Anyone had success with the OMAD (one meal a day) diet?

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I don't really need to lose a lot of weight but having suffered with an ED in my teens and 20's I have a bit of a complicated relationship with food now. I am recovered from the ED but still find food a source of stress and have a love/hate relationship with it. I have a habit of snacking mindlessly in the evening to the point where I feel full and uncomfortable and regret it (though I'm still usually within my recommended calorie intake for the day). I think it's because I spent so many years restricting my diet and starving myself that now I subconsciously make a decision to just say "f*ck it" and refuse to say no to myself and deny myself food if I want it!

The OMAD diet sounds like a very simple way to eat - to just allow myself one full meal a day of whatever foods I feel like eating and then once that window has passed that's you done for the day. I regularly miss breakfast and eat a late lunch anyway so to condense my food intake down into one full meal at around 5-6pm could potentially work well and an added bonus is that if friends or family invite you out for dinner or brunch you don't have to make excuses or dissect everything on the menu - you just count that as your meal that day. Ideally I'd try to make it a well rounded meal - protein, carbs, veg and fruit.

I'd love to know if anyone has tried it and whether it's a) sustainable b) convenient c) effective for losing weight and exactly what they ate on an average day and what success they had. As I say I don't really have much to lose but would like to feel a little less wobbly and just make food play a less important role in my life, one that I only have to think about once a day.

TIA

I've done it pretty much for most of the past couple of years and in terms of convenience etc it worked really well for me no time wasted on breakfast for me in morning so quickly get myself ready while DDs eat theirs; I work from directly after school drop off until not quite just in time for picking up after school so no lunch break and job is busy so time flies... one evening meal. I'd have lo carb.
I find this super easy to stick to and just realised the main reason why is probably because I am a lone worker so no colleagues to tempt me with smells/talk/crunching sounds!
In terms of success unfortunately due to PCOS I haven't really lost anything. Damn.
Saved £££ though.

Hello OP I started this on Friday of last week. It's not a huge stretch for me as I skip breakfast and lunch usually - although I then stuff myself silly from 4pm - 9pm, hence being overweight. (I can easily hit 3000+kcals)

I am allowing myself a two hour window in which to eat my daily calories (4-6pm). I've downloaded an app called Lose it! Which has taken the guess work out of it for me by telling me how many kcals I need, how soon I'll reach my goal etc; plus it has a barcode scanner with which to track food consumption.

I eat my 1550 kcals in the two hour window (some days I can be quite under by a significant amount - yesterday I was under by 427) but I was stuffed and wasn't going to force it for the sake of it. I also eat what I like but have at least three cups (US measuring cups) of vegetables on my plate.

It's early days, but so far so good. I've also looked at people who are following this way of eating on YouTube which has been helpful.

I find OMAD a stretch sometimes but am having great success with Fast5. Five hour eating window. Free download and comprehensive book. Definitely recommend it 😊

Can someone explain ....... do I eat fruit ? Then a meal once a day ? Sorry to sound dumb , just wanted to clarify .... I need to lose weight fast and keep it off .

Could someone explain.

Thanks

My understanding is it's OMAD, so nothing else except fluids that won't spike your insulin - like water or herbal teas. Perhaps start on something that doesn't feel like such a challenge like maybe SlimmingWorld. I started on that and lost 1.5 stone quite easily then moved on to more of a intermittent fasting regime; though I do a five hour fast rather than OMAD. Physically and psychologically this isn't hard at all and once you've lost most of your weight it's a great way to keep it off. I've lost another 7 lbs doing this. Good luck and happy to answer any questions you have 😊

Sorry OP but I don’t quite understand how this isn’t an extension is your ED...

From what you’ve said I think you’d be better off on a different type of diet, and maybe working on properly changing your relationship with food.

Yes, I agree with Beansonapost I'm afraid.
I occasionally do the 5 bite diet to shift 10lbs. Its a quick easy way to shift the weight. However, it, and other very restrictive diets like it, are meant to be used short term, not as a way of eating forever. And they always say not to follow these type of diets if you have a history of ED. There is a reason they say that.

