Health Benefits of Intermittant Fasting and OMAD (one meal a day)

Had been a big fan of IF -> OMAD.

I am a generally healthy person but do not have an acttive lifestyle. Obviously with age, started putting on some extra pounds. For me it was extremely difficult to sustain weight loss based on calorie counting, portion control and avoiding food types.
Each time I tried weight loss, would get goal weight but fail to maintain the restrictions.

With I-F it had been easier to adapt as we just need to stay with an eating window. IF-> OMAD was easy transition. Now follow a life style Mon-Fri on OMAD and week ends on I-F. This routine is sustainable from weight control and wellness point of view.

One nagging issue - my sleep pattern has became very unpredictable. I struggle to get full night sleep. Most days I have to get multiple short naps to add up to 6hrs sleep. Asked my PCP and it was no use. Will welcome any tips..
 

One possible issue with sleep:
After diabetes 13 years ago, I had to learn about blood sugar. While we sleep, our brain, liver & pancreas are not sleeping; they are very busy performing a balancing act to keep our blood sugar levels high enough without eating for several hours while we sleep. If you're only eating once a day & that meal was many hours before sleeping, your body may be forced to work much harder to maintain sugar levels & that might account for your difficulty sleeping. When I go to sleep hungry, I'm unable to sleep; I get short of breath, jittery & my heart pounds. Several times a month, I have to get up & have a piece of fruit or a couple of crackers, otherwise I'll be up all night.

To Add: People are all different. I've had a couple of friends who can go all day & night without eating & feel fine. Years ago, I dated a woman who would eat a candy bar for breakfast & not care about food until the next day. I suspect such people have a blood sugar mechanism that works perfectly to maintain a consistent level around 90-100mg/dl. For me, any time I'm under 170, I start to feel bad. Near 100, I'm in big trouble.
 
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For over 25 years I carried an extra 50 to 120 lb.s of extra weight, finally a couple years ago I got serious and wanted to get back to 'normal' weight', which for me at 6'1'' would be in the 170-185 range. What worked: portion control, plus changing my attitude towards what I ate.
Smaller portions, with the goal to lose 1/2 lb. a week(no hurry!!!) which meant about a 250 calorie a day deficit, barely notice it, no punishment, just slow and easy permanent change in eating habits.
Exercise, but not thinking that I could pig out and then go burn it off at the gym- doesn't work that way. Exercise is 10~20% of the equation, with what-you-eat being 80%. A bunch of snacks & supplements is unnecessary, some decent physical activity actually curbs appetite. One of the trainers at the gym suggest Intermittent Fasting, not too hard since by the time I got up in the morning I was already 12 hours in. The increase in HGH production begins around hour 15, so I'd be getting like 3 hours of workout during that HGH increase, helps build muscle more efficiently.
 
Oh man....I soooooooo need to get this cataract surgery over with! What drew me into this post was I thought it said “Intermittent FARTING” so of course I had to hop in and see what THAT was all about! 😂😂😂😂😂😂
Have you had yours yet. I had the first, then my second was postponed due to my covid exposure at work. I sure wish I had the nerve to lie when that form is filled out prior to the procedure. But I'm always afraid of getting caught and I've never been one to get by with stuff. I would have been fine as I had tested negative. Best part: My second surgery will be next year. Reset of my deductible. :mad::mad::mad: I still need this done also.
 
Over the time since I started this thread, I have gone from OMAD to vegetarian, vegan, IF, and now worked my way back to OMAD again, i lost weight and then gained it back again, and now working on losing it yet again.
I read “The Obesity Code” by doctor Jason Fung, and he explains really well how insulin works in the human body, and about insulin resistance.
When we eat food, insulin is released, and it turns any carbs and some of the protein into glucose to be burned for fuel. If we do not burn it right away, or if we have insulin resistance (the glucose can’t get into the cells to be used as energy); then insulin stores it in our fat cells, and locks the door so it won’t get back out into our blood stream again.

When you cut down the carbs, and do not eat processed foods, then you can lower your insulin resistance, plus, your body will start burning its fat supplies if insulin is not there keeping the doors locked In our fat cells.
If we fast long enough, then our body can go into autophagy and start cleaning out the old and dying cells, and replace them with new healthy cells, which helps with anti-aging. When I only eat one meal a day, then I am fasting for the rest of the 24 hours, so my body can go into the healing autophagy during that time.

We have been going to the fitness center at least every other day, so I am working out in a fasted state, and then having my OMAD meal when we come back home again. I am still eating low carb, so I should be burning some of the old fat and getting rid of the dying cells at the same time.

The main downside, is (for me) it is just SO hard to lose weight at my age, even with diet and exercise.
 
