If not, it's probably ok. If so, you might want to plan to eat lunch earlier or to reheat dinner a bit later when you do get hungry.

Yes, the number of meals isn't set in stone. However, for family unity's sake, I gently suggest you try eating very lightly at lunch time or perhaps earlier so that you can be hungry for and share a moderate meal with your family in the evening. One of the beauties of No S is how much it allows for relaxed, joyfully-shared eating, which is the bugaboo of so many people.

You might just have beginner's euphoria, too, as going until 3 p.m. for lunch isn't routine for most. That could change and the issue could become moot.

Congrats on not being compelled to snack!

Not a silly question at all.

I think 3 meals is a safer place to start for most people (supported by social convention, good middle ground between potential privation and potential excess), but if 2 meals works better for you by all means stick with it (lots of people have reported successfully doing this).

That being said, in general, according to the scientific literature, skipping breakfast is statistically an unsuccessful strategy -- so do be careful.

As oolala53 suggested, if you'd rather do three but are afraid of the potential for excess, you don't have to make all three meals equally large. A "token" breakfast might provide some extra insurance (both calorically and morally) that you make it to your late lunch (you want to avoid spur of the moment backsliding if you get hungry and think "maybe I should have a extra meal -- or 2 or 3 or 5 -- after all"). You want to avoid feeling "moral license" (great term from the Willpower book I mentioned in my podcast) from your "virtuous" act of skipping breakfast to indulge in unplanned, inter-meal "vice."

Reinhard

I find that a small, late lunch sets me up well for a nice meal with my family. OR I sit with my family and have a small dinner. Two meals a day is not enough for me to sustain myself long-term.

But, as others have said, success lies in commitment and the planning more than the actual number of meals.

What I think DOESN'T work is changing the number of meals based on whether you're hungry or not. Part of the success of NoS is training one's body to expect food at regular intervals and not between.