Eating once a day?
Options
Replies
-
Um really? Is your body designed for this? Isn't the healthy thing to regulate your blood sugar throughout the day. My sister used to eat one big fast food meal per day and has type 2 diabetes ten years later. Not really sure about this... Granted quality food that is made of veggies and lean protein and slow carbs would always be healthier. I personally would be a grouch on this plan! After saying that, yes other people may love this. Been around the block before. Still worried, yep a Mom, about your blood sugar.18
-
pierinifitness wrote: »Fasting of any type doesn't do anything special for weight management. Some people do it because they either naturally prefer to eat that way, or they personally find it easier to meet their calorie goal that way. If that's how you prefer to eat, then it might be a good approach for you; otherwise, there's no reason to do it.
You answer a question that wasn’t asked.
Good thing on a public forum people are free to offer any information they think may be relevant to what the poster was inquiring about as long as it’s within the terms of service. Perhaps you don’t care for the response because you feel it isn’t a blind and exuberant testimonial to your preferred method?
OP it may be helpful if you clarify what piqued your interest about OMAD in the first place. What are your goals? What is your current approach? What challenges do you find with what you’re doing today?
While yes some people choose OMAD because they like having a very narrow window of calorie intake, others find it difficult to get adequate nutrition in a single meal regardless of your calorie goal.22 -
I do it and I love it. I was never a breakfast person and I used to make myself eat it because I bought the myth about it being important for weight loss/metabolism/whatever. Now I skip lunch too and I like not thinking about what I'll eat during my work day (I just don't!). I get plenty of calories in my "fed" window. I suppose I technically do 20:4 (20 fasted:4 eating) most of the time but it's often just dinner then I'm done. Since I'm tracking calories I don't worry too much about the window being exactly four hours. If I'm hungry before bedtime I'll eat more.
Meal timing is totally a you do you thing.6 -
I can't do it. I am T2Dm and my blood sugar spikes if I don't eat. That may seem counter intuitive but if the body does not get regular fuel, it will draw glycogen from the muscles (aka a glucose dump) and send it throughout the bloodstream. In non diabetic people it often works fine. In diabetics it can cause a spike.
OP, if you have no health conditions and you feel it is a way you can be satisfied and eat at the proper calorie deficit go for it. You can try it for a week and see what happens. There is no right or wrong way, in general, to space out your meals.2 -
If it suits you, sure. I doubt it suits most. I'd have a hard time consuming a reasonable number of calories if I also got sufficient fiber, protein, and veg (personally I like to have 10+ servings of veg). Granted, it's not hard to consume maintenance cals if one doesn't care what one eats.
I don't get this focus these days on trying to fit some recommended eating pattern. I'd say figure out what eating pattern makes it easiest for you to eat the right number of cals and healthfully and don't otherwise worry about it. It's not like it makes you more virtuous or more skilled or what not to eat in a smaller period of the day.
I hated it when the advice was too often "eat a bunch of mini meals or 5-6 times a day), as I dislike eating that often and am not satisfied (I prefer eating 2-3 times a day). I also now hate when people act like it's some big thing and preferable to eat in a narrow window or once a day. I think that's great for those who prefer it, but there's no reason to bother if you don't, and other things, like being satisfied, eating healthfully, and eating with friends and family if that's something that matters to you (it's more historically what happened to have a cultural/communal schedule than having a personalized eating schedule).
I also find it eye-rolling when people act like it's some advanced skill or impressive feat to eat once a day, but for whatever reason that's always been pretty easy for me. It's just when I did that for a period of years I didn't eat particularly well, and when I've done that for religious fasting it's been easy enough that I decided to do full day fasts. But I have weird hunger signals, probably. Nevertheless, not eating for a longer period of time is not a skill to pride oneself on, that's messed up.6 -
youngmomtaz wrote: »My “natural” tendency towards food is binging.
This is why I eat once a day. I can 'binge' on my one meal and not feel guilty because it's near impossible for me to go over my calorie limit for that day. It's definitely not for everyone though and it took me a couple weeks to get use to only eating during that time but it's what I prefer now. I've never liked eating breakfast, I'm not at home 5 days a week for lunch so I just eat supper and then I'm full the rest of the night. Works great for me, I'm down 30 pounds.
3 -
I did it for awhile last year. I was successful in keeping my weight trending down, but still had to track/weigh/measure my food. I struggled to get enough protein.
It worked for awhile and I thought I had found what worked for me - but a move to a different part of the country completely changed my living situation for the better, and now it's not hard for me to cook or store frozen meals, so I've gone back to eating more frequently.
