Daylight Diet and two meals a day
Hi everyone.
For the past week I've been eating two meals a day, around 8am and 3pm. This has been great so far. Last year I did this for a couple months, and this year I want to do it for at least a month. So far here are the benefits:
- better sleep in less time (4.5-6 hours vs. 7-8 hours, and waking up feeling even better on less)
- more consistent energy throughout the
day
- less food consumed (good for lowering money spent and time spent getting groceries)
- kicking society in the face
About eating less, I am eating big meals so I believe that I am getting all of my required calories. But, eliminating the possibly excess third meal plus any snacking really adds up from one day to the next. Besides my two meals, I have maybe 1 cup of seed milk and/or 1 coup of tea.
Another benefit is that this forces me to be 100% raw, and less raw "junk". Because I've been eating cooked beans (5-10%), but now that I'm eating two meals, its like I can't afford to eat cooked rather than raw. Same with the raw junk. I am into making this "fudge" by processing up raisins and oat groats, which I would consider raw junk food. It would be my snack which I might make a couple times a day sometimes. Well, since I'm not eating that stuff that is also making me feel better. Just whole fruits and veggies for me, baby!
This is inspired in part by Paul Nison's book "The Daylight Diet". Honestly, I don't think he needed a whole book to get the point across, which is basically "Don't eat at night time because your body's metabolism shuts down and needs to rest." But, I think the point is very good and important.
I am convicted to only daytime eat for the rest of my life except maybe for special social occasions, or other extraordinary circumstances. Does anyone else feel this way?
Hmm I do agree to this, but what if your really hungry like at 10 at night and you just finished work. Would it be bad to have an apple? fruit digests pretty quickly, what would be the latest time to stop eating?
Well, I have no "religious" beliefs about optimal number of meals per day. "Eat when hungry" is the best way to go, I suppose, except for that few of us know what that really means, especially if we are relatively sedentary. "Eat when hungry" turns into "Eat when bored" or "Eat when upset" pretty quickly.
However, during my "two-meal" period, here are my thoughts.
If I had an extremely active day full of vigorous physical activity and felt completely drained, then yeah, I would replenish my calories directly afterwards (with fruit). Other than that, I think it would be best to wait until morning. If its 10pm at night, and you are going to be sleeping at 11pm or 12pm, and you're not even going to do anything substantial in that time, then there is really no need to eat. The benefits of replenishing calories are low compared to the losses of sacrificing sleep quality. What's really going to give you more energy the next day, eating that one little apple or getting good quality sleep? If you need the calories, tack it onto breakfast.
P.S. The latest time to stop eating would be as soon as possible. During two meals for me its 3pm. If you're doing three meals you'd probably have your third meal at or a little before sunset. If you're just trying to transition or compromise, then I believe 3 hours before going to sleep is the general guideline.
I'm curious, what do your 2 big meals look like, contents, portions, calories, etc.?
Well, I started maybe 4 days ago and its basically looked like this:
1 - Smoothie with 4 bananas, an apple, 3/4 lb frozen chopped mango, plus maybe a couple more whole bananas
2 - Carrot soup (6 carrots, avocado, spices), a couple
bananas
Sometimes the smoothie will be a green smoothie. For 2nd meal, it might be a big salad or a chopped salad plus and fruit. Personally I eat fruit at every meal. I might want to "avoid overeating", but unlike many people with this mentality I also think that fruit is man's natural fuel.
P.S. I don't know about the two meals above, but last year when I did this for about 2-3 months, I tracked my calories every day and found that I averaged 1700-1800 calories per day. I am 6' male, 155lbs, and I run distance and short intense crossfit-style exercise 3-4 times per week (well, during the summer anyway).
I find if I really listen to my body--it wants "dinner" at 4pm and then nothing, but hunger usually wakes me when I'm 100% raw. When I eat cooked, I don't really want breakfast 'til 11 or so.
I can never eat at 11pm at night, or even later. My latest would be 7 or 8pm but usually i finish eating around 6:30pm. I go to bed around midnight so im able to digest my food before bed, I sleep really well:) I only need like 6 hours of sleep. I feel great in the morning!!!!
I just think it makes sense. First of all as a species we probably gathered food all day and then ate it all at once. Which is part of the reasons being able to carry things was so essential for our species. I also think it makes sense not becuase your metabolism shuts down at night but because your body does not have to be constantly working to digest food throughout the day. Its like running a mile vs jogging a mile. Yes running a mile is harder to do but you actually use less energy and less time to accomplish it than jogging a mile.
Actually, in fact running burns more calories per mile than walking/jogging, so I don't know if that logic works too well.
I totally agree! With this diet and combining it with a great cardiovascular exercise. The result will be amazing. By the way, don't forget to wear your Nike running shoes.
This is an intersting concept and, as touched on before, it's probably closer to the way our bodies were designed to eat. I find that I can't eat enough before getting full to last more than 5 hours (at best) without geting overly hungry. Fasting, of course, is different. In my opinion, the beautiful thing about eating raw is that it allows us to listen more closely to the body's needs. And I think it's important to listen and make adjustments according to our individual requirements rather than force ourselves to follow one particular theory. It's great when we find something that really works for us. So congrats eecho!
