I (45M, 220 lbs) am on a 1 meal a day 22:2 fasting schedule and I have hired a personal trainer who was immediately shocked at my eating schedule. He’s asked me to start eating at least 3-4 small meals with more protein in them. He’s clearly stated that OMAD will lead to quite a bit of muscle loss and I won’t benefit and be able to achieve muscle growth (or even maintenance) with this eating schedule. Any thoughts? What are older (40 and above) folks dealing with any muscle loss due to fasting? Is this a misconception? I’m sorry for asking this question is redundant.
OMAD will not cause muscle loss at all IF you are eating enough, especially protein. Shoot for at least 1.5 g/kg body weight of protein Spiking insulin before a workout prevents muscle building, so I would not listen to his advice about nutrition. Unfortunately your trainer is 50 years behind the science.
Maybe you can plan your trainings sessions right before you have your meal? So your body gets all nutrients, proteins etc right after and you are not low energy? You can do OMAD and trainings if you plan your meal and see that you get enough protein for your body IMHO
Could you get scanned for how much lean tissue mass you got? I think you can do that. I’d honestly be more worried about potential for bone loss than muscle loss (not sure if its an issue)
I think there are scanns you can take that show bone mineral density and also how much of your body mass is fat or something like that
You will lose muscle when doing extended fasts - especially if you train hard; but it shouldn’t be the majority of what you lose and it should come back quickly. OMAD shouldn’t cause it though if you’re eating enough calories.