Women who consume a meal a day and who swear that it is the secret to tame their

A great breakfast, a hearty lunch and a hearty dinner, with some snacks in between to keep us going. This is the way most of us eat.

After all, we are often told that three meals a day are the best way to keep our energy.

But now, the conventional wisdom is being reversed by the rise of scientifically supported fasting diets, such as the Michael Mosley 5-2 diet, which advocates two days a week to consume only 800 calories and diets where meals are replaced by dieting. shaken

To be hungry even has the seal of the royal crown: Prince Charles, who was barely 70 years old, had recently appeared thin on the beach in the Caribbean. He swore to "flee" for his evening meal and skip lunch.

Now there is an even more extreme catch: having a healthy and balanced diet, but only taking one meal a day. Fans of One Meal A Day (OMAD) have created many groups and subscribers on social networks, women in their forties and fifties using it as a way to prevent a middle-aged spread. But is it really safe?

According to nutritionist Dr. Deborah Pufal, of Huddersfield University, "It's another diet that involves fasting and is not sustainable for long-term weight loss. During menopause, women shed more fat around the stomach. Disturbingly, the temptation is to engage in low calorie diets for aesthetic reasons and not for health reasons.

"The modern mentality that a diet must be extreme to function is also harmful.

"So many women fall into this trap and, even if they lose weight, they walk in a state of famine," she says.

She warns that limiting meals to one a day will also mean that diets are lacking in calcium and iron.

"If we do not get enough iron, we feel tired. It is easy to put these symptoms on menopause when, for example, if you have more red meat, you can take care of it. After menopause, women need calcium for their bones.

"And while caffeine is an excellent stimulant, it causes the excretion of more calcium.

"Such a diet may destroy our relationship with food. The obsession with eating healthy means that "food mess" is the norm in women today.

But OMAD lifestyle followers do not agree. Here, four women tell us how they survive with just one meal a day and that they simply could not live any other way …

It's worth it to be a size 10 again

53-year-old science writer Sue Pearson is married and has two grown children. She lives in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. She says:

Last spring, I had one of those moments of achievement that changed your life. I was reviewing some photos and one in particular jumped on it.

The picture looked like me, but wore a big suit. I was dumb. After being 51 years old, I gained almost two stones. I had almost ten stones, it was the heaviest of all my lives and I felt really angry with myself.

I knew that this weight gain was mainly due to menopause. It has slipped from September 2017 to April 2018 during a cold winter. I ate more and did not exercise enough. I just bought bigger clothes and blame the weather.

Going down to a main meal a day was a no-brainer.

At breakfast, my husband and daughter are doing fine, my son is in college and I just have a cappuccino. The milk is filling up and the caffeine gives me concentration. There is no one to take care of lunch either. Even though I work at home, my office is far from the kitchen and the temptation is out of my way. From time to time, I nibble some nuts and seeds.

My husband, my daughter and I sit down for my only meal at 6pm. We enjoy the camaraderie in the kitchen and prefer to cook from scratch. A typical dinner consists of chicken fillet roasted with olive oil and garlic. I will have two or three roasted potatoes, with vegetables covered with sauce.

I assure myself that half of the plate is composed of vegetables and the other of meat and carbohydrates. I can sometimes let myself go and eat a pudding on weekends, but not the week. I restrict alcohol to weekends too. I'll have a glass of red wine or offer one or two tonics to the maximum and a tonic extra-flat.

According to my Fitbit, I eat between 1,100 and 1,500 calories a day (as part of a healthy and balanced diet, a man needs about 2,500 a day to maintain his weight. this figure is about 2,000 per day, according to the NHS.).

I do Zumba twice a week and three miles walk twice a week.

I reached my target weight of 8 lbs 2 lbs last July and have maintained it ever since. It's hard work but I like the appearance of my body. For me, the feeling of occasional hunger is worth it to stay healthy.

I recently had a checkup over 50 years old and my blood sugar and cholesterol levels were exactly the same. That's why I'm holding on to that.

I live six times a day

Lesley Roberts, 53, a full-time mother, and Amber, 26, and Jackson, 23, have a grandson. She is divorced and lives in Accrington, Lancashire. She says:

As soon as I get up every morning, I have a cup of coffee or two. It would not occur to me to eat something. I have never been breakfast.

Even when the children were small, I would not eat it.

Throughout my adult life, my weight has fluctuated from 10 to 10 lbs. At 15, I was an adult and weighed 10th.

I always have jean shorts cut since the age of 15 years. If I feel that I'm getting fat, I try to take it!

I work as a full time caregiver and there is no time to stop. I drive a minibus for most of the day.

I simply do not need calories that a person with a physically demanding job, such as a builder, would need. However, I have to concentrate and concentrate.

On the rare occasions when I have eaten something at lunch time, I feel sleepy afterwards. I did it all my adult life except during my two pregnancies.

I put three stones on my first and five stones during the second pregnancy.

It was hard to lose baby weight, but cutting meals always worked.

Since then, it's my favorite method to keep my figure under control.

That's why I live coffee all day, surviving at least half a dozen. Caffeine keeps me going.

