Why do humans think they need to eat 3 meals a day?

Question

We are the only ones in the animal kingdom who finds it necessary to put that much food in our diet. Then everyone wonders why we are so obese. A 2000 calorie a day intake is absolutely ridiculous unless you are under 20 years old or a professional athlete. I eat one meal a day and I still am about 10 lbs overweight. I recently started eating 10oz of sirloin steak with a half can of vegetables a day and have lost 10 lbs in less than a month. 
What do you think of this diet? 
What is your daily calorie intake? And are you overweight?

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

Lol, you don't watch the Discovery channel, do you? Most animals either spend all day eating, or all day looking for food. Nice try on the "we're the only fat shits" though ;)

As for your other questions, a ~2000 calorie diet is a diet to maintain your current level of metabolism and energy needs. What YOU eat or don't eat is what affects YOU, not human kind in general. It also seems like YOU have not stopped to figure out if that weight loss if from a calorie deficit and is similar to cutting weight (which isn't the same as losing weight). And lastly, YOU have not figured out if your lack of a consistent diet caused you to hold at 10 pounds overweight.

When your metabolism slows, your body stores away as much glycogen and fat as it can (if you've done this before, it stores away a slight bit more). So with you eating 1 meal a day, you may lose the weight but it will come straight back as soon as you start eating normally again. Your steak and veggie diet may be keeping you alive, but you are well into what is called ketosis- the glycogen in your body is depleted and you're now burning fat reserves. This is the part that is replaced once food starts coming back in ;)

So again, nice try but your info is a bit off. Why do some humans, with the amazing ability of higher level thinking, choose not to use it on proper research?

Bman94 · Accepted Answer

I think it just really varies from person to person, but I have to say that 2000 calories a day isn't that hard to hit even if you eat say 2 meals a day on average with some snacks here and there like me. And professional athletes can eat up to around 5-7thousand calories a day, depending on the sport, also eating very little a day can cause your body to freak out and conserve energy and absorb as many calories as possible when you do eat, which can actually result in you gaining weight or cause unhealthy fluctuations in your weight. But some people can eat and eat and not gain a pound, others will diet and exercise and do all sorts of healthy things and not shed a pound, things like genetics and metabolism and such make things like this very difficult, which is why there is never a one-size fits all diet.

KaisaEeva · Accepted Answer

First you can still be unhealthy even if you appear healthy.
We eat 3 meals because people needed calories when they were being active, but as a culture we are becoming less active.
I personally need about 2000 calories, as I work out 3 to 4 hours a day, I'm not a professional athlete and I'm 20. But it depends more on age, weight, and activity level, as if your doing more physical activity, you need more calories.
Losing too much weight too fast can be dangerous, also too few calories can be dangerous, as the body requires so many to even perform the most basic things, it may seem fine now, but in the long run, it is not sustainable.

lumos · Accepted Answer

I happily eat 3 meals a day and I'm still underweight. I often even snack on something during the day, or a while after dinner.
When you eat a lot less food than you're supposed to, your body goes into starvation mode. After a while, you'll start losing weight much slower than you would if you had a healthy diet and exercised well. Your diet is similar to that of someone who's becoming anorexic. When you lose weight this way, you'll gain it all back once you start eating normally again. And you can't eat that little forever either. You simply won't look good. So ditch the starving method.

Gorge95 · Answer

People are generally gullible that’s why. Especially when it comes to starvation mode. Your body only enters into that phase if there are insufficient calories for your body. This has nothing to do with meal frequency. People thinking that eating 5 times a day will prevent this but if they thought critically and realized that should those 5 meals still be severely deficient in calories, they will still be in starvation mode which will slow down their metabolism either way (as many proponents of these many small meals think that 5 meals will magically speed up their metabolism). This has been debunked so many times yet people still believe that. https://caliberstrong.com/blog/6-meals-a-day/
http://coachmikeblogs.com/the-many-meals-per-day-myth/

https://amp.smh.com.au/lifestyle/health-and-wellness/forget-the-food-rules-three-meals-a-day-is-not-the-only-way-20210216-p57304.html

Everyone is indeed different so no hate to those who eat at this frequency but it cannot be applied across the board. People should find what works for them. Something bad for you really isn’t for anyone else.

blondfrog · Answer

I don't no my over all calorie intake. And not all of is wives tale you don't need to eat 3 meals a day doctors and scientists say to eat small portions of food through out the day, and eating 3 meals a day is a good thing just as long as you are not eating unhealthy foods and not taking in those many calories, plus everybody works differently even if it is a little bit of a difference that little bit can make a big difference as well as taking into consideration if they have something genetic or a disease they might need to eat more or less.