@Happyflowerlady: Many years ago I tried eating one meal a day. What a disaster. All day long I thought of nothing but food then didn't even get to enjoy the single meal because I was so freaking hungry I jammed it down my throat. That plans wasn't pleasant or sustainable.

My opinion - if human bodies were at peak performance when eating only a single meal a day, survival of the fittest would have weeded out the less fit humans who ate more frequently.

Our primate ancestors eat all day long without getting fat. Their diet? Primarily leafy greens, fruits and vegetables.

HFL, I thought you were very successful with Dr. McDougall's plan. What happened?
 
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Two meals a day seems to work well. I have breakfast around 9 and lunch anywhere from 2 to 4 depending on how filling my breakfast was. No need for snacks if you fill up on good food. Slow but steady weight loss.
 
Two meals a day seems to work well. I have breakfast around 9 and lunch anywhere from 2 to 4 depending on how filling my breakfast was. No need for snacks if you fill up on good food. Slow but steady weight loss.
My body requests/demands food at least every 3 hours. Whole food plant based (WFPB) diet with plenty of whole grain starches and very little added fat. Probably explains the need for frequent refueling.

My BMI dropped from the 25s to the 21s by eating this way. I went vegan 9-1/2 years ago and moved to WFPB a year or so after that, and just a couple of years ago added more starch. Each change dropped my weight further. As it stands I eat fish about once a month, cheese a couple of times a month, and relax my standards considerably about dairy (pizza and Christmas cookies) from Thanksgiving through New Years.

No meat unless I'm traveling and it's a true local specialty like Jamón ibérico (Specialty Ham) in Spain, in which case DH & I share a small amount. Otherwise, I don't miss meat a bit. Ditto added fats and oils.
 
My body requests/demands food at least every 3 hours. Whole food plant based (WFPB) diet with plenty of whole grain starches and very little added fat. Probably explains the need for frequent refueling.

My BMI dropped from the 25s to the 21s by eating this way. I went vegan 9-1/2 years ago and moved to WFPB a year or so after that, and just a couple of years ago added more starch. Each change dropped my weight further. As it stands I eat fish about once a month, cheese a couple of times a month, and relax my standards considerably about dairy (pizza and Christmas cookies) from Thanksgiving through New Years.

No meat unless I'm traveling and it's a true local specialty like Jamón ibérico (Specialty Ham) in Spain, in which case DH & I share a small amount. Otherwise, I don't miss meat a bit. Ditto added fats and oils.
Further proof that one size does not fit all.
Your way of eating was not for me as it gave me continuous glucose spikes and I was hangry all the time.
I'm glad we each figured out what works! 🌻
 
My son is a big fan of intermittent fasting and introduced me to it a few years back. I tried the 12 and 12 but couldn't do it. I also tried the 8 and 16 and didn't stick with that either. We are both diabetics (I don't think he was diagnosed yet back then) but he can fast for days and regularly does a 3 day fast and has even done 10 day fasts. But I have gotten hypoglycemic after too many hours without eating, complete with cold sweats, weakness and crankiness.
 
My son is a big fan of intermittent fasting and introduced me to it a few years back. I tried the 12 and 12 but couldn't do it. I also tried the 8 and 16 and didn't stick with that either. We are both diabetics (I don't think he was diagnosed yet back then) but he can fast for days and regularly does a 3 day fast and has even done 10 day fasts. But I have gotten hypoglycemic after too many hours without eating, complete with cold sweats, weakness and crankiness.
I feel you. My body does not handle hunger well. Nor does my attitude. 😎
 
Since i have been doing the OMAD again, my body has adapted fairly well to burning fat as fuel, and I eat my OMAD meal after we get home from the fitness center, so somewhere between 12-3 pm each day. I vary what I eat, some days maybe a salad with lots of veggies and something for protein, some days mostly just veggies, and other days when I feel like I need more protein, then I have a meal with mostly protein.
My body has stopped grumbling at me for food any other time, for the most part, and usually only happens if I am THINKING about food. When I focus on something else, then the tummy-grumbling stops.

I started making the L.Reuteri yogurt, and it does seem to block hunger also, which is what I read it should do. Yesterday, all I had was 2 cups of kefir with the LR yogurt (1/2 cup) added to it, and I was fine, even though I didn’t have a regular meal.
I have as much energy today as I usually do, and will be going to the fitness center and swimming soon. My last actual meal was Monday afternoon, so this will be my first over 24 hour fast, excluding the kefir/yogurt.

I feel much better, way less aches and pains, my body can walk easier (if that makes any sense), and I am gaining a confidence that I like this WOE, and can continue doing this until I have lost as much weight as I need to lose, and probably even after that, because of all of the health benefits I am reading about.

