INTO THE IDEA OF THE ONE MEAL A DAY DIET, AKA OMAD.
psa! you can skip straight to the bottom for how to sustainably do OMAD.
On the night of the 9th of December, I had decided to start a three day water fast, I felt motivated to do it, and ready. The following day, why fast preceded as normal, i kept hydrated until 4pm when I remembered I had bananas I kept away and they were finally beautifully ripened. I knew that after my fast, my family would have eaten them already and if not, they would have gotten too ripe for my liking. So, like Freelee, I ate four bananas and decided to have a tangerine after. The little hunger I felt was immediately satiated and I had just unknowingly began my OMAD diet.
The following day, I had planned to do it again, but I had to do some careful planning, and think about what foods satiate me and keep me full for extended hours, along with that, what time would be the perfect time to eat my one meal and how much of it should I eat? I had so many questions but I didn't want to overthink it or else this would flop. So, I decided that I would eat whatever I wanted. Usually, I would never eat refined carbs, but for the sake of this, I would, if I'm only eating one meal a day, I might as well make it worth it and enjoyable. I had made a delicious lentil and green pea tomato soup that was thick and rich in proteins, vitamin A had a variety of vegetables within it for lunch. I scooped out an amount I would usually eat and proceeded to finish the entire bowl, with that, I was done. And for the rest of the day I was absolutely full, only craving a nice hot glass of milo before bed to hit the sweet spot.
I decided to eat my OMAD everyday at 2pm. I felt as if having my one meal for breakfast wouldn't be able to keep me satisfied for the entire day, and eating my one meal a day for dinner didn't seem like something I was willing to wait the entire day for. All in all, I had to pick a time where I would not get too hungry to a point where I do not feel satiated whilst eating because I had waited too long, or where I would be left with my stomach grumbling for the whole day. I chose 2pm for these reason, plus I usually intermittent fast 18:6 and only have breakfast at 12 midday, so waiting two hours later really wasn't a challenge if I had a cup of tea for breakfast.
Day one and two were relatively easy, and like every diet or lifestyle choice one transitions into, it's easy at first then it becomes difficult for a while and eventually it becomes neutral and the challenges your body faced initially begins to normalise with your daily routine. By day three, I felt extremely light headed when I stood up from laying down and had to take a few deep breaths before I stood up, and it would happen through the day, it was a very uncomfortable feeling but I knew it came from the change of my eating habits. For my meal that day, I had leftovers from the lentil soup with two chicken breasts, and this was just one big protein overload. I felt full from midway through this meal, after I finished eating the meal until nine pm. And when I say full, I mean the food was sitting in my stomach like a rock. I had to drink something to aid in digestion because it refused to digest over a period of six hours and after about twenty minutes I felt much lighter.
The next few days were relatively easy, but I didn't realise that i was missing carbs heavily from my meals so when i did eat a panini sandwich for my omad, I gained 0.8kgs. This was weird until it clicked in my head, i needed to be more inclusive of every food group and i was heavily missing out on carbs, so the next day I had pasta and had lost 0.3kgs of the weight i had gained, and my days continued to be more carb inclusive as well as every other group.
For the first week of OMAD i had lost 1.4kgs, so here are my tips and tricks on how to make it more sustainable:
1. HAVE YOUR OMAD AT THE SAME TIME EVERYDAY.
OMAD is basically intermittent fasting 23:1. Having meals at the same time everyday enables your body to get used to the routine of eating everyday at that time.
2. EAT ENOUGH OF THE RIGHT FOOD. Make sure that you are consuming almost every food group in your meal, veggies, carbohydrates, proteins, because if you only eat vegetables, your body will be used to maintaining a lower weight by only eating vegetables and once you introduce something foreign to your diet such as protein, or carbs your body will react by either gaining weight or bloating, especially if you are doing OMAD long term.
3. EAT WHAT YOU ARE CRAVING. If you are craving a giant bowl of oatmeal or even sushi, eat it and it will be more satiating that eating something you don't really want. Plus, it will aid in you not binging later on. If you want to have some pasta, but also want a slice of cake, have the slice of cake with your meal!
4. KEEP HYDRATED. Beverages were my biggest saviour during OMAD, whether it was tea, water or hot chocolate, it really curbed my hunger cravings at first, especially since I only wanted to eat my OMAD at 2pm. Water as a general thing is important, so make sure to drink enough of it!
5. THE FIRST FEW DAYS WILL NOT BE EASY. You will definitely feel light headed for the first few days, especially if you are not eating enough food, but it clears up after the fourth day, so just keep that in mind.
