The article is talking about time-of-day-dependent intake of protein affecting total daily calorie intake: "They then plotted energy intake versus the time

The article is talking about time-of-day-dependent intake of protein affecting total daily calorie intake: "They then plotted energy intake versus the time of consumption and found that the pattern matched that predicted by the Protein Leverage Hypothesis. Those who consumed lower amounts of protein in their first meal of the day went on to increase their overall food intake in subsequent meals, whereas those who received the recommended amount of protein did not -- and, in fact, declined their food intake throughout the day." It's like your body is extrapolating the amount of eating necessary for the day to get the needed total amount of protein based on the protein content in your first meal of the day.