After spending most of my life thinking about food and being hungry when I tried to lose weight, this seems to be giving me more freedom and peace of mind, way more than I expected.
 
Since i have been doing the OMAD again, my body has adapted fairly well to burning fat as fuel, and I eat my OMAD meal after we get home from the fitness center, so somewhere between 12-3 pm each day. I vary what I eat, some days maybe a salad with lots of veggies and something for protein, some days mostly just veggies, and other days when I feel like I need more protein, then I have a meal with mostly protein.
My body has stopped grumbling at me for food any other time, for the most part, and usually only happens if I am THINKING about food. When I focus on something else, then the tummy-grumbling stops.

I started making the L.Reuteri yogurt, and it does seem to block hunger also, which is what I read it should do. Yesterday, all I had was 2 cups of kefir with the LR yogurt (1/2 cup) added to it, and I was fine, even though I didn’t have a regular meal.
I have as much energy today as I usually do, and will be going to the fitness center and swimming soon. My last actual meal was Monday afternoon, so this will be my first over 24 hour fast, excluding the kefir/yogurt.

I feel much better, way less aches and pains, my body can walk easier (if that makes any sense), and I am gaining a confidence that I like this WOE, and can continue doing this until I have lost as much weight as I need to lose, and probably even after that, because of all of the health benefits I am reading about.

After spending most of my life thinking about food and being hungry when I tried to lose weight, this seems to be giving me more freedom and peace of mind, way more than I expected.
I am in my seventies and I just decided to have my coffee and a small protein breakfast and for lunch and dinner it is small, protein, carbs (not many) and vegies (salad or fruit). My dessert consists of frozen yogurt or cookies. I like to fudge on the "diet" a little. I do get in 6,000 to 9,000 steps a day in walking. I prefer to drink flavored water and once a week a soda. Sugar free, but I do treat myself for trying to stay healthy.
 
I am still doing the intermittent fasting, sometimes OMAD and sometimes one main meal after swimming at the fitness center, and then later on a small plain salad. Weight loss is still happening, and I don’t hurt anywhere, fingers working better, and enough energy .
I read the Dr. Davis books about Super Gut and Wheat Belly, and have not had any foods with any kind of sugar or anything with grain (any kind) for about two months now.

Then, I read Dr. Gundry’s book Plant Paradox and stopped eating foods with lectins, which attach to fat cells and let them keep stuffing in more fat……… YIKES !
Now, I am reading Dr. Gundry’s book called Longevity Paradox, and he is explaining why plant protein can help you live longer and animal protein can shorten your life.. Since I want to live long and look young, I am cutting way back on animal foods now, too.

By now, you probably think that I am living on romaine lettuce and that is why I am losing weight; but that is only partially true. I have been doing the cleansing routine that Dr. Gundry recommends, which is mostly veggies like cauliflower, broccoli and salads; but i do have a little bit of protein like sardines or the L. Reuteri yogurt each day. Once I stop the gut-cleansing part, then there are more foods that I will be eating; but I am definitely transitioning back to plant foods again. The difference is that this time it is not just a fat-free diet, and I am having avocados each day and olive oil on my salads, which gives me lots of energy.
 
I am reading another book with more information about lectins. Here is a screenshot of the pages that describe what lectins can cause when you eat foods that have them in them. (These are thumbnails)

IMG_5573.jpegIMG_5572.jpeg
 
Dr. Jason Fung has a book out called “Life in the Fasting Lane”, which goes into a lot of information about intermittent fasting benefits and on how to choose the best plan for each person.
It is on sale on amazon today for only $2 instead of $29. As usual, these books do not stay on sale long, so be sure to check the price before purchase to make sure it is still on sale.
 
Dr. Jason Fung has a book out called “Life in the Fasting Lane”, which goes into a lot of information about intermittent fasting benefits and on how to choose the best plan for each person.
It is on sale on amazon today for only $2 instead of $29. As usual, these books do not stay on sale long, so be sure to check the price before purchase to make sure it is still on sale.
I don't eat from about 7 pm until around 8 am. From 8 am on I have meals and snacks every three hours. Fasting for days at a time would be misery for me.

I don't buy ebooks from Amazon because AZ tracks your reading habits - not only what you've bought, but they track every time you open it, what page you're on, and so forth. Creeps me out.

ebooks.com allows you to download the books onto your device so reading habits aren't tracked and it also allows reading "live" via a browser.

I love the convenience of Amazon but despise its accumulation of information about each of us and our habits - right down to what, when, where, and how much we read.
 


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