Anyone doing OMAD or 23:1

[Gertie75]

I'm on day 3 and so far so good, it'd be nice to hear if anyone else is doing it too, whether early days or long term

No, I don't count calories. I loathe counting calories, which is why 5:2 didn't really work for me. Since my last post in Sept I've moved to a consistent OMAD 6 days a week, with Sunday as 16:8 (to ensure I can include bacon sandwiches for a late breakfast )

I'd probably lose a bit faster if I did count but frankly life is too short and wine/chocolate is too delicious. I reckon I'm doing well enough with just OMAD without having to justify what I do eat.

Having said all that I do know that 3 days a week dinner will usually be between 600-800 cals because we have HelloFresh. Plus the aforementioned wine probably 3-4 nights a week and chocolate every night.

Meant to say, my appetite has definitely reduced. I'm hungry for my evening meal but get full quite quickly too.

I can see the appeal, but I'm a real binger and I could easily eat twice the daily recommended calorie allowance in that window. I think my mindset would see it as a "stuff in as much as you can in an hour" challenge, which would be neither healthy nor conducive to weight loss! I'd probably better find a calorie counting regime, much as I would like to be free of that.

@EoinMcLovesCakeJumper I started slowly,so fasted for 16 hours for a few months,then up to 18 hours (having two meals not three). It takes a while to adjust and not something you can just jump in to.
Also if you are only eating once then you might have a 3 course meal spread over a couple of hours (or more).
It's so flexible.

I just wanted to ask - I would find OMAD easy if I could have coffee with cream (combining a low carb / keto approach). Do any of you allow that or does it really negate the benefits? I guess it halts autophagy, but for now - while focus is more weight loss - do any of you allow it?

I don't allow it as it can spike insulin. I fasted for ages with milk in tea and coffee but now I only have black coffee and water,some herbal drinks and in the winter I drink hot water as well to keep me warm.

Thank you @SarahBeeney

Hi I've been on the Omed diet for 5 days now and today I've had to come to bed cos I'm so hungry and my husband and kids are eating a take away..I nearly gave in to temptation and ordered fish and chips..my dinner isnt until 7pm which will be salad quorne fillets and broccoli pasta..but I'm so struggling :(

I've been eating OMAD for about a year and I've lost 5 stone.

What I eat has drastically changed too - because it I'm only eating once a day, I want that good to be as nutritionally good as possible. I eat a lot of homemade vegetable soups with a huge range of veg - so I get most of my 5 a day and a wide range over the week.

I eat avocados and oily fish on alternate days too.

I also add ground seeds to my soups for a bit of extra nutrition.

When I'm working, I'll eat an early dinner (around 5ish) so I'm still not hungry going to bed, but at weekends, I have my one meal around 2pm. I think the research shows that early eating windows have the biggest benefit, but I'm never hungry in the morning and would feel weird eating lots of veggies for breakfast, so I prefer later in the day.

It works for me and I'm rarely hungry, unless my period is due and I get like a ravenous beast. I still usually manage to hold off eating even then, though.

I will have days off for big events - and if I'm eating out with friends I will eat my one meal with them, relax a bit and get back on it the next day.

I can't tell you how much better I feel for eating this way. It is a truly ingrained habit now.

The only problem I have is that it has become so normal that I'm still losing weight and have reached a point where I don't want to lose too much more. I will have to start working out how to balance it out so that I get the benefits of the fasting without losing any more weight.

Any ideas would be welcome.

I am doing keto and often do OMAD too. I drink a few coffees with double cream each day. If I put in a hefty dollop, say 50ml, of double cream, that is < 1g of carbs per coffee.

I may try to do a day without coffee soon, to see how it feels.

I started Fast 5 last Friday. Had been doing the low carb bootcamp for the last 3 weeks but find it too easy to overeat and decided to switch. I was having coffee and tea with milk/cream during my fast but then read this thread and did my first clean fast yesterday and found it so much easier. I’m not a huge fan of black tea/coffee but I’m getting used to it. Read the DDD book yesterday evening and feel very motivated. The test will be tomorrow at work. I’m desk based and normally look forward to my lunch to break up the day. My window is currently 5-10 pm but I may bring it forward so I can eat something at work and have an earlier dinner. I’m just worried I may carry on eating in the evening. Any tips?

@truelove Hi. It may take you a while to work out what works best for you,but that’s ok as it’s flexible. Sometimes I don’t feel brilliant so I’ll have two meals a day,or a longer window.
My window is roughly 3-7 but that’s because that suits me with my unusual working hours.

@MaudBaileysGreenTurban That’s incredible that you’ve lost so much weight!
Hopefully your body will just naturally settle at a weight and then you’ll stop losing? I’m not sure!
I have a friend who is skinny and she wants to fast for health benefits but the weight just drops off her so it is difficult. I’m not sure what the answer is and our bodies all react very differently. I think it may be possible to get the health benefits by eating say two meals a day and then doing a longer fast once a week.

Thanks @SarahBeeney! In the end, I fasted until I got home from work at about 6.30 and found it fine. I went out for a walk a couple of times which helped break the day up. Clean fasting has been a revelation - it makes it so much easier to stick to. When I get to my goal (5lbs to go!) I may experiment with longer windows on some days but for now, 20:4 or 19:5 is very doable.

It’s so flexible and I think that really helps with not having guilt like you do with diets. Sometimes I find it so easy,and other times I struggle at lunchtime. It’s much easier when I’m under stress 😂

@wooo,

That is complete woo, presumably because you are pushing a junk diet.

woo,

You wrote:
initial weight loss on a fast is primarily water weight or worse muscle

Your body will not initially lose muscle when fasting. This would be the height of evolutionary incompetence.

Fat is designed as the body's energy store, not muscle.

Your advertising posts contain more untruths.

...and you wrote that initial weight loss was muscle, which is untrue.

I saw this the other day, ordered the book and am on day 3.

I'm only drinking black coffee during the day and have one meal in the evening. I'm avoiding milk in coffee and diet coke

I find it really easy, It's easier for me than eating fewer calories over the day. I eat what I want in the evening which means I can eat carbs with the children. But so far I haven't found that i'm binging in the evenings.

my window for eating is 5-7 I think, or whenever I get home.

Are any of you still doing this?

I started lockdown eating all the things, then progressed to 16:8, then 18:6, and now I'm on 23:1 or OMAD.

I've only been on OMAD for a week. The first 4 days were brilliant and I thought I'd found "the one". It erradicates a lot of what trips me up when trying to keep the weight off.

But, the last 3 days have been hard, and I don't know how this will feel in the real world when i'm awake longer and using more energy. Maybe the first few days were just lucky, and i'm now in an adjustment period? If so, how long did it last for you?

I’m doing a mixture of OMAD and 36 hr fasts.

Feels great most of the time. When it doesn’t I have slipped back to 16:8

I do keep the carbs and processed food low when eating as I have pre diabetic blood sugar readings so I’m trying to address that as well as the weight. I also find that carbs are most likely to kill my routine (presumably a metabolic thing).