Many people skip meals in an effort to lose weight, simplify eating, or avoid calories. But for some people, especially those with blood sugar instability, high stress, hormone imbalance, fatigue, or HPA axis dysfunction, skipping meals can do more harm than good. We often see patients who are unintentionally stressing their body through long gaps without food. Their body is compensating with cravings, fatigue, stress hormone spikes, poor sleep, and metabolic slowdown.