Going crazy over OMAD

#41

Hey everyone - From the Megan Ramos OMAD link that @Moo posted:

OMAD does work for a very small patient group. So OMAD typically works for the patient who has less than about 20, 25 pounds to lose, because it usually works for about three months before your metabolic rate starts to level off, and everything starts to plateau. So people who only have like 20 or 25 pounds to lose, they can lose that fairly quickly. But when you have 60, 70, 80, a hundred pounds plus that you want to lose, you’re going to plateau out within about three months, sometimes even less than that.

So OMAD really helps people get to their goal, if their goal is very small to start with. You can see dramatic improvements with blood sugar levels for the mild diabetic and some medication adjustments for the mild diabetic. But really, unless you’re only looking to lose a little bit of weight, it’s not going to help you a whole lot.

Also, even if you’re only looking to lose a little bit of weight, but you have a long history of calorie restriction diets and you already have a really sluggish metabolic rate at the start. It’s not going to get you anywhere. So forget losing weight and plateauing within three months. From the get go, you’re not going to be able to lose weight.

In order to preserve your metabolic rate, you need to do fasting, eating, fasting, eating on alternate days. So some people legitimately cannot fast beyond 24 hours and that’s perfectly okay, but you need to fast, eat, fast, eat, fast, eat. So you need to have a day with just one small meal and then you need to have a day with two full meals, and a day with one full meal, and a day with two full meals. Because you need to keep your calorie intake on alternate days much higher. Twice of that than what it is on your fasting day, if not a little bit more. When you do alternate daily fasting, you see a much less significant decrease in your resting metabolic rate.

(The crazy German guy) #42

Heavy Ketosis today. 2nd highest rating on Ketostix. Lost 1kg vs yesterday. Let’s see

(mole person) #43

Thank you. That Ramos’ quote was very interesting. I was only 30 lbs overfat when I began but I started with lazy basic keto and lost the first 10 pounds easily before stalling out completely. I then began to intermittent fast. I chose this over strictly adhering to macros because I didn’t want to so tightly regulate my food. I think my net carbs for much of my keto journey were in the 35-50 gram range.

When I started OMAD I did begin dropping pounds steadily. But it wasn’t rapid. It took another year; although I admit that I’m not the most disciplined and had several long setbacks. But still, if losing the last 20 pounds over three months is possible for the metabolically sensitive then that was definitely not me.

(BuckRimfire) #44

Are you measuring your waist, neck, thighs, biceps, chest under arms, etc? If you are doing weight training and adding muscle, it’s formally possible that your weight is staying constant while you are losing fat and adding muscle.

That would most likely show up as reducing waist and neck, and increasing or holding more steady the other measurements where the big muscles are. If you are someone who puts on muscle easily, “weight loss” per se may not be the only thing you want to track.

Adding muscle so fast that you plateau seems kinda unlikely, but some people can do it, I suppose. And I hate them. I can’t gain weight, no matter what I do!

(BuckRimfire) #45

Thanks for posting that! I had not heard that criticism of OMAD before.

As someone who doesn’t need to lose weight, in the short term my favorite thing about low-carb is being able to eat a good breakfast then not really need to eat again until dinner (oh, and also PORK!). OMAD is a cool idea, but maybe not the best for some purposes? It’s fun to be able to do it now and then as a stunt, though!

(Allie) #46

This is how I use it too, now and then - so convenient to just eat a big breakfast then not worry about food until the next day, but I wouldn’t want to do it constantly.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #47

A lot of the people who find themselves eating carnivore have been pushed into it by their reactions to plant foods. Listen to some of the talks by Georgia Ede, or some of the talks by Amber O’Hearn (or read her blog), and you’ll see why some people find a 100% carnivore/ZC mindset to be necessary for themselves. Amber has a really good blog post on the nomenclature, in which she makes it clear that she doesn’t disparage “carnivore adjacent” eating for those for whom it works. But the term “carnivore” is what it is for a reason, and the people who coalesced aroung this way of eating did so out of medical necessity, not for any theoretical reason.

(Robert C) #48

I think you missed my last line about people with autoimmune disorders (along with carb addicts) may have good reason to be dogmatic.

Anyway - my point was not about those people - more about the vegan - that goes 100% vegan and ignores health problems. Or, the carnivore that will only feed their 5-year old Ribeye and water, even if there are health declines and growth problems.

People that do not have a true need for such restrictive diets and feel a little better mostly vegan or mostly carnivore would not necessarily do well being dogmatic.

(The crazy German guy) #49

Hi,

so, at the end of August my weight was around 303lbs.

