OMAD has been proven as an efficient way to decrease body fat, improve metabolic functioning, and kick-start autophagy. This is the most prolonged form of fasting that does not go over a day in duration.
Typically on OMAD, you will consume all of your daily calories within a single to two-hour period. For individuals aiming to drop weight without the aid of any additional resources, it is typically advised that they take in fewer calories, thus resulting in a limited period of time for their meal intake. If you are already fairly slender or are attempting to build muscle, it might be necessary to lengthen the time frame during which you eat in order to consume enough calories.
What is The OMAD Diet?
Eating one meal per day emphasizes the timing of the meal instead of the type of food consumed. OMAD is thought to be the harshest form of intermittent fasting, typically requiring a person to consume all their calories for that day in a single hour.
In ideal circumstances, certain forms of periodic, rigorous fasting can have a profoundly positive transformation in one’s life.
Benefits and Drawbacks of OMAD
Pros:
Great for Focus & Productivity
OMAD does two wonders for focus and productivity:
- Frees up time from cooking, prepping, eating, and, worst of all, dishes. Ordering out takes time too.
- Prevents the afternoon energy slump. When you eat certain foods, your blood sugar rises. The body overcompensates and leaves you with lower blood sugar than before, making you tired.
Once you learn to efficiently utilize the body’s fat stores, your energy will remain consistent throughout the day (due to consistent blood sugar levels). I diligently worked through my list of assignments and accomplished more than I usually do.
Weight Loss
I shed some pounds as a result of making a big alteration to my diet.
In the span of three months, a weight loss of 9.5 pounds was achieved without any extra effort being put forth.
I anticipate similar outcomes if I change my usual eating habits. The body responds quite favorably to variety. In the near future, people will be flocking to various diets in order to lose dramatic amounts of weight.
The idea that weight loss is simply the result of food consumption minus physical activity is a flawed concept that fails to take into account reality. Environmental variables come into play. It can be concluded that doing OMAD (One Meal a Day) is beneficial for losing weight.
I burn 3,500 – 4,000 calories per day.
Is there any way I could consume more than that during one sitting?
I’m able to feel satiated even when I consume ultra-processed foods (which are not something I recommend), and it happens way before I’ve ingested 4,000 calories, particularly when consuming unprocessed natural foods (as I typically do).
I eat until I’m completely full, so I consume approximately 3,000 calories per day.
Restore Insulin Sensitivity
Bodybuilders and diabetics share a common obsession: insulin.
The opinion of insulin can vary depending on who you associate with.
This hormone controls your body fat, stress hormones, bone density, brain, thyroid, sex hormones (testosterone and estrogen), and the chemicals in your nervous system that regulate your immune system.
In short: It’s pretty important. The issue?
“80 percent of the population is insulin resistant. “
It implies that the method of choosing between fat and energy is not working correctly.
Fasting, especially the One Meal a Day (OMAD) routine, can help regulate insulin levels and make the body more sensitive to insulin. Consuming only one food item daily also positively affects other bodily and mental indicators.
Cons:
Fitness Performance Suffers
One qualm quickly became apparent.
When to eat?
- Before working out, then finish—sometimes extremely strenuous—exercise with zero replenishment?
- After working out, perform each workout completely fasting and then need to eat immediately afterward.
Obtaining extra muscle tissue is much more demanding to accomplish on a Meal A-Day diet. AMPK levels that are too elevated inhibit the anabolic state of the body and suppress muscle growth caused by mTOR.
I usually went with eating after working out. Any approach can work in the short term. In month two, I noticed my fitness declining. Workouts became harder, and I didn’t push as hard.
Socially Difficult
Food is deeply social.
People quickly notice how, what, and when you eat.
So when do you eat?
Lunch with coworkers. Or dinner with friends. It’s a real choice I make every day.
I began by not having dinner and going out to lunch with my colleagues. Nobody wants to be the one who never joins in with their colleagues.
When I was asked to hang out with friends, I changed my eating schedule and only had dinner without eating lunch. Having lunch with only a big glass of water made some people stare in disbelief, and I had to explain the reason why I was doing it.
