How to Time Your Meals for Weight Loss

When you eat is almost as important as what you eat

Although your body isn’t an actual watch, it does have an internal clock that runs approximately every 24 hours. This “circadian rhythm” keeps your body functioning on a schedule. It helps your body adjust to environmental changes, sleep, and behaviors like eating.

It’s clear that what foods you eat can affect your body. But when you eat can also have an effect. The timing of your meals and snacks can affect:

• metabolic regulation
• body-weight regulation
• management of obesity-related diseases
• sleep cycle

Read on to learn about what science says about your circadian rhythm and eating habits, and how they impact each other.

The key habits to maintaining weight loss »

What time should I eat?

Trying to figure out the best time to eat can be confusing, and researchers are looking to see if there are answers. One study showedTrusted Source that late lunch eaters (after 3:00 p.m.) lose less weight than early-eaters. It also found no difference in weight loss for the timing of breakfast and dinner meals. Restricting when you eat to 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. can reduce overall calorie intake by 244, according to another study. This is most likely due to the fact that you eat fewer calories due to less time spent eating. A longer overnight fast can also help with increasing fat loss as your body has time to reach a state of ketosis, which indicates that the body is using fat for energy.

What about breakfast?

Research shows mixed results as to whether breakfast intake contributes to weight loss. One study found that people who ate breakfast saw reduce dietary fat intake and impulsive snacking. Another study found that people who ate more calories at breakfast didn’t necessarily eat less during the day. Breakfast patterns have a smaller role in daily intake than post-breakfast meals.

After reviewing studies regarding breakfast’s impact on weight, the United States Department of Agriculture recommends that people eat a nutrient-rich breakfast to help manage weight and improve overall nutrient intake.

How different types of body clocks affects your metabolism

Food timing

The connection between the body’s natural biorhythms and weight gain is more than just what you eat. Restricting what you eat to a certain time every day sets your body on a schedule. Research showsTrusted Source that trying to delay this window can take multiple days before your body adapts. This may explain why splitting up three meals into six can be an adjustment for someone going on a diet.

Regular meal times also play a long-term role in body weight. Your body generally gets hungry every three to five hours, but it’s also used to your regular schedule. Try to eat at the same time every day. You can keep healthy, high-satiety snacks like vegetables and cheese around to eat between meals to curb your appetite.

In some cases of meal timing, switching when you eat bigger meals can make a difference. One studyTrusted Source saw that obese women who ate more for breakfast than dinner lost more weight and had an improved metabolism.

Sleep timing

Sleep loss disrupts your body’s internal clock and metabolism and can affect hormonal balance. Research suggestsTrusted Source that this disruption can confuse your body’s signals for tiredness and hunger and increase your cravings for sugar and starchy foods.

One study found that mice who were exposed to light at night gained 50 percent more weight than mice who had truly dark nights.

One 2009 studyTrusted Source found that people who ate and slept out of their circadian rhythm had symptoms of metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is the name for a combination of disorders that increase your risk for heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.

Why do we tend to snack at night?

We often think of diet as the quality of the food we eat, but it really also includes when you eat. Research suggestsTrusted Source that messing with sleep and the body’s internal clock can cause you to eat at the wrong times and gain weight.

The “night owls” who got less sleep overall had:

• more fast food
• more soda
• fewer fruits and vegetables
• larger portions of food later in the day

Overall, they ate about the same amount of calories per day as people who slept normally, but calories consumed after 8:00 p.m. are more strongly associated with weight gain.

Are there benefits to spreading out meals?

If you exercise regularly and want to maintain lean mass, you may be interested in intermittent fasting (IF). IF is different from eating on a regular schedule, as you restrict your energy intake to certain time periods of the day. This study saw a decrease in fat mass and weight for people who practiced 16-hour fasting with an eight-hour eating window along with resistance training.

