Britt's Vegan OMAD Journey
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This is my 3rd attemp after failing twice before.. all i can offer is we are human we mess up.. i would not meed to lose at least 60kg if everything was awsome... but ny not getting back and trying. What is two fails out of 100 days? Nothing worth remembering. I am trying to focus on 100 days as good as i can.. better than nothing at all.. hugs xoxo1
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brittdee88 wrote: »Well, I failed
I couldn't take the cravings anymore and ate.
I guess the silver lining is that I am at least 95% sure they were hormone-related as TOM is coming in 2 days, and the foods I was craving are what I always crave during PMS. It happens every month so I should know better, but it really makes me so upset that I failed OMAD.
I wonder if I need to allow myself a PMS pass. I hate making excuses and not being perfect with the rules, but I suffer horribly with numerous symptoms before and during TOM. I feel like maybe if I give myself some wiggle room, I am less likely to feel like a failure and go on a downward spiral. I think it might be best to set some restrictions on the pass, such as just having ONE extra one-plate meal if I need to on ONE PMS/TOM day per month. My PMS cravings are only usually unbearable on one day, and maybe I just need to allow myself that for now.
Any thoughts, readers?
Yes, my first thought is that you are being way too hard on yourself! You didn't "fail" anything. I don't have menstrual cycles anymore, but I remember them, I probably would've caved, too. Tomorrow is a new day! Do you what you feel is best for your body and what your body needs. I'm having to tailor away from my normal OMAD a bit now to make sure I can consume five servings or more, each, of fruits and vegetables. I cannot do that in one sitting. It's been hours since I ate a 600 cal plate of an orange, two pieces of Killer Dave's Organic Grains and Seed bread topped with cashew butter and a whole banana cut up, 4 egg white scramble with baby kale and opinions... and I'm still full. But, getting ready to have second plate for dinner now. 600 calories isn't enough for me, i need more. Only reason I'm off is because I need to figure out if I can do OMAD while trying to get cholesterol down in 8 weeks. Even if I can't, OMAD has been the best thing I've ever done for myself and forced me to really think about what's on my plate. However, right now my priority is to lower cholesterol and if that means breaking up meals to get all that I need in me, then that's what I'll do.
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Perfect is a bad word!!
As we say at my work: "Perefect is the enemy of good". Because it is impossible!! It took me a full week before I could go all the way to my meal without having a snack before my time to eat! And I still don't always manage it. On those days I just tell myself that I'm having a longer eating window! You're doing great... (and I agree with everything Sandy said above!) 1 -
Thanks so much for the support, @ruby_emrald @wsandy8512 @minigrrll! I was so ashamed and almost afraid to post. But this group has been one of the most welcoming and supportive I've ever encountered! It means so much. And you're definitely all right. I am trying so hard to break the perfectionist mindset.
I think I am gonna do the once a month one meal pass as a replacement for one of the bimonthly splurge days. I really think that will work best for me.
I hope I still meet my July goal after this.1 -
You're welcome, @brittdee88! I forgot to say that I had a few later after my meal snacks during my first week as well, I posted about it as those times came. It gets better as time goes on, but you may have more times like it, regardless. Just focus on the next day. 1
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hmmm vegan? very good, we need more of us so we can take over the keto people around here...barbarians at the gates!
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The OMAD program does allow for one splurge day I believe it is every 2 weeks or so but they are not required. You can have a splurge day during your PMS time and still be on plan.2
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Yes, Britt, what Tracey said. I didn't even think about that. Lol1
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Forgive yourself and try again until you figure out what works for you.
Nobody gets to the top of a mountain without falling on his face over and over again...
Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team for lack of skill...
Steven Spielberg (a high school drop out) was rejected from film school 3 times...
Fred Smith wrote a paper while attending Yale about his idea for an overnight delivery service; he got a C. He went on to create Fed-Ex anyway!
Keep trying until you figure out what works for you.1 -
Thank you all! You're really the best.
And Tracey, I will be doing exactly that! One of those splurge days will be the PMS pass. It might not come at the exact two-week mark, but I am making that modification for me and my needs.
I feel so empowered here!0 -
Hey Britt! Go easy on yourself! Its completely fine to struggle in the beginning. Its the first 14 days of adjustment period for OMAD. I suggest you try an eating window of 8 hrs and then narrow it down. You will find it easier day by day. I too did that and easily shifted to OMAD.
