# Is skipping meals really that bad?



## FearAndTrembling (Jun 5, 2013)

Red Panda said:


> The only time when you burn nothing is when you die. The metabolism is what keeps you alive, hence BMR (basal metabolic rate). To provide energy when we're not eating, we use up our glucose storage (glycogen) and fat storage, so in truth, the times when you are burning are the times when you don't eat. When you eat, most of the breakdown processes are stopped due to insulin, and the body is ready to take up and store again for times of fasting. That's why when we want to lose weight we have to lower our energy intake, so our body can use up the stored energy.


Of course we are always burning calories. Even when sleeping. You want to burn when you are not eating, exactly. You do that by eating many small meals during the day. Like rolling hills. That is why you keep those spikes lower. You basically beat the system by doing this. Our bodies don't do it naturally. We can manipulate it to our benefit. Imagine it is like a fire. You have to continually throw wood or coal, at intervals. To keep the same temperature. You want the fire at a certain burn. Even.


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## Red Panda (Aug 18, 2010)

FearAndTrembling said:


> Of course we are always burning calories. Even when sleeping. You want to burn when you are not eating, exactly. You do that by eating many small meals during the day. Like rolling hills. That is why you keep those spikes lower. You basically beat the system by doing this. Our bodies don't do it naturally. We can manipulate it to our benefit. Imagine it is like a fire. You have to continually throw wood or coal, at intervals. To keep the same temperature. You want the fire at a certain burn. Even.


No, literature shows that there's no real differences between meal frequencies. This 5 meals a day thing is baseless. They even said it in the latest conference I went to, of EFAD (and the speaker was very keen on making it clear as she said it more than 10 times in her talk, that we don't really know if it's better to have 5 or 3 meals or anything, we have no science to back it up). 
I suppose it became popular as diabetes grew popular, but for healthy people it doesn't matter. Think about it, humans didn't always have food available whenever they wanted to, they ate when they could, as much as they could and that's how most animals do really. The only real problem comes when you don't get enough nutrients, and if you eat 1-2 times a day, that's quite likely.


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## FearAndTrembling (Jun 5, 2013)

Red Panda said:


> No, literature shows that there's no real differences between meal frequencies. This 5 meals a day thing is baseless. They even said it in the latest conference I went to, of EFAD (and the speaker was very keen on making it clear as she said it more than 10 times in her talk, that we don't really know if it's better to have 5 or 3 meals or anything, we have no science to back it up).
> I suppose it became popular as diabetes grew popular, but for healthy people it doesn't matter. Think about it, humans didn't always have food available whenever they wanted to, they ate when they could, as much as they could and that's how most animals do really. The only real problem comes when you don't get enough nutrients, and if you eat 1-2 times a day, that's quite likely.


I said nothing about 5 meals a day. Or portions. I am not a nutritionist. I had nutrition professor who is a leading researcher in the field, and biochemist. I am going to take his word. Even the government can't decide on this stuff. 

People aren't healthy. Just because you don't have any noticeable symptoms, does not mean you are healthy. I look and feel healthy, but I am not. I have no conditions, but I do not maintain my health the way I should. Doesn't matter what measurements say now. It is a spectrum, that must always be maintained. It is constant work. You are never healthy.


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## Playful Proxy (Feb 6, 2012)

yentipeee said:


> I'm tall & skinny like you, skip meals, don't exercise much, and I'm just fine. Aren't you hungry? I need one good meal a day or I starve.


I feel hungry, but I've mostly just kinda gotten used to ignoring it at this point and eating whenever I feel like it. It also doesn't help that I skip more meals when I get depressed as I then lack even more motivation. *shrugs*


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## Red Panda (Aug 18, 2010)

FearAndTrembling said:


> I said nothing about 5 meals a day. Or portions. I am not a nutritionist. I had nutrition professor who is a leading researcher in the field, and biochemist. I am going to take his word. Even the government can't decide on this stuff.
> 
> People aren't healthy. Just because you don't have any noticeable symptoms, does not mean you are healthy. I look and feel healthy, but I am not. I have no conditions, but I do not maintain my health the way I should. Doesn't matter what measurements say now. It is a spectrum, that must always be maintained. It is constant work. You are never healthy.