Research shows that IF can:

• have similar effects as intensive exercise
• reduce resting heart rate
• reduce blood pressure
• help with weight loss
• decrease risk of coronary artery disease
• suppress appetite

One studyTrusted Source also suggests that IF works as an alternative to calorie restriction for weight loss in people with type 2 diabetes. Another studyTrusted Source in mice found that IF had more benefits than permanent calorie restriction.

How to fast

One popular method of IF is the 16/8 fast, meaning you fast for 16 hours every day and restrict eating to an eight-hour window. For example, if your last meal was at 11 p.m., you wouldn’t eat until 3 p.m. the next day. But this method of weight loss on its own may not be as effective without exercise.

You may need to fast for three to four weeks before you see measurable results.

Potential side effects

Fasting can lead to vitamin deficiency and muscle loss if you’re not careful about what you eat. But you can also address these concerns with proper nutrition and strength training.

In general, intermittent fasting may not be right for your lifestyle. You may also find it hard to not eat for a lengthy amount of time or to avoid eating during social situations.

What’s the best way to time your meals?

Calorie restriction is believed to be the most effective method of weight loss, but when you eat may affect how your weight loss journey goes. The recommended route to managing your food intake is to have an eating schedule that suits your lifestyle. You may find a food journal helpful to avoiding mindless eating.

Should you count carbs or calories? »

Is Skipping Breakfast Bad for You? The Surprising Truth

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day." This myth is pervasive in society.

Breakfast is perceived as healthy, even more important than other meals.

Even today's official nutrition guidelines recommend that we eat breakfast.

It is claimed that breakfast helps us lose weight, and that skipping it can raise our risk of obesity.

This seems like a problem, because up to 25% of Americans regularly skip breakfast (1Trusted Source).

However, new high-quality studies have started questioning the universal advice that everyone should eat breakfast.

This article takes a detailed look at breakfast, and whether skipping it is really going to harm your health and make you fat.

Breakfast Eaters Tend to Have Healthier Habits

It's true, many studies show that breakfast eaters tend to be healthier.

For example, they are less likely to be overweight/obese, and have a lower risk of several chronic diseases (2Trusted Source, 3Trusted Source, 4Trusted Source).

For this reason, many experts have claimed that breakfast must be good for you.

However, these studies are so-called observational studies, which can not demonstrate causation.

These studies show that people who eat breakfast are more likely to be healthier, but they can not prove that the breakfast itself caused it.

Chances are that breakfast eaters have other healthy lifestyle habits that can explain this.

For example, people who eat breakfast also tend to eat a healthier diet, with more fiber and micronutrients (5Trusted Source, 6Trusted Source).

On the other hand, people who skip breakfast tend to smoke more, drink more alcohol and exercise less (7Trusted Source).

Perhaps these are the reasons that breakfast eaters are healthier, on average. It may not have anything to do with the breakfast itself.

In fact, higher quality studies called randomized controlled trials suggest that it doesn't really matter whether you eat or skip breakfast.

BOTTOM LINE:Breakfast eaters tend to be healthier and leaner than breakfast skippers. This may be due to the fact that breakfast eaters have other healthy lifestyle habits.

Eating Breakfast Does Not Boost Your Metabolism

Some people claim that eating breakfast "kick-starts" the metabolism, but this is a myth.

These people are referring to the thermic effect of food, which is the increase in calories burned that occurs after you eat.

However, what matters for metabolism is the total amount of food consumed throughout the day. It makes no difference at which times, or how often, you eat.

Studies show that there is no difference in calories burned over 24 hours between people who eat or skip breakfast (8Trusted Source).

BOTTOM LINE:Whether you eat or skip breakfast has no effect on the amount of calories you burn throughout the day. This is a myth.

Skipping Breakfast Does Not Cause Weight Gain

As mentioned above, people who skip breakfast tend to weigh more than people who eat breakfast.

This may seem paradoxical, because how can not eating make you gain more weight? Well, some claim that skipping breakfast causes you to become very hungry so that you overeat later in the day.

This seems to make sense, but isn't supported by the evidence.

It is true that skipping breakfast causes people to be more hungry and eat more at lunch, but this is not enough to overcompensate for the breakfast that was skipped.

