Robert's Southern Fried OMAD Journey
EstrangedTiger
Posts: 543 Member
Disclaimer: I've been working on an intermittent fasting plan since February. The second week of February consisted of a 3 day juice cleanse, with 2 days before and after eating vegetarian soups. (The cleanse really rebooted my system and eliminated some bad habits, btw). Then, I started IF and have been researching the subject. My process has consisted of slowly tightening my eating window. Started with the common 16:8 and tracking calories. Have progressed to 20:4 until...
4/11 was my first real OMAD day!
Some items I have discovered:
Green smoothies are legit. Adding supplements to them and experimenting with taste/fruit/veggies has been invigorating. I was obviously malnourished. This will be my drink.
A lower carb diet does wonders for my energy level. IF, however, helps with carb toleration. I'm excited to see how OMAD works for me in that regard.
I'm from your typical southern family that thinks about food 24/7. IF has been liberating!
Now, onto my current weight loss totals:
Feb 1 - 273 lbs
Feb 11 - 257.2
Feb 20 - 253
March 1 - 251.2
March 12 - 250
March 19 - 249
March 25 - 245.6
April 11 - 241
Current loss: 32lbs
I only weigh when the urge hits, because being obsessive is a hazard.
The strength and growth hormone benefits of fasting are obvious. My weight loss has slowed (tweaking it now, was consuming some extra calories to prevent binging), but my muscles are growing with minimal workouts. Yes, I mean minimal. 7 minutes, twice a week. I take slow walks to clear my head on other days. At 44, I feel 24. Yes, in every way. It's insanity.
I hope to carry you guys on my journey and inspire a few people along the way.
Short-term goals: below 225 for an early June vacation and 215 on a late June trip.
Mid-term goal: reach 200 lbs before a late July trip to Canada. Eventually, I want 180 lbs and 10 percent body fat on my 5-11 frame. That is doable by the end of 2018. My maintenance weight will be between 180-200.
I plan to start eating cleaner and with more purpose to achieve these goals. My knees/back/hips are struggling and wanting to avoid surgery.
A favor - just ask if I am staying with the plan. Force me to post honest results. Given that I have a mood disorder, having a schedule and accountability is crucial. It is easy to float around and lose time and focus (however, this eating plan is really helping!).
Thanks for reading,
Robert from Alabama
4/11 was my first real OMAD day!
Some items I have discovered:
Green smoothies are legit. Adding supplements to them and experimenting with taste/fruit/veggies has been invigorating. I was obviously malnourished. This will be my drink.
A lower carb diet does wonders for my energy level. IF, however, helps with carb toleration. I'm excited to see how OMAD works for me in that regard.
I'm from your typical southern family that thinks about food 24/7. IF has been liberating!
Now, onto my current weight loss totals:
Feb 1 - 273 lbs
Feb 11 - 257.2
Feb 20 - 253
March 1 - 251.2
March 12 - 250
March 19 - 249
March 25 - 245.6
April 11 - 241
Current loss: 32lbs
I only weigh when the urge hits, because being obsessive is a hazard.
The strength and growth hormone benefits of fasting are obvious. My weight loss has slowed (tweaking it now, was consuming some extra calories to prevent binging), but my muscles are growing with minimal workouts. Yes, I mean minimal. 7 minutes, twice a week. I take slow walks to clear my head on other days. At 44, I feel 24. Yes, in every way. It's insanity.
I hope to carry you guys on my journey and inspire a few people along the way.
Short-term goals: below 225 for an early June vacation and 215 on a late June trip.
Mid-term goal: reach 200 lbs before a late July trip to Canada. Eventually, I want 180 lbs and 10 percent body fat on my 5-11 frame. That is doable by the end of 2018. My maintenance weight will be between 180-200.
I plan to start eating cleaner and with more purpose to achieve these goals. My knees/back/hips are struggling and wanting to avoid surgery.
A favor - just ask if I am staying with the plan. Force me to post honest results. Given that I have a mood disorder, having a schedule and accountability is crucial. It is easy to float around and lose time and focus (however, this eating plan is really helping!).
