To think that fasting and OMAD could be the answer?

[dontholdmeback]

I am a 28 year old female, I have insulin resistance PCOS which has in turn led me to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

For the past week I have been doing OMAD, eating a normalish dinner (within reason) probably hitting about 1000 calories.

Yesterday and today I have been so full of energy it's unreal, literally jumping out of bed, not needing an extra half hour in bed, not feeling depressed, sluggish and unmotivated. Literally springing from my bed and being so productive, like this morning half the days cleaning was done within a couple of hours of being awake. These are jobs I have put off for weeks and weeks as I have felt so shitty and unmotivated. I always just put it down to laziness.

Also a report for uni that I've been meaning to start the past few weeks, I actually had the motivation today to sit and get a big chunk done.

I never want to speak to anyone, and the past couple of day whenever someone has called I have answered and spoke away quite the thing. I could almost describe myself as manic in comparison to what I'm used to.

Also before I was fasting, I would have to nap about 1 - 4 hours a day after lunch, it was non negotiable, I was EXHAUSTED. Hasn't happened even once since I've started OMAD.

I feel a little hungry during the day but nothing I can't handle. I read about OMAD online and thought it was worth a try. But surely it can't be that easy?

I feel so shocked as I literally for months have sat on my arse doing not a thing, and feeling crap about it and within a week of doing this I am the most full of energy I have been in months.

Am I unreasonable to hope that if I continue this way I will reverse my diabetes and feel so much better?

What is it?

I would have a word with your doctor and check the diet is safe alongside your diabetes.

Do you think One Meal A Day is sustainable for you in the long term? The danger with very limited eating windows is that they can lead to feeling very hungry, and then being tempted to eat unhealthy snacks which could be avoided if you planned (for example) a small, healthy breakfast or lunch in addition to your main meal.

@Anne1958 sorry I should have said, OMAD Is one meal a day. So I only eat dinner

@LApprentiSorcier I feel like at this moment in time it is sustainable, however, I know this could change. Good idea about speaking to my doctor about it. My doctor so far has told me to reduce calories and unhealthy carbs, easier said than done. OMAD makes it so much easier.

If you feel good on it and are meeting your nutrient and energy needs I can't see why eating one meal would be a problem. I'm not sure it would reverse diabetes though!

Depends on various factors - health, lifestyle, body weight, all sorts.

I guess many people could get away with it if the one meal you eat is pretty big, and you're quite sedentary. But I run too much to cope with that tbh. I'd probably pass out if I wasn't fuelling regularly enough.

18-6 also might be good. A new lunch and tea.

And walking 10k steps

Have been doing OMAD for 6 weeks and feel similar to you OP. I did 5:2 for about two years some years ago so I knew that fasting suits me but this is even easier, means I can eat a normal eveninv meal with the family and just feel so much better without having to continually moderate or even think about food. Obviously best to check with a doctor but I believe fasting has had proven results in reversing diabetes.

When I'm in non exercise periods of my life (like now with lockdown) I eat one meal a day, probably around 1000-1200 calories. It suits me.

I don't get fat if I eat more regularly but I do feel slower and sleepier

It's not sustainable for me during exercise times though so when lock down ends I'll be reverting to 2 meals

Does it take a while to get used to? I wake up starving and start feeling weak and shaky by 10 if I've not eaten!

Many people do OMAD successfully for years. If it’s suiting you, do it!

I feel much more energetic and eat much healthier if I eat only one or two meals a day. Was also going to recommend Delay, don't deny.

I’ve done OMAD for almost three years. Without question, it is the best thing I have ever done for my health. Lost 2.5 stone and sustained the loss. Have tons more energy than before. I will occasionally have two meals a day (on holiday, work lunches etc) but can’t imagine ever going back to three. Definitely read Jason Fung and Gin Stephens’ books, and join Gin’s Facebook groups. She has built an amazingly supportive online community, which helped a lot when adapting to this lifestyle.

@Anne1958 sorry I should have said, OMAD Is one meal a day. So I only eat dinner

Ah ok. So you’re doing quite a considerable fast in between meals or do you have something else (that’s not a meal) in between

Jason Fung

My daughter is a great believer in him and has suggested I start to practice some of his ways in the hope it helps me not to have a re-occurrence of my Stage 1A cancer.

@Anne1958 if you've had cancer, I strongly recommend you do NOT follow any of Jason Fung's recommendations.
Jason Jung is a YouTube doctors who benefits from his gospel, selling programs and a clinic.
The science he claims is actually very thin. Of course anybody quitting processed food, refined grains and added sugar will be better, this has nothing to do with low carb, just a healthy diet.
The problem I have with him is that people will not substitute the carb with vegetables or fruit but animal protein, having eggs and bacon in the morning, chicken at lunch and meat in the evening, which is cancer promoting and lifespan reducing.
You are better off looking at Luigi Fontana who is also a university professor. His latest book is packed with real science " the path to longevity" and how to avoid cancer and heart disease.

People - and somehow Fung who should be a diabetes doctor - don't understand that it is not carb that cause diabetes, but a fatty liver from excess food, calories, wrong food choices, which then causes a fatty pancreas which can't work normally and is unable to deal with the blood sugar. Upstream, the cause of diabetes is an dysfunctional pancreas and when you lose weight=, not matter if low car, low fat or whatever, you lose fat in your pancreas which then will start working better.

The advice of quitting crap yes, but as a cancer survivor, you need to watch your proteins, especially animal ones that raises IGF-1 and mTOR.

For so many low carb voices, population with a short life expectancy (Hazda, Inuit, ..) are the model to follow, but they live 20 years less.

So my advice Anne would be to increase the diversity and quantity of vegetables to give yourself the best chances of avoiding recurrence of cancer.

I've been doing 16:8 or 18:6 for about 8 weeks. I started for weight loss but I just feel so much better in general. I'm not constantly thinking about food, I'm less stressed about cooking (I hate to cook).

I don't do OMAD but do 2-3 in my eating window. I'm also not counting calories or weighing myself but using measurements to judge weight loss.

I also find that I don't get upset if I have days where I end my fat early - I just get back to it the next day.

I've done OMAD for years without realising it was a thing: basically, I eat when I'm hungry, which is, coincidentally, around about dinner time.

I'm the same weight at 41 as I was at 20.

The whole concept of "you must eat three meals a day and snacks or you will DIE" is just a load of crap when you look at it.

It's a relatively modern concept.

Omad is what our bodies were designed for.

Not OMAD specifically but I'm a huge fan of intermittent fasting. Well, I was a huge fan. Now I'm a 60kg fan .

I lost my baby weight on OMAD first lockdown and found it so easy. I went back to work and OMAD on work days is still easy but the weekends got more stressful and harder with each lockdown and I Cosby sustain it on those days. I'm now doing hybrid 5:2 three hour window on three days and whatever I need to on the weekends to get through .
I'm maintaining until all this is over and I can get back to it properly. It's my way of life now I've never ever felt hungry for any sustained amount of time and I can treat myself well without worrying about it.
The years of crappy diets means I'm just delighted to use actual fat when cooking and not low fat sprays.

I don't know where Mr Cosby came from in my post,I feel violated