Erin's OMAD Diary

EVP_NZ
EVP_NZ Posts: 117 Member
Well, I've posted in the intro thread and they suggested I start a thread of my own. Here it is. I'm a married 41-year-old mother of one. I'm also a US expat living in New Zealand and teaching writing at the university level.

I eat low carb, high fat (keto) and have been playing around with intermittent and alternate day fasting for around a month since discovering Dr Jason Fung. Giving OMAD a go. My fasting timer is counting down from 23 hours right now.

Biggest change is that I'm 5 days into tapering off caffeine. Boy, is that no fun. Any tips welcome.

Hi all. Look forward to this journey.
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Replies

  • blambo61
    blambo61 Posts: 4,372 Member
    Stay off the caffeine and it will go get better!
  • Abm4n
    Abm4n Posts: 529 Member
    I'm a fan of dr fung too.
  • leveejohn
    leveejohn Posts: 346 Member
    I found OMAD first, Fung next, reading his book now. I'll be the first to admit, my caffeine monster is walkin' and talkin' right now. I'll work on that later. B)
  • EVP_NZ
    EVP_NZ Posts: 117 Member
    Day 1 in full swing. Had my tapering-down 1/3 caffeine coffee. Rest of the day decaf. Other than that, just water. Feeling fine. It's like every other day (I don't eat breakfast anymore), so no issues. Will check in again later.
  • EVP_NZ
    EVP_NZ Posts: 117 Member
    Bit harder now. Have had a decaf coffee and a couple of cups of broth. I'll plan on weaning off the broth as I get used to the plan. But dinner is only a few hours away, so the hardest part is done.
  • EVP_NZ
    EVP_NZ Posts: 117 Member
    3 pm is my danger zone. Doing the school run and so hungry. However I don't have any food, so no temptation. I will have figure in the hungry hours from 3-5. I know from previous 24-hour fasts that the body adapts quickly. But not without whinging!
  • leveejohn
    leveejohn Posts: 346 Member
    edited February 2017
    Day 1-3 are difficult, no doubt. It gets better and more natural after that. That's out there waiting for you!
  • EVP_NZ
    EVP_NZ Posts: 117 Member
    I made it to dinner. Most delicious dinner ever. One plate of homemade carnitas, guacamole, and sour cream. I also had a small bowl for ice cream (totally not keto). Weighed all my food--much easier to track macros when you eat once a day.

    First day done. I can do this! Thanks for the support.
  • Abm4n
    Abm4n Posts: 529 Member
    Day one check. Now just rinse and repeat.
  • 1MADGIRL
    1MADGIRL Posts: 838 Member
    EVP_NZ wrote: »
    Well, I've posted in the intro thread and they suggested I start a thread of my own. Here it is. I'm a married 41-year-old mother of one. I'm also a US expat living in New Zealand and teaching writing at the university level.

    I eat low carb, high fat (keto) and have been playing around with intermittent and alternate day fasting for around a month since discovering Dr Jason Fung. Giving OMAD a go. My fasting timer is counting down from 23 hours right now.

    Biggest change is that I'm 5 days into tapering off caffeine. Boy, is that no fun. Any tips welcome.

    Hi all. Look forward to this journey.

    Hey! Welcome to the forum
    How's NZ? I would love to go someday. They say its beautiful!

    How many kgs or pounds are you aiming to lose?

    I promise it does get easier with time. Especially when you start seeing the lose.
    You need to start understanding what motivates you the most, because that helps. For me it's weighing myself daily, inspiration quotes and pics of nice bodies.

    Good luck! Looking forward to reading more about your journey!
  • EVP_NZ
    EVP_NZ Posts: 117 Member
    Day 2--on water-only fasting I hear this is the roughest. So far, so good here, but mornings are easiest for me as I've skipped breakfast regularly for a month. Still on my 1/3 caf 1 shot coffee, so tapering caffeine going well.

    Got my first meeting for my dream job (teaching creative writing at a university) and excited/terrified. I don't want to muck this up! That ought to keep my mind off food.

    Thanks for all the encouragement and support. This is a lovely, warm group.
  • EVP_NZ
    EVP_NZ Posts: 117 Member
    1MADGIRL wrote: »
    How's NZ? I would love to go someday. They say its beautiful!
    ...
    How many kgs or pounds are you aiming to lose?

    New Zealand is lovely. It's a lot more low key than Brisbane, Australia, which is where I lived before that, so it took some adjusting to. But the scenery is amazing and the people are friendly. It's just generally a quiet, peaceful, happy place to live--where there isn't an earthquake. That took some getting used to!