Try eating from noon to 8 pm for two to three days. When you feel you are adjusted to the routine, reduce one hr from the window and eat between 1 pm to 8 pm. Keep doing this until you narrow your window to 1 hr say 7 pm to 8 pm. Give yourself enough time to adjust to an eating window.1 -
Great idea, @mikseyniha! I used to eat on a 20/4 schedule for many years, and I have always been a huge fan of IF. I'm hoping that today is just a fluke, but if I am struggling again and it is not hormone-related, I will definitely try your plan!1
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I really like setting my mfp calorie goals to maintenance. Every day I'm under maintenance, I have hit my minimum goal. If it is a bigger deficit, then that is even better. Don't have to have a large deficit every day. That isn't a sustainable plan if we try to do that. Don't be hard on yourself and just shoot for at least maintenance and larger deficits. Those are all successful days! If you have a big surplus day, just get back after it and you will have a good week! One day doesn't make or break us, multiple days is what defines what happens.1
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I've been OMAD since November. I fail at it regularly, but that's not the name of the game. We are all human on a weight loss journey, we root for each other regardless! I haven't been doing OMAD for a couple weeks now, but I'm still here because I still believe in it. We all mess up, on every plan, the trick is to keep going. It's life. Not a school grade.2
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I really like setting my mfp calorie goals to maintenance. Every day I'm under maintenance, I have hit my minimum goal. If it is a bigger deficit, then that is even better. Don't have to have a large deficit every day. That isn't a sustainable plan if we try to do that. Don't be hard on yourself and just shoot for at least maintenance and larger deficits. Those are all successful days! If you have a big surplus day, just get back after it and you will have a good week! One day doesn't make or break us, multiple days is what defines what happens.
^^This! I followed Blambo's advice, I've been eating just over 1600 calories a day which is about 500 under maintenance, before I was eating between 1250-1400 but my net eaten would be 1100 and below--way, way too far under deficit. That's why MFP and many people in regular forums say to eat the exercise calories back. If you do, you still have a deficit of whatever you have your goal set to, from .5-2lbs/week loss. Don't be afraid to eat everything back that you burn. I'm down -.6lbs since Friday's weigh-in and I've been eating way more than I did when I wasn't eating back what I burned. I feel refreshed and renewed! I had to switch to "lightly active" from sedentary because I exercise at least 3 times a week now, it's absolutely beautiful. :-)
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Good idea, @blambo61! I'm not currently calorie counting because I get obsessive, but I definitely will try it if I absolutely need to. When (hopefully if) I do, I will definitely try that.0
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Mealtime: 11:38 - 12:20ish
Intake: roasted honey gold potatoes, steamed white rice, B&J's non-dairy coffee caramel fudge
Dessert calories: 480
TOM ended up coming early today, so I wasn't super interested in eating anything really but the ice cream. I had a tiny saucer of potatoes and rice and a cup of the B&J. It was very good, and I am nice and full. I will likely be resting most of the day.1 -
Sounds like a nice dessert. Hope you find yourself being able to relax today. 0
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It was heavenly! Thanks, Sandy. I'm gonna settle in for a nap soon. The fiancé always lets me take over the bedroom during TOM. So grateful for him.1
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I ended up having a second meal again yesterday, and it was definitely emotional eating. I know I ate too little at my normal meal time, but I really wasn't hungry when I got more food. I wanted comfort from cramps and from feeling the large range of emotions that always hit me during TOM. I am constantly trying to break these emotional ties with food. I had been completely binge-free when I adopted eating three meals a day without snacks, but again, the weight loss was WAY too slow (~1 lb per month). Ugh. Trying to figure out OMAD during this time is so hard! I wish I would've built the OMAD habit before TOM came around - maybe that would've been more helpful. I would say that maybe I should adjust around this time to the plan that worked best for my anti-binging habits while hormones are running high, but that would be at least a week every month that I would be out of compliance with OMAD. And I feel like I would have to go through the transition period constantly every month, and that just sounds awful. I'm sort of at a loss.0
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brittdee88 wrote: »I ended up having a second meal again yesterday, and it was definitely emotional eating. I know I ate too little at my normal meal time, but I really wasn't hungry when I got more food. I wanted comfort from cramps and from feeling the large range of emotions that always hit me during TOM. I am constantly trying to break these emotional ties with food. I had been completely binge-free when I adopted eating three meals a day without snacks, but again, the weight loss was WAY too slow (~1 lb per month). Ugh. Trying to figure out OMAD during this time is so hard! I wish I would've built the OMAD habit before TOM came around - maybe that would've been more helpful. I would say that maybe I should adjust around this time to the plan that worked best for my anti-binging habits while hormones are running high, but that would be at least a week every month that I would be out of compliance with OMAD. And I feel like I would have to go through the transition period constantly every month, and that just sounds awful. I'm sort of at a loss.
