I’m new to IF and just wanted to understand how OMAD works, so if anyone could answer some questions that would be great. Thanks
First, what time of day do you eat your meal? Does it need to be the same time every day? How many calories are in the meal you eat, on average? Do you do it every single day of the week? Also, what happens when you hit your goal weight, do you continue to eat OMAD? What benefits have you seen since switching to OMAD? Any drawbacks?
>First, what time of day do you eat your meal?
Whenever its convenient, however things happen to line up
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>Does it need to be the same time every day?
Nah
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>How many calories are in the meal you eat, on average?
Don’t count, don’t care
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>Do you do it every single day of the week?
Yep
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>Also, what happens when you hit your goal weight, do you continue to eat OMAD?
Yep
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>What benefits have you seen since switching to OMAD?
Weight loss
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>Any drawbacks?
You can feel grumpy at times
I have my Omad everyday before 9am
I don’t count but usually my stomach fills up very fast
Omad led to weight loss,and I am continuing it forever
Yes there are off days, nowBut back to omad next day
I’ve been doing Omad for4 years. Lost my weight in 6 months and maintained. Doesn’t mean I’m smarter than anyone else, but I have more experience than most.
> First, what time of day do you eat your meal? Does it need to be the same time every day?
I eat dinner 99% of the time. I believe it is the best time. You wake up in fasted state / ketosis (takes about 16 hours of not eating). So burning body fat during the active hours of the day. People report feeling good with lots of energy. You eat in the early evening. Relax and go to bed on a full stomach. You switch from fed state to fasted state as you sleep. This is the most challenging time for fasters - the switch.
Compare to breakfast. You wake and eat. Instantly you are out of fasted state and will be for next 8-12 hours. Eating a big healthy meal for breakfast is challenging. Salad with steak and veggies aren’t typical breakfast fare. Plus many are time constrained. So all day you’re burning up the food energy. Which wanes after a few hours. You can feel more run down. You’re dealing with the switch in the late afternoon / evening. Dinner is the most social meal for most. You can’t eat. So finially you’re fasted on an empty belly trying to go to sleep. And you’re burning body fat while you’re sleeping - the lowest energy burn time.
Lunch is better than breakfast. But not as good as dinner. I did lunch some days at the beginning. I liked being fed after work for my strength training workout. But eventually I was able to work out just fine fasted and went to dinner all the time.
You can certainly rearrange based on social and other reasons. But suggest dinner as the default.
> How many calories are in the meal you eat, on average?
No idea. I eat a big heathy meal to fullness every day. Your biology knows what you need. Let it do its job! Thinking your brain can take over / replace your biology (counting calories) in managing how much you eat is wrong. It leads to obesity. You really really want to get well satiated / full every day. Focus on what you eat not how many capture. It’s what cures the obesity.
> Do you do it every single day of the week?
Yes. I’ve not fasted less than 10 days since I started. Probably closer to 4 or 5. And those were the very few days I was sick and eating some soup several times a day. I also did for an awkward work situation I couldn’t easily avoid. It was early on.
It sounds crazy restrictive from your chair. But it’s my preference. You need to realize this isn’t the penalty box. This is a life enhancing lifestyle that I want to do. People used to feel sorry for me and want to share their lunch. I always thanked them but said I can’t, blaming it on my diet. But truth is I had no desire to eat half the crappy sandwich. What I had planned for dinner was so so much better. I didn’t want to waste my appetite.
> Also, what happens when you hit your goal weight, do you continue to eat OMAD?
I planned to go to 16/8. But I stuck with OMAD. I can’t explain how life enhancing eating this way is. Never hungry. Love to exercise. Never bonk. Food tastes off the charts amazing. (They say hunger is the most delicious ingredient). I can eat what I want to complete fullness every day. My health is great. This is the fountain of youth! Zero desire to resume frequent eating, even if I knew I’d not gain an ounce.
When I made the decision I was also fearful that 16:8 might cause me to regain. Why mess with success since I enjoyed it. Never regretted the decision.
> What benefits have you seen since switching to OMAD? Any drawbacks?
BP dropped from about 140/94 to 117/78. Blood chemistry went from poor to good side of normal. Resting HR low 50s, previously upper 70s. Can run up several flights of stairs. Before I was huffing and puffing walking up one. Never bonk fasted. Almost never sick. Cuts and bruises heal like I was a kid. I love to eat and healthy food tastes amazing. And when I’m full I can have dessert without going crazy. I save a ton of money on food.
Drawbacks… 🦗🦗🦗
This is 100% life enhancing. Takes some effort to acclimate. Won’t lie, it’s hard first couple weeks. But very soon it starts getting easier. And soon after that it’s just normal to eat once a day.
OMAD is the natural progression of IF. I know it seems impossible to believe, but after awhile, you just won’t become hungry like you used to. Or, you will come to learn that hunger comes and then just goes and you can go a bit further.
The absolute hardest part of OMAD for me is making sure I’m getting enough calories in. It’s easy when I’m just eating whatever but most of the time, my diet is pretty managed and “clean.” I try to make it nutritious and balanced. It is very challenging to get in enough in one meal. For this reason, I actually open my feeding window for 2-3 hrs. I eat a bit and then eat a bit more.
I cannot stress this enough though, it should be a natural progression. If you are white knuckling through your fast, it probably not time to try OMAD. It’s also much easier to do OMAD on low carb.
I’ve been doing OMAD for 2 years. I do it throughout the work week. I eat about 6:00pm every day. On the weekend I’m a lot less strict and I tend to eat a snack around 11:00am and a smaller dinner at 6:00pm. I generally eat about 2000 cals at my OMAD meal. I love it, as it gives me the freedom to not worry about how much I’m eating. It also simplifies my life, as I no longer have to meal prep for lunches. I don’t see myself ever stopping OMAD, as it’s simple and effective. I can’t really pinpoint any drawbacks. I guess I sometimes get hungry during the day, but it isn’t often anymore. But when I do, I just drink some water and go about my day.