Anorexia as a teenager, binge eating disorder during adulthood. (Fyi I can’t get treatment covered by insurance and I can’t afford it.) I know this isn’t an ED sub but I was doing okay on 18:6 and decided to go to OMAD. I started out strong and thought it was wonderful for a few days… After that I found myself just thinking about food all day and bingeing during my one meal for a few days in a row so I decided to go back to 18:6 since I believe that is more manageable for me, at least right now. Anyone find OMAD is not helpful for them for similar reasons, regardless of diagnosed eating disorder? Stinks because I know it has great benefits.
You do you!
I’ve found that I do better varying between a 18:6 or so and a omad, just depending on how I feel each day. Some days I’m not really hungry early, or life will be busy, so I’ll wait and OMAD. Other days I’ll eat a late breakfast or lunch. So much better for the mental health to be intuitive
omad brings back restrictive behavior and binging for me. the best thing that worked was eating a good big breakfast and eating smaller meals the rest of the day and meal prepping. I’m giving IF a try simply to gain some consistency in my eating to help with my ed stuff, stability is necessary. and the path to finding what’s right for you is all trial and error, move on from omad if it doesn’t work! different for everyone
I also tried OMAD and failed.I think the main problem is going to OMAD way too soon. I think we should start with 16:8 and stay like that for a few weeks or even months and then gradually upgrade to 18:6, 20:4, 22:2 until 23:1.
Same here. I started off doing OMAD and lost 16 lbs in a month. Felt amazing. I did a cheat day and ended up binging for a week and binge drinking. Which I already suffer from a drinking addiction. I already continued to drink while doing OMAD so me drinking even more on my cheat days was not good. I finally realized 16:8 is good for me and that consists of eating a meal at 11pm and then not eating until 6am which consists of a small healthy meal and my ice coffee. That holds me until 11pm again. I just stay busy.
You did exactly the right thing — pay attention to your body and mind, and don’t force yourself to fast/eat in a way that is harmful to you.
Longer fasts are not always better. I do OMAD because my body happens to like it. But if my body liked 18:6 better, I’d be doing that and not pushing myself to OMAD.
Honestly, I think 18:6 can achieve all the same benefits as OMAD.
Power to the people it works for, but not everyone can or should do OMAD. Thinking about food all day long should never be the goal, even if you’re losing weight. There’s so much more to life than your diet.The main reason I would not do OMAD is because I would end up missing out on a lot of things that bring me joy, and i would probably start obsessing over that one meal every day. But I am one person so my experience isn’t the same as everyone’s.
I agree. I do 18:6. Was thinking of doing OMAD as I wasn’t seeing any results but decided against it because I got scared it would bring me back to my ED. So I leave OMAD to the people that can manage it and focus on other ways I can loose weight without it turning into an obsession. It does take trials and errors unfortunately not one solution fits all.
I don’t believe anyone with a history of EDs can safely do any type of super restrictive diet. Its like an alcohol trying to drink socially after recovery…its playing with fire. The best thing you can do for yourself is to practise mindfulness- you can find lots of free resources online. Look after yourself.