In fact, some studies have even shown that skipping breakfast may reduce overall calorie intake by up to 400 calories per day (9Trusted Source, 10Trusted Source, 11Trusted Source).

This seems logical, because you are effectively removing an entire meal from your diet each day.

Interestingly, the eat/skip breakfast dilemma was recently tested in a high-quality randomized controlled trial.

This was a 4-month long study that compared recommendations to eat or skip breakfast in 309 overweight/obese men and women (12Trusted Source).

After 4 months, there was no difference in weight between groups. It simply didn't matter whether people ate or skipped breakfast.

These results are supported by other studies on the effects of breakfast habits on weight loss. Skipping breakfast had no visible effects (5Trusted Source, 12Trusted Source, 13Trusted Source).

BOTTOM LINE:Higher-quality studies show that it makes no difference whether people eat or skip breakfast. Skipping breakfast makes you eat more at lunch, but not enough to compensate for the breakfast you skipped.

Skipping Breakfast May Even Have Some Health Benefits

Skipping breakfast is a common part of many intermittent fasting methods.

This includes the 16/8 method, which consists of a 16-hour overnight fast followed by an 8-hour eating window.

This eating window usually ranges from lunch until dinner, which means that you skip breakfast every day.

Intermittent fasting has been shown to effectively reduce calorie intake, increase weight loss and improve metabolic health (14Trusted Source, 15Trusted Source, 16Trusted Source, 17Trusted Source, 18Trusted Source).

However, it's important to mention that intermittent fasting and/or skipping breakfast does not suit everyone. The effects vary by individual (19Trusted Source).

Some people may experience positive effects, while others may develop headaches, drops in blood sugar, faintness and lack of concentration (20Trusted Source, 21Trusted Source).

BOTTOM LINE:Skipping breakfast is a part of many intermittent fasting protocols, such as the 16/8 method. Intermittent fasting can have numerous health benefits.

Breakfast Is Optional

The evidence is clear, there is nothing "special" about breakfast.

It probably does not matter whether you eat or skip breakfast, as long as you eat healthy for the rest of the day.

Breakfast does not "jump start" your metabolism and skipping it does not automatically make you overeat and gain weight.

This is a myth, based on observational studies that have since been proven wrong in randomized controlled trials (real science).

At the end of the day, breakfast is optional, and it all boils down to personal preference.

If you feel hungry in the morning and you like breakfast, go ahead and eat a healthy breakfast. A protein-rich breakfast is best.

However, if you don't feel hungry in the morning and don't feel that you need breakfast, then don't eat it. It's as simple as that.

18 Science-Based Ways to Reduce Hunger and Appetite

To lose weight, you generally need to reduce your daily calorie intake.

Unfortunately, weight loss diets often lead to increased appetite and severe hunger.

This can make it extremely difficult to lose weight and keep it off.

Here is a list of 18 science-based ways to reduce excessive hunger and appetite:

1. Eat Enough Protein

Adding more protein to your diet can increase feelings of fullness, make you eat less at your next meal and help you lose fat (1Trusted Source, 2).

For instance, a weight loss study compared two breakfasts identical in calories: one consisting of eggs, the other of bagels.

Participants who had the egg breakfast lost 65% more weight and 16% more body fat over the eight-week study period (3Trusted Source).

In addition, a high protein intake may help to prevent muscle loss when daily calories are reduced for weight loss (4Trusted Source).

Making protein about 20–30% of your total calorie intake, or 0.45-0.55 g/lb of body weight (1.0–1.2 g/kg), seems sufficient to provide the benefits (4Trusted Source).

BOTTOM LINE:Getting sufficient protein in your diet can help promote weight loss, partly by decreasing your appetite.

2. Opt for Fiber-Rich Foods

A high fiber intake stretches the stomach, slows its emptying rate and influences the release of fullness hormones (5Trusted Source, 6).

In addition, fiber can ferment in the bowel. This produces short-chain fatty acids thought to further help promote feelings of fullness (7, 8).

