Anyone ready to do OMAD? Join forces?

[LeatherSkirt82]

I have a massive amount of weight to lose (70lbs). This is obviously a long term project so after much thinking (read: procrastination) - I want to start OMAD.

None of the other diets worked for me (I tried Atkins, Dukan, keto, Noom, etc). I also have a 3yo and a husband who can't cook so making separate meals for myself is not something I can do as I also work full time. When I was travelling for business last year, I stumbled upon OMAD by accident (I was so busy that I genuinely didn't have time to eat more than once a day) and for the first time in what feels like forever - I felt GREAT! I had more energy, I was losing weight, I was in a good mood and I wasn't feeling hungry or guilty if I ate red meat or a piece of bread.

So I did my research, spoke with my GP and given that I don't have any medical conditions (and I am not on any meds) that would be an obstacle - I got the green light to try this.

My plan is: 1 meal per day at 6 or 7pm (so that we have one family meal), try to consume less carbs but no pressure not to consume any and once I'm below 200lbs (and body got used to the diet) - start speed walking (1h per day in the mornings).

However, what I really need is a partner - someone I can talk to, someone to hold me accountable and someone to commiserate with on bad days.

That is useful to know @ethermint. 30% is great progress - I’m impressed!

I’ll hit my target weight at some point - not too bothered as to when - because the challenge will be to maintain at that weight for the rest of my days.

Good morning!

Weigh in day today - 12 stone 4.6 pounds!!

So, not the 11s as hoped but very thoroughly in the right direction! I am delighted.

I am out for a farewell lunch today so that will be my very nice OMAD. To a fancy gastropub so I plan to ensure I also order a side salad or side vegetables in addition to whatever I have so I know I am getting a solid amount of vegetables in.

Hope everyone is well and have a good day!

Well done @WiltingLobelia huge congrats on your progress so far! I hope you enjoyed your farewell lunch.

I'm doing another fast today, for as long as I can. I realise I'm not following a strict OMAD protocol but an altered version, it's actually working well for me and I think my body is finally getting used to it as during fasting times I have far less desire to eat and overall within a week I probably eat less each week than the previous one.

Although peppered in with the great progress sometimes I am getting frustrated and depressed and want all the weight to be gone already!! But I am doing my best to keep on track and I think this thread is helping.

I hope everyone else is doing ok today.

Week 2 Day 2:

Fell off the wagon and had lunch and dinner. I was hungry both times and enjoyed both meals. I wondered why I didn’t ride through the hunger and it was because (1) cluster headaches and I didn’t feel like doing anything useful - reading emails, doing finances etc (2) virus in the house and felt absolutely zonked out with tiredness.

Week 2 Day 3:
Back on the wagon.

The nice thing is I am now analysing any falls off the wagon and thinking through how not to fall off the next time something like tiredness or a virus hits. Rather than giving up in despair and eating everything in sight!

Hello @ethermint and @SpaceOpera !

I have a similar reaction to you when on second meal days @SpaceOpera . Whereas before I would give up and binge and call myself a failure, now I have a small second meal and move on to the next day. I think listening to your body and knowing when you need extra is such a key thing to success.

I also want all the weight gone @ethermint . Totally understand that!

I am thrilled with my progress. I have not been in the low 12s since DS1 was born and he is now 13. I had a wonderful lunch out- steak and veg. Then a fruit crumble with custard because I knew I was a bit low on the fruit side of things this week. No guilt, no bingeing, just pure enjoyment. Plus a glass of Malbec. Thing is, it's not hard. That is what is quite simply blowing my mind. I find calorie restriction hard. This is (relatively speaking) easy for me at least. DH keeps a really close eye on his weight and he says calorie restriction but 3 meals a day is easy for him. Totally horses for courses.

Hope everyone is well and has a wonderful weekend.

Thank you @WiltingLobelia - it’s encouraging to hear that others have been through the same!

I fell off the wagon yesterday too. But I think I've done pretty well for my first week and I deffo feel better for it!

That’s great news @tatteddear . Never mind the occasional falls!

Week 2 Day 4: OMAD. Was able to resist a late-night snack very easily, although I love home-baked gammon.

