OMAD - Why do people eat this way?

whoami67 · October 2020

I do it frequently, usually when I'm working or when I want to eat something that doesn't fit into a 3 meals and a snack style menu. Some days I'm hungry so I eat more often. Some days OMAD is easy and I don't even give it a thought.

For example, if I want pizza, I probably want to eat 3-4 slices of pizza and I probably want a salad with it with regular salad dressing. That's my whole days' calories so I eat OMAD. Yes, I could eat 1 slice of pizza, but I don't find that satisfying and then I feel sorry for myself and then I overeat to make myself feel better. Easier and more satisfying to eat OMAD on pizza day. Or I enjoy a nice Sunday brunch of eggs Benedict with some fruit, a cappuccino and a mimosa...that's pretty much the whole day's calories, too. Therefore, OMAD.

Or when I'm working, I usually work 12-15 hours at a time with little time or access to decent food. I can either gulp down whatever I can find at work that doesn't need refrigeration or heating and can be consumed in 2-3 minutes while doing something else (and which will probably make me feel awful), or I can wait until I get home and make a nice meal. I don't really get hungry during the day until I start eating so I just don't start and then it's easy to wait until I get home from work.

swimmchick87 · October 2020

Normally I skip breakfast, do a small lunch (300ish calories) and then eat the majority of my calories for dinner. I am NOT a morning person and don't want to get up any earlier to fit breakfast in. Besides that, I find if I do eat breakfast (very occasionally I will, if it's provided at work or something, like 2-3x per year) I'm significantly MORE hungry the rest of the day than if I just skip it. As for lunch, I find that I am so busy at work that it doesn't matter what I'm eating/I don't focus on it that much. I'd rather have the bulk of my calories in the evening when I can relax and enjoy them.

Every once in awhile, if I'm really craving something super high calorie, I will skip lunch too so that I have all of my calories for that one meal and then can still stick to my calorie goal for that day. I actually just did that on Friday- I was really craving this buffalo chicken mac n cheese from a local place. I skipped lunch and picked it up on the way home, around 4:30 PM, and then didn't eat a snack or anything later at night either. It's definitely not something that I'd want to do every day, and I do think it would be challenging to get the right nutrients eating that way every day. For me it's more of an every once in awhile mitigation strategy if I want to fit something super high calorie in.

Or, also very occasionally, I get so busy at work that I legitimately forget to eat my lunch until well past "lunch time." In those cases, I often reason I may as well use that as an excuse to get something higher calorie after work and just skip the lunch all together, rather than eating "lunch" only an hour or two before I plan to leave work.

Whidislander · November 2020

I love eating the OMAD lifestyle. It isn't so much about losing weight, but its about putting myself in autophagy. During that time my body heals itself. Autophagy literally means self eating. So its cleaning house! My skin loves it, my scars love it, and it has essentially cleared up a skin condition I have had.
No I don't eat all my calories in one sitting. Its maybe starting off eating some nuts, while I am fixing what I am having. It helps to crank up the digestive track slowly not feed it a big meal from the get go. I have a meal then a snack, or a dessert. I eat normally from 11:30am to about 3 pm. Then I am done for the day. Easy peasy. I shall eat this way forever.

kitaemma · November 2020

I do OMAD but it’s because I have tummy problems. If I eat 3+ times a day I have tummy problems 3+ times a day so one is just enough for me! I know it’s not for most people but as long as I get enough calories and all of my nutrients in the one large meal it’s been okay!

angelexperiment · November 2020

Basically you can’t eat them all in one sitting it’s more like two medium meals in a two hour period or so. But I still am adjusting what is that to me I prefer I think 2 mad bc I just feel too full in that I tried to eat that much and I feel sick ( eating clean healthy foods) so I try to eat til full but not all of it sometimes and hunger does happen so I just drink a lot of fluids! Tea water coffee

SnifterPug · November 2020

OMAD wouldn't work for me. I would struggle to eat sufficient calories to fuel my training in only one meal. However 16:8 works brilliantly for me. I have about 400-500 cals at 2pm, about 350 cals at 5pm and main meal around 8.30pm.

musicfan68 · November 2020

I do OMAD/IF and have for several years because of my schedule. I work about 10-12 hrs a day, if I eat in the mornig, I get an upset stomach that I would rather not have, and am much more hungry all day long, so I don't eat until evening. I am also a volume eater. I like to feel like I get to eat a substantial amount of food at a time, not some little piece of this, and a little of that for only 300 calories. It works for me. I get hungry starting usually late afternoon, and I just wait until I get home a couple of hours later to eat a big supper.