In fact, a recent review reports that adding fiber-rich beans, peas, chickpeas and lentils to your meal can increase feelings of fullness by 31%, compared to equivalent meals that aren't based on beans (9).

Fiber-rich whole grains can also help reduce hunger and keep you feeling full (7).

Eating an extra 14 grams of fiber each day may decrease your calorie intake by up to 10%. Over 3.8 months, this could lead to a loss of up to 4.2 lbs (1.9 kg) (10Trusted Source).

However, more recent reviews observe less dramatic effects. This may have to do with the different types of fiber studied (11Trusted Source, 12Trusted Source).

More viscous types of fiber like pectins, beta-glucans and guar gum seem more filling than less viscous types of fiber (12Trusted Source, 13Trusted Source, 14).

What's more, few negative effects have been linked to high-fiber diets. Fiber-rich foods often contain many other beneficial nutrients, including vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and helpful plant compounds (11Trusted Source, 12Trusted Source).

Therefore, opting for a diet containing sufficient fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts and seeds can also promote long-term health.

BOTTOM LINE:Eating a fiber-rich diet can decrease hunger and help you eat fewer calories. It can also promote long-term health.

3. Pick Solids Over Liquids

Solid calories and liquid calories can affect appetite differently.

One recent review found that compared to a solid snack, people who ate a liquid snack were 38% less likely to compensate by eating less at the next meal (15Trusted Source).

In a second study, participants who were fed a semi-solid snack reported less hunger, a lower desire to eat and a greater sensation of fullness than those fed a liquid snack (16Trusted Source).

Solids require more chewing, which can grant more time for the fullness signal to reach the brain (17Trusted Source).

Scientists also believe the extra chewing time allows solids to stay in contact with the taste buds for longer, which can also promote feelings of fullness (18Trusted Source).

BOTTOM LINE:Eating your calories rather than drinking them can help you eat less without feeling more hungry.

4. Drink Coffee

Coffee has many benefits for health and sports performance — and may also help decrease your appetite.

Research shows that coffee increases the release of peptide YY (PYY). This hormone is produced in the gut in response to eating and promotes a feeling of fullness (19Trusted Source, 20Trusted Source).

Scientists believe that PYY levels play an important role in determining how much you're likely to eat (21Trusted Source).

Interestingly, decaffeinated coffee may produce the highest reduction in hunger, with effects that last up to three hours after consumption (19Trusted Source).

However, more studies are required to pinpoint exactly how this works.

BOTTOM LINE:Drinking coffee, especially decaf, could help reduce hunger for up to three hours.

5. Fill Up on Water

Drinking water can help decrease the hunger you feel before meals.

It may also increase feelings of fullness following a meal and promote weight loss (22Trusted Source).

In fact, studies show that people who drink two glasses of water immediately before a meal eat 22% less than those who don't drink any water (23Trusted Source).

Scientists believe that about 17 oz (500 ml) of water is sufficient to stretch the stomach enough to send signals of fullness to the brain (23Trusted Source).

That said, water is also known to empty from the stomach quickly. For this tip to work, it may be best to drink the water as close to the meal as possible.

Interestingly, starting your meal with soup may act in the same way.

Researchers observed that eating a bowl of soup immediately before a meal decreased hunger and reduced total calorie intake from the meal by about 100 calories (24Trusted Source).

BOTTOM LINE:Drinking low-calorie liquids before a meal can help you eat fewer calories without leaving you hungry.

6. Eat Mindfully

Under normal conditions, your brain knows whether you're hungry or full.

However, eating quickly or while you're distracted can make it more difficult for your brain to recognize these signals.

Solve this problem by eliminating distractions and focusing on the foods in front of you — a key aspect of mindful eating.

Research shows that practicing mindfulness during meals can help people experience more pleasure while eating. This can help keep the focus on quality rather than quantity, and reduces binge eating behavior (25Trusted Source).

There also seems to be a link between hunger, fullness and what your eyes see.

