One Day at a Time, One Meal a Day (ODAT-OMAD)
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Hi guys, time for me to check in:
In January 2016 I was 175 lb with a target weight of 170 lb.
In March 2016 I was 173 lb with a target weight of 170 lb.
On March 14 I hit my target weight of 170 lb!
Today July 15 I hit my target weight of 170 lb once again!
Feels so good, naturally but I want to expand a bit on what this diet means to me.
Initially it was about weight loss and looking and feeling better - personal vanity issues. Then later, it was about mental clarity and emotional stability. Now it is about something else even more important.
Yes folks, now it's about self control and the difference self control can make to your life just as it has to mine. In an earlier post I talked about being Sovereign of our life and the emergence of our Inner King. I used poetical metaphors to describe the changes that happen as a result of OMAD but now we have the science that proves it!
I just watch a series of amazing documentaries about the Dunedin Longitudinal Study where they tracked the lives of 1,000 children for 40 years from birth. This painstaking study has been called the most exacting, comprehensive and significant study in the history of social science. The key finding was that children who lacked self-control had a completely different life trajectory compared with those who were able to demonstrate self control and impulse control from an early age. The classic test was at a very early age when kids were asked to restrain themselves from eating a marshmallow for 10 minutes after which they were told they would receive two marshmallows.
The young children who could not restrain themselves went on to live a very different life compared with those who found the willpower to resist eating the marshmallow for ten minutes.
Now the capacity for self control is something that takes place in the pre-frontal cortex, the thinking, reasoning and planning part of the brain at the front of our skull. This often does not develop until later in life. For me it was much later. Even now at nearly 60 years old it is still developing! Ha ha! Seriously.
If you can limit your eating to one main meal a day your brain will grow and you will find so many other benefits in other areas of your life! I am talking about improvements in your overall physical, mental and emotional health (of course) but I am also predicting that you will notice a raft of improvements in your relationships, your ability to plan, reason, stay calm during times of change and stress and your ability to "get along with life and with other people". For me that means I am less impulsive in general, am starting to get a handle on other legal and socially sanctioned "social addictions" such as shopping, speeding in my car etc. Doing too much in general, "running around" too much, living an impulsive, hedonistic, over-consuming, hectic, lifestyle.
I actually think that limiting food intake (e.g. by having a main meal later in the day) helps us to develop self-control in so many other areas of our life. I am seeing the difference in my life. It is subtle but tangible if you know what to look for. I am doing less but enjoying my life more. I am starting to consume less in general, to slowly pay off some debts, clean up my life.
Now this Dunedin Study is totally amazing science. It has resulted in changes in government policy in New Zealand in terms of early intervention and management of socially disadvantaged children. As a direct result of legal submissions citing the Dunedin Study, undertaken by a medical school in a remote town in the South Island of New Zealand, the United States has made changes in US law whereby 17 year old teenagers can no longer be convicted and sentenced to death for capital crimes on the basis that their brain and capacity for self-control does not develop until later. In this case the age was raised to 18 in the US, saving about 70 young men on Death Row from execution for crimes committed while they were still technically minors.
Going OMAD (even once or twice a week) helps us to develop self-control and encourages executive functioning or greater emotional resilience and calmness in the face of difficulties. It really has the potential to help you to develop greater self-control and to change your life!5 -
Hey OMAD revolutionaries, my voluntary work turned into a paid job so now I am working four days a week teaching literacy and numeracy to refugees. They are always giving me food but I learning to say no thanks.2
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One more thing..quite a few of my students are Muslims and I can't help but notice the drastic improvement in their health after the fasting month of Ramadan where they do not eat from sunrise to sunset. That 12 hour eating break does wonders for them even if they overeat somewhat before and after the daily fast. They have just finished Ramadan and are in far better health than they were a month ago.
This is a wonderful topic to discuss when teaching English and I am fascinated to examine the diet of people in different parts of the world. You know the consumption of food here in Australia is so high especially when compared with parts of the world and yet people in these "poorer" countries can still have good health when they eat their native diet and eat less processed, sugary foods.2 -
You're doing GREAT and thanks for sharing this info of your journey and including pics. Very helpful and inspiring!0
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Thanks for sharing this! I love the Dunedin Study.0
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I've fasted 24-hrs once a month for my adult life for religious purposes and I do think it helps with developing discipline. Mind over body like you say!3
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The last few weeks have been tough keeping to my plan. I aim to fast during the day and get literally dragged into buffet style all you can eat lunches. I have previously written how a large range of buffet food choices leads to greater consumption of calories. At least that is my experience.
This is a typical lunch buffet.
I can't opt out of special celebrations out of respect for my students who ply me with food. But I have said no to having a cooked lunch every day provided by one student in particular.
By going back to the basics I am able to reset my weight to within 1 kg of my target weight. A couple of days OMAD and I am right on target again.0 -
This is me wearing a jumper knitted by my mother when I was a teenager of 19 years. That's 40 years ago. Still fits quite well even if it is a bit short!
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Yep, lots of great food!
But of course, that's all the better an opportunity to grab your plate, selectively fill it up, get the beverage, and show everyone how it's done! :-)1 -
You look seriously trim!! Buffet yum!!0
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Man, that's a lot of good looking food. It would be hard if that was in front of me often! You seem to be handling it though! Good job!0
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The last few weeks have been tough keeping to my plan. I aim to fast during the day and get literally dragged into buffet style all you can eat lunches. I have previously written how a large range of buffet food choices leads to greater consumption of calories. At least that is my experience.
This is a typical lunch buffet.
I can't opt out of special celebrations out of respect for my students who ply me with food. But I have said no to having a cooked lunch every day provided by one student in particular.
By going back to the basics I am able to reset my weight to within 1 kg of my target weight. A couple of days OMAD and I am right on target again.
Wow! Such super GREAT choices here to fill a plate up with. No need at all to say no thank you. YUMMY stuff everywhere.0 -
Just had a great day food-wise. Fasted until dinner time then had a very satisfying meal. Let myself eat as much as I wanted for dinner . In the end I didn't eat for 27 hours and didn't feel hungry once!0
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Sounds good!0
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More and more days now I am eating OMAD. This makes my life so simple. I wake up and go to work. When I get there around 8.30 am I make myself a cup of coffee. This keeps me going until I get home around 4.30 pm . I might have an orange or an avocado for lunch but I don't need breakfast or lunch most days now. It makes life so simple.
There is less cooking, cleaning, washing up etc. When I get home I feast "like a king" on any rich foods I like then I stop. I don't deliberately exercise to lose weight and I don't go to the gym to life weights any more. I just play social tennis and maybe do some yoga if I feel like I want to .
I seem to be able to keep my weight to within a 1kg band. Somewhere between 77 - 78 kg.
On the days than I eat more than one meal I will have a hearty breakfast of eggs and bacon or chorizo sausage and scrabbled eggs - whatever I feel I need. I really think that this way of eating one meal a day - even just once or twice a week can make a big positive improvement in our health.2 -
Once you realize the peace that comes from OMAD (as you have), it's hard to ever depart from it. Unless a person is running from something in their life or else hiding from some truth.2
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Thanks Joe.
It is such a privilege to be part of this supportive group. A credit to you.3 -
Agree totally - this is a huge service Joe has provided everyone!!1