5 meals was an example, and a quite usual one at that. Whether you have 5 smaller meals or 3 larger, it doesn't matter because your body will balance whatever it needs to balance to keep you going. The most important thing is to eat according to your hunger, which most people don't do and not eat processed stuff with added chemicals that may mess you up. If you eat according to hunger, you're going to eat what you need. It won't matter if you spike then, as your body will make sure it comes down in a certain time frame (i.e. glucose tolerance test). It really comes down on how you can schedule your eating in the day. As long as you don't eat more calories, you're fine.
The rest you say are a bit irrelevant.


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## FearAndTrembling (Jun 5, 2013)

Red Panda said:


> 5 meals was an example, and a quite usual one at that. Whether you have 5 smaller meals or 3 larger, it doesn't matter because your body will balance whatever it needs to balance to keep you going. The most important thing is to eat according to your hunger, which most people don't do and not eat processed stuff with added chemicals that may mess you up. If you eat according to hunger, you're going to eat what you need. It won't matter if you spike then, as your body will make sure it comes down in a certain time frame (i.e. glucose tolerance test). It really comes down on how you can schedule your eating in the day. As long as you don't eat more calories, you're fine.
> The rest you say are a bit irrelevant.


I do not agree with eating when hungry. That is an archaic mechanism that does not fit our times. Doesn't work for thirst either. Drink all day too. Hunger mechanism can be thrown off by so many things. It is easily manipulated and fooled. You are basically assuming a perfect textbook patient, but a textbook patient does not exist.


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## yentipeee (Jun 19, 2013)

Playful Proxy said:


> I feel hungry, but I've mostly just kinda gotten used to ignoring it at this point and eating whenever I feel like it. It also doesn't help that I skip more meals when I get depressed as I then lack even more motivation. *shrugs*


How's healthcare in Elleon? Make sure you don't skip your annual physical, vitamin deficiency is the only problem with skipping meals. If you pass the physical you're fine


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## FearAndTrembling (Jun 5, 2013)

What Red Panda seems to be saying is: say you want 2,000 calories a day. She says as long as you don't go above those 2,000 calories, everything is fine. The total is what matters. That is wrong. The journey matters just as much. You have to do it the right way. Doesn't matter if it is the same exact foods being eaten. The journey is important.


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## Red Panda (Aug 18, 2010)

FearAndTrembling said:


> I do not agree with eating when hungry. That is an archaic mechanism that does not fit our times. Doesn't work for thirst either. Drink all day too. Hunger mechanism can be thrown off by so many things. It is easily manipulated and fooled. You are basically assuming a perfect textbook patient, but a textbook patient does not exist.


I agree that modern people don't really understand hunger or thirst (which btw is a symptom of dehydration). It takes training to understand it but once you start to consciously listen to your hunger you can't be wrong. People with excess fat do not feel real hunger as much as lean people due to increased leptin, yet they eat more and they think they are hungry more. I know dietitians who work with hunger and not diet plans and they are quite successful. People just have to be trained to understand their physical signals more. That and of course healthier eating in general. I sometimes forget this forum is with mostly Americans who have a completely different food culture than mine, so when you speak about food you mostly talk about packaged, processed stuff and lots of junk food unless you explicitly state that you talk about whole foods.


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## FearAndTrembling (Jun 5, 2013)

Red Panda said:


> I agree that modern people don't really understand hunger or thirst (which btw is a symptom of dehydration). It takes training to understand it but once you start to consciously listen to your hunger you can't be wrong. People with excess fat do not feel real hunger as much as lean people due to increased leptin, yet they eat more and they think they are hungry more. I know dietitians who work with hunger and not diet plans and they are quite successful. People just have to be trained to understand their physical signals more. That and of course healthier eating in general. I sometimes forget this forum is with mostly Americans who have a completely different food culture than mine, so when you speak about food you mostly talk about packaged, processed stuff and lots of junk food unless you explicitly state that you talk about whole foods.