One experiment offered two identical milkshakes to participants. One was called a "620-calorie indulgence," while the other was given a "120-calorie sensible" label.

Although both groups consumed the same amount of calories, hunger hormone levels dropped more for those who believed they drank the "indulgent" drink (26Trusted Source).

Believing that a drink contains more calories can also activate the brain areas linked to feeling full (27Trusted Source).

How full you feel may be influenced by what you see, and paying attention to what you eat can be very beneficial.

BOTTOM LINE:Eating mindfully has been shown to decrease hunger and increase feelings of fullness. It can also reduce calorie intake and help prevent binge eating.

7. Indulge in Dark Chocolate

The bitterness of dark chocolate is thought to help decrease appetite and diminish cravings for sweets (28Trusted Source).

Researchers also believe the stearic acid in dark chocolate can help slow digestion, further increasing feelings of fullness (29Trusted Source, 30Trusted Source).

Interestingly, the simple act of smelling this treat might produce the same effect.

One study observed that simply smelling 85% dark chocolate decreased both appetite and hunger hormones just as much as actually eating it (31Trusted Source).

Nevertheless, further studies are needed to examine the effects of dark chocolate on feelings of fullness.

BOTTOM LINE:Eating or even just smelling dark chocolate may help diminish appetite and cravings for sweets.

8. Eat Some Ginger

Ginger has been linked to many health benefits. These include reductions in nausea, muscle pain, inflammation and blood sugar levels (32Trusted Source, 33Trusted Source, 34Trusted Source, 35Trusted Source).

Interestingly, recent research adds another benefit to the list: hunger reduction.

One study found that consuming 2 grams of ginger powder diluted in hot water at breakfast reduced the hunger participants felt after the meal (36Trusted Source).

However, this study was small and more research in humans is needed before strong conclusions can be reached.

BOTTOM LINE:Ginger may help decrease feelings of hunger, but more research is needed to confirm this effect.

9. Spice Up Your Meals

Ginger may not be the only hunger-reducing spice.

A recent review examined the effects of capsaicin, found in hot peppers, and capsiate, found in sweet peppers.

It found these compounds may help decrease hunger and increase feelings of fullness (37Trusted Source).

What's more, the ability of these compounds to generate heat may also increase the number of calories burned after a meal (37Trusted Source).

However, these effects have not been seen in all studies and remain small. In addition, people who eat these foods often may develop a tolerance to the effects.

BOTTOM LINE:Compounds found in hot and sweet peppers may help curb hunger and increase fullness, but further research is needed.

10. Eat on Smaller Plates

Reducing the size of your dinnerware can help you unconsciously reduce your meal portions. This is likely to help you consume less food without feeling deprived (38).

Interestingly, this effect can fool even the most aware eater.

For instance, a study observed that even nutrition experts unconsciously served themselves 31% more ice cream when given larger bowls (39Trusted Source).

Another study further reported that participants who served themselves snacks from large bowls ate 142 calories more than those who ate from smaller bowls (40Trusted Source).

BOTTOM LINE:Eating from smaller plates may help you unconsciously eat less without increasing your feelings of hunger.

11. Use a Bigger Fork

The size of your eating utensils may have dramatic effects on how much food you need to feel full.

One study observed that participants who used bigger forks ate 10% less than those eating their meals with a smaller fork (41).

The researchers speculated that small forks may give people the feeling that they are not making much progress in satiating their hunger, leading them to eat more.

Of note, this effect does not seem to apply to the size of all utensils. Larger serving spoons may increase the food eaten at a meal by up to 14.5% (39Trusted Source).

BOTTOM LINE:Using larger forks may help decrease the amount of food needed before reaching fullness.

12. Exercise

Exercise is thought to reduce the activation of brain regions linked to food cravings, which can result in a lower motivation to eat (42Trusted Source).

It can also reduce hunger hormone levels, while increasing feelings of fullness (43Trusted Source).

Research shows that aerobic and resistance exercise are equally effective at influencing hormone levels and the size of a meal eaten after exercise (44Trusted Source).