Thanks for reading,
Robert from Alabama
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Wow! Awesome loss so far! Congratulations...0
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Welcome Robert, I think about food constantly too but I'm from the north. You have done great so far!!!
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Brendalea69 wrote: »Welcome Robert, I think about food constantly too but I'm from the north. You have done great so far!!!
Thank you. Overeating is definitely not exclusive to the South, but we try our best to take the trophy!
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Welcome Robert,
I am your southern neighbor from Tennessee. It looks like you have a great plan. This group is great and supportive! They also are full of knowledge. Hope you do well!1 -
Welcome Robert!
Your green smoothies sound interesting. What kind of supplements do you put in them? How big are they? Tell me everything...
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So interested in following your journey! Welcome to the fold.1
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aleroache20 wrote: »Welcome Robert!
Your green smoothies sound interesting. What kind of supplements do you put in them? How big are they? Tell me everything...
Well, I know Joe isn't a big fan of some of the online doctors that are keto-only, but I stole some ideas from these men and women to maximize nutrition.
Base components: A green vegetable such as kale/spinach. Water. Kale is so full of nutrition per calorie, it is ridiculous. It is too bitter for some folks, so spinach is a good substitute. You can add some lemon or apple cider vinegar to counter the oxalates in spinach. I add nutritional yeast for the B-vitamins. Often add a digestive aid like Bromelain to help maximize absorption. Stevia drops to taste. Also, will add a balanced vitamin/mineral powder when my main meal is on the junky side.
Mine end up being around 20oz, using 8 ounces of water.
Then, you have the good stuff:
If you aren't worried about keto, you can add some fruit. Blueberries are so good for you, for example. Some people add flavored protein powder. Heck, one of my shakes uses 90% dark chocolate! It is a healthy dessert smoothie! I do this all to taste and totally ad-lib it! One day, I had leftover mushrooms, tomatoes, onions and such... made a mexican smoothie. Just added the necessary spices! Crunching up some chia seeds and adding them to the mix incorporates Omega 3s, Fiber and a little protein.
I'm rambling. Hmmm. I'll add some links to give you more structure and will comment more later:
Dr Rhonda Patrick has two examples:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ys86ZgjQQYg
https://youtube.com/watch?v=JLQ63y5aTpo
edit: Your smoothie (if you so choose to use one as a supplement) can be completely your own creation. They are especially awesome for people that have a hard time eating greens/veggies.
If you need apples, oranges, whatever... to make one taste good, so be it. Sneak in the bitter greens and have the best of both worlds!
Vanilla extract for flavoring is great. There are many flavored stevia drops out there on the market.
How about a Reese's smoothie? Chocolate, peanut butter, low cal sweetner, sneak in the greens and other awesome veggies with no detection! Seriously, the possibilities are endless. You can make enough for 2-3 servings and save them for later! Heck, you could have a really calorie rich one for a meal!
If eating an OMAD meal afterwards, be sure to not make the fluid volume so high, that you can't eat your main meal! Tonight, I'm making a dessert smoothie. Will use it for 3-4 days.
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Those sound really good and interesting. I might have to make one soon. When it warms up it would serve as a nice cool treat. 0
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I like the idea of smoothies and used to make them often, usually just fruit and yogurt but a little green sure wouldn't hurt! I'm very leery of adding yeast though. I did that in college and it made me feel very strange while doing that. Not sure what was going on. Anyways, congrats on your great progress!0
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I like the idea of smoothies and used to make them often, usually just fruit and yogurt but a little green sure wouldn't hurt! I'm very leery of adding yeast though. I did that in college and it made me feel very strange while doing that. Not sure what was going on. Anyways, congrats on your great progress!
Right, I'm experimenting with the nutritional yeast. Smoothies are really an awesome way to hide greens!dkayingram wrote: »Those sound really good and interesting. I might have to make one soon. When it warms up it would serve as a nice cool treat.
Indeed! Some folks add ice, I go with lukewarm water.0 -
Day 2: Forgot to take a picture. Today, I had:
Smoothie:
Sunflower seeds, salted. One half of a caramel Atkins shake blended with coffee/chocolate powder/kale/stevia drops/half and half and lemon juice. Smashed up some chia seeds for fiber and omega 3s. Added the smashed sunflower seeds and chia to the smoothie as well. A little fruits/veggie/vitamin powder. Orange flavor. Bromelain powder for digestion. This ended up being a dessert drink of around 20 ounces.
