One meal a day?

[youngandbroken]

I have gained a bit of weight over the last year and really want to lose it. I hate the way I look and can't even look at my reflection at the moment, my problem is I have a heart condition that makes exercising difficult - I do walk alot, around 2 hours per day (to and from work) and am on my feet all day at work but anything more strenuous just sends my heart crazy. I also enjoy food I don't like 'diet' food and always end up craving and therefore binging on food that I'm 'not allowed'. My plan is to just have 1 big meal a day - of whatever I want and not eat for the rest of the day. My questions are: is this sustainable, can I lose weight this way and are there any health risks to it?

It works for some people but there are some considerations:

• can you go 24 hrs between eating without feeling poorly or weak, especially with your heart condition
• the one meal still needs to be reasonable, you can't chow down on 3000 calories or it won't work and you'll just gain more weight
• this kind of diet requires that you don't have calories at other points in the day so drinking would be water/sugar free squash or black tea/coffee

There are more moderate versions like 16:8 where you have an 8 hour window that you can eat in and a daily calorie limit that's 500 less than your TDEE (use an online calculator to get that number) the idea is by giving your body 16 hours without any sugar in any form you allow it time to properly process the glucose and avoid the highs and lows that drive snacking and fat gain.

I don't trust the 16:8 plan to be honest, but there are people who make it work fine for them.
The key is an amount of calories you eat which shouldn't be bigger than the amount your body burns, that's when you lose weight. In fact, you can eat all day long or have just one big meal and it won't matter while you stay within your calorie norm. I've heard that 16:8 plan helps those who tend to overeat or have problems with emotional eating but it never worked for me as it's a pretty hard restriction imo. I prefer to count my calories and have pictures of a slimmer myself stuck to every mirror in the house. At some point I found out that Photodiva motivates me way better than fasting plans . Anyway, try it out and see if it suits you. Everyone is different and you'll never know until you try it yourself.

I don't think it's sustainable.

Dont worry about exercise - with walking and an active job your probably doing fine.

I find a set food routine works for me. Eg
Wholesome toast or cereal for breakfast
Sandwich for lunch
Fruit snack
Lean meat, pots & veg for tea

I've lost almost 3 stone.

Should add you can tailor the diet to suit what foods you like but make sure the base plan doesn't exceed 1300 calories.
I don't count calories every day as I'm generally eating the same type of foods each day.

I've done it and it did work for me for quite a while. I lost the bulk of my baby weight this way. I would often be very snappy and irritable. I had some dizzy spells and times where I would feel very weak and didn't want to do anything. I switched to calorie counting to lose the last stone and honestly it was a huge relief. It works through calorie deficit, like all weight loss plans, so there just isn't any need to put yourself through it. 3 healthy meals is much more sustainable and pleasant.

What sort of food is it that you were not allowed and binged on? I think you are right that you need a diet that includes the foods you love but fasting diets don't suit everyone. You might be able to fit your favourite foods into a less restrictive plan. Another point is that OMAD doesn't necessarily give fast weight loss, it depends how much you eat at your one meal.