Is it possible to gain weight on just 2 Meals a day?

[El_Mero_Mero]

I'm not a gym guy, but that doesn't mean that I wouldn't want to become one. I respect the discipline that y'all have.

I average about 160 lbs. Barefoot, I'm somewhere between 5'8 and 5'9. I'm pretty light and ectomorph status, but I have some digestive issues too (it's true, but it's also excuses, I acknowledge that).

Main point, I was hearing this guy Mark Sisson talk and he has a book called: "Two Meals a Day: The Simple, Sustainable Strategy to Lose Fat, Reverse Aging, and Break Free from Diet Frustration Forever". I have no idea if the book is any good at all, but while promoting it, he did mention something like:

Eat in the Evening, and then don't eat again until like 2:30pm (this ends up being like a 16-18 hour fast every single day). Of course, this would take time for someone to get used to, but this kind of intermittent fasting is possible.

My question is, the experts say that you need between 2500-3000 calories per day to maintain or gain body weight. If I'm only eating 2 meals per day, this would mean that I'd have to eat about 1,500 calories per meal. While it is not impossible, it also probably has some detriments to it. Plus, if I'm including fiber (which I definitely should), I'd end up crapping alot of it out if I try to eat too much at once (at least, that's my theory). I'm pretty sure that working out while practicing this kind of dietary routine would make me ripped, but I'd rather be semi-muscular at 180 pounds, than ripped at 160 lbs.

Is it possible to go from like 160-180 lbs with only eating twice a day?

I'm not going to start this right now, so please don't ask for any progress reports (I'm mostly just pondering the possibilities.). Any info. or links to people that have done what I'm describing would be greatly appreciated. Also, blunt honest "nah! You gotta eat, boy!" is also appreciated as well. Thanks.

 

[The ADD]

A lot of issues here:

• You are trying to fit a weigh loss/weigh management strategy in to a muscle building strategy. This from start should tell you it’s not likely to work
• You stated that you aren’t gym guy so trying to truly build muscle without that in the mix is a non-starter. Granted you may say you will start but there will be a disconnect with just starting in the gym and trying to bulk. Generally I would advise against it. Better to have a base of training first so you can truly build once you add in the extra cals.
• You can’t/shouldn’t use random numbers like 2500-3000 as a caloric goal. You have to dial it in to your needs.
• 1,500 cals of quality food featuring protein in one sitting is a fukking lot. More than likely you will have trouble hitting that consistently thus getting the required macros in won’t happen and you won’t make progress.
• If you are trying to gain muscle 3-5 quality servings of protein over the course of the day is likely more optimal that trying get that same number protein grams in over two meal.
  • You are lighter so you would be shoot for 160 grams of protein per day roughly. Over two meals that is of course 80 grams, that’s going to be roughly 360 and now you’ve got to fill the other 1,200. Point being that’s a lot of food at one sitting consistently day after day.
• 20 pounds of lean muscle is a project. You aren’t doing that quickly with minimal fat gain.

 

[El_Mero_Mero]

A lot of issues here:

• You are trying to fit a weigh loss/weigh management strategy in to a muscle building strategy.

I really appreciate your detailed answer.

My concern is that switching to two meals a day is going to cause me to lose weight, so that's why I was trying to see if there was a way that I can actually gain weight to try to counteract that. I'm going to try to get on such a plan for health reasons, and then ramp it up meal-wise (i.e. 2 meals + snack, 2 meals + 2 snacks, etc.) as my health hopefully improves.

I weighed in at 158 tonight. I hope that if I switch to two meals a day I won't drop any lower than 150. There was one time during my adult life that I was super stressed out and I was around 138 lbs. I'm not trying to get down to that much. The issue is that once I eliminate junk food, I feel like it becomes easier to lose weight (common sense).

Thanks again.

 

[The ADD]

I really appreciate your detailed answer.

My concern is that switching to two meals a day is going to cause me to lose weight, so that's why I was trying to see if there was a way that I can actually gain weight to try to counteract that. I'm going to try to get on such a plan for health reasons, and then ramp it up meal-wise (i.e. 2 meals + snack, 2 meals + 2 snacks, etc.) as my health hopefully improves.

I weighed in at 158 tonight. I hope that if I switch to two meals a day I won't drop any lower than 150. There was one time during my adult life that I was super stressed out and I was around 138 lbs. I'm not trying to get down to that much. The issue is that once I eliminate junk food, I feel like it becomes easier to lose weight (common sense).

Thanks again.