Cardio: none

Core: 10 sets 10 push-ups, 10 sets 10 crunchies

Week 2 Day 5: OMAD.

Cardio: None to speak of

Core: 10 sets 10 push-ups, 10 sets 10 crunchies

Good morning all! I have made a little progress again despite some up and down on the scale, the general trend is downward, slowly!

I am attempting a longer fast today, maybe 48 - 72hrs if I can manage it, for autophagy benefits as much as weight loss (obviously am doing it very safely with electrolytes). I have some little body issues that I think will be sorted out by a longer fast. I've always failed at about 45hrs before so it's a bit longer - who knows if I will achieve it.

After that I may revert to a kind of OMAD to try to curb my eating a bit better rather than allowing full days of eating in between. My in betweens are pretty bad so far but at this stage in my journey I feel ready to make a step forwards on sorting out the bad eating a bit more. This should give my weight loss more of a boost.

I've also purchased a fitbit type sports watch to help get the exercise up a bit - my reward for losing over a stone!

Keep up the good work everyone, if you are still at it. :)

Ooh looking forward to hearing all about it!

Week 2 Day 6: OMAD.

Cardio: 9k run

Core: 10 sets of 10 push-ups, 10 sets of 10 crunchies

I have been told the right side of my back is very tight, so tomorrow I won’t run but will do stretching (AsanaRebel). The core work is starting to show - I tend to muscle up quickly. I love the definition it gives my cheeks, neck, arms and shoulders.

With all this, I’m not worried about the actual weight loss. It can take its time. I’m impressed that being on this thread has stopped me snacking. Thank you for starting this, @LeatherSkirt82 !

good morning @SpaceOpera , you're doing amazingly at the exercise.

I started to feel a bit rough again yesterday with a headache (I think I was low on sodium) so had to break my fast, but I kept my eating window smaller and didn't go mad. For me it's very much a case of following my body rather than pushing through. Seeing what I can do and slowly changing.

I also managed some yoga for the first time in MONTHS so that's a positive. And today I am doing a low calorie day, miso soup and some pickled onions (I know!) for breakfast, hoping to push through to have a normal dinner, so a kind of OMAD day for me.

It's a slow thing but I think turning around habits needs to be flexible and adaptable, the fact I did some yoga is proof that things are changing a bit and I seem to be getting better at moderating food intake and being aware of what I am eating.

Keep up the good work everyone!

Hi all,

Just checking in. Total. Fail over the weekend but got back to it yesterday and feel alright. In the middle of moving house so busy and get randomly starving at odd times but just ate my one meal yesterday courtesy of the microwave as the kitchen is packed and will probably do the same tonight!
No exercise except lugging boxes and what not but that's plenty for me for the next few days I think :)

Absolutely bloody starving. Going to wait it out until 5 pm family dinner. Lots of water, some stretching, and work.

I do like reading all of your updates ☺️

Yesterday was Week 2 Day 7. It was interesting to see how my fear controlled my eating yesterday. I had my one meal at 4 pm, but late at night, about 9, I was putting the shepherds pie away and had some of it. Even as I was eating it I was thinking: why am I doing this?! And it was because today is a fasting day and I was frightened I hadn’t had enough yesterday and would be hungry. It seemed to be a primal need to ‘fill up’. The zero-degree weather also seemed to be playing a part - my body doesn’t want to let go of its fat blanket!

Exercise: No cardio. About half an hour of yoga (AsanaRebel app). It really calmed down (surprisingly) with my painful right ankle, leg and back. I’m nervous about running in the cold today, so I’ll do a high intensity session indoors.

Good luck to everyone else.

@SpaceOpera there are definitely times that the body knows best. Try to go easy on yourself - if your body needed more food then it was probably for a good reason. And much harder in the cold horrid weather. It's been freezing here today! I suspect as spring takes a hold we may all find it much easier!!

I am trying to do a 36hr fast today - they generally seem easier now I am used to them. I have a bit of a crazy weekend of socialising so getting in some fasts beforehand is a good idea. But need to up the electrolytes!

My fitness watch arrived and I am trying to get my head around it! It made me go a bit faster on the school run today, so that's something!