No matter how I looked at it, either people I worked with during the day or people I socialized with in the evening were uncomfortable with the idea of One Meal a Day.
Digestion
Think of 3500 calories hitting your stomach simultaneously.
Not a pretty picture. It wasn’t pleasant to consume all of that food at once.
Consuming 3,500 calories of high-grade food is a large amount and takes a considerable amount of time to eat.
To keep a stable weight and build muscle, giving up on achieving weight increase was essential.
I was obviously very uncomfortable and did not feel well during the initial few days.
Lots of individuals have difficulty digesting food, whether it be caused by a dearth of digestive enzymes or an unusual acidity level. Eating all your caloric intake at one time can be too much for the digestive system to handle.
8 Tips for OMAD
#1 Go for Long Walks
While abstaining from food, the stored glucose inside your liver is already scarce, and you are generating ketone bodies. Going for a walk without eating can be beneficial for burning more fat because you will use the ketones released in your body to provide energy for the activity.
You shouldn’t endure higher intensity exercise or HIIT cardio for extended periods, notably while in a fasted state. Eating too much will cause your body to break down proteins more readily, as well as hinder your ability to restore your energy levels.
It is possible to stroll for a prolonged period of time without encountering any difficulties, given the low level of intensity. Consuming food also helps the digestive process and relieves stress, especially after a meal.
#2 Drink Salted Water in the Morning
If you are usually nervous, can become worried rapidly, find yourself exhausted in the morning, or tend not to drink enough fluids, this advice is made with you in mind.
Consuming a cup of hot water with a small amount of sea salt or mineral salt when you first wake up will reduce the body’s cortisol levels and replenish your body’s liquid. It can also help with digestion and bowel movements.
#3 Post-Pone Caffeine Intake
Introducing caffeine into your system shortly after getting out of bed is the poorest decision you could make for controlling your cortisol levels. Caffeine + cortisol is a recipe for disaster.
Allow your body’s natural cortisol to awaken you before having coffee, leaving a gap of 2-3 hours. If you feel drained upon rising in the morning, it indicates inferior sleep quality, a disruption in your body’s natural circadian rhythms, and an addiction to caffeine. Coffee just enforces those issues and makes things worse.
It is believed that the best hours to consume coffee are between 9 AM and 2 PM, as this allows your body the required time to flush out the caffeine in your bloodstream prior to hitting the sack.
It can be beneficial to drink coffee during intermittent fasting as it can raise metabolism, support autophagy, and stimulate fat burn. Your body will stay in tune with its natural clock, as the cycle of digestion and liver functioning kicks off. Just stick to 1-2 cups.
#4 Stay Productive
I eat only once a day in order to be more effective and concentrate on my work. I work on writing, video editing, mentoring, and website creation, as well as social media on a daily basis, and I like to remain in a fasting state while doing so.
Fasting is comparable to the most effective cognitive enhancer one has ever utilized once one is accustomed to it. It does not provide the same level of stimulation as caffeine or a nootropic, but it offers a more balanced and calming effect. An element of this is the emergence of ketones that the brain starts utilizing in place of glucose, as well as the elevated BDNF which encourages memory and learning. My mental capacities are operating perfectly, I can think clearly, and I’m not worrying about food but I’m not nervous or scattered.
A fantastic technique for avoiding hunger and staying away from getting bored is to be productive during the period of fasting. People tend to snack habitually when they lack direction and become bored with nothing to focus on.
#5 Avoid Artificial Sweeteners
People try to alleviate the tedium and appetite deprivation by incorporating synthetic sweeteners into their diet to reduce their food cravings. They consume beverages such as diet soda, those with non-caloric sweeteners, BCAAs, or something else with a sweet taste.
It is not necessarily bad to have some artificial sweeteners occasionally. It is unlikely that your well-being will be negatively impacted if you generally maintain a healthy lifestyle.
The issue is that for some individuals, artificial sweeteners can be a risky endeavor. If you begin consuming one diet soda every day, then you will gradually progress to two, then three, and before long you will be using various pre-workout drinks, low sugar condiments, etc.
If you are hooked on sugar, always pondering what to eat, and frequently consuming large amounts of food followed by purging, it is advisable to steer clear of any sweetener in order to break free of the destructive cycle altogether.
