>For example, if a person ate a basket of chicken wings to satisfy their caloric needs, and ate exclusively vegetables, fruits, and other low calorie foods the rest of the day to satisfy their nutritional needs
This sounds very much like the premise of The Warrior Diet, in which one eats raw plants from waking to dinnertime just to mitigate hunger, and then eats a BIG feast of cooked foods at dinner, starting with protein and finishing with carbs. Or something like that. It's been years since I read that book, so my memory may be off.
I began dieting like a warrior about six months ago, and I am 100% convinced it is the way humans evolved to eat.
The diet can be traced back to Spartan warriors, who were nomads, and eating during the day was not an option. Feasting, drinking, and socializing at night was the way of life for these warriors. The three meals a day thing started when food became more abundant through agriculture. Do you think the warriors could take the time and energy to eat and digest their food during the day? No way. Digesting takes energy, and during sleep is the optimal time for it.
I will go far as to say calories in/calories out is a terrible method of nutrition control. Especially if you are counting using labels on food or using the MyFitnessPal database. First, each of us digests nutrition in very different ways based on our nutrition practices and good ole biology. Second, the amount of chewing has a great impact on calorie absorption, especially when eating fruits and vegetables. Third, the amount of food your body can absorb in a certain period of time is limited. If you eat 3000 calories at once, your body will not utilize every single calorie.
I have first hand experience with this. Two weeks ago, I binged like I have never binged before, and before I was on this diet, I once ate 12 pints of ice cream in one week after racing a half-ironman and immediately backpacking six days through Yosemite National Park. But this was worse. I am talking massive ingesting, on the magnitude of 10,000 calories per day. Each on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday (holiday weekend). The main source of calories was terrible junk food, trail mix, beef jerky, marshmallows, potato chips, Clif bars, gnarly nonsense. After the weekend, I weighed myself on Tuesday morning, 180. 15 pounds heavier. Two days later after practicing this diet, my weight had stabilized at 165 again. AND, I caught a gnarly head cold. My immune system was extremely compromised.
Anyway, a better method of nutrition control is listening to your body and being aware of your satiety and satiation while you eat. This is the most important factor in practicing the warrior diet. Numbers aren't going to tell you how much you should and should not ingest, but your body will. Get full. Get satisfied. This will give you a mental lethargy (food coma), and it will help you sleep.
I am 6'2, 26 years old, and before I started this lifestyle, I was consistently around 170-175 pounds. This eating like a normal American, three meals a day, getting 100+ grams of protein (completely ridiculous by the way, I average less than 75 now). I am a triathlete, so weight is very important for training and racing. After starting and practicing this diet, without calorie counting, and solely paying attention to how my body reacted to nutrition at the time I was eating, I am now consistently between 160-165, and it is really difficult for me to increase or decrease this body weight. This is a natural body weight for me on this nutrition plan.
As a daily example, I do all my training in the morning. During the day, I eat a banana, an orange, a handful of raw nuts, and coconut oil in coffee. Since it berry season, I have been eating delicious berries as well. This keeps me satiated until the main meal, between 6-8 normally. I usually go out to eat, start with a salad (sometimes two) and soup. Following it with a source of protein, meat or other, if my body needs it, and then filling up with quinoa or other gluten-free grain. Sometimes, I will also eat a large pizza. If I have a large training load. I end the day with Kombucha for healthy gut bacteria (another differentiator in how many calories you can absorb).
If you really care about implementing this diet, I would suggest reading this book.