OMAD - One Meal A Day - anybody have experience?

[Daves_Not_Here]

Hey guys - is anyone here eating One Meal A Day (OMAD)?  Here's my situation & experience -- I lost 50 pounds and leveled out around Christmas.  I stopped logging food or trying to lose.  Now that ski season is ending, I'm ready to lose 20 to 30 more pounds. 

I'm currently eating Keto to satiety and LOVING the side effects, but I need to change something, so I'm trying OMAD, eating all my food at dinner -- this gives me 23 hours of intermittent fasting per day.  My first 3 days experience is:

Day 1:  Light hunger increasing through day, moderately hungry at dinner, ate 1050 calories

Day 2:  More hunger in the morning, lethargic after 2:00 PM, famished at dinner, ate 1550 calories.  

Day 3:  Light hunger as of 2:30, much higher energy than yesterday.  Down 4 pounds, which I assume is water.

More to follow.  Would love to receive advice from others who have tried or are familiar with OMAD.

[Dominique]

I simulated what would have happened if you had gone by the suggestion I’ve seen (that makes a lot of sense to me): lose 10% of your body weight in three months, maintain at that new weight for three months, repeat until you’ve reached your end goal. It would have looked as follows (blue curve added to your actual weight history for the past 9 months):

Said approach (which is based on the idea of minimizing the reduction of metabolism caused by the caloric deficit) would still be lagging behind your actual weight loss (though not by much, only 5 pounds). This suggests to me it may be a good idea to continue maintaining at your current level of 185-190 for a few more months before giving it a new go. This is because of the effect your aggressive initial loss (50 lbs in 5 months = 21% of your starting weight) had on your metabolism.

In itself, intermittent fasting (one variant of which is your OMAD approach) won’t make much of a difference: weight loss is still primarily driven by a caloric deficit. IF is just one way some people find it convenient to be in the caloric deficit they need for weight loss.

[Alicat2104]

OMAD isn't advised for weight loss, more suited for maintenance as long term it will decrease metabolism (according to staff @ the IDM clinic - https://idmprogram.com).  I sometimes do OMAD if it fits with my day, but most often 2MAD combined with IF and the occasional EF.

[Daves_Not_Here]

DAY 4 update - almost no hunger, feeling great, probably due to being more deeply in ketosis.  It's definitely getting easier each day.

@Dominique - very cool graphical analysis!  In retrospect, the staged approach you had recommended probably would have been a more sustainable path.  However, a ski season at 185-190 pounds was really fun!

We are in complete agreement that weight loss is driven by caloric deficit and that various diet approaches work by establishing a deficit, whether the dieter explicitly tracks calories or not.  However, I'm interested in questions that may be worth their own threads:

• Calories eaten may either be burned, stored, or wasted (excreted undigested through stool, urine. or breath).  To what extent does the portion of calories wasted vary, and is this affected by diet (and/or metabolic state)?
• Can diet affect metabolism and therefore the "burn" side of the deficit equation?  In other words, will 100 calories of a more "thermogenic" food result in a larger deficit than 100 calories of a less thermogenic food?
• How are fat storage and metabolism affected by insulin level?  If insulin level is low, will blood lipids be as readily stored as fat?  If not, where do they go?

So, calorie deficit is key, yes, but I think there are layers to the onion.  By the way, I agree that IF makes establishing a calorie deficit straightforward.

@Alicat2104 - I'm curious about your thoughts as to how long one must fast before metabolism increases.  Is this why you occasionally do Extended Fasts, and for how long do you sustain them?

Also, if you're up for handing out advice -- what do you think would be the most effective way for me to knock off 20 - 30 more pounds, if not OMAD?   At this point, I'm eating Keto, fully fat-adapted, light activity, eating to satiety and slowly gaining.  I have food log fatigue, so I like how OMAD simplifies tracking and makes it easier to assure a deficit.  I believe I had been on the edge of ketosis so the finger pricking shall commence.  I'd value your opinion on how best to proceed.

[Dominique]

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@Daves_Not_Here wrote:

• Calories eaten may either be burned, stored, or wasted (excreted undigested through stool, urine. or breath).  To what extent does the portion of calories wasted vary, and is this affected by diet (and/or metabolic state)?

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The main factors that come to mind are thermic effect of food (TEF) and fiber. These probably have a more limited impact for someone on a ketogenic diet, since the macronutrient with the highest TEF is protein (and protein intake can only be moderate in a ketogenic diet) and fiber comes with carbs (though some foods – typically leafy veggies –  are high in fiber, low in calories while having relatively few carbs, so should ideally make whatever little carbs you are "allowed" to consume in a ketogenic diet).

• Can diet affect metabolism and therefore the "burn" side of the deficit equation?  In other words, will 100 calories of a more "thermogenic" food result in a larger deficit than 100 calories of a less thermogenic food?
• How are fat storage and metabolism affected by insulin level?  If insulin level is low, will blood lipids be as readily stored as fat?  If not, where do they go?

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I personally wouldn’t worry about these aspects. Why don’t you adopt the same eating patterns that had you drop weight from 240 to 190 pounds, resume counting calories and shoot for a calculated deficit of – say – 1000 calories, knowing that the actual deficit will be smaller than that (but likely still sufficient to lose weight at a reasonable pace)? This time around you "only" need to lose 20 pounds, and it’s not like you’re in a rush. If you’ve been able to lose at a rate of 10 pounds per month, surely you can do it at a rate of 4 pounds per month? In three months, that would be half of what you want to achieve. You can then take a break (2-3 months) before going for the "last" 10 to 15 pounds.