BOTTOM LINE:Both aerobic and resistance exercise can help increase fullness hormones and lead to reduced hunger and calorie intake.

13. Lose Body Fat Around Your Middle

Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is a hormone that influences appetite and energy balance.

Higher NPY levels are believed to increase appetite and may even change the percentage of calories you store as fat (45).

Interestingly, researchers have discovered that body fat, especially the type found around your organs, may increase production of NPY (46, 47Trusted Source, 48).

Because of this, losing weight around your middle may help reduce your appetite and hunger levels.

14. Get Enough Sleep

Getting enough quality sleep can also help reduce hunger and protect against weight gain.

Studies show that too little sleep can increase hunger and appetite by up to 24%, and decrease levels of some fullness hormones by up to 26% (49Trusted Source, 50Trusted Source).

Research also shows that individuals who sleep less than seven hours per night rate their fullness levels after breakfast as 26% lower (51Trusted Source).

It's worth noting that several studies also link short sleep, generally defined as less than six hours per night, with up to a 55% higher risk of obesity (52Trusted Source, 53Trusted Source, 54Trusted Source, 55Trusted Source, 56Trusted Source).

BOTTOM LINE:Getting at least seven hours of sleep per night is likely to reduce your hunger levels throughout the day.

15. Reduce Your Stress

Excess stress is known to raise levels of the hormone cortisol.

Although the effects can vary between individuals, high cortisol is generally thought to increase food cravings and the drive to eat (57, 58Trusted Source, 59, 60Trusted Source).

Stress may also decrease levels of peptide YY (PYY), a fullness hormone (61).

In a recent experiment, participants ate an average of 22% more calories after a stressful test when compared to a non-stressful version of the same test (62).

Finding ways to reduce your stress levels may not only help curb hunger, but also reduce your risk of obesity and depression (63, 64Trusted Source, 65).

BOTTOM LINE:Reducing your stress levels may help decrease cravings, increase fullness and even protect against depression and obesity.

16. Eat Omega-3 Fats

Omega-3 fats, particularly those found in fish and algae oils, have the ability to increase levels of the fullness hormone leptin (66Trusted Source).

A diet rich in omega-3 fats may also increase fullness after meals when calories are restricted for weight loss (67).

So far, these effects were only observed in overweight and obese participants. More research is needed to see if the same applies in lean people.

BOTTOM LINE:Omega-3 fats may help decrease hunger for overweight and obese people. However, more research is needed in lean individuals.

17. Opt for Protein-Rich Snacks

Snacking is a matter of personal choice.

If it's part of your daily routine, you may want to choose snacks that are high-protein rather than high-fat.

High-protein snacks can increase feelings of fullness and decrease total calorie intake at the following meal.

For instance, a high-protein yogurt decreases hunger more effectively than high-fat crackers or a high-fat chocolate snack (68Trusted Source).

High-protein yogurt eaten in the afternoon may also help you eat approximately 100 fewer calories at dinner, compared to the other two options (68Trusted Source, 69Trusted Source).

BOTTOM LINE:Eating a protein-rich snack will likely decrease hunger and may prevent you from overeating at your next meal.

18. Visualize Eating the Foods You Crave

According to some researchers, picturing yourself indulging in the foods you crave most may actually decrease your desire to eat them.

In one experiment, 51 participants first imagined eating either three or 33 M&Ms before being given access to a bowl of the candy. Those who imagined eating more M&Ms ate 60% less of the candy, on average (70Trusted Source).

The researchers found the same effect when they repeated the experiment using cheese instead of M&Ms (70Trusted Source).

It seems that the visualization exercise may trick your mind into believing you've already eaten the desired foods, significantly decreasing your craving for them.

BOTTOM LINE:Visualizing yourself eating the foods you crave may reduce your desire to eat them.

Take Home Message

Hunger is an important and natural signal that should not be ignored.

The tips mentioned here are just a few simple ways to reduce your appetite and hunger between meals.

If you've tried these things but still find you're excessively hungry, consider talking to a healthcare professional about your options.

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