I'm also far more active now than I was then, so my calorie needs have increased, and I would have really struggled to eat my full day's calories in one sitting with my current activity levels.
Reasons I did OMAD included the fact that I was doing a lot of eating out, and I enjoy a big meal when I sit down to eat. It was nearly impossible to lose weight with how my lifestyle was while still eating 2-3 meals+snacks. I was also traveling a fair bit, and again, with my lower activity level, it was easier to stay in a slight deficit while eating out regularly/on the road. I had 3 other adults I shared my house with at the time, so cooking was very difficult and not at all enjoyable, so I tended to avoid it. I also couldn't store much food with 4 people trying to share one normal sized fridge/freezer, and trying to go grocery shopping with our parking situation was also very difficult!
It's certainly not for everyone, and takes some getting used to and flexibility to see what version works best for you. It served a purpose for me for a time, and was a helpful tool in my toolbox, that I now know I can use if I need to.2 -
I eat once a day for no particular reason. I just am not hungry right away in the morning and get too busy in during the day to remember to eat lunch (teacher...). I've tried meal planning, but it usually ends up with 3-5 uneaten lunches in the fridge at the end of the week. I do drink a fair amount of water to keep me going, and don't deny myself a healthy snack or a lunch break if the opportunity presents itself. It just kinda is the way it works for me.1
-
I also find it eye-rolling when people act like it's some advanced skill or impressive feat to eat once a day, but for whatever reason that's always been pretty easy for me. It's just when I did that for a period of years I didn't eat particularly well, and when I've done that for religious fasting it's been easy enough that I decided to do full day fasts. But I have weird hunger signals, probably. Nevertheless, not eating for a longer period of time is not a skill to pride oneself on, that's messed up.
I definitely agree with this but then I don't understand this social media driven age of attention seeking for workaday activities/talents.
It is not special to me. It is not even that surprising that I can do it even though I choose not to do it fully. Like you I have odd hunger signals to the degree that on 2 occasions I have accidentally fasted for a full day. It happened years ago. Each time was when my wife was not home and I assumed I had eaten earlier in the day and I had not. Missing meals was too common during the first years of running my own business.
You would think something like that would have given me an advantage and insurance from gaining weight but as it turns out it does not. If you miss enough meals you can create a overfeed cycle and shoot way past the calories you missed.
I have channeled it back into an advantage for myself now but it has to be paired with mindful decisions which puts it back on the level of a person that eats 3 meals. It always comes back to calorie management.
Oh and I can eat most of my maintenance calories in a single meal which means I can eat in a surplus in a single meal too.
2 -
I am on the 16:8:booze plan.
7:00 am 450 cal nice breakfast
noonish a 850 cal bigger lunch
a couple of coffees+cream during the day
7:30 a cocktail 250 cals
Usually 1600 calories, and I don't have 'urges'
Kind of an IF type thing.
3 -
I eat the vast majority of my calories at night. Not because I'm trying to "do" IF or OMAD but because it's what I naturally ended up doing.
I'm really not very hungry in the morning and a Flat White (coffee) when I get to work does the trick, then during the day I never really feel like I need to eat. However, I find I'm always hungry at night. Regardless of how much I've eaten during the day for breakfast and lunch come night time I'm ready to eat.
So it makes sense and comes naturally for me to eat at night, but that said this isn't a rule. If I'm attending a lunch, I'll eat lunch, if I feel a bit hungrier in the morning I'll grab some toast with my coffee or if there's catering provided at a meeting I'm going to I'll grab a snack but in the course of an average day I'll eat only when I'm hungriest which is at night.2 -
I'm happy for people who like this WOE and are able to use it to create a calorie deficit while getting in all their nutrition.
However, just the thought of it for myself makes me nauseous, lol. Last night, I had 625 calories of chicken and Buffalo cauliflower and I was somewhat uncomfortably full for hours.
I can eat more calories at a sitting when the macros are different - pizza and ice cream spring to mind - but I feel really gross afterwards, and am hungry again in a few hours.
But while frequent small meals work for me, I'm not going to proclaim my WOE is the One True Way. There are many paths up the mountain. Each person will benefit when they find the WOE that works best for themselves.1 -
I font have breakfast or lunch never have and have a dinner ar 3pm for most of my calories then supper at 9pm something light that does me bug occasionally I have a handful of peanuts at 2am as we stay up till 3am lately I have been trying to eat more fruit so trying to snack on fruit twice during the day too. Thus is prob a bad routine but it works for me, I think you just have to try what works for you.0
-
Hi. I’m new to MFP but I am using intermittent fasting as a tool for weight loss. I’ve read up on using fasting as a tool for weight loss and studies show that people who lose weight this way are more likely to keep it off. I also am incorporating Pilates, High Intensity Interval Training on my recumbent bike, and the Cize program from Beachbody. I’d love to share thoughts, tips and other useful information with you. Let me know what you think.
