So I’ve even listening to Megan Ramos’ new podcast (highly recommend) and she says that OMAD isn’t great for consistent weight loss because the body is very adaptable and after a while it adapts to only eating one meal a day, so weight loss slumps. Her recommended eating pattern is two 42 hour fasts and three 24 hour fasts per week to switch things up regularly. Obviously that’s much more significant fasting and would be a lot harder to achieve, but it probably would lead to much more significant weight loss. What are your thoughts/experiences with this?
I think the body will adapt to pretty much anything and plateau after a while. I don’t think that’s specific to OMAD.
I’ve been doing OMAD for almost 9 months, with a day of 20:4 or 16:8 maybe 1-2 times a month for special events. Yes, I lost weight more quickly in months 1-3 than in months 3-6 (I only weigh in every three months, so the verdict isn’t in yet on months 6-9). But I still lost weight at an average rate of about a pound a week, without being restrictive about what I eat during my meal.
And I mean, everyone loses weight quickly in the first month or two and then sees it slow down, no matter what IF schedule they use, or even if they don’t do IF at all.
I think two 42-hour and three 24-hour fasts per week is a lot to do on a regular basis and probably isn’t realistic for many people to do long-term. I’m sure it would result in quick weight loss, but would people be able to keep it up long enough to lose all the weight they needed to?
I’m a big fan of Jason Fung’s general statement that IF should fit into your life. I don’t know Megan Ramos — Google says she works with Dr. Fung, so I’m inclined to think she isn’t totally out of left field. But that seems like an awfully aggressive fasting protocol for most people.
I agree your body adapts. I do not agree with her solution. I fast minimum 18h. I change this based on convenience. I do “random hours”. Some days I fast 18, some 20, some 24. Anything in between. OMAD got me to lose at least 30lb but I wanted more flexibility& felt my body needed more. I’m probably at maintenance weight & have been working on gaining muscle& losing fat. Don’t dismiss OMAD. It seemed to kickstart my metabolism & helped me to feel great.
Seems like that requirement is to shock the system before going back to OMAD, so I would consider that a rare week when at a plateau. Wow frankly one reason I love OMAD as that I get excited about my 1 meal and look forward to it all day. If I was only eating like 4 meals a week every week I couldn’t sustain that.
2 42 hr fasts (4days with time for around 2-4 meals) PLUS 3 24hr fasts (omad) leaves you with 5-7 meals per week. That sound terrible and can lead to really disordered eating.. Maybe one week per month like that if you’re really stalling?
I try to do 3 40 hour fasts per week m/w/f no food + 16/8 on off days. Weight melts off at around 2lbs per week because I’m inactive. 20lbs down in 2 months.
I think the key is to make fasting work for you, not being obsessed with hours/time etc. If you don’t eat one day that’s around 2k calories you saved that one day. Do that 3 times and you have 6k per week. You won’t realistically eat them back unless you really go for the bucket of ice cream. Eat normally on off days. Relax and let your body do what it does.