Mom2annie wrote: »

I'm officially disenchanted with LCHF+OMAD and feel like I need to make an adjustment.

I don't think the high fat part is right for me. I want to stay low-carb, but super low carb (my aim has been 20-30 grams a day) is very difficult for me when combined with OMAD. I try to keep my eating window from 4:30pm to 7:30pm and I simply cannot get in enough HEALTHY food to achieve the macro ratios that are part of a LCHF diet. If I ate three meals a day, then I don’t think it would be so hard. As it is now, I'm eating significantly more processed foods and less vegetables & fruits which makes me feel like I’m regressing in my healthy habits, not progressing. I miss my green smoothies! I miss eating oranges and apples. I miss carrots, rice, potatoes, artichokes, etc.

And as of yesterday, I am super tempted to eat some serious carbs. I'm talking donuts, pizza, brownies, and cookies...not relatively healthy carbs like whole grain bread/pasta. I wasn’t craving that stuff before I combined LCHF with OMAD. It only just hit me yesterday which was my 8th day of integrating LCHF.

I'm also backed up and having abdominal pains. I think it's all the fat and less fiber. I can only fit so much high fiber veggies into 3 hours of eating. At the end of the window, I am miserably full and uncomfortable.

I was watching this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKUJpkO5FyU&t=2s this morning by a bariatric doctor named Matthew Weiner (author of A Pound of Cure) titled, “Should I have weight loss surgery?” which…

(1) is the first time in several weeks that I’ve shown any interest in actually having the gastric sleeve surgery that I’m technically prepping to have done this summer or fall; and

(2) he said something that struck a chord in me. He said (paraphrased): Whatever nutritional changes you make (with the intention of making them permanent) has to be something you can enjoy or you won’t be successful long-term. In that moment, it hit me that I am definitely not enjoying LCHF. I do, however, enjoy OMAD.

Is OMAD sometimes a challenge? Definitely, but it’s something I can see myself doing (at least partially) for the rest of my life. I don’t struggle with feeling deprived on OMAD because there really aren’t any restrictions. If I want an orange with my meal, then I have an orange and I can feel great that I ate something natural and full of nutrients! If I eat an orange on the LCHF diet, then I get to feel like crap because I’ve immediately blown my diet and kicked my body out of ketosis. In other words, I face failure more often through the day on LCHF than on OMAD. Once you get accustomed to OMAD, it’s like running on autopilot. You don’t have to think so hard and try so hard to stay on track toward meeting your goals.

So, I’m going to go back to OMAD only but be mindful of excessive carbs and try to consume mostly healthy ones, but not obsess about the amount so much.

Sorry for the novel! I hope everyone is having a great day.