I do find as soon as I have a day of eating my weight goes up again. I am hoping that it is more likely just replacing the lost water rather than grabbing onto fat.

and a bonus - saving loads of cash on food shopping! One shop lasts ages these days! 😂😂

@tatteddear you're doing really well to sustain during a house move! They are so stressful I would probably be eating more!! Hope you're settling in now.

Good morning everyone! my fitbit type thing arrived and I managed 16k steps yesterday (school run and various after school clubs). So I am starting to get a bit more active.

Yesterday was a fasting day. I am really struggling with headaches during fasts so keeping them shorter seems to be key. Not sure where I am going wrong as I am taking salt / electrolytes. Maybe my body prefers shorter ones.

Today is going to be an omad day I think.

The scales showed just under 68kg today - a first! It is a slow burn but it is burning!!! Need to avoid putting it all on again. My GW is 54kg ish! So a way to go but not too bad considering I have lost 7.5kg or so so far. Slow but steady.

Keep up the good work people.

@ethermint thank you for all your encouragement. What you said about a “slow change” is so true. It’s helpful to me to hear that voiced by someone else. And slowly getting more active is definitely more likely to stick.

Yesterday was Week 3 Day 1. I wanted to fast but did eat one meal. The triggers were: cold, getting some emotional news, basically stress-eating. I also did one session of Qi Gong, but did not do any other exercise.

It’s really revealing to me the inner workings of my mind. I didn’t need the food, but ate out of a kind of panic about what would happen if I didn’t eat. Rationally I know I would have been fine. But I don’t have a defence formulated against the irrational fears. Have to get working on that.

So will re-attempt the fast today (Week 3 Day 2) with a weigh-in tomorrow. Also going for an hour’s walk.

All in the mind - how interesting.

@SpaceOpera you're doing really well and one meal yesterday is still amazing! And we need to follow our bodies to some extent because being too rigid we are setting ourselves up to fail.

Also, depending on your life situation you will need flexibility to succeed because of the sheer number of things that pop up to challenge us daily. It's different now for me in early 40s compared to when younger and less stress. E.g. I'm a single parent which is stressful, often around carbs due to child's limited food preferences, it's winter and even being in the freezing kitchen to cook healthy food can be too much at times. So being flexible is more key.

My hope is that although I may not be perfect yet I am laying some foundations that are setting me up for the eventual change of being much better overall, but without beating myself up if things go wrong. Or if I have an emotional day like you say... because I can just get back on the wagon each time like I have been doing.

In the past I've been staying off the wagon completely when I have a failure so it's like a muscle that I am training - get back on again and again if I fail. Over time that will equal success! And equate to willpower. I also like the Atomic Habits idea of getting 1% better each day. Over a month that could be 30% better. It all adds up!

My hope is that although I may not be perfect yet I am laying some foundations that are setting me up for the eventual change of being much better overall, but without beating myself up if things go wrong. Or if I have an emotional day like you say... because I can just get back on the wagon each time like I have been doing.
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In the past I've been staying off the wagon completely when I have a failure so it's like a muscle that I am training - get back on again and again if I fail. Over time that will equal success! And equate to willpower. I also like the Atomic Habits idea of getting 1% better each day. Over a month that could be 30% better. It all adds up!

❤️❤️❤️☝️

Week 3 Day 3: no, did not succeed at the fast but did at OMAD. Week 3 is a tricky time always for me. It’s a case of the novelty having worn off and the boredom kicking in. I also fear change - changing my eating habits is going to change my personality. Exercise: none. Definitely week 3 blues. I just need to keep at it.

Week 3 Day 4: Attempting the fasting again today and will check weight tomorrow. Exercise: 1hr 40 min walk.

Week 3 day 5: Failed again to fast, but did take my week 3 weight. It’s 60.6 kilos! I’m gaining weight 🧐, or at least not losing it!

I think the OMAD habit is pretty bedded in. So now time to start putting in the 48 hour fast consistently. Week 3 blues meant I failed to fast this week. But keeping everything else the same (eat what I want within the window, exercise as much as I feel like) I will, from week 4 to week 8, keep on with OMAD + one 48-hr fast per week.

Let’s see whether that works, and if I don’t lose any weight, I’ll then have to switch some protein over to veg, maybe lose some carb.

How’s everyone else doing?