Izzy2102 · Answer

Actually most animals spend pretty much all day eating or getting food, because they food they eat is not calorie dense.

Why we eat three times a day. Tradition. it has been that way for a while. If you think about it, it sure makes sense why we do too.
In the western world, we have been eating in that pattern for hundreds of years and we only just got obese, it's not the eating pattern, it's what we eat and how much. A fast food lunch can easily be 2000 calories just one meal

Distant · Answer

"We are the only ones in the animal kingdom who finds it necessary to put that much food in our diet." - Wrong.

"Then everyone wonders why we are so obese. A 2000 calorie a day intake is absolutely ridiculous unless you are under 20 years old or a professional athlete." - Some people ARE under 20 and Basal Metabolic Rate is different for everyone. 2,000 may be ridiculous FOR YOU but not for others.

I consume over 2,500 calories a day and I'm in great shape. What's the secret? Exercise.

DodgersGM · Answer

It'd be incredibly difficult to have proper nutrition with so few calories. I don't think that's sustainable, nor does it seem very healthy.

My daily caloric intake is 1800 calories, and I have about 20 pounds left that I want to lose. I eat a mostly whole foods plant-based diet, and I try to eat raw where I can, and it's been incredibly successful for me.

caramelem12 · Answer

It really depends on an individual's activity level and metabolism. I tend to only eat once a day because I have a very sedentary life but sometimes I forget to eat, go out walking around and end up woozy from low blood sugar :/ Ideally I think we're supposed to eat a series of small meals a day, I think the 3 meals a day thing is outdated tradition

NovemberJoseph · Answer

We all have different metabolisms. Based off what you said you eat and your profile picture, I think if you ate more, you'd get fat as fuck. I think you're starving yourself by eating so little, so when you start eating normally, your body will take in everything it can and store it as fat.

HyperBro001 · Answer

3 or more is good, I've seen it recommended in some fitness magazines that people eat up to 12 smaller meals. The spacing of meals carries a huge impact on metabolism; if you only eat one meal a day you risk slowing yours down.

Mypassword · Answer

I started gaining weight when I ate 1-2x a day. I lose weight when I eat 6x a day small portions. Your metabolism slows down when you eat only 1x or 2x a day.

Metal189 · Answer

in fact, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. they say that if a woman isn't eating breakfast, she's sexually active, not sure why that is

Drooogie4 · Answer

I eat a few times a day.. But not meals really. Just in small bits. And I'm technically a bit underweight

PLLFan21 · Answer

I eat more than 3 times a day. And I'm not on a diet. I just eat when I'm hungry. And no I'm not over weight.

CommieDearest · Answer

You should be basing your diet on your BMR, and if you want to lose weight you need to create a deficit based on that number.

Shyguy_1988 · Answer

I think I would be starving and have no energy to work out run or bike. I eat a lot and I'm not over weight, I just use the energy I eat.

knotme · Answer

Im considered overweight and i dont know my caloric intake. probably less than 1200 right now

Blacklonewolf · Answer

I've been eating about one meal a day if I eat some days I don't eat at all.

cajun · Answer

Because Man is the only species whose diet is not predictable. The diet of all other animals is certain.

mario1321 · Answer

I eat when im hungry, no more no less, some days i dont eat at all depends on my appetite i guess

Anonymous · Answer

Have you ever been around an animal? They may hunt once a day, but they nibble a lite throughout the day.

reinis133 · Answer

2600 kcal and losing 1kg a week. Are you a manlet?

Why do humans think they need to eat 3 meals a day?

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