One Meal a Day?

Is it a terrible idea to basically have one large meal a day?  I know the trend is for many tiny meals, but my dining hall plan works out to one meal on campus a day, and I see no reason to spend a lot of money on groceries when I can get most of my daily calories there. 

That's not to say I don't eat anything else-- assume a light n fit yogurt, a piece of fruit and a kashi granola bar or oatmeal throughout the rest of the day.

Well...I'm not the expert on this, but the trend for small meals a day is to speed up your metabolism, right? If you have just one giant meal a day, I think that'll have the opposite effect. Personally, I don't think it's a good idea to not start the day with breakfast, AND I would be starving up until I ate, and at night a few hours after I eat. The reason so many people use the "6 small meals a day" thing are something similar is because it's so much easier to follow (maybe not in your case). I say, try it for a few days, but it doesn't sound like that good of an idea.

you are royally going to mess up your metabolism and just end up gaining more weight.. it sounds like a crash diet as soon as you return to normal eating habits the weight will pile back on.

is there a different meal plan that you can switch to?  if not, do you have to eat the food in the cafeteria?  because if you can get like a salad in a box, some fruit, etc. and take it back to your dorm, you can ration it all day.  i totally understand your situation though.  you've already got this paid for and buying extra food is expensive, especially healthy food.  why is it that mcdonald's has a $1 double cheeseburger, but no $1 asian chicken salad?

There's a lot of arguments either way on this.  Apparently some people say that eating small meals speeds up metabolism, other say that the only sure fire ways to speed metabolism are exercise and age.  My feeling is that you're going to burn the same number of calories no matter what (unless not eating throughout the day somehow makes you more tired and lethargic).  This article covers some information on the small meals vs. big meals topic.

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.as p?articlekey=56254

So yes, one meal a day is fine.  The problem with one meal though is that you're more likely to binge and go over your calories.  When you're hungry, you tend to eat a lot more before you get full.  Also, I was reading an article yesterday that says people feel full quicker when they eat earlier vs. later in the day.  I say try it for a few days, if you find yourself snacking a lot to make it happen or so starving that you can't work-out or something then go back to eating more meals a day.

well im no doctor.... but eating small meal throughout the day makes me feel so much better. more energy and not hungry at anytime. Id be worried that eating like that would leave me to hungry and i would binge on the un healthy caff. food. Also i have been told that small meals is better for your metabolisim, and with so many people doing it, and it working.... well i guess you can make your own decisions....

EDIT: sorry didn't read the above post first so i guess its a repeat.... :)

I know youre not generally meant to take food out of the dining hall but can you maybe sneak out some extra fruit, or bread or whatever else is easily portable?  That way you can still have something to snack on during the day. :) (PS - make friends with your RA's and they are more likely to overlook things like this!!!)

Food doesn't speed up your metabolism. Exercise does. So don't worry about messing with your metabolism.

Blood sugars can get wanky eating once a day. I eat one large meal a day and I've not had a problem with it, others get binges triggered. It depends on the individual.

If you're planning on supplementing with yogurt, kashi, etc. then I would say that's not even one meal a day, that's just calorie tilting and should be fine. Try it for a week or two (and keep in mind, you may be hungrier during your first week, it'll subside as you get used to it) and see how it goes.

Eat your big meal early in the day - make it a big breakfast or brunch.

Take out whatever extras you can, to eat later in the day.

And don't skimp on your later meals; if you're hungry at dinner time, eat more than a cup of yogurt! But the big breakfast will likely make it easier to eat smaller meals for the rest of the day (always works that way for me).

Please see this older discussion for pointers to relevant research.  If you want to try this, definitely download and read the short book (it's free!) recommended there.

Are you really going to be able to eat everything you need to be healthy in 1 meal a day? 5-7 serving of veggies? 2 or 3 servings each of meat/dairy? That sounds like a really big meal.