Main meal: Two Green Chile 1/3 lb hamburger patties, baked with Mushrooms, Onions and Spinach. Slice of provolone cheese added. Dried garlic. Sipped on a little lemon water, given a component of my meal is already liquid.
This meal was around 1700 calories. My mind and body are very satisfied. I'll only be having tea/water/coffee until tomorrow night.
My eating window was around 90 minutes.
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Doing great!
That smoothie sounds really good with the sunflower seeds.0 -
dkayingram wrote: »Doing great!
That smoothie sounds really good with the sunflower seeds.
It did turn out well.
Think I’ll be skipping a smoothie tonight and just take my usual supplements with a drink.
Big on smoothies, but everyday for me is becoming a chore!
I can make things too complicated!
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That burger sounds delicious
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Day 3, about to partake of a huge chef salad at a local pizza place:
Lettuce, black olives, green olives, pepperoni, diced ham, pepperoncini, baby tomatoes, cucumber and grated mozzarella. Use olive oil, lemons, red pepper flakes, grated Parmesan and black pepper for dressing.
It is basically a supreme pizza without the crust.
Will have a tiny dessert shake when I go back to the car. It will have heavy cream, chocolate powder, stevia, coffee and an orange vitamin powder.
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Brendalea69 wrote: »That burger sounds delicious
Dr Atkins said that eating low carb is quite decadent. Makes me giggle. Yes, it was a solid meal, I wasn’t interested in eating today. My APV and Lemon water bottle took care of that issue rather easily.
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EstrangedTiger wrote: »Day 3, about to partake of a huge chef salad at a local pizza place:
Lettuce, black olives, green olives, pepperoni, diced ham, pepperoncini, baby tomatoes, cucumber and grated mozzarella. Use olive oil,
Yum!!!1 -
I LOVE the title of your thread!!!!
Looking forward to coming along on your journey!1 -
Looks good! enjoy! 0
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brittdee88 wrote: »I LOVE the title of your thread!!!!
Looking forward to coming along on your journey!
Ha! Thank you!
Thought about including Mountain Dew and Golden Flake potato chips, but I fell flat!
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Day 4 (I won’t be giving daily updates for long!)
I’m working on a 2 hour feeding window today, meal was planned last night.
Smoothie: half n half, cocoa powder, stevia, kale, celery, coffee, coconut oil, nutritional yeast, chia seed, avocado, peanut butter, cinnamon and stevia. This tastes like a chocolate/coffee/pb shake! For dessert. Prepped and put in the refrigerator to have the ingredients blend further. 20oz or so.
Main meal: Tuna Steak with Montreal steak flavor, olive and butter. Asparagus with butter, garlic and olive oil.
I did well today, took a 20 minute walk and prepped my food. Eating 1 hour later. No cheating.
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That sounds really good, I need to try a smoothie some time!!!0
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Brendalea69 wrote: »That sounds really good, I need to try a smoothie some time!!!
Yes, they are good. No baking required!
I'm going into keto fudge and such next. Been seeing a Mason jar technique on YouTube. Dr Berg and his wife have some awesome recipes.
Really like experimental cooking. It's definitely a hobby.1 -
Wow - that smoothie does sound delicious! I know what fudge you're talking about, and I also plan to make the mason jar ice cream, too! I just want to get to May before adding anything too sweet back in. After that, I definitely plan to make treats -- I plan to have LC/keto desserts as much as possible in maintenance!0
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brittdee88 wrote: »Wow - that smoothie does sound delicious! I know what fudge you're talking about, and I also plan to make the mason jar ice cream, too! I just want to get to May before adding anything too sweet back in. After that, I definitely plan to make treats -- I plan to have LC/keto desserts as much as possible in maintenance!
I'm concerned about triggers, no doubt. Can also see your concerns.
Funny enough, I'm wanting sweets less from day to day.
My though processes is aiming towards parties, birthdays and holidays. Going to bring my own desserts, may only have a bite or two. A Mason Jar dessert should attract some attention!
