I'm currently in a weight loss phase and I'm feeling some contradictions: - To get enough to eat for muscle gain requires eating more times in the day[^1] - To lose weight effectively I like to skip breakfast and often lunch - To sleep well it's best not to eat close to bedtime[^2] Thus, you have to prioritize. The easiest way to lose weight, for me, is to simply not eat during most of the day. This is _much easier_ than eating at normal times but eating less. Don't remind your body about food. However, that strategy makes it much harder to get enough protein and calories to maintain muscle. So I have to choose which to prioritize. Unfortunately for my weight loss, this past week I've gone against my scheduled weight loss program and chosen to eat regularly and early. Try to be done eating by 5pm, and done drinking liquids by 6pm to avoid an overnight trip to the bathroom. This is all my verbose way of saying it was much easier when the goal was simply weight loss. Don't eat, and also don't worry about losting muscle. [^1]: At least for me personally getting 200g of protein on less than 3 meals a day would be very difficult. That's a huge amount of food to eat in one sitting, and once you're done with the protein you still need to hit a high enough calorie count to maintain energy for your next workout. [^2]: I'm not sure this actually has an effect for me personally, but for some people this is true. Even so, I try to adhere to this advice just in case. Thus far I've not been able to say with certainty why I sleep poorly sometimes. I'm still trying to figure it out.