[quote]loctite_zexel wrote:
Professor X wrote:
It doesn’t work like that. If it takes 3,000 cals a day just to maintain your body weight…and you only eat once, you could eat 2,999cals in one sitting and will not gain weight. Weight gain is cumulative. It isn’t about one single meal but how you eat all day, all week, all month.
Sorry to uncover an old thread but I’m a bit confused over this statement. I’ve read that eating one 2,400 calorie meal will lead to weight gain as opposed to eating 6 spread out 400 calorie meals (assuming it takes 2,400 calories to maintain weight).
It was explained that metabolism works on a ‘per hour’ basis. So if maintenance is 2,400 calories, thats around 100 calories per hour (give or take the changes due to exercise or whatever).
Thus, a single 2,400 calorie meal will not be “metabolized” in time, leading to fat being stored? Whereas spreading the 2,400 calories throughout the day allows your body to “metabolize” the calories.
Any input would be greatly appreciated.
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Your metabolism works on a CONSTANT basis, not a “one hour basis”. Since we usually think of our own lives in terms of days, we tend to calulate caloric intake based on a 24 hour period. That doesn’t have anything to do with how your body uses food as a whole (discounting hormonal changes and time periods related to before and after training). With that in mind, that post from eons ago was related to how your body uses food. If you calculate your daily maintenance caloric intake to be 3,000cals a day…and you only eat 2,800cals a day even at only one meal a day, you will not gain weight. Because over the course of a week, you have still taken in less food than your body needs to maintain your weight.
The main point of that post was to inform someone that eating a large meal does not mean you immediately gain body fat. Your body isn’t that spontaneous in how it reacts to food intake. No one goes to Pizza Hut for a buffet ONE DAY and suddenly gains 10lbs of body fat. If they go every day and always eat more than it takes for their body to maintain their body weight, they will gain weight. How much is fat, muscle or water is based on many factors from genetics, to metabolism, age, sex, body size, and activity levels.