Best,
jenn4 -
curranj1205 wrote: »Hi. I’m new to MFP but I am using intermittent fasting as a tool for weight loss. I’ve read up on using fasting as a tool for weight loss and studies show that people who lose weight this way are more likely to keep it off. I also am incorporating Pilates, High Intensity Interval Training on my recumbent bike, and the Cize program from Beachbody. I’d love to share thoughts, tips and other useful information with you. Let me know what you think.
Best,
jenn
I would be interested in seeing these studies. Most of the ones I have seen suggest that the majority of successful weight maintainers all eat breakfast and presumably 3 meals a day. I think it is irrelevant since 3 meals is likely to be the most common eating pattern it stands to reason that most people who lose weight would eat that way.
I don't think it matters. I believe that losing weight is not the primary goal. It is losing the mindsets and habits of the person who gained it. While I am chipping away at my weight I am trying to make small changes that will ultimately change me into a successful maintainer. A tool might help but it won't do the really heavy lifting.
5 -
I would not be able to do it as my stomach would hurt. This dinner is about 550kcal:
Note, this is a fairly big plate. If I only had one meal a day it would be a massive amount of food.
Also, I get hungry far too quickly in general, and I love to eat a variety of food at different times per day. I don't see myself eating this dinner plus oats with fruit plus bread with cheese plus candy all at once.1 -
I would not be able to do it as my stomach would hurt. This dinner is about 550kcal:
Note, this is a fairly big plate. If I only had one meal a day it would be a massive amount of food.
Also, I get hungry far too quickly in general, and I love to eat a variety of food at different times per day. I don't see myself eating this dinner plus oats with fruit plus bread with cheese plus candy all at once.
Not sure what that proves other than it wouldn't work for you. I can eat a veggie 6 eggwhite frittata, a huge salad, yogurt with fruit, and around a pound of seafood all in one meal. It is a little more expensive at restaurants because I end up eating an appetizer and 2 entrees with 1 or 2 additional sides when I go.
1 -
curranj1205 wrote: »Hi. I’m new to MFP but I am using intermittent fasting as a tool for weight loss. I’ve read up on using fasting as a tool for weight loss and studies show that people who lose weight this way are more likely to keep it off. I also am incorporating Pilates, High Intensity Interval Training on my recumbent bike, and the Cize program from Beachbody. I’d love to share thoughts, tips and other useful information with you. Let me know what you think.
Best,
jenn
I want to believe this, but I don't know if I do. I'm a dedicated IFfer (with calorie deficit per MFP's recommendation); I literally haven't had a single calorie of food before 11 am or after 7 pm in months. My weight loss has been faster and easier than expected, moreso than any previous diet, I think because IF has helped with my appetite (rarely hungry anymore) and given me a rigid behavioral structure (a clock) that really works for me. But sometimes I wonder if IF is teaching me the habits I will need down the road to not regain weight, because right now whole chunks of my day are off limits to food, but only clock-based self-discipline keeps it that way, and self-discipline is easy to waver on, especially when a goal is met. Take away the time boundary and I'm not sure I've developed a "lifelong" new habit, such as just eating a normal, reasonable amount of food throughout the day based on natural hunger signals rather than a clock. I think IF may have more maintenance risks than people talk about.
1 -
I would not be able to do it as my stomach would hurt. This dinner is about 550kcal:
Note, this is a fairly big plate. If I only had one meal a day it would be a massive amount of food.
Also, I get hungry far too quickly in general, and I love to eat a variety of food at different times per day. I don't see myself eating this dinner plus oats with fruit plus bread with cheese plus candy all at once.
Not sure what that proves other than it wouldn't work for you. I can eat a veggie 6 eggwhite frittata, a huge salad, yogurt with fruit, and around a pound of seafood all in one meal. It is a little more expensive at restaurants because I end up eating an appetizer and 2 entrees with 1 or 2 additional sides when I go.
The question was:Do people really do this? Eat within their calorie deficit but only eating once a day?
If you do, could you please offer some advice?
I said it doesn't work for me for those reasons given. No idea why you feel offended by that.2
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.5K Introduce Yourself
- 43.5K Getting Started
- 259.7K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.6K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 391 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.7K Motivation and Support
- 7.8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.2K MyFitnessPal Information
- 22 News and Announcements
- 922 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.3K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions