OMAD Maintenance (Part 2)
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arguablysamson
Posts: 1,706 Member
On the "Bear Maintenance Plan," I can now say I found the best and most workable maintenance plan of all. It utilizes OMAD, but limits it to only certain days of the week.
What, to me, seems extra fascinating is the hibernation cycles of bears. It may surprise you to know that different animals have different types of hibernation. The black bears and grizzlies are very different from the polar bear. The polar bear does NOT hibernate except in the sense of what is called walking hibernation, where normal bodily processes slow down, but the bear stays lightly active throughout the winter months. Black bears and other bears stay in a cave and in a sleep-like state all winter, neither excreting, eating, or drinking. Other animals, like certain types of rats and various other warm-blooded creatures, hibernate to more or less a degree than the bears.
I found that "tanking up" on the multiple splurge days a week I had been taking advantage of, my body naturally went back into a kind of "walking hibernation." I would be full, kind of over-satiated, like I was sick of food, but not stuffed. It was as if my blood was filled to the brim with all the nutrients it would need. Come 24 hours following two or more splurge days, I was still finding it easy to push the next meal away. By going two to three days with only eating strict OMAD and then resuming an active "foraging for food" like our friends, the bears, I soon found my happy medium.
After over a month of experimentation, I came to notice some things...
My body temperature and heart rate would increase on the third day of splurging. It was like I had taught myself to enter back into "summer." I got puffier and my weight would jump up to about 194-196. I also got stronger and felt more active. My sleep times were shorter and my mental alertness at its peak. Bowel movements became frequent (it is not uncommon on prolonged OMAD eating to have bowel movements revert to once every two to three days or longer).
After the 4th day of eating (not gorging, but regular, mildly indulgent eating), I felt ready to not eat anything. 24 hours would pass and the next meal would consist of my usual healthy stuff, around 1,200 to 1,500 calories. After the meal, it was strict OMAD; calorie-free liquids only. My body loved it! My skin quickly sticks to me, the water weight vanishes in about 30 hours and I am showing 185-187 on the scale numbers. My sleep becomes longer and my mind a peaceful and calm sea of reflection, but still sports a productive perusing forward to doing what I need to do. I naturally stay active when it comes to things like walking and moving around, but the serene feeling of peace and satisfaction stays with me with a steadfastness that is hard to describe.
Some 2 to 3 days later, I am revving up for a nice, big meal to signal another feasting period. Sometimes a simple drive to San Antonio with a trip to a Mexican joint will do this, but other times, just smelling some Granzin's sausage boiling on mom's stove will be good enough. And as a bigger meal can signal this response in my body, a smaller meal following the feast period seems to get me ready for the next famine period.
So far, it's been nearly six weeks and I love this maintenance phase more than anything else--with the re-adoption of normalcy I didn't see coming. I use as feast days occasions with the family, but if I need to stay eating big longer to account for an unusual schedule, my body cooperates nicely.
This has been an amazing journey for sure. I felt guilty eating as often as I now eat at first, but one thing I have solidified in my mind is that even when you "feel fat", that does not mean you are getting fat. Like a lot of things, it's all in your head. My weekly weigh day is still observed. That nearly always marks the beginning of the next famine period. Our bodies evolved to go between feast and famine in an endless cycle, and that is the way I find myself eating. I can't see that changing at any point in time.
What, to me, seems extra fascinating is the hibernation cycles of bears. It may surprise you to know that different animals have different types of hibernation. The black bears and grizzlies are very different from the polar bear. The polar bear does NOT hibernate except in the sense of what is called walking hibernation, where normal bodily processes slow down, but the bear stays lightly active throughout the winter months. Black bears and other bears stay in a cave and in a sleep-like state all winter, neither excreting, eating, or drinking. Other animals, like certain types of rats and various other warm-blooded creatures, hibernate to more or less a degree than the bears.
I found that "tanking up" on the multiple splurge days a week I had been taking advantage of, my body naturally went back into a kind of "walking hibernation." I would be full, kind of over-satiated, like I was sick of food, but not stuffed. It was as if my blood was filled to the brim with all the nutrients it would need. Come 24 hours following two or more splurge days, I was still finding it easy to push the next meal away. By going two to three days with only eating strict OMAD and then resuming an active "foraging for food" like our friends, the bears, I soon found my happy medium.
After over a month of experimentation, I came to notice some things...
My body temperature and heart rate would increase on the third day of splurging. It was like I had taught myself to enter back into "summer." I got puffier and my weight would jump up to about 194-196. I also got stronger and felt more active. My sleep times were shorter and my mental alertness at its peak. Bowel movements became frequent (it is not uncommon on prolonged OMAD eating to have bowel movements revert to once every two to three days or longer).
