Q: Dear Jillian, I’ve heard that lunch should be the biggest meal of the day. What do you think?

A: This is a good question and one that I get a lot with regard to the timing of meals. The answer is a bit tricky. While research has shown us repeatedly that if you eat the exact same amount of calories you will lose or gain the exact same amount of weight, the timing of your calorie intake has a tremendous amount of influence on how many calories you will actually consume.

For example, studies show that people who skip meals tend to overeat in meals later on in the day and ultimately take in more calories overall than the person who doesn’t. Eating small meals throughout the day has also been shown to cause higher calorie intake. Some think that strategy causes people to lose track of their calorie intake and since they never sit down to have a full, satiating meal, they unconsciously graze and never feel satisfied.

In addition, there has been some question of body composition and meal timing/calorie intake. Some research has shown that when one eats frequently throughout the day their insulin levels are surging all day which causes them to burn less fat. So even though they might still be thin, they might not necessarily be lean. Another factor that can contribute to this issue would be consuming carbs at night. We release most of our fat-burning, muscle-building, anti-aging hormone, HGH, during our first cycle of sleep. Insulin inhibits the production of HGH (hence the reason you may have heard that if your kid eats too much sugar it will stunt their growth – this is actually true). So, trying to avoid starch or sugar at night, within two hours of sleep, is a smart weight-loss strategy.

Overall, my recommendation is to consume four meals – one every three to four hours. This breaks down as follows: breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner. It doesn’t matter how you disperse your calories over the course of these meals as long as you stick to your calorie allowance. That said, if you do decide to add starches and sugar to your midday meal - to avoid consuming them right before bedtime - you just may find that your lunch actually does become your biggest meal of the day.



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