I don't think you should ever skip meals. It's usually best to to have 4-6 small meals throughout the dayl. If you know you're going to have a large meal, just don't go crazy with the earlier meals of the day.

I don't think you should skip a meal. I think you should just budget your calories accordingly if you know that you may be consuming a little more for dinner.

Bigger than what? We need a reference to know what bigger is.

It's okay to skip a meal as long as you don't use that as an excuse to gorge yourself later.

@Jason - Looks like you're using "news" to support your opinion. Eating multiple times a day is healthy, it is easy on digestion and I'm never hungry - ever. That way I never over eat and don't have that full stomach feeling that people get when eating large meals. Plus, when I eat every two to three hours, the last hour is burning fat, since I've already processed the meal I had before.

Moonfly, in reality, it all depends on where you’re at with your process, what progress you’ve made or need to make, what are your goals, how, when & why are you training & of course who you are (your habits, self control, self will, etc).

At the end of the day, it’s all about calories in & calories out & the types of foods you consume. For those who are in a “maintenance phase” (have hit a series of their short term goals & may have hit their long term initiative), skipping a meal may be feasible, but if you’re new to this process of becoming healthier & you’re still in the process of breaking bad habits & implementing a new way of life, I would encourage you to build a solid base, infrastructure & habits.

The challenge with skipping a meal, in my opinion, is that people tend to over eat, binge & make poor nutritional choices if they get to a certain point where they feel the “tank” is empty or overly hungry. If your goal is to hit a certain caloric number in order to lose weight, blowing through that number, especially early on or when you’re in the process of learning new & healthy habits can be problematic. Long-term, think macro, early in the process, think micro & every day counts towards achieving your goals.

Tony

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/feb/18/fasting-protect-brain-diseases-scientists

http://www.leangains.com/2010/10/top-ten-fasting-myths-debunked.html

Don't sweat it, moonfly. Skip the meal if you want to for crying outload. You might actually become healthier that way. (Visit the links above to find out the HOWS and WHYS). There isn't anything magical about high frequency eating. In fact, there are very lean (and healthy) people who eat only 1-3 meals a day.

The "stoking the metabolic fire" with high meal frequency myth has been dubunked MANY times already (see above) so not sure why people clutch onto it for dear life! Do some research on your own -it's NOT NEW- instead of getting your "research" from the news, Biggest Loser or the newest diet book.