Britt's Vegan OMAD Journey
Replies
-
Did a brisk 3-mile walk this morning and plan to do another walk in a few hours, so today is a TMAD day.
First meal of the day:
Leftover potato curry and basmati rice with green peas
Green beans
Protein shake
Nothing too inspiring. I was too hungry after my walk to plate my food nicely, so it's still in containers. I ate half of the green beans and all of the curry, rice, and shake.
Typically I would have my raw meal first on an empty stomach after exercise, but I am awaiting a shipment of post-exercise raw protein powder. Once I get it, my first TMAD meal will almost always be the raw one of the day.
I will likely have a big salad and a smoothie for my second meal today while I cook for tomorrow, since it is likely to be an OMAD day, and I want something special! I am thinking gluten-free Jamaican veggie patties with coconut rice and peas.
1 -
brittdee88 wrote: »Thanks, @wsandy8512 and @minigrrll! Of course I wanted to see a drop, but I will take loose jeans and lost inches, too! I hope that will help inform my maintenance plan when I get to that point. Last month's eating was super duper easy. I want to get to 147 by the end of September, though, and I know I only lose weight through food changes. I hope those are enough to give me that drop, but I am opening to adjusting. 147 was my highest weight in college (I never thought I would get higher than that back then but alas...), and I am determined to get there!
I'm rooting for you to get to 147
0 -
Thanks, Brenda! I sure hope so!1
-
Your food looks really tasty! And here's to you getting down to 147! 0
-
Thanks, Sandy! I hope so
I am thinking of weighing every other day to check my progress. I am determined to get there this month, especially because I will likely maintain again in October.
Today's high-raw meal:
Huge salad with carrots, onions, peppers, tomatoes, almond "meat," and tahini ranch dressing
Glass of red
Spoonful of cinnamon raisin peanut butter (this is the only cooked thing I ate, but I will be replacing this soon with raw hazelnut butter once it arrives)
This was SO good! It was my first time making the nut meat, and I was not disappointed in the least. Nut meat has been getting lots and lots of hype in the vegan world for the past year or so, but I never felt the need to make it. This will definitely be a staple for my salads now.
I didn't eat enough at my first meal, so I was starving by the time I sat down to eat this. I prefer eating later in the evening around 7 or 8, but I couldn't make it past 5:30. I need to make sure I have full plates at every mealtime.0 -
Yikes: I failed today. I walked another two miles after dinner and about an hour later, I was starving again (I had the empty stomach and grumble for REAL) and had some chocolate ice cream. Has anyone else had the Haagen Dazs non-dairy salted chocolate truffle? It is SO good!
Anywho, not a good start to the month. I don't know if because I am focusing on loss this month that I am subconsciously restricting myself or what, but I need to nip that in the bud. I know what happens when I don't eat enough calories while staying active: fatigue and weight gain like crazy! I am going to try to remove after-dinner exercise for now. And I do think having the raw meal first will definitely help because I know cooked food carries me through much longer, so I am making that change immediately. I will just have the protein shake a little later with my cooked meal for the time being. I also am recommitting to using an actual plate that I can fill up to make sure I am eating enough. When I calculated my first meal just to try and figure out what was going on, it was only around 300 calories even with the shake.
Basically, I definitely didn't eat enough today. I am chocking this up to learning pains.
I am going to weigh in the morning because I have decided to stay on top of my progress by weighing every other day, but I am not sure what I will see given how much ice cream I put away! In any case, lesson learned.0 -
brittdee88 wrote: »Thanks, Sandy! I hope so
I am thinking of weighing every other day to check my progress. I am determined to get there this month, especially because I will likely maintain again in October.
Today's high-raw meal:
Huge salad with carrots, onions, peppers, tomatoes, almond "meat," and tahini ranch dressing
Glass of red
Spoonful of cinnamon raisin peanut butter (this is the only cooked thing I ate, but I will be replacing this soon with raw hazelnut butter once it arrives)
This was SO good! It was my first time making the nut meat, and I was not disappointed in the least. Nut meat has been getting lots and lots of hype in the vegan world for the past year or so, but I never felt the need to make it. This will definitely be a staple for my salads now.
I didn't eat enough at my first meal, so I was starving by the time I sat down to eat this. I prefer eating later in the evening around 7 or 8, but I couldn't make it past 5:30. I need to make sure I have full plates at every mealtime.
You're welcome, Britt. Your meal looks incredible, by the way!
Yes, I think you've hit the proverbial nail on the head by acknowledging you don't deal well with restrictions. Some people do fine with it, I'm not one of them. Making sure you have enough food for your meal is key in making the scale move down, in my experience anyway. It's our one meal, or two sometimes in your case, you want to make them count and keep you satiated. Restricting is self-sabatoge, lol. None of us want that!
