Doing OMAD even one day a week alongside your IF is effective :) 3 days a week will be good. You might even increase it to more days if you find you enjoy it after a while.
You gotta eat healthy if you do OMAD. You will be hungry and miserable a few hours later if you’re eating processed foods and foods high in carbohydrates. In fact, the same goes for any IF. Try to eat foods high in good fats and proteins. It makes a huge difference to not being hungry.
1500 calories in an hour isn’t too hard once you’ve got used to it. Foods high in fat are also pretty high in calories and usually aren’t too hard to get down. Think about bacon, a few eggs, avocado, olive oil. You’ve got a good mix of fat and protein there. Throw in a tomato or something to break up the heaviness. Drizzle the olive oil over for more calories. All of this is healthy (with bacon being in moderation of course).
You could finish it off with some coconut yoghurt (or dairy) and some chia seeds (I go heavy on chia..like 15-20 grams. You can add other seeds like hemp seeds as well) and a little amount of berries or a little honey. I also throw on cacao nibs too for extra crunch and goodness.
All that should reach 1500 calories. And even if it doesn’t, it’s going to hold your hunger for quite a while. If you need a little more, an apple or carrot with peanut butter is good.
You can totally do OMAD a few days a week if it works for you! It is important to eat healthy and nutritious on OMAD — because your body needs nutrients, and because a good healthy meal will keep you from feeling hungry through the next day. But I’m not going to pretend I don’t occasionally have pizza!
Overall, though, try to focus on protein, vegetables, legumes, and healthy fats. Try to go easy on starches, and leave out sweets and alcohol. No need to go low-carb or keto if you don’t want to — just try not to eat a ton of starches. I find that eating a starch-heavy meal, or sweets and alcohol, leaves me feeling hungrier the next day. It’s not the end of the world, but I feel better if I focus more on protein and vegetables.
Calories go quicker than you think! If you’re too low on calories, some nuts or peanut butter will fix that right up.
Source: have been doing OMAD for nine months.