I would feel soo sick if I didn't eat till evening

If you can read German, this respected professor details intermittant fasting in a balanced and scientific way. He is also on OMAD but there is no eating disorder involved. His key is balance and health.

It makes sense and when I have done it it works for me. It is how people ate for a long period ( and still do in some cultures) so it is bound to be what is best for humans.

No, don't eat any fruit at all if you can manage it if you want to ose weight as it just spikes your blood sugar. Eat lots of veg if you feel like a piece of fruit. If you have no weight to lose then of course fruit is good for you in moderation like most things.

One meal a day diet works great. The easiest way to do it is to push the meal to dinner. This is because the moment you eat breakfast, you would feel like having lunch. (or) if you can skip breakfast and have lunch, then its easy to skip dinner if you sleep a bit earlier. That said, it would be best to combine the OMAD with green juice at night. Green vegetable juice.

I’ve lost 1 1/2 stone doing it since 16th of October last year. And that’s with massively falling off the wagon from about the week before Christmas until this week.

Back on it now, haven’t actually put any weight on surprisingly, just felt bloated and horrible.

I’ve just had leek and Wensleydale crusted chicken breast on a bed of pea and asparagus risotto, with Parmesan and black pepper. It was bloody amazing.

For me the trick is to eat something really tasty with loads of protein in it, it’s normally chicken + something to make the chicken nice + a carb, usually rice. Or I’ll make a really rich, thick beef stew at lunchtime at the weekend and leave it in the oven til dinner. Or a massive chilli and freeze it, with loads of beans in and grated veg.

Basically, if you’re only going to eat once a day, it’s got to be nutritious, tasty, and filling.

Stop spamming!

Is anyone else doing this ?

How is weight loss going?

I done it pre baby & lost 3 stone in about 5 months. I've just got back on it now my baby is 7 months due to breastfeeding/generally not giving a s**t & I've lost 7 pounds (I'm on day 9 today) I find it really easy & convenient I can easily go without food from morning till 6pm, if I get hungry I'll drink water or coffee (good supresenent) in the first day I did have a banana but haven't had to have anything since, you get used to it really quick. Plus you can have within reason what ever you like for dinner. Good luck!

Just don't go over board like I did before make sure you have 800cals minimum in your meal. Probably more if you don't need to lose weight... even if you get that full/bloated feeling after you don't have to feel bad because that's all you've eaten!

Is anyone still doing this? I’ve been doing it for 5 days and lost 4lbs. I am about 3 stone overweight though. Im finding it a bit of a revelation that I can actually get through the day without eating every 5 mins. When it come to the evening and I want to eat, I’m also finding that I’m less likely to eat crap, and thinking of healthy stuff that I really want to eat. And of course saving money and time usually spent cooking 👍👍

I'm doing it, I've been keto for a while though and regularly skip meals from not being hungry. This week I've managed two 24 hour fasts. I tend to eat my main meal at lunch. The weight looks to be falling off again after a stall and I've not been hungry. Low carbing helps massively with loss of appetite.

Ive done this on and off for years. Im male of course and ended up here doing more reading on diets. However what they dont tell many about this kind of diet is how hard it is for many. And you must be very careful doing this least you make your health worse. If you start to feel sick, to weak, or get what I call the wobblies then eat something. And just restart your diet the next day on schedule. I also drink whatever inbetween, sometimes drinks with sugar in them, sometimes not. It makes things go much smoother. Just be sure you are eating healthy, or at least take a multivitamin. As these types of diets will surely deplete some vitamins and minerals which could lead to other problems. Overall I went from having diabetes where a few sips of cola would put me in bad, to being able to tolerate a glass of cola fairly well. So there is benefits there, plus the benefit of weight loss over time. No idea if long term is healthy or not. Do take some probiotics now and then as every diet may effect gut flora. What else can one say except be careful as with all diets they are risky and could cause health problems. Dieting causes the body to do a lot of clean up work. Sadly that in itself which is usually beneficial is not beneficial for all and can cause other hidden health problems to seem to emerge. By the way Im no expert or doctor here, and like all things to much of a good thing can be a bad thing, best wishes.

Nopbobb