OMAD (1500 CAL/Day) / M / 5’ 11” / SW: 224 / CW 208 / GW 165 /
Let me start by saying, if this turns into a story, bear with me. I’ll try to add a TLDR to it because normally my brain gets away from me and I just flood the chat. That said, if you want to know about my journey so far here it is.
Backstory:
Went through a breakup (unrelated to weight/body image) over the holiday period. Went through a bit of a mental shift after that regarding building myself up.
Started on Noom early January (Around the 10th I believe) and they suggested a 1560 calorie budget. I thought it was going to starve me out but as I did it I realized it was very manageable. Didn’t really care for their “psychology” and it was too expensive so I started seeking options. On the Daily Stoic podcast I heard that Gen. Stanley McChrystal does OMAD and I got interested. Checked it out, thought “This is for me” and went for it.
TL;DR: Wanting to improve my weight and self control, OMAD sounds good.
Progress:
From the 15th or so, I’ve been doing OMAD on a 1500 calorie budget, tracking all food with myfitnesspal. I got a fitness band and am tracking my steps. Trying to fit in 10k steps per day, honestly usually it’s closer to 7000 but I’m working my way up. Trying, at least. It’s better than not.
Got an exercise bike, only done a couple of sessions on it, it’s been sporadic at best. Did it one day when it was too cold to walk. Kind of hate it to be honest, but then again I don’t really care for any form of working out for it’s own sake. I’ll do it, it’s just kind of awful.
As expected, I started to shed weight weight quickly and went down from 224 to 216 in the first week. From there, though, It became much more even and I went down to about 213 by the end of the second week. (ending Jan 27th) Third week I dropped more, currently hovering around 208-207 but looking at my graph it’s obvious that it’s becoming stuck. I’ve been at this weight for almost the last week with no dip below 207.
TL;DR dropped 16 lbs over 3 weeks on OMAD at 1500 calories per day, but stalled out for the last week at 208, which leads me to my last question. . .
What Next?:
So, fellow IFers. What now? Is this a normal progression story? Should I be concerned about this plateau? Am I missing something obvious? I’ve heard of people mixing in 48 hour fasts (which, as I understand, is basically skip a day) and people who do OMAD only for a few weeks at a time, then go back to a regular 3 meals a day schedule for a week to keep their body guessing.
I have to admit, I was really gung-ho about it for the first few weeks but since the needle on the scale started to stick it’s been harder and harder to justify starving for most all the day then eating to the point of sickness as quick as possible. Sure, “I COULD keep going, but if there’s no progress, then why would I choose to do that other than for it’s own sake?” is the thought that runs through my head. I love OMAD as it keeps me away from snacking, which always killed my diets before this. “Not eating time, zero calories” is such a dummy simple rule that keeps me away from chips, sodas, all the bad stuff.
What are your experiences? What are your suggestions? Any words of support? I’m still a long ways away from my GW of 165. In my adult life I’ve never been lower than 180 so it seems like an insane goal to go that low but that’s what’s suggested as “healthy” based on my height and age, so I said fuck it, let’s go.
My body seemed to be comfortable around the 200-205 mark for a long time and just in the past couple of years with a more sedientary life during the pandemic did I shoot up to 225. It’s the heaviest I can ever remember being and honestly a bit of a wake up call that I need to change my habits and my life for the better to become a stronger, more resilient person.
TL;DR: Should I be plateauing after 3ish weeks? Should I mix up my OMAD somehow to avoid this? Any thoughts, words of wisdom, encouragement, advice?
Conclusion:
Thanks so much for reading and sharing this time with me. I’m looking forward to spending much more time with you all on this board in the future.
Cut carbs and don’t count calories.Eat sustaining foods like meat and eggs, and make sure you are pleasantly full. If you feel like you’re starving then you have to change something.I lost 180 pounds on omad. 350 to 170 and sustained for 5 years.Good luck.
Give it time. I wouldn’t even consider it a plateau until the scale hasn’t moved for a month. Weight can vary up and down by several pounds just due to fluctuations in water weight, and those can happen for any reason or no reason at all. The scale is a very, very noisy signal. You can’t reliably see trends on a shorter timescale than a month.
stay the course for at least 2-3 more weeks. 16lbs over 3 weeks likely includes 8-10 pounds of water, which you’ve probably partially gained back (and you shouldnt worry or care about that). even if you lost 10 pounds of water weight you would still be losing 2 pounds per week, which is on the high end of what is recommended. So keep at it, the scale will likely start moving again soon, but hopefully only in the 1-2 pound a week average range. look at the scale over multiple week averages ‘ trends more than individual numbers and you wont drive yourself crazy. If the scale hasnt moved in 3 weeks, consider adding a longer fast 1-2 times per week.
I was around your starting stats and I find that an extended fast of 36-48 hours usually pushes me past the plateau. To mirror what others have said, as long as the math adds up to you losing weight, all it takes is time.