If I am honest, I appreciate the physical feeling of feeling hungry when my stomach contracts. It's rare for my belly to gargle, but if it does, it stops after a coffee.

I enjoy eating and I look forward to my only meal of the day. I never eat in front of the television, I always put the table and prepare a bowl of soup with sprinkled cheese and a big piece of ciabatta bread. I always make sure I have eaten before 18 hours so that my body can digest it well. I try to avoid eating much later.

I probably have about 1,000 calories a day, which is more than enough and I savor every bite.

On the occasion of an extended day of work, I will be too tired or just forget to eat.

But I am aware that my body needs food. I would move away if I did not have that meal.

I do not understand people who eat three meals a day. How can they work after?

My body works well like this. I am fit and active and this lifestyle is what my body prefers.

I am not a saint – I still love pizza

Bryony Farrow, 47, is a married dog walker with two children aged 23 and 16. They live in Warrington. She says:

I practice the lifestyle with one meal a day since August 2016. I lost about 10 lbs during the first 12 weeks and I kept it.

When I was 40, I was diagnosed with perimenopause.

For 20 years I have been suffering from endometriosis, the symptoms suddenly broke out and I remained confined to my bed.

The medications meant that I felt sleepy all the time and that I could not function properly during the day.

I felt fat and slow. Even though I was working and watching what I ate, it did not make any difference to my weight.

I started studying the benefits of fasting. I discovered that eating a meal a day was a concept that worked for women of my age.

Either way, I had never eaten breakfast, so skipping lunch did not seem impossible.

I planned my day to make sure to eat only one meal between 5pm and 6pm and to have tea or coffee – about four cups – all day long.

After a few days, I was no longer hungry. I have never felt sick, tired or dizzy because of the "lack" of food.

At first, my family and friends thought I was angry and I had to constantly justify myself.

Before I started, I had 10 pounds and I now weigh 9 pounds. Yet, the biggest change has been the freedom that it has given me in my relationship with food.

I had spent years trying to diet after each other. All the concerns about calorie counting have just disappeared.

There is no weighing, calculation, guilt or excessive thinking about food. I eat what I want and if I "eat too much" during my meal, it does not matter.

I estimate that I consume between 1,800 and 2,000 calories a day. I cook from scratch and I love a roast dinner on Sunday.

In the week, spaghetti bolognese with garlic bread and a salad are the favorites.

I also have low calorie jelly, fresh fruit and ice cream. I also eat a lot of vegetables. I'm not a saint, though – I always have a pizza when I feel like it! I do not drink in the week, but I enjoy a cider or two on the weekends.

When I go out with the girls, they are generous and know that we must eat as soon as possible.

Almost three years later, my mind is totally free from incessant food thoughts.

One of the most surprising health benefits is a year after adopting this new lifestyle that my endometriosis has improved considerably. I am full of energy and I do not have the same pain.

My health has changed so much that I recently canceled my hysterectomy.

It is to eat a meal a day that I eat healthier foods and that I feel fantastic.

I do not eat with the family anymore

Lisa Walker, a 49-year-old stay-at-home mom, is married with two children aged 15 and 12. She lives in Market Rasen, Lincolnshire. She says:

The decision to start eating a meal a day came four years ago. I was forty years old and weighed 11 and a half stones.

I struggled with my weight for two decades and could not change it while eating three meals a day.

A friend recommended a nine-day diet, low in calories.

The first three days were fasting and were supplemented with an aloe vera drink and supplements.

The last six days I have had 600 calorie meals.

Throughout the week of fasting, I had really thought about why I ate three meals a day.

I realized that I had never really been hungry when I ate, I just had not questioned the notion that our society is geared towards breakfast, lunch and dinner without worrying about anything.

Although I lost 9 pounds after the nine day diet, the much more beneficial result is that I have gained a better understanding of my body and its relationship with food.

Eating a meal a day seemed like the solution to keeping my figure at a healthy weight.

I hated having more than 11 stones. Today, I weigh 9 pounds.

For breakfast, I have a coffee consisting of coffee and water. I take supplements, including a multivitamin, vitamin B12 and turmeric.

The keystroke allows me to continue until noon, at which time I will take my only meal of the day.

I will normally make a sandwich with two slices of brown whole grain bread, filled with tofu scrambled in vegan mayonnaise with a salad, followed by a packet of hoops. For pudding, I'll have a vegan yoghurt or vegan pie.

Throughout the day, I sip fizzy water. I guess I consume about 1500 calories a day and I walk four miles a day with my two dogs.

And that's all for the day. Sometimes, if I'm hungry, I'll take an apple, but I usually end the day with a latte.

Certainly, I do not eat with the family. Children are at this stage of their lives where they do not really notice.

Even on the weekends, it is unlikely to happen. I am never tempted to join them when they eat their evening meal. In the past, I found that if I ate again around 18 hours, I would be nauseated.

Whenever I'm invited, I tell people right from the start. The typical reaction is that of an alarm that I am going to hurt myself.

It frustrates me to feel obligated to apologize all the time. But the advantage is that it's not a diet, it's a way of life.