I have a late wedding to attend next weekend, what a great setting for OMAD! Eating a large meal at a reception is sorta expected!
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Yep, my sweet tooth has pretty much diminished as well, but I baked weekly for years without fail and really miss it. Being able to get back to baking (I am also planning on single-serving treats with mason jars, ramekins, etc) is something to which I have looked forward this entire journey. Weekly LC treats will be nice, and there are so many cool recipes out there that I’d like to try.
That totally makes sense about taking your treats with you! I think that is a great game plan. I am hoping to just be able to have whatever is there as long as it’s allergy-friendly. I have spent decades on one diet or another always having to turn down things when I’m out, and I just want a little slice of that “normal” to fit into my maintenance plan. To just have an occasional indulgence without completely freaking out about my weight would be amazing. I have no desire to abandon LC, but special occasions only come around a couple times a quarter for me, and it might be nice to finally just have what everyone else is having! Even if I don’t end up wanting it, I want the freedom.
Have fun at the wedding! I love weddings!0 -
brittdee88 wrote: »Yep, my sweet tooth has pretty much diminished as well, but I baked weekly for years without fail and really miss it. Being able to get back to baking (I am also planning on single-serving treats with mason jars, ramekins, etc) is something to which I have looked forward this entire journey. Weekly LC treats will be nice, and there are so many cool recipes out there that I’d like to try.
That totally makes sense about taking your treats with you! I think that is a great game plan. I am hoping to just be able to have whatever is there as long as it’s allergy-friendly. I have spent decades on one diet or another always having to turn down things when I’m out, and I just want a little slice of that “normal” to fit into my maintenance plan. To just have an occasional indulgence without completely freaking out about my weight would be amazing. I have no desire to abandon LC, but special occasions only come around a couple times a quarter for me, and it might be nice to finally just have what everyone else is having! Even if I don’t end up wanting it, I want the freedom.
Have fun at the wedding! I love weddings!
Absolutely, I want that freedom as well, it’s part of the beauty of OMAD. Will be having wedding cake Saturday. Thanks, I plan on having fun instead of fearing the food. I’ll probably obstain from alcohol, studies indicate we tend to eat up to 20% more while drinking.
Food allergies are definitely an issue. My doctor (she is amazing, btw) suggested my vitamin deficiencies could be linked to gluten allergies inhibiting nutrient absorption. The anecdotal evidence seems to lean towards her being correct, because I did not add any supplements to test the theory and improved greatly. So, now, I’m adding various methods of supplementing D and B vitamins. In the past, they really had mediocre results. Let’s just say I’m in the middle of the normal range of vitamin D, as of Friday. Was falling off the bottom of the scale in December.
Yes, food allergies are a big deal and they are real. I have the occasional breaded fried food from time to time, but avoid it 99%.
I want to bring keto versions of holiday desserts, just to test people. Will totally be unannounced. I’ll eat their versions, as well! People are going to comment and ask about my weight loss, so I’ll have a tasty example!
BTW, I was raised by 3 fabulous women and listened to them overly criticize themselves concerning food, appearance, etc. You are doing well, don’t let social norms and peer pressure make you hestitant or miserable! I know our culture can be rough on ladies. Can tell you are a good soul.
This goes for all the ladies on this forum! Be happy with you!
Will be elated once baking and making desserts feels safe again, please share your creations!
You guys are really a blessing. I come here, knowing I need to be accountable. The support is unreal.
Joe has done a wonderful thing in creating his website, YouTube channel and forum.
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Day 5: Smoothie with cocoa, half n half, 3 cups of a shredded cruciferous veggie mix, cinnamon, stevia, chia seeds and nutritional yeast. Digestive enzymes chewable for absorption.
Hamburger with grilled onions and smoked Gouda. Just cook the onions with the burger.
I have 500 calories left, so going to eat some Macadamia nuts and Almonds.
Will weigh in the morning.
Took a 20 minute walk before food shopping.
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I looooove a good gouda! I have been having havarti on my turkey burgers, but now I am thinking gouda might be the move for my next batch. Hope your weigh-in goes well!1
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