Am I the only person who fails at OMAD?


(Vladaar Malane) #2

I loved OMAD when I tried it for a week, but my problem with it was my family wants me to eat with them.

I guess I could OMAD week days because of work, and stop on weekends. But been doing okay with regular IF 16:8.

I might go back if I plateau again. I didn’t notice the digestion issue, but I only did it for a week.

I think in your situation maybe do your OMAD meal in the morning.


(Running from stupidity) #3

You can still be there, just not eating, though, possibly? I was starting my fast on Sunday, and my wife ate two means and then allowed me to clean up afterwards, and that worked :slight_smile:

I struggle with 1MAD for the same reason you gave above - too hard to get the amounts in that I should be eating in one go. 2MAD is MUCH better for me.


(Robert C) #4

I think OMAD is not for you given your constraints.

In my opinion, OMAD with keto works best when you are trying to lose weight (vs. trying to get all of your calories - making for a big meal).

Once fully keto adapted, cutting calories by 40% makes for a reasonable sized OMAD meal and your body has no trouble going to its local fat stores for the rest.

But, as Dr. Fung and Megan Ramos point out - this only works for a while and, if you do not mix it up (like 2 meals one day, zero meals the next or something) then it starts to look like daily calorie restriction to the body and weight loss stops.


#5

A 3-6 hour eating window in the evening works best for me. Otherwise it’s hard to get enough calories. It also depends on what you eat. I try to eat something that is easy on my stomach to break the fast like brie. I would also drink KetoAide homemade
Extended fasting is another story. That might work better for you occasionally than trying to do OMAD frequently.


(Jay Patten) #6

I don’t do OMAD everyday. I do it maybe 3-5 days per week to maintain my weight. This allows me to eat more frequently on weekends when the family is all home together. If I gain a pound or two I just OMAD until my weight drops back down.

Of course I was more strict with OMAD when my goal was weight loss.

But you’re okay to just do it just a few times during the work week if you can.


(KCKO, KCFO) #7

You might find this podcast very useful. Erin is regular poster on these forums too.


(Jennibc) #8

If one meal a day doesn’t work for you, it doesn’t work and don’t sweat it! Every BODY is different and we all need to accept that and embrace the one we have. I do an eating window from about noon to 7 pm everyday. Yesterday I managed to wait until 3 PM but today I will only make it until noon. I am having slow and consistent loss with this and it’s doable long term for me. Sure there are people that are losing much faster, but I need to have something I can stick with long term because that’s what is going to get me to the finish line and keep me there.


(the cheater) #9

Just an observation; the needing to defecate after eating means your digestion is working perfectly - not being interfered with :smiley: It’s like a dog that you feed once a day; she’ll need to go out almost immediately. Don’t worry - it’s not the food you JUST ate :slight_smile: Eating stimulates peristalsis & motility. Celebrate! Your body works lol!


(Edith) #10

Maybe a 20-4 schedule would work better. It would almost be like OMAD.


(The amazing autoimmune 🦄) #11

I tried Omad last week for three days and didn’t like it for the reasons you gave. I felt like I was stuffing myself and could never get enough calories and then felt sleepy afterwards. I decided I preferred to just fast 3 days in a row or a 36 hour fast compared to omad.


(Running from stupidity) #12

Well, mine’s stuffed, then!


(KetoQ) #13

Bob –

One thing I’ve realized while living low carb that it is beneficial to continually optimize and adapt the lifestyle to fit my busy life, changing goals and family responsibilities.

I believe you should consider rethinking that as well, because your current work and workout schedule is not a good fit for OMAD, especially in terms of family time as well as the time to actually enjoy sitting down and having a meal.

If I were you, I’d consider doing OMAD on weekends and doing regular keto and IF during the week. It might give you more flexibility to achieve everything you need to do. And schedule your weekend workout close to your meal time.

I also believe that you are OMAD if you do all of your eating in 2-3 hours. I even consider 20/4 as OMAD. Trying to stuff it all down your gullet in one hour is not a good way to live your life and enjoy your meals.

I’ve done 23/1 for 6-8 weeks in the past, and it was productive for me in terms of losing weight, but as I upped my physical activity and got more hungry, I decided that upping calories and eating when hungry was going to be more beneficial for me long term.

Good luck,
Q


(Laurie) #14

I gradually worked down to an 8-hour eating window, then 4 hours, then 2 hours. It was a bit of a challenge to eat everything within 2 hours, but it was okay. But then I did my first longer fast (40+ hours) on Friday, and on Saturday couldn’t shove all the food down within 2 hours. So now I’m going to go back to 20/4.

In the past, I’ve found that the only time I have to “go to the bathroom” right after a meal is when I eat waaay too much. So if this happened to me on keto I’d be a bit concerned.

I eat in the evening only. It just works better with my lifestyle and also my preference. I don’t regard it as a problem.

As others have said, whatever works for you is right for you. Good luck!


(Mike W.) #15

OMAD for me = binge eating. It’s not enough time into a fast for my stomach to shrink and my signaling to work and not short enough so I don’t feel like I have to eat ”all the things”.


(Running from stupidity) #16

Not for you, then. It’s not for me either, except on rarish occasions.


#17

Eating before bed may be adding to the problem. Don’t quote me here - but I heard/read something recently from Megan Ramos about moving eating windows to end earlier in the day. Works better with circadian rhythms and all. But I have heard consistently from a number of sources a couple of things: OMAD may not work for those who may have more messed up metabolic derangement induced by years of ‘dieting’. As such, a 36/42 IF works better. And generally- no food right before bedtime - ideally stop at supper time.


(Susan) #18

@ctviggen

I have to do TMAD on the days I eat, I do a 20:4. My reason is the same as yours; there is no way I can eat 1000 calories of healthy Keto things in one meal.

I eat lunch at 1pm and supper before 5 so I can have a 20 hour not eating daily. I am doing mostly carnivore now, with a small bit of vegetables cooked in olive oil or if in salad form, with avocado mayonnaise and olive oil on top of it. No snacking at all for now, no deserts. I am usually at below 1000 calories total for the day still, because it is really hard to eat.


(ben) #19

I have no trouble getting 2000 calories down in one meal. A few avocado’s, chicken wings, cream and mascarpone (which I could eat a pound off if needed) and that smallish number is broken.

But I find TMAD easier to maintain, especially when there’s lunch at work.


(PJ) #20

I can do 2MAD but I can rarely do 1MAD for the same reason – I simply cannot eat that much food at a single sitting.

There are exceptions. A cheese-mayo or bacon- based meal I can probably get enough calories. But I eat a higher % of protein than most on keto, and I can only get so full before I’m abusing myself.

If I have hours to eat, that is workable.

And if I’m getting most of my calories through something like bacon mayo avocado sourcream creamcheese it’s easier.

But if I’m mostly living on meat and butter, there’s got to be some digestive time given to the first half before I consume the rest.

PJ


(Scott) #21

I do three meals a day mostly because I just love breakfast. Before someone says move my breakfast to noon, I don’t think the office is going to like me frying up bacon, sausage and cheese eggs at lunch. Now that I am not a carb burner anymore I did give up my mid morning and mid afternoon snacks.