You've got this. Don't look at it like you started off the month bad, you caught yourself! Learning is part of the process. Implementing what we have learned about ourselves is even more important. You'll be fine. :-)1 -
I agree, make sure your eating till satisfied and it will help you until your next meal...You can do this!!! 1
-
Thanks so much for the encouragement, Sandy and Brenda! Today is going to be an OMAD day since I won't be doing any sustained cardio, so I am going to make sure it is filling!
0 -
I don't do well with restrictions either. I almost always over - compensate for them the next day. I'm doing something similar to you, that on exercise days tmad and (need to get back to it), omad on non exercising days. I find my 1st meal of day really needs to be a salad or low carb or I will gain weight or have a hard time losing (that is with tmad daily).0
-
Bob, of course you are -- I don't know how I didn't remember you saying that! My ultimate goal is to go completely raw, but I am phasing it in. My goal for TMAD days (from now on - yesterday was a horrible mistake!) is to eat raw for the first meal, which will likely be a salad with nuts and a raw protein shake.
I'm only planning TMAD for days with sustained cardio. My hunger isn't elevated with resistance training alone. What about you?0 -
I couldn't sleep until 9:30 like I did when I weighed in on Thursday, so I woke up and exercised around 8:30. Even though the situation is slightly different, I decided to get on the scale anyway because I was curious. I am up a pound, which I think will be gone after today's fast. It's an OMAD day, and I am excited about whipping up the Caribbean meal I have been craving lately: veggie patties, rice and peas, stewed beans, and salad.0
-
brittdee88 wrote: »Bob, of course you are -- I don't know how I didn't remember you saying that! My ultimate goal is to go completely raw, but I am phasing it in. My goal for TMAD days (from now on - yesterday was a horrible mistake!) is to eat raw for the first meal, which will likely be a salad with nuts and a raw protein shake.
I'm only planning TMAD for days with sustained cardio. My hunger isn't elevated with resistance training alone. What about you?
I haven't been doing weights lately so I'm not sure but running makes me hungry. I think it is harder for me to lose running than not running possibly due to increased appetite. I don't look at fitness just from a weight standpoint though. A person can be skinny and not have any muscular or cardiovascular strength which are both very important to me. Even when I was at my heaviest or close to it, I was active (when not having gout attacks) and hiked a lot (I couldn't run then cause I was too fat to run). I will keep running and am going to start weights back up (I diet to do things which I can do now) and I will let the weight come off slowly. Everyone is a little different and some, the exercise may help a lot with getting the weight off. I think I'm about neutral or it hurts me a little but I am getting in much better cardio shape and can hike to the top of the mountains around here with no problem.0 -
@blambo61 yeah, I don't look to exercise for weight loss at all. In the past, I have lost a ton of inches and clothing sizes from working out regularly and not lost a single pound! This past month I moved down a pant size and have visibly lost inches, but I put on 0.8 lb! I use exercise solely for gaining strength and body changes. Only diet seems to help me lose weight.
I do notice that running and walking (or any cardio, for that matter) really increases my appetite, which is why I moved to TMAD on those days. It is really annoying because it feels like I am trying to do good things for my body, but then I end up wanting to eat SO much afterwards. Most times I can resist the urge to vacuum it in, but sometimes I succumb. Such an odd struggle.0 -
brittdee88 wrote: »@blambo61 yeah, I don't look to exercise for weight loss at all. In the past, I have lost a ton of inches and clothing sizes from working out regularly and not lost a single pound! This past month I moved down a pant size and have visibly lost inches, but I put on 0.8 lb! I use exercise solely for gaining strength and body changes. Only diet seems to help me lose weight.
I do notice that running and walking (or any cardio, for that matter) really increases my appetite, which is why I moved to TMAD on those days. It is really annoying because it feels like I am trying to do good things for my body, but then I end up wanting to eat SO much afterwards. Most times I can resist the urge to vacuum it in, but sometimes I succumb. Such an odd struggle.
If your maintaining weight but losing inches, you are gaining muscle and losing fat so your %BF is improving. That is good too! We can be skinny and still not have a great %bf as you know. Really I don't have a weight goal, I have a %BF goal and a muscle goal. I would like to be between 7 and 12% bf which I'm a long ways away from. I think there is an ideal for how much muscle I would like to have also which isn't as much as a body builder (good %bf but too much muslce), or like a professional 10k runner either (good %bf but not enough muscle). Somewhere in-between is my ideal (like the thinner professional 400m or bulkier 800m runner is what I consider ideal). Good luck.0 -
I agree that exercise doesn't do much for me in the weight loss arena. I already got my walk in today but prefer to do it and end it within an hour of my eating window. Walking does wonders for my brain; I just love taking in nature. I feel like exercise is just plain good to maintain some muscle to help our skeletal from having to hold up all our weight on it's own...poor bones
I look at my one meal and mentally divide it in three to see what I would be getting if it were three meals. Maybe add a lil good fat to keep you satisfied longer. good luck; you're already doing great! 0 -
0
-
Today's OMAD:
SO GOOD! This was worth the effort!