After the 4th day of eating (not gorging, but regular, mildly indulgent eating), I felt ready to not eat anything. 24 hours would pass and the next meal would consist of my usual healthy stuff, around 1,200 to 1,500 calories. After the meal, it was strict OMAD; calorie-free liquids only. My body loved it! My skin quickly sticks to me, the water weight vanishes in about 30 hours and I am showing 185-187 on the scale numbers. My sleep becomes longer and my mind a peaceful and calm sea of reflection, but still sports a productive perusing forward to doing what I need to do. I naturally stay active when it comes to things like walking and moving around, but the serene feeling of peace and satisfaction stays with me with a steadfastness that is hard to describe.
Some 2 to 3 days later, I am revving up for a nice, big meal to signal another feasting period. Sometimes a simple drive to San Antonio with a trip to a Mexican joint will do this, but other times, just smelling some Granzin's sausage boiling on mom's stove will be good enough. And as a bigger meal can signal this response in my body, a smaller meal following the feast period seems to get me ready for the next famine period.
So far, it's been nearly six weeks and I love this maintenance phase more than anything else--with the re-adoption of normalcy I didn't see coming. I use as feast days occasions with the family, but if I need to stay eating big longer to account for an unusual schedule, my body cooperates nicely.
This has been an amazing journey for sure. I felt guilty eating as often as I now eat at first, but one thing I have solidified in my mind is that even when you "feel fat", that does not mean you are getting fat. Like a lot of things, it's all in your head. My weekly weigh day is still observed. That nearly always marks the beginning of the next famine period. Our bodies evolved to go between feast and famine in an endless cycle, and that is the way I find myself eating. I can't see that changing at any point in time.
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Good to know your experience. Thanks for the posts! I am in week 4, and still learning my body's responses. My BMs are still too loose, but expect that to settle. At least I am beginning to lose again after long plateau on keto.0
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Good to know your experience. Thanks for the posts! I am in week 4, and still learning my body's responses. My BMs are still too loose, but expect that to settle. At least I am beginning to lose again after long plateau on keto.
I hear ya on the BMs. I remember getting started and it seems like by the end of the first few days, the liquidity of the BMs was a semi-constant annoyance, especially as I was starting a tempt job for extra cash and that got in the way. It may take just over a month at the longest and your innards will settle. If you are like I was, your body is used to years and years of uncontrolled binges, junk-eating, and ravenous psychological addictive eating, which means it is used to having to make more hydrochloric acid and insulin and is in the process of finding out it doesn't anymore. Plus, as the toxins, salt, sugars, cholesterol, and excess elements leave your body, your chemical levels are dropping. In the coming month, you should find evened out blood levels of everything being where it should be. By two months, you'll be seeing quite a few more changes.
Kudos on sticking to it through plateaus. So many are taking the immature route and just giving up. Shame on them.0 -
I never thought about animal hibernation compared to human eating patterns. Very intuitive.0
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There is a lot of helpful info here that I am slowly "digesting". Thanks for the post.0
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One thing I believe is that a reduced calorie diet will induce exploratory behaviour that could be channelled towards foraging for food or towards researching, self-reflection or developing greater introspection. All of this is a form of learning. We explore more, learn more and understand more when we eat less in terms of both meal quantity and meal frequency.1
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Exactly right. Every culture in the world fasts...for medical concerns and mental clarity.1
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Read Isaiah 59. Some big promises for fasting and giving to the poor. In my church we are encouraged to fast 2 meals once a month and make a donation (used to take care of the needy 100%) of the money that would have been spent on the meals (also we are encouraged to give more than that if have the means to do so). We call this a Fast Offering and it is separate from tithes. It is a neat program because if your buying your own food, it isn't anything extra out of your pocket and the needy are taken care of.1
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Read Isaiah 59. Some big promises for fasting and giving to the poor. In my church we are encouraged to fast 2 meals once a month and make a donation (used to take care of the needy 100%) of the money that would have been spent on the meals (also we are encouraged to give more than that if have the means to do so). We call this a Fast Offering and it is separate from tithes. It is a neat program because if your buying your own food, it isn't anything extra out of your pocket and the needy are taken care of.
I meant Isaiah 58.0 -
Saving this for when I get to maintenance
arguablysamson wrote: »On the "Bear Maintenance Plan," I can now say I found the best and most workable maintenance plan of all. It utilizes OMAD, but limits it to only certain days of the week.
What, to me, seems extra fascinating is the hibernation cycles of bears. It may surprise you to know that different animals have different types of hibernation. The black bears and grizzlies are very different from the polar bear. The polar bear does NOT hibernate except in the sense of what is called walking hibernation, where normal bodily processes slow down, but the bear stays lightly active throughout the winter months. Black bears and other bears stay in a cave and in a sleep-like state all winter, neither excreting, eating, or drinking. Other animals, like certain types of rats and various other warm-blooded creatures, hibernate to more or less a degree than the bears.
I found that "tanking up" on the multiple splurge days a week I had been taking advantage of, my body naturally went back into a kind of "walking hibernation." I would be full, kind of over-satiated, like I was sick of food, but not stuffed. It was as if my blood was filled to the brim with all the nutrients it would need. Come 24 hours following two or more splurge days, I was still finding it easy to push the next meal away. By going two to three days with only eating strict OMAD and then resuming an active "foraging for food" like our friends, the bears, I soon found my happy medium.
After over a month of experimentation, I came to notice some things...
My body temperature and heart rate would increase on the third day of splurging. It was like I had taught myself to enter back into "summer." I got puffier and my weight would jump up to about 194-196. I also got stronger and felt more active. My sleep times were shorter and my mental alertness at its peak. Bowel movements became frequent (it is not uncommon on prolonged OMAD eating to have bowel movements revert to once every two to three days or longer).
After the 4th day of eating (not gorging, but regular, mildly indulgent eating), I felt ready to not eat anything. 24 hours would pass and the next meal would consist of my usual healthy stuff, around 1,200 to 1,500 calories. After the meal, it was strict OMAD; calorie-free liquids only. My body loved it! My skin quickly sticks to me, the water weight vanishes in about 30 hours and I am showing 185-187 on the scale numbers. My sleep becomes longer and my mind a peaceful and calm sea of reflection, but still sports a productive perusing forward to doing what I need to do. I naturally stay active when it comes to things like walking and moving around, but the serene feeling of peace and satisfaction stays with me with a steadfastness that is hard to describe.
Some 2 to 3 days later, I am revving up for a nice, big meal to signal another feasting period. Sometimes a simple drive to San Antonio with a trip to a Mexican joint will do this, but other times, just smelling some Granzin's sausage boiling on mom's stove will be good enough. And as a bigger meal can signal this response in my body, a smaller meal following the feast period seems to get me ready for the next famine period.
So far, it's been nearly six weeks and I love this maintenance phase more than anything else--with the re-adoption of normalcy I didn't see coming. I use as feast days occasions with the family, but if I need to stay eating big longer to account for an unusual schedule, my body cooperates nicely.
This has been an amazing journey for sure. I felt guilty eating as often as I now eat at first, but one thing I have solidified in my mind is that even when you "feel fat", that does not mean you are getting fat. Like a lot of things, it's all in your head. My weekly weigh day is still observed. That nearly always marks the beginning of the next famine period. Our bodies evolved to go between feast and famine in an endless cycle, and that is the way I find myself eating. I can't see that changing at any point in time.
Saving this for when I get to maintenance 1 -
"I found that "tanking up" on the multiple splurge days a week I had been taking advantage of, my body naturally went back into a kind of "walking hibernation." I would be full, kind of over-satiated, like I was sick of food, but not stuffed. It was as if my blood was filled to the brim with all the nutrients it would need. Come 24 hours following two or more splurge days, I was still finding it easy to push the next meal away. By going two to three days with only eating strict OMAD and then resuming an active "foraging for food" like our friends, the bears, I soon found my happy medium."
There is so much wisdom in this post and I am STILL trying to digest it!
Seems to me we need to learn to trust our bodies more and stop trying to impose these strict regimes but to tune in to our inner sense of when we need to forage and when we can just rest and use gentle exercise and fasting to allow our bodies to self-cleanse and restore ourselves to full health.
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Yep. One can learn to combine splurging, foraging, OMADing, and general fasting for one heck of a mind-body experience.0
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Very interesting. I've been thinking all along that the optimum system would be some kind of cycling back and forth between feasting and fasting, like in nature, but wasn't sure what the best cycle might be. You've given me something to think about. I'm strictly on OMAD now, and part of the allure is the simplicity, each day is the same ( I don't do splurge days). Perhaps the above system could be adapted to a weekly schedule that would be easy to follow. I'm not ready for any changes at this point but I'm constantly thinking about the next steps in the process.
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@jvcinv You might want to add in a splurge day if you start stalling 0
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I'm kind of doing what Joe described right now. I'm fasting twice a week on Wed and Sunday's, the days I don't work out, and on the other days I've either been eating all three meals or I've been eating just two meals I've done this for a month and have stayed at the same weight. I have been strict with what I've eat for breakfast and lunch but still eat ad libitum for dinner and I haven't gained any. I'm exercising a lot also. Last time I tried this and I wasn't exercising much and I also wasn't strict with breakfast or lunches and I gained.
I think I will continue with this for a while and I'm now considering doing some of the leangains approach where on days of workouts I eat a bit more carbs before the workouts and probably keep it very low carb after the workout and on my diet days. I like to experiment and have tried a lot of things. I do still need to loose 25 more lbs and may be doing this prematurely but I'm at a weight right now that I'm not disappointed in (just not optimal yet). I will probably try that for a week or two and then maybe try something else if I'm not satisfied with it.0 -
Joe this Bear Maintenance Plan is working for me and I Love it!!! Thanks 2
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I have been doing this plan since the end of June and I'm maintaining between 127 and 130 each week...This plan does work and in my opinion its the easiest maintenance plan I've done and I advise everyone to give this plan a try once they reach maintenance 0
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Yep, it's THAT easy!1