Yeah, I said our society is overfed and undernourished. You can eat a ton of calories, and barely get anything but calories. I think I remember you being from the Mediterranean. That is one of the diets we are trying to get to be more popular over here. I have seen what the average family buys for groceries from places all over the world. It is very different.


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## Red Panda (Aug 18, 2010)

FearAndTrembling said:


> Yeah, I said our society is overfed and undernourished. You can eat a ton of calories, and barely get anything but calories. I think I remember you being from the Mediterranean. That is one of the diets we are trying to get to be more popular over here. I have seen what the average family buys for groceries from places all over the world. It is very different.


Yeah I am, Greece. Sure people here eat processed stuff (especially refined bread/pasta) but we still have a lot of traditional Mediterranean dishes and of course olive oil. It's one of the healthiest diets as studies have shown over the years and it's the whole package, likely, and not single ingredients that work. But I dunno how possible it is for other countries to have a Mediterranean life style as it's a very locally focused, like for example eating wild herbs and vegetables that are usually endemic here or even on certain islands. We've strayed away from that lifestyle too, at least in the cities. It's also highly vegetarian so good luck going against the dairy, meat and grain moguls.  Here's the new pyramid if you are interested.


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## FearAndTrembling (Jun 5, 2013)

Red Panda said:


> Yeah I am, Greece. Sure people here eat processed stuff (especially refined bread/pasta) but we still have a lot of traditional Mediterranean dishes and of course olive oil. It's one of the healthiest diets as studies have shown over the years and it's the whole package, likely, and not single ingredients that work. But I dunno how possible it is for other countries to have a Mediterranean life style as it's a very locally focused, like for example eating wild herbs and vegetables that are usually endemic here or even on certain islands. We've strayed away from that lifestyle too, at least in the cities. It's also highly vegetarian so good luck going against the dairy, meat and grain moguls.  Here's the new pyramid if you are interested.


I don't know if you have been to a US Supermarket. But they are pretty impressive. The variety of fruits and vegetables has to be unmatched. Nearly everything is there, no matter the season. Of course things can get pricey, but I think America probably pays as little for food prices as nearly any country. We have to. We have everything. We are the largest consumer class in the world. So there is really no excuse. I have heard people from other places say they were overwhelmed how big our food stores were, and the selection. They are overwhelming.


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## LadyO.W.BernieBro (Sep 4, 2010)

l'd say in a good 10 years you might notice that your body doesn't go as easily until the afternoon without food.

l can hardly manage eating breakfast, it's a huge affair for me because l never did it but now l wake up pretty hungry now matter how well l eate the day before. It's like a sick kind of a hunger, not even a normal hunger.

But l've never really had stable bloodsugar and that worsened from my erratic feeding schedule and admittedly poor diet.


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## Red Panda (Aug 18, 2010)

FearAndTrembling said:


> I don't know if you have been to a US Supermarket. But they are pretty impressive. The variety of fruits and vegetables has to be unmatched. Nearly everything is there, no matter the season. Of course things can get pricey, but I think America probably pays as little for food prices as nearly any country. We have to. We have everything. We are the largest consumer class in the world. So there is really no excuse. I have heard people from other places say they were overwhelmed how big our food stores were, and the selection. They are overwhelming.


No I've never been in USA so I can't tell you. Vegetables and fruit here are cheap, meat and dairy are more expensive. Eating in season is important, for both the environment and the nutrient content of food, but I suppose in contrast to not eating any veggies, it's better.
I can only imagine how big they are, and from the bits I've seen in videos. I don't think I could last there long, big supermarkets tire me out easily. The best place to go here for produce are weekly "street markets", where producers from all over the country sell their products right there on the street, fish too.


