In the last month or so I have had to reduce my meal intake to just 1 meal a day on average due to financial constraints. But this sacrfice for me has come with some suprising results. First the not so supprising result is that I have lost 15kg (33lbs) in weight in the past few weeks. But the biggest suprising result for me is that instead of starting to feel hungrier like I expected to, my apitite has gone into serious decline and I rarely feel hungry at all, sometimes I have to force myself to eat a meal because I know my body needs some sustinance. I have also become less lethargic and have started sleeping less.

I am left wondering if my results are unique or if we all would react in the same way? I estimate that my daily calorie intake averages between 1200 and 1500 Kcal and I never feel hungry for more. We have obviously been programmed by society that we must have 3 square meals a day and my recent findings have led me to question if this is really wise or not. Not only is it an aweful waste of food if we do not really need those 3 meals and 2500 Kcal a day as reccomended by our government, but it is also a great strain on the enviroment to support this too.

I'd really like to hear from any others that have tried reduced meal diets like I have to see if you got the same results?

My father did this everyday for 30 years.

He is 150 pounds overweight, has diabetes and a host of health problems.
He drank coca-cola by the 2 liter for "breakfast" "Lunch" and dinner.

I was doing this same thing you are doing but felt like crap 24/7.
I started eating something for breakfast, even if it is very small, and feel much better.
Breakfast gets your body working after a good sleep.

If you continue this, may I suggest not drinking sugar all day to replace food.

Eat something even if its a granola bar or something.

Good for you, OP. I started taking some supplements (CoQ10 and L-carnitine) and I've noticed that my calorie intake dropped to about 1500-2000 daily as well...usually derived from a single meal or several small snacks throughout the day.

Although the supplements probably artificially reduced my appetite, I never felt better in my life: more energy, better sleep etc. I had to eat some fresh fruit every now and then just because my stomach would start to grumble if I didn't snack.

I did lose a lot of weight very quick as well (did gain some of it back because I like to indulge from time to time. Heck, I'm sure most people like me just eat when we're bored...a cultural practice, to be sure.)

I am happy that you found a practical lifestyle solution and are benefiting from it!

I read about an experiment with rats, there were 3 groups, each group was fed either too much, too little or the right amount of food.

Too everyones surprise the underfed rats not only performed better in maze and other cognitive tests but even lived longer.

Im like you and normally eat 1 meal a day and usual just snack if I get hungry

I must admit personally when I skip dinner and take it to work for smoko the next day I feel ten times better than if I had that meal with my family the night before. I also find I can stretch that meal out to lunch as well.

I think we just need to get more in touch with our own rhythms, 3 squares a day is definitely not for me.