    I'm looking to lose just 7 kg to start--that will get me to 80 kg, which is what my previous doctor discussed as reasonable (I was 102 kg at the time, so I think she meant to encourage me). After that, we'll see. I think I could probably do to lose 15 kg, but I'm just going to see how the weight sits on me.

    Thanks for asking, and thanks for the support! Day 2 is already miles better than day 1.
  • EVP_NZ
    EVP_NZ Posts: 117 Member
    Day 2 in the bag! Dinner was ham, aioli, and coleslaw. I'll have a decaf cream cappuccino and some peanuts to bring up my calories a bit (only 700 now).

    This is so do-able! I get some hunger around 3, but I just remind myself that it's only 2 hours until dinner. Then I drink some water and get on with it. It's just not a big deal. Guys, I'm so excited.

    PS my new colleagues are amazing. I'm going to love teaching again.
  • 1MADGIRL
    1MADGIRL Posts: 838 Member
    EVP_NZ wrote: »
    Day 2 in the bag! Dinner was ham, aioli, and coleslaw. I'll have a decaf cream cappuccino and some peanuts to bring up my calories a bit (only 700 now).

    This is so do-able! I get some hunger around 3, but I just remind myself that it's only 2 hours until dinner. Then I drink some water and get on with it. It's just not a big deal. Guys, I'm so excited.

    PS my new colleagues are amazing. I'm going to love teaching again.

    So good changes all around for you :)

    How did you manage to lose all that weight? from 102 to 87? Pretty impressive. Did it take long?
  • EVP_NZ
    EVP_NZ Posts: 117 Member
    1MADGIRL wrote: »
    How did you manage to lose all that weight? from 102 to 87? Pretty impressive. Did it take long?

    Thanks and thanks for asking. It's taken four years, all of it after my one-and-only baby who is 5 now!

    First, I started running with Zombies, Run! an app on my phone that turns running into story. It's awesome.

    Then low carb, high fat diet. I've been doing that off-and-on for two years. I love the food and all the other benefits (e.g. My passport photo this year looks younger than my one from 10 years ago!)
    But I hate logging everything I eat. Until now, actually. It's much easier to do one meal and my couple of drinks in MFP.
  • EVP_NZ
    EVP_NZ Posts: 117 Member
    Day 3: Oh hubris! I thought today would be easy. Nope! I almost caved so often today (had every "justification" lined up). I did have a heap of cream in my afternoon coffee, so not exactly compliant, but I made it to dinner without eating.

    I did it. I don't know how. But it's another block in my OMAD foundation. Day 4, here I come.

    Other OMAD women: How do you cope with PMS/your period/menopause and its relation to food? For example, I nearly caved today because I needed painkillers, which can't be taken without food. What do you do? I just white-knuckled it through, but I don't see that being sustainable.
  • Brendalea69
    Brendalea69 Posts: 3,863 Member
    edited February 2017
    I had an endometrial ablation a month ago and I didn't get a period this month :) but I still get the pms because I still have my hormones...I get really hungry and want to eat everything in sight especially salty and sweet food...I usually just chew sugarless gum and drink lots of water till my meal time...What kind of pain killers do you take that need to be taken with food? I take Tylenol and don't need food with them.
  • kabrigail
    kabrigail Posts: 149 Member
    Other OMAD women: How do you cope with PMS/your period/menopause and its relation to food? For example, I nearly caved today because I needed painkillers, which can't be taken without food. What do you do? I just white-knuckled it through, but I don't see that being sustainable. [/quote]

    On a really bad time, I have used my period as a cheat day and just ate so I could take my pain killer and went ahead and ate during the day. I only had one really bad day so It wasn't too bad.
  • Mom2annie
    Mom2annie Posts: 177 Member
    I take naproxen (Aleve) for pain. An empty stomach doesn't stop me. Maybe it should...never really thought about it. Fasting is definitely more challenging for me on those days though.
  • EVP_NZ
    EVP_NZ Posts: 117 Member
    I take ibuprofen, with Tylenol if a pain is really bad--per my doctor they're ok together. (But not two NSAIDs) I never found Tylenol or Aleve to do anything alone.

    I personally can't take it on an empty stomach (hurts/makes me nauseated). I tried with rehydrated chia seeds in water per Megan Ramos from Intensive Dietary Management, but I promptly threw up the whole lot, meds and all. :/ I had a migraine that day, which makes my stomach iffy anyway. I'm not real keen to retry the experiment on non-migraine pain though!

    So I put cream in my coffee this morning and took a couple ibuprofen. It was enough calories to technically break my fast, but it should impact my insulin at a low level since it's almost all fat. I'm not going to eat any extra food/meals.

    I don't plan to do it every day, but I'm in OMAD for the long haul and I need to make it work for me.

    Thanks for your support! Between here and the OMAD and IF subreddits, I'm getting a lot of cheering on.