[Daves_Not_Here]

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@Dominique wrote: ...

I personally wouldn’t worry about these aspects. Why don’t you adopt the same eating patterns that had you drop weight from 240 to 190 pounds, resume counting calories and shoot for a calculated deficit of – say – 1000 calories, knowing that the actual deficit will be smaller than that (but likely still sufficient to lose weight at a reasonable pace)?

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@Dominique - I only pose those questions from an academic perspective -- I'm curious about those concepts, and I'm interested to hear yours and others' opinions about them.

From a practical perspective, I'll take your advice to establish a calorie deficit to knock off the rest of the weight.  One of the things I'm finding nice about OMAD is it really cuts my appetite and snacking and makes it almost too easy to eat at a large calorie deficit.  We'll see if it results in weight loss or if I'm setting myself up for an even lower metabolism.

[jshaf]

I do omad sunday, monday, wednesday, and thursday and fast the other days.  

don't suggest everyone do this but I am able to do it and it works for me.  and the meals are Keto

[Daves_Not_Here]

@jshaf - very cool.  Reading your other posts, it seems you are getting great results.

[WavyDavey]

How to do this with 3600+ calories a day?

[Baltoscott]

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@WavyDavey wrote:

How to do this with 3600+ calories a day?

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Have a 14 hour meal 🙂

[Daves_Not_Here]

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@WavyDavey wrote:

How to do this with 3600+ calories a day?

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@jshaf will have to confirm, but I'm assuming it's a 2-step process:

1. Queue up 3,600 calories of food
2. Stuff face

Actually, with all its fat, 3,600 calories of Keto food has deceptively low volume and can probably fit on a regular dinner plate.

[WavyDavey]

I'm having trouble imagining 200 grams of protein fitting on a plate.

[Daves_Not_Here]

@WavyDavey - 200 grams is 7 ounces.  Depending on the cut, a 10-12 ounce steak would get you there.

Also, my calculations are 3600 calories at a ratio of 75 / 20 / 5 fat / protein / carbs is 180 grams of protein.  Also, many people in Keto, including myself, eat less than 20% protein.  We target 75% fat, and put protein and carbs in a combined 25% bucket.  

[WavyDavey]

Sorry, a 12 ounce steak does not contain 200 grams of protein. I really wish it did.

[jshaf]

3600 is way too much for me personally to do at one setting, might exceed 2000 slightly but that is pretty rare for me.  

[Daves_Not_Here]

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@WavyDavey wrote:

Sorry, a 12 ounce steak does not contain 200 grams of protein. I really wish it did.

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Shows you what I know.

Actually, I meant to say a 12 ounce steak with protein powder on top.

[TonyG007]

I have been doing OMAD (Keto) for the past 4 weeks now. I was at 220 pounds (no muscle, sadly just obese) Today I am at 198 pounds and going strong. 

I sincerely believe it would be almost impossible (for me anyways) to do OMAD on high/medium carb diet. The Carbs causes spikes in insulin which pretty much stops fat burning dead in its tracks untill the body can process it. 

Also, with Keto, at 70% fat, I really do NOT get hungry, only eat once a day because I have to (i am following Dr Eric berg on you tube, he taught me all I know today). But when I have my one meal, usually around 6pm-8pm, I eat around 800 calories per meal. Now I know most people will say thats unhealthy etc.. But remember these are the same people that told us back in the day carbs and sugar are totally good for you. Eye roll. 

Point is, i am not starving myself, and I feel fantastic. My one meal a day is pretty much 80% of the time a basic salad with spinach leaves, tomato, mature cheddar and olive oil. With a protein, like salmon, chicken thigh.. but usually only about 120 g of protein (in weight, not referring to nutritional lables etc)

I cannot for the life of me think how anybody will be able to tell me that is unhealthy. 

[Daves_Not_Here]

Hey @TonyG007 -- I agree with so much of what you are saying.  I'm having the same experience - Keto makes it really easy to skip meals and my health and well-being continue to improve the less often I eat.

Bottom line for me is that my personal experience trumps everything else.  I know very little about nutrition which means I'm far more qualified to make nutritional decisions than a healthcare establishment that thrives on chronic illness.

[Mayko]

I did OMAD for years after having my baby. In the first month, I lost 16 lbs.  in Less than a year, I lost 50 lbs. 

[Mediajky]

I really like OMAD, I have been doing it for 10 days and i have lost 6 pounds. First couple of days i did feel fatigue but now it actually energizes me. I do drink black coffee and i believe it does make a difference, I even workout fasting and I love it. A couple of tips though: 1. Really plan your meals bcs if you wait for eating time to plan them you will get overwhelmed. I always keep a ton of caesar salad in my fridge, scrambled eggs, guacamole, ceviche, some sort of whole milk yogurt shake, rotisserie chicken, etc... Make it easy on yourself. This way i really eat what i want but i eat slowly and i eat until i am full. I also have dessert. 😃...but i eat slowly and really enjoy it. 2. Dont think of it so much as one meal as much as a window of eating. I eat pretty much between 7 and 10. Sometimes i have a snack a cpl of hours after my intial 7 pm meal. I really like OMAD. Also it gives you anpot of freedom for when you go out to dinner and it becomes a real treat. Enjoy!