The following idea is from Walden, by Henry David Thoreau, published in 1854. Walden is a book about a man who spends 2 years and 2 months living alone in a cabin in the woods next to a pond. Read my mini-review and overall impressions here.
Simplify, simplify. Instead of three meals a day, if it be necessary eat but one.
~Henry David Thoreau, Walden
Trivial though this topic may be, it tickles my fancy to think about it. Custom, of course, dictates that we eat three meals per day: breakfast, lunch, dinner. Lately, though, it has been the fashion in our society to say that 5 or 6 small meals per day is actually healthier.
I have found that if I am left to my own devices, away from the influence of those around me, my body reverts to a preference of one large meal per day. I eat when I am hungry, and then I completely forget my hunger until it returns about 24 hours later. Sometimes it returns sooner, sometimes later.
Why should I eat 6 meals per day? At that rate by the time I am done with one meal, it will already be time to begin cooking the next! Must I spend my entire day cooking and eating? What else will I have time to think about?
From my study of hunter-gatherers, I can tell you the the human body is equipped to deal with a large variety of eating schedules. Sometimes they must go for days without eating, and then gorge themselves on a single meal. And have you ever seen a human body more fit and healthy than those of hunter-gatherers?
What Next?
