One meal a day advice.

June 5, 2017 9:44 AM

For several months now I've been doing the "one meal a day" diet. I like it, it's working to my satisfaction, but I have trouble eating enough food in my one meal. Looking for ideas for ways to eat 2100-2200 calories without feeling like I'll blow up.

Backstory : I've tried a lot of diets most of my life and none have really worked for me. I lose weight for a while, then fall off the diet and rebound. Diets that have been most effective have involved religious calorie counting and light to moderate exercise. The main problem has always been sneaking in extra calories at the end of the day, or outright binging. 3-4 meals a day on a calorie deficit just leaves my always feeling hungry and unsatisfied.

With one meal a day I still count calories but typically eat all my food in one huge meal after work. Thus no problem binging since binging is literally the plan. I don't feel hungry during the day. Which seems odd, but I don't. And I seem to have more energy. It's the sort of diet that seems like an acceptable lifestyle.

From calorie counts vs weigh lost over time, my calorie intake to lose 1.5 pounds a week is 2100-2200. That's been working.

The problem is that 2100 calories is a huge feast. And this diet seems to shrink your tummy making it even harder to eat that much. I try to eat healthy foods, and cook myself. So last night's dinner was teriyaki salmon and brown rice (400 cal), a turkey and cheese sandwich on high fiber bread (480 cal), black beans and chicken with salsa (430 cal), a protein drink (250 cal), yogurt (130 cal), string cheese (160 cal), mixed nuts (200 cal), and a can of V8 (70 cal). I try to rotate in more fruit and veg, but that was last night. It's just hard to eat that much in one sitting. By hard I mean I need to force myself to keep eating.

I'm looking for ways to 1) avoid eating junk, 2) get the calories, 3) not feel like I'll pop.

posted by y6y6y6 to Health & Fitness (11 answers total)

Can you eat a fattier cut of meat? Are you leaving the skin on the chicken? Could you add a milk-based sauce like a white sauce or a yogurt sauce?

Or replace the V8 with a vegetable smoothie that has more caloric ingredients? I like a yogurt, salsa, avocado, tomato smoothie sometimes and it's a calorie bomb.
posted by blnkfrnk at 9:51 AM on June 5, 2017

Although it's another philosophy entirely, you might look into the Shangri-la Diet for the sake of its thoughts on the safety and efficacy of consuming up to about 400 kcal of flavorless plant oil per day. Even if you don't want to take it as a shot, generously adding it to your current food would certainly increase your numbers nicely.
posted by teremala at 9:56 AM on June 5, 2017

Best answer: Play with prioritizing fat over carbs, denser calories over bulk: wasabi mayo instead of rice or less rice, ham or bacon instead of turkey plus mayo with only 1 piece of bread, chicken thigh instead of breast, whole milk in protein drink maybe a bit of heavy cream, full fat yogurt. That may play with the satiety of the meal and digestibility depending but should be easier to eat as the bulk is less.
posted by RoadScholar at 10:05 AM on June 5, 2017 [6 favorites]

Eat more fat.
posted by so fucking future at 10:17 AM on June 5, 2017 [4 favorites]

Friends on a ultra-low-carb diet swear by butter coffee.
posted by anastasiav at 10:26 AM on June 5, 2017 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Okay...... I guess I've been resisting the idea that dieting like this may mean eating more fat. Less fat has sort of been a common sense thing drilled into me. I guess?

These are all good ideas. Maybe fried chicken for dinner. And I have been drinking skim milk, just because that's what I've always drank. Full fat is a good idea. More mayo. And olive oil.
posted by y6y6y6 at 10:43 AM on June 5, 2017

I agree with those who are suggesting that the key here is likely to be working more fat into your diet. Simply put, fat is more than twice as energy dense as protein or carbohydrate. What I'd do, if I wanted to quickly add painless calories to food, is invest in a range of nice oils, vinegars and mustards and start dressing my vegetables, beans etc. with a good oily yet zesty dressing. Three tablespoons of oil is ~360 calories. So, maybe use cold press rapeseed (canola) oil, add a tablespoon (or more) each of rice wine vinegar and Dijon mustard, and salt, pepper and spices to taste, and toss your brown rice in that when you serve, and you'll nearly double the calorie count of your salmon and rice element. An outlay of a day's income at median wage will get you enough oil and mixers to pleasantly boost your calories for several months, so it's cost effective too
posted by howfar at 10:48 AM on June 5, 2017 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Avocado is a great combination of fat and vegetable.
posted by LizardBreath at 11:37 AM on June 5, 2017 [3 favorites]

You don't need to eat fried foods to get fat. I'd try to get healthy fats, like avocado, olive oil, nut butters (like peanut butter!), yogurt, cream, cheese, etc. Like for the meals you described, could add some cheese and avocado to your black bean/chicken dish and then hollandaise to your salmon dish.
posted by AppleTurnover at 12:25 PM on June 5, 2017 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Fat is good for you. You're intermittent fasting. I do it too - I don't eat breakfast or lunch. Tons and tons of energy, and I can eat whatever I like at dinner. I would eat more fat and meat and vegetables, and way less starch....it's very filling and not nutrient-dense like other foods can be. I first learned about intermittent fasting via reading Mark's Daily Apple forums. He advocates eating primally, which is high nutrient whole foods, nothing processed. You definitely do get more bang for your buck.
posted by the webmistress at 12:27 PM on June 5, 2017 [4 favorites]

Best answer: I've been on a one-meal-per-day diet for 7 years. Fat+protein+veggies is definitely the way to go. I mostly avoid simpler carbs just because they leave me feeling hangry by about noon the next day. With enough fat and protein, I can easily push to 24+ hours without food and feel pretty good until the smell of food hits me...

Worst case, you're going to dip below 2100 calories and need to extend your feeding later into the evening. It doesn't have to be all in one sitting in order to get the intermittent fasting benefits. Have a piece of pie before bed. A cup of cashews is about 800 calories. Have a couple beers. Whatever.

Over the long term you'll find a sweet spot. For me, over the last few years, I've fluctuated above and below my target weight. When I drop below, I add dessert back into my diet for a while and enjoy a huge piece of cheesecake and an extra beer on days my weight falls below my target.
posted by woof at 12:55 PM on June 5, 2017 [2 favorites]