I have now been eating the one meal a day diet for about two month. I feel better on this eating-regimen than on any other I tried before. And I tried many: Alternate Day Fasting, 16-18h-Fasting, 3 meals a day, 5 meals a day, etc.
But with this one meal a day diet in combination with a high fat diet, I feel my best mentally and physically.
For 10 days now, I have been eating the one meal in the morning between 7am-9am but within one hour.
If you switch over your eating times, be prepared to be hungry for a couple of days. Because your body will expect food at your usual eating times. After a couple of days this should not be the case anymore. You wont really be hungry outside of you one eating window of the day. Usually hunger should start maybe an hour before you are going to eat. That way you know that you body is ready to process the upcoming meal.
I now enjoy the "only eating breakfast"-pattern because of the following reasons:
- Not hungry for most of the day (in fact I am so satisfied I do not even want to eat until very late in the day)
- Having fully digested the meal when it is time to exercise in the evening (around 5-6pm)
- The workout blunts any hunger (if there is any at all) and I can go to bed without having been hungry.
- Going to bed on an empty stomach seems to improve the quality of my sleep. I feel incredibly rested when I wake up in the morning. And because insulin is very low at this time and fat burning high, the hormones that are associated with fat burning are also high. That means cortisol is produced in higher quantities at this time. This is especially helpful at the moment because it is still dark when I have to wake up.
- Motivation to get up and going is high, because after a short workout (sprints or body-weight exercises) it is time to eat again.
- By the time I have eaten my one meal, I have a whole day in front of me where I do not need to spend time on food. No need to think about it or prepare it. I can focus on work and pursue my own goals in the evening when I come home from work.
Downsides I observed now after trying it out for 10 days:
- Socially difficult, as eating dinner is the main meal for most people.
- If working all day: looking forward to dinner at the end of the day can be motivating. (First the labor then the reward ;)
- Fasting and having an empty stomach during the day, in combination with drinking tea all day long can also be a nice experience.
- Fasting after a hard workout might not be optimal for muscle synthesis.
I am thinking about switching back to the night-time eating pattern next week. I want to experience how my hunger adjusts back to the night time eating. Because right now I get really hungry in the morning. We will see if this changes again if I eat only in the evening for some time.