JC_suburbangothcatmom's Journal, 13 November 2023

I did OMAD years ago but must admit I was not eating right when I did it. I hope someone who is good at it will help.  

I’m glad you posted this. I had to google because I didn’t know what OMAD meant. One meal a day. That’s an interesting concept. I’m going to research it a bit. For instance I wonder if a person can drink broth or bouillon if you are hungry before your one meal? I like the concept especially because I hate cleaning up the kitchen! 

good luck sorry no help here my longest fast us 8 hours of sleep lol  

I do my own version of Omad most days. It started with intermittent fasting where I ate from about 6-7am until 2pm or so. I have coffee in the morning, sometimes with a piece of toast or1/4 bagel. Later in the day I'll have a meal of sorts. Sometimes it's oatmeal. Lately I've been making an Asian chicken salad. I don't cook much. I'll have a cup of tea later in the day if I need something. I always drink a large glass, 16 ounces of fat free milk late in the day for additional protein. I don't do Omad on purpose, I just kind of ended up there 

Good luck to you as you start back on your routine 👍 

I've known multiple people who have found omad to be a big help to food addiction and it could be very helpful to weight less as a whole, my biggest caution would be to eat very nutritionally dense meals that are large meals of high and good quality. Because you're only eating one meal to be very careful to be very nutrient dense because it's difficult to get all your nutrients into just one meal and to remain healthy. In addition there's the issue that you only have so much stomach room so you must choose which nutrients to select carefully and because all food has volume obviously some things like leafy green will take up more volume then say proteins. It's an extremely helpful method for losing weight though. You might want to add some supplementation of vitamins well implementing omad into your routine to cover any nutritional deficiencies that you may run into. There are lots of guided websites online that talk about healthy ways to follow an omad diet and keep deficiencies in check and how to be successful while doing so. I'm glad you have made the choice to positively affect your health and well-being I hope that this choice will be the most effective path for you to do that. Now if you have any issues with your blood sugar dropping or going low I do caution you that this can be a very difficult eating plan to follow, so you will definitely want to follow a guide or do more research before jumping head first. Good luck I wish you the best! 

Thanks everyone! Since it's the first day, I had 2 cups of strawberries for lunch, coffee and tea. Dinner will be 1/2 chicken breast and veggies. I log everything when I do log, even oil and butter. I'm not planning on going junk for dinner as my husband isn't on a specific plan but he's cutting as well. I'll keep updating as it goes along, I'll be interested to see how day 4 goes. 

It sounds like you are doing two big changes at the same time: stepping up your exercise dramatically (you said you were sedentary) and a big change in your eating pattern to OMAD. Is that right? Consider maybe doing this more gradually, one change at a time? A big shock to the body in changing both your calorie intake AND expenditure. It might set you up for metabolic adaptation that will reduce your BMR and make it harder down the road to lose weight. 

cue the OCD people. LOL. OMAD... I found when virtually carnivore (with some salad and my ever present dairy) I was not hungry much, but having a big feed once a day was great. Just eat a dinner - look for fatty meats, eat lots of meat and veges, and just a small portion of carbs. As to micronutrients, Meat (esp fatty meat) has all the nutrients. It even has vitamin c. it's extraordinary how little we as humans need compared to all the hype on what we're told we need. Have some good beroccas and maybe nutrient rescue shakes.  

Hi there. :) This is actually my first post but wanted to reach out because after much research I’m actually starting a similar journey. First time OMADer, but I’d suggest you watch some of Dr. Mindy’s videos. Lots of terrific information about fasting for women in particular. She makes a powerful case for a few tweaks surrounding one’s cycle. Just in case it’s helpful! :) 

Hi new friends! I'm on my 6th week in a boot no weight bearing due to a stress fracture in my foot and also got a clot in my leg from the boot so I'm on blood thinners. Previously I was working out hard and lifting 5x a week but I am basically sedentary for now until healed. Thus the trying OMAD. Today I had coffee with creamer, lots of tea, strawberries, then chicken rice avocado tomato and mixed veg for dinner. Kept it under 800. I also have an office job which is sedentary so I basically don't need many calories to be happy. Thank you for the support! 💕🤘 

No advice for you, but good luck.  

However, your body has a nutritional need 

Yikes, 800 calories? You're likely eating your muscle. To prevent losing muscle, aim for 90g min daily protein. Women can only digest 30g per meal, so you should space it out. Fasting plus caloric restriction that is below your target weight BMR is damaging. Fasting plus normal calories is useful for burning fat, if you have excess fat. I'd try a less restrictive fast, 7 or 8 hours, 3 healthy meals, no desserts or cheat meals. 

This is my favorite BMR calculator. It's called Body Weight Planner. Takes into account your activity level and the decrease in caloric burning as you lose weight over time. I redo the calc when my activity level changes due to injury or training needs. https://www.niddk.nih.gov/bwp 

I also have a BMR (ie resting) app and a TDEE (ie activity) app on my phone. Both are important for setting safe calorie goals. Enter your current weight to get maintenance calories. Enter your target weight to get weight loss calories. 

I can see your concern, OuterLimit, but SGCM's in a special situation. 30g max per meal of protein is a myth. As a lifter taking a break, a few days or even weeks at a lower-than-optimal protein and caloric level for her won't make a dent. If the protein and calories dip, I'm sure she has fat stores to tap into too. She's not in jeopardy.  

But do make sure you sleep extra if possible to keep them hormones in balance, JC! You're in a good position for recovery 😊 

Not all vitamins and nutrients can be stored in fat, they must be consumed. 

Thank you Chris! Yes that's exactly right. I'm about 16 lbs heavier than I should be, and with the injury plus my day to day (office job) my calorie needs are minimal. People think their calories burned during any exercise are wayyy higher than they actually are. I work out for an hour each morning 4-5x a week and even in beast mode I probably only burned 350 cals. I eat a ton of lean protein and veg, like last night we split a salmon filet, 1/2 c basmati rice, 1/2 avo, grape tomatoes, broc, and green sauce. I'm keeping it under 1000 as my main goal for the next month to train my body and mind. 🤘🖤🖤🖤🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