I started doing intermittent fasting about 15 years ago, and I have been on and off some form of it ever since.
For a long time, I would go through stretches where I fasted for 16 to 18 hours a day and ate just two meals. It worked well for both losing and maintaining my weight.
A few years ago, I decided I needed to eat more than twice a day to optimize muscle protein synthesis, lean mass, and muscle building.
Since then, I've switched back and forth between two and three meals, and while eating three meals did help me add some lean mass, there were periods where I gained weight too quickly, resulting in unwanted fat gain.
I am currently in one of those periods right now. I noticed my waist has crept up about half an inch, which isn’t a crisis by any means (especially since my meticulous tracking caught it early).
But my long-term goal is to optimize my body composition: shrinking my waist while keeping my body weight the same or ideally growing it (which means gaining lean mass while losing fat).
My last DEXA scan was around 19% body fat, and I want to get it below 15%. Now that I am in my 40s, I know this will not be a quick fix; it will likely take two to three years of conscious dieting, consistent training, and progressive overload.
To get back on track, I am temporarily reverting back to a two-meal-per-day structure to lose some body fat.
Sticking to three meals a day makes cutting harder for me because I am a smaller guy. My maintenance calories are around 1,800 to 1,900. If I eat three meals, I am limited to about 600 calories per meal, which makes it nearly impossible to eat big, satisfying dinners, which I tend to do because I eat out a lot. So, my current strategy is:
- Fast through the morning: This allows me to be productive and not think about food.
- Optional light snack: On training days, I might have some fruit or a protein shake to hold me over and get an extra protein feeding in.
- Early afternoon lunch: A light meal of about 500-600 calories.
- Dinner: This leaves me with about 1,000 calories to play with. If I eat out, 1,000 calories still allows for a decent-sized meal while maintaining a 200-300 calorie deficit. If I eat a normal meal at home, it puts me in an even larger deficit of 400-500 calories.
Either way, this structure makes it easier for me to maintain a consistent deficit for fat loss. I’ve already noticed the upward trend on weight and waist reversing after only a few days.
If you are stuck on a body composition plateau, the non-negotiables you must always focus on are hitting your calorie and protein targets and getting adequate nutrients from fruits and vegetables to support your overall health.
Beyond those fundamentals, you have a lot of flexibility with your meal timing and structure, so find what works best for you.