Jamaican veggie patties (serious labor of love!)
Rice and peas
Stewed beans
Green beans
Salad with blueberry ginger tahini dressing
Ghiradelli dark chocolate
Glass of red
This is definitely one of the best meals I have had in a LONG time! Absolutely delicious!0 -
Wow! That looks great!0
-
Wow definitely looks gourmet...fit for a princess. I love your lil compartment tray.0
-
Thanks, Bob and Kat!0
-
So after thinking a bit more, I have decided to get rid of my plan and just go with plain OMAD for the month. I already have an idea of how I can maintain, so I want to get off as much as I can following OMAD this month and then worry about maintaining in October.0
-
Trying out having my OMAD earlier in the day right after my workout. I have had success in the past eating earlier in the day in terms of reducing cravings (not sure why), but I sometimes get really crappy sleep when I go to bed on an empty stomach. I think I may allow a small glass of red before bed to remedy that as a tweak to OMAD. I only drink about 3 oz of super dry red -- very few calories and carbs. We'll see how it goes.
This meal was pretty much a repeat from yesterday but in different proportions to increase my protein intake.
Coconut water (didn't drink much of it -- this has got to be the worst coconut water I have ever tasted)
Rice and peas
Stewed beans
Veggie patty
Salad
Half of a gluten-free bagel with raw cacao hazelnut spread
Not pictured: protein shake0 -
It has now been almost 7 hours since my meal and there is no hunger and not a craving in sight. I usually feel hunger/cravings about 4 hours post-meal when I eat later in the day. This corroborates my initial findings from several months ago that I do best eating in the 10-2 window. I will stick with this for the rest of the month.
I've also been reading a lot about red wine and fasting, and it seems like the studies are showing it has no effect or an improved effect on insulin resistance. I'm going to try drinking it before bed for a while and see if I notice anything. If I see no ill effects, I think this will be the best OMAD method for me.0 -
brittdee88 wrote: »So after thinking a bit more, I have decided to get rid of my plan and just go with plain OMAD for the month. I already have an idea of how I can maintain, so I want to get off as much as I can following OMAD this month and then worry about maintaining in October.
I love this plan
0 -
I think you will do great on your revised plan.0
-
Ugh.
Last night sucked.
I was doing fine until about 9:45 PM (~11 hours post-meal), and then the heavy cravings/mild hunger hit super hard, and I ended up binging.
This sucks. I haven't binged in a long time, and I thought I was back in control.
Can't decide whether I should fast today or start again, but at this rate, I will likely see a gain after my first week. I'm so disappointed in myself.
Ideas for the future:- Move my meal back to 1 PM. At least if hunger strikes again 11 hours later, I will be finishing off my glass of wine (great appetite suppressant for me) and heading to bed. I am never in bed by 10, so I can't see an 11 AM OMAD working out. This isn't ideal, though, because I prefer exercising in the morning, and I was using OMAD as a post-workout meal. I do, however, have the flexibility in my schedule to just exercise later, so I may just have to bite the bullet on this one.
- Mix my protein powder with cold brew coffee. I usually use coffee to get through fasts, but I didn't feel any hunger or cravings at all until it was way too late to fix it with coffee. My protein powder is chocolate-flavored, so mixing it with coffee will give me a nice mocha-type drink that will have the one-two appetite suppressing punch of both coffee and protein. I usually have my protein shake as the bookend to my meal, so I think it could really work.
- I was watching the food truck show on Food Network when the cravings hit. I know it sounds completely idiotic, but I think that may have had an impact on my desire for food even though I wasn't even all that hungry. I am going to avoid watching food-/cooking-focused shows towards the end of my fast.
Not sure what else I could change, but I will try the above and report back. I don't know if it is even realistic to fast today with my fiancé grilling and company coming over, so I may just fast on Wednesday right before weigh-in day to recoup from last night.0 -
Had my OMAD around 1:45ish today. It's my last Caribbean-style meal. Fiancé grilled me up a bunch of vegetables that I'm going to use to make tacos later this week.
I was too full from yesterday's binge to have a protein shake, but I will likely have an iced black coffee soon to nip any cravings in the bud before it's too late to be having caffeine.0 -
Your veggie patties look so amazing! In fact, that looks like my perfect meal...0
-
yes that looks delicious. What is the crust made out of on your veggie pattie? Those grilled veggies would be really good on a salad . Hmmmm....more ideas... 0
This discussion has been closed.