#6 Train at the End of Your Fast
No matter what kind of diet you are following, resistance training should still be included. It’s more important than fasting.
Most people find that the ideal moment to exercise is just before the end of their fasting period. This is better for lean muscle maintenance and growth.
When you exercise, you are destroying muscle fibers, causing your body to be in a more catabolic state. That can be beneficial for inducing cellular self-cleaning and decreasing glucose storage. However, you don’t desire to remain in a catabolic state for long, as it will bring about a decrease in muscles and strength.
If you don’t eat soon after working out, it can have an impact on your ability to recover and can impede the process of gaining muscle. It follows that if you are exercising on an empty stomach, you should have a bite to eat two hours after your training session is finished.
If you already ate something before exercising, then there is no real need to be anxious as your blood already contains plenty of amino acids as a result of the meal. You could take your time when you’re doing an aerobic workout or going for a walk since it’s not a very strenuous form of exercise.
#7 Plan What You’re Going to Eat
To simplify matters, you should decide precisely what food you are going to consume. If you don’t plan ahead and just eat whatever is in the refrigerator when breaking your fast, it could lead to eating too much in one sitting.
It is important to be aware of the number of calories your body requires daily in order to maintain or reduce your weight. It is not essential to be overly meticulous about the amount of food you are eating; however, it is helpful to be familiar with macronutrients, calories, and what food has them.
To ensure swift and successful weight loss, I suggest tracking your caloric intake for greater accuracy. Don’t be among those folks who cannot fathom why they are unable to shed pounds despite consuming excessive amounts of calories. Some meal prep is good and healthy.
#8 Use Exogenous Ketones
Products made from ketone esters and ketone salts help you achieve a deeper level of ketosis quickly. Those are beginning OMAD experience fatigue and frequent hunger pangs. These supplements give the brain an abundance of energy so that you can carry out your tasks to the highest quality.
Ketones have been known to benefit neurological health, improve athletic performance (which is a frequent occurrence amongst professional athletes such as cyclists competing in the Tour de France), and can assist with altering body shape by suppressing appetite and curbing food cravings.
You can mix it with coffee to create a more potent effect. Ketone-boosting products come in three primary forms:
- Ketone esters
- Ketone salts
- MCT oil
Ordered from most effective to cheapest.
There are times when it can be difficult to stay on track, and consuming exogenous ketones could be the key to success.
Before running to buy from Amazon, be aware that not all products are the same. Some are worse than none at all.
So, these are the eight best strategies for One Meal A Day. I’m certain that if you persevere and stay consistent, you will experience great positive changes in your health and physique.
OMAD Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some of the queries I had when I made the switch to consuming only one meal per day.
What should I eat on OMAD?
No rigid prohibitions on the types of food that can be consumed are imposed by OMAD and intermittent fasting. Experts advocate for choosing clean and unprocessed whole foods when seeking to achieve the best results with weight loss. If you cannot manage to get a sufficient amount of calories, think about including additional nutritious fats.
How many calories should I eat on OMAD?
The amount of calories one should consume varies depending on various elements including age, physical activity, gender, stress, and objectives. Some people consume as few as 1,600 calories, while others consume up to 4,500 calories in one sitting.
Can I do OMAD every day?
Many people do OMAD every day to great success. Getting enough calories in one meal can be difficult. If you don’t consume sufficient amounts of calories, your metabolism rate decreases, and your weight stops decreasing. If that transpires, you may want to periodically include a day that is not one meal a day.
Does coffee break OMAD?
There are two different opinions on whether or not it is okay to have coffee during a fast. In the most general sense, coffee does not interrupt a fast. Drinking coffee is not allowed during a water fast since it changes the release of hormones and disrupts the typical fasting process.
Can you chew gum while fasting?
Certain types of chewing gum are permissible, while others are not. Gums of superior quality utilize sweeteners that do not induce a spike in insulin and avoid the interruption of the fasting period. However, substances like Aspartame, Sucralose, Acesulfame K, Saccharin, and Sugar, which are often found in chewing gum, can cause your fast to be broken.