Started hitting the gym real hard, taking creatine, all of the good stuff, while maintaining around 1.500kcal per day on OMAD Keto.
By 20th of September i hit 307lbs. Lots of water stored from my heavy workouts and creatine use.
The water storage levelled out a little, so that I’m at 297.5lbs right now. Still have a good 60lbs to lose. I put high emphasis on protein and don’t really miss the fats.

Also, I’m never ever hungry. I get the occasional hunger growls but that’s gone within 20 minutes. Not like i used to crave food when i initially started fasting.

And guys & girls… I’m struggling. Starting to really feel the pain of Keto now again. Every day is just basically chicken, beef, fish, eggs or some other keto stuff.
I miss pasta, rice, some good german bread.

I start to snack… like adding 50-70 grams of mixed nuts over the day, or some mini sausages. Around 500kcal.
I log it all, that’s not the problem.

It’s just that with Keto - again - i don’t feel liberated. Its not simple for me. I would love to go to the kitchen RIGHT NOW and eat a good deal of whole grain pasta and some nice salmon.

OK, i made good progress on the weight side now, but i don’t feel happy about my food. Also, i’m not sure about the OMAD thing on the long run.
I was really happy doing it with a carb meal. I would be looking forward to having a pizza SO MUCH and i knew it was worth the wait. Now it is like “Meh… another day of roastbeef”.

(PJ) #50

This week for me: LC pizza; taco loafs with sourcream and guacamole; raspberry ice cream; and I’m keto or low carb (it varies) – but, having read the above thread, let’s say that I am <50 ecc day (usually <32) during this cycle until December.

Honestly, your boring food (and I totally get it!) is you, not keto. There is a vast range of options that you are not exxploring.

Also, I think it’s great that you are six pounds down after five weeks in, but unless you are seven foot tall or 75 years old, I’m surprised it’s not a whole lot more.

You mention that you are high on protein and don’t miss the fats. I suspect part of your sense of dissatisfaction with food is, actually, missing the fats. Fats are satiating. If I don’t get enough fats (with ‘enough’ being a total variable for me) it drives me to wanting to nosh, not so much a hunger thing as a sense of frustration and there-is-something-missing-from-me thing.

I hope this improves for you. I think that there are some things you could do that might assist that improvement though – expand your menu greatly, increase your fats – and hopefully, would also contribute to more weight loss.

(The crazy German guy) #51

I get it - there’s a lot more variety to be discovered.
But, I’m not a chef. It’s got to be easy, and even available for takeaway because I’m traveling so much.
So usually the choice i get is carbs, carbs, carbs, some sausage / steak / fish / meatloaf and a few eggs, that’s it.
Breakfast is a different story. You can get a great KETO Breakfast almost everywhere.

Weight loss: yes, 6 pounds overall, but I added 6 pounds during that time and then lost that as well. This was down to creatine water gains.

(PJ) #52

Oh yeah, the travel. Well, I feel for you. Traveling kind of sucks for food. :frowning:

(KCKO, KCFO) #53

OMAD is recommended for those who have reached their goal weight to maintain it. Some can lose well for a while, but they stall out. So IDM does not recommend OMAD for weight loss. Intermittent fasting with some 36-48 hr. fasts are better for weight loss.

Are you eating low carb? I get not following strict keto eating but low carb really should work for just about anyone.

And a week is not unusual for your body to halt and figure out what it needs to do next.

Good luck sorting yourself out.

#54

You’re going to slow your metabolism down, if you’re not keto than your body is going to panic when that sugars not coming in and start preparing to starve. You’re not efficient enough to mobilize enough stored fat to fill that gap when fat isn’t your primary fuel source. With that said, it happens to many people that ARE keto as well (like me) but you’re definitely asking for a problem being mostly carb powered and doing OMAD.

You’ll never really get into “real” ketosis if you’re mainly sugar powered. You need more than 24hrs to burn through all consumed fuel, and then you have a ton of liver glycogen to go through before you’re mimicking what you did when keto, and long before that happens you would have eaten your meal and started the cycle over.

#55

Hi @steka - I’ve been reading your posts with interest – I’ve been Keto for 2 years, eating OMAD and TMAD for about a year. I let more carbs creep back into my eating, rationalizing that the IF would lower my blood sugar and insulin levels. Added 10 lbs - I’m at 200 and would like to get to 170.

Two opinions:

  1. I believe that your hard workouts may be counterproductive to weight loss, if that’s your ultimate goal. The process of supplementing creatine and tearing down and rebuilding muscle sounds like a strategy to gain not lose weight.
  2. It sounds to me like you still crave carbs given how much you enjoy and look forward to them. I think this is a red-flag, and when you snack or “cheat” on carbs, it just perpetuates the problem. My personal challenge is the desire to get pleasure from food – I’m trying to change my relationship with food and treat it more like life-enhancing fuel rather than a sensual indulgence.