I'm going to be having a big meal at night, like for a banquet or a holiday party and there probably won't be any healthy food there, should I cut back on my food earlier in the day?

What you're describing is commonly known as "banking calories" which is analagous to saving calories like mo-ney because you're going to consume more later.

The answer is NO - you should NOT do this!

Here's why and here's what you should do instead:

If you skip meals or eat less earlier in the day to "prepare" (bank calories) for a big feast at night, you are thinking only in terms of calories, but you are depriving yourself of the valuable nutrition you need in terms of protein (amino acids), carbohydrates, essential fats, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that come from healthy food, as well as the small frequent meals required to stoke the furnace of your metabolism.

Not only that, but eating less early in the day in anticipation for overeating later in the day is much more likely to increase your appetitite, causing you to binge or eat much more than you thought you would at night when the big meal does arrive.

In fact, eating healthy food as usual earlier in the day is likely to make you LESS hungry for the holiday party meal and you'll be more likey to eat only a harmlessly small amount of "party" foods.

I dont like the concept of "banking calories." Your body doesn't work that way - it tends to seek equilibrium by adjusting your appetite to the point where you consume the same total amount of calories in the end anyway.

Furthermore, even if it worked the way you wanted it to, why would you eat less (starve) in an attempt to burn more fat, then overeat (binge) and put the fat right back on? Why allow yourself to put on fat in the first place?

It's the starving and bingeing pattern that causes more damage than an occasional oversize meal. Some dieticians might even argue that this kind of behavior borders on disordered eating.

A better approach is to stay on your regular menu of healthy foods and small meals through the entire day - business as usual - and then go ahead and enjoy yourself at your party by treating yourself to a SMALL amount of "BAD" food.

Here's a quote from chapter 6 in the Burn The Fat ebook (http://www.leehayward.com/burn_the_fat.htm):

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Corollary two of the law of calorie balance:

Small amounts of ANYTHING - even junk food- will probably not be stored as fat as long as you are in a calorie deficit where you are eating fewer calories than you burn up

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That should be a big relief for you to know that When you're at a party, a banquet, dining out or eating at a relative's house for a special occasion, you can eat whatever you want with little or no ill effect on body composition as long as you respect the law of calorie balance.

However, you CANNOT starve and binge and expect not to reap negative consequences.

If you sincerely want to burn fat and be healthy, then you have to have the discipline to stick with your nutrition plan consistently and control your portion sizes, but you dont have to completely deny yourself either.

You can learn much more about calories, metabolism and fat burning foods by visiting Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle!