OMAD Archives - MasterMinding Perfection

As hard as it is to be eating more than you should when you're only eating one meal a day, some people can still make this mistake, especially beginners, who still don't know their way well around intermittent fasting and OMAD. If you feel like you might be making this mistake, I'm sharing in this article 10 signs and consequences that can help you point your finger at the problem. And at the end of each one, I will give you a tip that can help you avoid making this mistake in the future. Side Note: The list I'm bringing you today can get some people confused if you're only reading the headlines. Because the truth is, many consequences of overeating can present as signs of the problem, and can then become the reasons why you keep overeating. It's a viscious cycle. If you want to have a better understanding of this cycle and how to break it, read the entire article, not just the headlines. 1- You're Feeling Hungry During The Day This is typical when you're first starting out with OMAD. It's normal for your body to ask for food because normally that's where it gets the energy from. It needs some time to know how to tap into your own fat for energy. So, if this is what you're facing when you're just starting OMAD, know that that's normal, and will improve with time. However, if you're experiencing this after getting fat-adapted, it might be because you're eating too many calories generally, and, specifically, too many high-glycemic-index carbs. If you have insulin sensitivity. This can lead to heavy hunger that ends with binge-eating. Tip: At the beginning of your OMAD journey, it can be helpful to add more fat to curb your hunger and make you able to commit more and suffer less from the flu-like symptoms that come with the fat-adapting process. However, if you do it to an extreme, it can start backfiring and it might keep you from seeing the results you want. 2- You're Tired, Groggy, or Sleepy Most of The Time This can also be either one of the symptoms of early fat adaptation or the result of overconsuming calories or carbs with a high glycemic index. Tip: If this is a result of overeating, you should try reducing your carbs intake during the meal, and try eating more mindfully. The best tip I can add here is for that meal to be prepared by you. That way you actually know what has gone into it, and how to adjust it in the future if it's not doing you good. If the problem, however, is related to first starting out with OMAD, you can try adding IN MODERATION, bulletproof coffee and MCT Oil (instead of carby foods), getting enough sleep, and giving your body enough rest for a few days until it becomes fully fat-adapted 3- You're Starting To Gain Weight Or Plateau When you're eating more calories than your body is burning, you will gain weight. Whether that weight is fat or muscle depends on your active state and the macros you're overeating. On the other side, if you're eating close enough calories to what your body needs on a daily basis, chances are you will notice a plateau. Pro Tip: Decide the results you want to see, and plan your caloric intake and your macros accordingly. Go to the 9th item on this list to learn about how these calorie-related numbers change once you start doing OMAD, and how to change yours accordingly. 4- You've Upped Your Caffeine Intake This is another sign and result of overeating. As I've already explained, overeating on OMAD can lead to feeling tired and sleepy the rest of the day and even during your fast the following day. This will make you more likely to want and drink more coffee to get your energy back. Drinking more coffee for more than a few days usually leads to that new amount of caffeine you're taking in to become the new level below which your body won't function as well. Which forces you to stay at that high level of caffeine intake. Moreover, when you're more stressed and need even more energy, you might go even beyond that level. This is not something you want to get yourself into. Believe me, I've been there. Pro Tip: Don't get seduced to make coffee your new energy source. Soon enough, fat is going to be that source, and you will feel amazing. Meanwhile, try to get enough sleep and accept the fact that you might not be as productive in this fat-adaptation period as you normally were. However, a little ways down the road, you will be even better. Drinking one cup of bulletproof coffee instead of two cups of black coffee can be a great thing to do. But don't overdo it because as you can see from the next item on this list, it can lead to unpleasant results. 5- You're Drinking Too Much Bulletproof Coffee When people start diets like Keto and/or intermittent fasting, I advise adding Bulletproof coffee to their fasting window to help make the diet easier on them and get them fat-adapted sooner without that heavy hunger and the Keto Flu. However, in many instances, people have taken my advice to the extreme. And they come back and say, "Well, you told me it is OK." That's why I'm now adding "in moderation" whenever I speak about Bulletproof coffee/ MCT Oil / Coconut Oil, which I had thought went without saying. I always try to give numbers when I'm talking to a person in specific, but it's hard to do that here in an article, because you might be a 90 lbs. woman, a 400 lbs. man or anywhere in between. And my advice will be quite different depending on that, as well as other factors. Tip: Realize here that this is going to lead to less satisfying weight-loss results because you're giving your body a lot of ketone bodies and making it less likely for it to tap into your own body fat for energy. If you're satisfied because BPC is making it easier for you to commit, then great. If you find that it's starting to hold your progress back, cut back on it This, as well as the next one, is one of those items on this list that are reasons for overeating that turn into consequences and results when we keep doing them to curb our hunger throughout the day. 6- You're Eating Too Much MCT Oil/Coconut Oil During Your Fast This is a lot similar to bulletproof coffee. You can't expect to give your body all the ketones it needs for energy, and still be able to lose weight. It doesn't work that way. However, if the extra calories are only coming from MCT oil / coconut oil, there are fewer chances for weight gain than if they were coming from high glycemic index carbs. 7- You're Consuming Too Much Fat In Your Meal Overeating is in many cases due to overeating fat because it's the biggest macro in calories. While eating 1g of carbs or protein equals 4 calories, 1g of fat is 9 calories. That's more than twice as much. Which makes it a lot easier for you to overeat fat if you're not paying attention. In the cases of those with insulin senstivity, it's usually eaiser for them to overeat carbs and sugars rather than fat. The previous two items on this list were about eating a lot of fat throughout your fasting window, but this one is about eating too much fat on the meal itself. This is actually something I advise people to do when they're having a hard time committing to OMAD. It makes it easier to do OMAD if you're helping your body get fat-adapted by giving it some more fat in the beginning. However, if you've been doing it for a while and want some results you gotta be on a caloric deficiency. Pro Tip: You can't have your diet be super easy and super-efficient at the same time. It's not realistic. You have to find your sweet spot between the two. A point between the two extremes that you can commit to and that can help you get the results you want at the pace that you prefer. There is a sacrifice that you have to make. And depending on that, you can decide how much fat you should be adding to your meal. 8- You're Always Sleepy After The Meal This is another sign of overeating during the meal. This one, however, is usually a sign of overeating carbs. People with insulin sensitivity tend to eat more high glycemic index carbs and sugars which causes their blood sugar level to skyrocket and then plummet, leaving them hungry, tired, and sleepy. Pro Tip: At first, you're gonna feel like you always need carbs and super-sweet desserts, especially if you were used to eating these kinds of foods on a daily basis, learn to fight that urge. If you must, go for low glycemic index carbs, like potato, rice, and oatmeal. They'll keep you full for longer. You can add sweeteners like stevia, which will have little to no negative effects on your blood insulin, and still satisfy your sweet tooth. 9- You Haven't Recalculated Your New Caloric Needs When you're doing intermittent fasting, you tend to need fewer calories than usual, even if you're not doing it for weight loss, you can still eat less and be at a plateau. This is true if you're doing any pattern of intermittent fasting, from 16:8 to OMAD. The longer your fasting window is, the fewer calories you need throughout the day. This is because your body is recycling nutrients and reusing them, making you need less food overall. Pro Tip: That's why it's important to know your new caloric needs. For example, if you needed 2500 calories a day before, and so you decide to eat 2200 calories on OMAD. That might not cut it. Because your new caloric needs are maybe even less than that. Test for yourself. Eat healthily and mindfully and you gradually find that spot where you need to be to get the desired results. 10- You're Getting GERD For those unfamiliar with the term, it stands for gastroesophageal reflux disease. Which basically is food coming back from your stomach toward your esophagus, resulting in a burning pain in your chest. This is a result of two overeating results: 1) overeating during the meal, and, 2) feeling tired and sleepy after and wanting to lie down. Lying down on a full stomach is more likely to cause food to come back to the esophagus and cause you pain. Pro Tip: If you're tired and feel like you must lie down, use multiple pillows under your head to help keep your esophagus at a higher position than your stomach. If you can, it's preferred to avoid lying down up to an hour after the meal. References: Kim, I., & Lemasters, J. J. (2011, February). Mitochondrial degradation by autophagy (mitophagy) in GFP-LC3 transgenic hepatocytes during nutrient deprivation. American journal of physiology. Cell physiology. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21106691.Zhu, Y., Yan, Y., Gius, D. R., & Vassilopoulos, A. (2013, November). Metabolic regulation of Sirtuins upon fasting and the implication for cancer. Current opinion in oncology. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24048020.Johnstone, A. (2015, May). Fasting for weight loss: an effective strategy or latest dieting trend? International journal of obesity (2005). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25540982.Barnosky, A. R., Hoddy, K. K., Unterman, T. G., & Varady, K. A. (2014, June 12). Intermittent fasting vs daily calorie restriction for type 2 diabetes prevention: a review of human findings. Translational Research. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S193152441400200X.Mattson, M. P. (2005). Energy intake, meal frequency, and health: a neurobiological perspective. Annual review of nutrition. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16011467.Nair, K. S., Woolf, P. D., Welle, S. L., & Matthews, D. E. (1987, October). Leucine, glucose, and energy metabolism after 3 days of fasting in healthy human subjects. The American journal of clinical nutrition. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3661473.Stote, K. S., Baer, D. J., Spears, K., Paul, D. R., Harris, G. K., Rumpler, W. V., Strycula, P., Najjar, S. S., Ferrucci, L., Ingram, D. K., Longo, D. L., & Mattson, M. P. (2007, April). A controlled trial of reduced meal frequency without caloric restriction in healthy, normal-weight, middle-aged adults. The American journal of clinical nutrition. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2645638/.Arnason, T. G., Bowen, M. W., & Mansell, K. D. (2017, April 15). Effects of intermittent fasting on health markers in those with type 2 diabetes: A pilot study. World journal of diabetes. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5394735/.Brandhorst, S., Choi, I. Y., Wei, M., Cheng, C. W., Sedrakyan, S., Navarrete, G., Dubeau, L., Yap, L. P., Park, R., Vinciguerra, M., Di Biase, S., Mirzaei, H., Mirisola, M. G., Childress, P., Ji, L., Groshen, S., Penna, F., Odetti, P., Perin, L., … Longo, V. D. (2015, July 7). A Periodic Diet that Mimics Fasting Promotes Multi-System Regeneration, Enhanced Cognitive Performance, and Healthspan. Cell metabolism. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4509734/.Finnell, J. S., Saul, B. C., Goldhamer, A. C., & Myers, T. R. (2018, February 20). Is fasting safe? A chart review of adverse events during medically supervised, water-only fasting. BMC complementary and alternative medicine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5819235/.Kahleová H;Lloren JI;Mashchak A;Hill M;Fraser G; (n.d.). [Frequency and timing of meals and changes in body mass index: Analysis of the data from the Adventist Health Study-2]. Vnitrni lekarstvi. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27921420/.