IF is at its core a calorie restriction method so yes it’s likely that you will lose weight when you limit your meals to a smaller window of time.

 

[Son Goku]

Cosigning everything @The ADD said.

Furthermore:
1) What experts said 2500-3000 cals was for gaining weight? If you are an "ectomorph" (there's really no such thing as human phenotypes), 2500-3000 calories ain't it. If you do gain weight at such a low intake, you aren't "ecto", you're just skinny-fat.

2) What do digestive issues have to do with eating two meals? Can you not eat certain foods, can you not eat more than twice a day, or what? It's gonna be rough eating 1500 plus calorie meals every sitting, even if it's only twice a day.

Also remember, as your weight goes up your caloric intake will have ro increase too. What happens when you need 4000 cals a day to gain? See why eating only eating two meals a day isn't it?

Going from 160-180 is definitely possible for some. Is it for you? We can't answer that yet.

(I went from 150-213 at my highest, lean. )

 

[El_Mero_Mero]

Cosigning everything @The ADD said.

Furthermore:
1) What experts said 2500-3000 cals was for gaining weight? If you are an "ectomorph" (there's really no such thing as human phenotypes), 2500-3000 calories ain't it. If you do gain weight at such a low intake, you aren't "ecto", you're just skinny-fat.

2) What do digestive issues have to do with eating two meals? Can you not eat certain foods, can you not eat more than twice a day, or what? It's gonna be rough eating 1500 plus calorie meals every sitting, even if it's only twice a day.

Also remember, as your weight goes up your caloric intake will have ro increase too. What happens when you need 4000 cals a day to gain? See why eating only eating two meals a day isn't it?

Going from 160-180 is definitely possible for some. Is it for you? We can't answer that yet.

(I went from 150-213 at my highest, lean. )

I appreciate your answers too.

Going from 150 to 213 is very impressive. I'm assuming you probably had to have been eating like five times a day for that.

Right now I'm having some slower digestion and motility issues. Due to this, eating too much throughout the day will likely lead to constipation and then that leads to other issues.

I guess that if I started working out everyday this would probably cause me to want to eat more. I would eventually want to find a balance and incorporate IF though because it seems like it has alot of health positives.

Once again, I really appreciate both of y'all breaking it down and letting me know that this kind of weight gain is not really possible on IF. I just gotta figure these health issues out and then get a realistic plan.

 

[The ADD]

I appreciate your answers too.

Going from 150 to 213 is very impressive. I'm assuming you probably had to have been eating like five times a day for that.

Right now I'm having some slower digestion and motility issues. Due to this, eating too much throughout the day will likely lead to constipation and then that leads to other issues.

I guess that if I started working out everyday this would probably cause me to want to eat more. I would eventually want to find a balance and incorporate IF though because it seems like it has alot of health positives.

Once again, I really appreciate both of y'all breaking it down and letting me know that this kind of weight gain is not really possible on IF. I just gotta figure these health issues out and then get a realistic plan.

Only thing I would add is that for the supposed benefits that IF give, they don’t supersede a reasonable nutrition and training plan that work better directly for you as opposed to make changes to accommodate IF that don’t. For example I used IF for a long time while lifting in the AM eventually it became counterproductive to train hard in the morning and then not eat until Noon.

 

[Son Goku]

I appreciate your answers too.

Going from 150 to 213 is very impressive. I'm assuming you probably had to have been eating like five times a day for that.

Right now I'm having some slower digestion and motility issues. Due to this, eating too much throughout the day will likely lead to constipation and then that leads to other issues.

I guess that if I started working out everyday this would probably cause me to want to eat more. I would eventually want to find a balance and incorporate IF though because it seems like it has alot of health positives.

Once again, I really appreciate both of y'all breaking it down and letting me know that this kind of weight gain is not really possible on IF. I just gotta figure these health issues out and then get a realistic plan.

Only thing I would add is that for the supposed benefits that IF give, they don’t supersede a reasonable nutrition and training plan that work better directly for you as opposed to make changes to accommodate IF that don’t. For example I used IF for a long time while lifting in the AM eventually it became counterproductive to train hard in the morning and then not eat until Noon.

Yeah, I’m cool off that IF stuff. I get hangry eating light meals and snacks on the regular; not eating for more than half the day is an absolute no-go.

Also leery of any supposed health “benefits” of inducing starvation. Just seems like a way for folks to either do IIFYM but call it something else, or else moderate calories if their intakes are too high. My intake is too low, especially without fast food and weight gainer being mandatory.