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## FearAndTrembling (Jun 5, 2013)

Red Panda said:


> No I've never been in USA so I can't tell you. Vegetables and fruit here are cheap, meat and dairy are more expensive. Eating in season is important, for both the environment and the nutrient content of food, but I suppose in contrast to not eating any veggies, it's better.
> I can only imagine how big they are, and from the bits I've seen in videos. I don't think I could last there long, big supermarkets tire me out easily. The best place to go here for produce are weekly "street markets", where producers from all over the country sell their products right there on the street, fish too.


Yeah, that culture is much smaller here. It is more mass produced. We just ship in stuff from big companies in South America and wherever else, for stuff out of season. 

It is extremely annoying. They are huge. And they are designed to make you walk through as much of them as possible. Like milk and eggs? lol. You will have walk to the back corner of the store to get there. They strategically place necessities and big items in the store. Funny thing is, the produce section is often when you first walk in. Most people just walk by it I assume. I don't if it isn't a strong seller or what. But these stores are designed like this for a reason.


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## Red Panda (Aug 18, 2010)

FearAndTrembling said:


> Yeah, that culture is much smaller here. It is more mass produced. We just ship in stuff from big companies in South America and wherever else, for stuff out of season.
> 
> It is extremely annoying. They are huge. And they are designed to make you walk through as much of them as possible. Like milk and eggs? lol. You will have walk to the back corner of the store to get there. They strategically place necessities and big items in the store. Funny thing is, the produce section is often when you first walk in. Most people just walk by it I assume. I don't if it isn't a strong seller or what. But these stores are designed like this for a reason.


I've seen a video, I think, where it analyzes the strategy of supermarkets. It's quite obvious really, the placement of biscuits and chips and that are so that you pass first from them, and they have some sort of junk food on the left hall for when you leave. Not to mention the stuff around the register that are very seducing usually (which they do in other types of stores as well). I think they are obligated to have the produce first unless it's not possible. Milk is usually close to the front here, but eggs are with the meats/fish/cheeses. I've trained myself to have tunnel vision when in supermarkets, so I don't pick anything else on the way


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## FearAndTrembling (Jun 5, 2013)

Red Panda said:


> I've seen a video, I think, where it analyzes the strategy of supermarkets. It's quite obvious really, the placement of biscuits and chips and that are so that you pass first from them, and they have some sort of junk food on the left hall for when you leave. Not to mention the stuff around the register that are very seducing usually (which they do in other types of stores as well). I think they are obligated to have the produce first unless it's not possible. Milk is usually close to the front here, but eggs are with the meats/fish/cheeses. I've trained myself to have tunnel vision when in supermarkets, so I don't pick anything else on the way


It is very psychological. They know what they are doing. They do their homework. There is some enticing stuff in the checkout line. I have probably been taken many times by these strategies.


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## Red Panda (Aug 18, 2010)

FearAndTrembling said:


> It is very psychological. They know what they are doing. They do their homework. There is some enticing stuff in the checkout line. I have probably been taken many times by these strategies.


I mostly control it, but I have a soft spot for office stuff so when I go to bookstores I can't always resist to the little useless things. 
phew, that's quite off topic now


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## Red Panda (Aug 18, 2010)

Playful Proxy said:


> I feel hungry, but I've mostly just kinda gotten used to ignoring it at this point and eating whenever I feel like it. It also doesn't help that I skip more meals when I get depressed as I then lack even more motivation. *shrugs*


Perhaps you should focus more on the quality of your eating rather than frequency. And if you are feeling hunger then probably your body needs more. It would help if you wrote down what you eat usually (dairy, fruits, vegetables, grains/starch, meat and fat) and how many times per week.


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## General Lee Awesome (Sep 28, 2014)

well if you skipped a meal,and i get to eat your meal, then its all good !. but no its pretty bad, it can make your body go into starvation mode, and the next meal you eat will cause you to gain more fat.


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