Might as well go through the misery now. Once you put it behind you, you will have acquired the strength to move on. You will not be able to do it if you can't make peace with those cravings.0 -
arguablysamson wrote: »Might as well go through the misery now. Once you put it behind you, you will have acquired the strength to move on. You will not be able to do it if you can't make peace with those cravings.
@arguablysamson Yeah, you're right that I need to move on past these cravings. But I am just concerned about what to do next month and the month after, etc. The cravings are not going to stop for at least another 15-20 years given my family history, so I just don't know what to do.0 -
No real appetite today, so maybe it's balancing itself out. I was planning a water fast today like some sort of punishment for yesterday, and I know that is just step 1 on a downward spiral for me. I've recovered from 2 EDs, but they are always just one step away. If my appetite does return, I will eat today.
I've decided to stop freaking out about things I really can't control and worrying too much about the future. I REALLY need to stop being afraid to fail. A failure is not a defining moment. I know this is true, and I preach it often, but I never practice it. No more.
If there are a couple days a month when I can't stick strictly to OMAD because of PMS and TOM, so be it. I'm not going to use them as splurge days either unless they really are (ie. eating for comfort like yesterday vs. genuine elevated hunger the day before). To me, that almost seems like a punishment for having a period that I can't splurge of my own free will because I ate more when I was actually hungrier due to bodily changes I didn't ask for and can't control. It may slow down my loss, but I am okay with that. It is not a race, and I need to remind myself of this constantly. I've spent the past 20 years trying to force myself to lose it all NOW, and we see where that got me. 20 years of a vicious cycle. I want out now. I'm exhausted.
I will obviously strive to follow OMAD as much as possible (I am still a perfectionist at heart), but if I end up eating a second meal during this time, I will just post here and move on. The majority of the month will be in compliance, and that will just have to be good enough. Not sure how else to handle it, and I'm tired of freaking out about it.
With all that said, I used 1 of the 2 monthly splurge days yesterday. The next one will be much more enjoyable and without the guilt (and hopefully after 2 weeks like it's supposed to be!).0 -
your priority now(since you are starting) should be to stick to OMAD and fast for the following 23 hours, don't worry about weight loss, master/get into the OMAD rhythm day in and day out to the point is a solid established habit and you are not hungry up until your meal time, don't deprive yourself, eat in abundance in your one meal
once you have that foundation under your belt, you can start tweaking what you eat to achieve whatever weight loss rate you desire
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That's exactly the attitude you need (and I'm trying to cultivate too!) - if you end up eating a second meal every once in a while, big deal.... As long as it's not weekly or something. I just tell myself that I've extended my eating window!!
And NO GUILT. I think guilt is the enemy big time.1 -
brittdee88 wrote: »arguablysamson wrote: »Might as well go through the misery now. Once you put it behind you, you will have acquired the strength to move on. You will not be able to do it if you can't make peace with those cravings.
@arguablysamson Yeah, you're right that I need to move on past these cravings. But I am just concerned about what to do next month and the month after, etc. The cravings are not going to stop for at least another 15-20 years given my family history, so I just don't know what to do.
No, cravings will not follow you forever.0 -
I agree with everyone here. Stick to OMAD without thinking about the results. Your main motive right now should be getting accustomed to the routine. Weight loss will eventually follow. You can do it!2
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arguablysamson wrote: »No, cravings will not follow you forever.
I think you may have missed the part where I said they were related to PMS and TOM. I have been having them monthly for 21 years now, and the women in my family don't hit menopause before their mid-50's to mid-60's. The absolute youngest has been ~50, which is why I said at least another 20 or so years. I appreciate your input, though. I wish there were more women here who could help with this.
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@x3nomorph @minigrrll @mikseyniha thank you for the encouragement! I am definitely taking your input into consideration. I ate until I was satisfied around 4:50PM yesterday, which still only ended up at around 980 calories. Getting used to the habit and changing my mindset are my goals now thanks to you all. I'm not going to worry too much about anything else until those are set.0
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