Source
r/intermittentfasting•
internetlad

Nearing one month on OMAD and stalling out. Seeking advice/support/similar experiences.

Seeking Advice

OMAD (1500 CAL/Day) / M / 5' 11" / SW: 224 / CW 208 / GW 165 /

Let me start by saying, if this turns into a story, bear with me. I'll try to add a TLDR to it because normally my brain gets away from me and I just flood the chat. That said, if you want to know about my journey so far here it is.

Backstory:

Went through a breakup (unrelated to weight/body image) over the holiday period. Went through a bit of a mental shift after that regarding building myself up.

Started on Noom early January (Around the 10th I believe) and they suggested a 1560 calorie budget. I thought it was going to starve me out but as I did it I realized it was very manageable. Didn't really care for their "psychology" and it was too expensive so I started seeking options. On the Daily Stoic podcast I heard that Gen. Stanley McChrystal does OMAD and I got interested. Checked it out, thought "This is for me" and went for it.

TL;DR: Wanting to improve my weight and self control, OMAD sounds good.

Progress:

From the 15th or so, I've been doing OMAD on a 1500 calorie budget, tracking all food with myfitnesspal. I got a fitness band and am tracking my steps. Trying to fit in 10k steps per day, honestly usually it's closer to 7000 but I'm working my way up. Trying, at least. It's better than not.

Got an exercise bike, only done a couple of sessions on it, it's been sporadic at best. Did it one day when it was too cold to walk. Kind of hate it to be honest, but then again I don't really care for any form of working out for it's own sake. I'll do it, it's just kind of awful.

As expected, I started to shed weight weight quickly and went down from 224 to 216 in the first week. From there, though, It became much more even and I went down to about 213 by the end of the second week. (ending Jan 27th) Third week I dropped more, currently hovering around 208-207 but looking at my graph it's obvious that it's becoming stuck. I've been at this weight for almost the last week with no dip below 207.

TL;DR dropped 16 lbs over 3 weeks on OMAD at 1500 calories per day, but stalled out for the last week at 208, which leads me to my last question. . .

What Next?:

So, fellow IFers. What now? Is this a normal progression story? Should I be concerned about this plateau? Am I missing something obvious? I've heard of people mixing in 48 hour fasts (which, as I understand, is basically skip a day) and people who do OMAD only for a few weeks at a time, then go back to a regular 3 meals a day schedule for a week to keep their body guessing.

I have to admit, I was really gung-ho about it for the first few weeks but since the needle on the scale started to stick it's been harder and harder to justify starving for most all the day then eating to the point of sickness as quick as possible. Sure, "I COULD keep going, but if there's no progress, then why would I choose to do that other than for it's own sake?" is the thought that runs through my head. I love OMAD as it keeps me away from snacking, which always killed my diets before this. "Not eating time, zero calories" is such a dummy simple rule that keeps me away from chips, sodas, all the bad stuff.

What are your experiences? What are your suggestions? Any words of support? I'm still a long ways away from my GW of 165. In my adult life I've never been lower than 180 so it seems like an insane goal to go that low but that's what's suggested as "healthy" based on my height and age, so I said fuck it, let's go.

My body seemed to be comfortable around the 200-205 mark for a long time and just in the past couple of years with a more sedientary life during the pandemic did I shoot up to 225. It's the heaviest I can ever remember being and honestly a bit of a wake up call that I need to change my habits and my life for the better to become a stronger, more resilient person.

TL;DR: Should I be plateauing after 3ish weeks? Should I mix up my OMAD somehow to avoid this? Any thoughts, words of wisdom, encouragement, advice?

Conclusion:

Thanks so much for reading and sharing this time with me. I'm looking forward to spending much more time with you all on this board in the future.

Posted Feb 7, 2022, 4:01 PM UTC

926
JCL68•

Awesome post and awesome story. IMO you need yo keep doing exactly what you are. It will come again. Short term stall. Eye on the end game. Keep going man

4
internetladOP•

Thank you for the support! I'm considering planning a one-month celebratory meal, maybe do surf and turf or something with a steak. Still stick to the kcal limits but just something to change it up as a reward to myself. Put it a week out as something to look forward to instead of just an every day "did the scale move? Do I get my motivation today?".

Hopefully by then I'll be through this hump. If not, I think I'm going to do a 48 hour fast to try to kick things back into gear. I'm still very much learning about all this so it's good to hear that this is, hopefully, nothing to worry about and more progress will come soon.

1
Ok-Alarm-5476•

I threw in some 72 hr and 48 hr fasts, it worked to get through the plateaus. Keep in mind different things work for different people 🙂

3
internetladOP•

I've considered that! Yeah, I agree with the "different strokes" mentality. I think part of why this is so disheartening for me is because I always had a "comfortable" weight around 200 so I expected to get there quick. I've NEVER done a calorie restriction to 1500 so I expected fast progress (though I know that's one of the pitfalls of this that can lead to. . . well. . . exactly the situation I'm in with being disappointed with the lack of results)

All that said, I'm hoping to stick with it and keep moving forward. I like the holistic experience of OMAD. I feel like it fits my life very well.

1
Momentary_Horizon•

Cut carbs and don't count calories. Eat sustaining foods like meat and eggs, and make sure you are pleasantly full. If you feel like you're starving then you have to change something. I lost 180 pounds on omad. 350 to 170 and sustained for 5 years. Good luck.

3
internetladOP•

I try to work in about 6oz of spinach per meal as a simple salad. I'll work some other stuff on top. couple of eggs are always a good bet.

I think the only foods I'm eating that have carbs are a meal replacement drink I bring in (ensure usually), as well as occasionally doing an apple or banana.

I haven't been nearly as hungry as I would have expected. Mint teas help throughout the day.

I really have been feeling bloated after meals, but that may come from eating too fast as I try to fit it into an hour.

as an example here's what I had for my meal last night

2 cups lentil chili (made out of 1 large chicken breast, 16 oz lentils, shredded carrots, diced tomatoes & tomato paste, red bell peppers, jalapenos. Spices salt/pepper/cumin/italian herbs. I think that's all that was in there.)

2 boiled eggs 3 oz shrimp 2 tbsp cocktail sauce 2 kiwis 1 honeycrisp apple

For the salad 6 oz spinach 2 tomatoes 1 green bell pepper 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

To drink 1 can v8 original 1 cup whole milk 1 packet carnation instant breakfast

I'm sure there's some carbs I could cut, likely in the fruit and of course the instant breakfast. I worked the meal replacements just to bolster nutrition as it was relatively low calorie and rounded out all the vitamins and stuff. Not the best solution, I'm sure, but I'm still learning.

Anyways, all of that in an hour honestly left me stuffed. It was fine for the first few weeks but I'm wondering if my stomach is getting used to eating less (or at least less frequently) because I didn't have issues eating this much to begin with. Now it leaves me feeling bloated. I'll try just slowing down. I don't think there's really any evidence that 23:1 is any better than 20:4 so I might just go with a loose/dirty OMAD and see what comes.

Any thoughts on that?

1
logicalhummingbird•

hahah i am a woman and i’ve been doing IF since Jan 11. a mix of 16:8 but after the first few weeks it’s mostly been 21:3 and i’ve only lost 6lbs. you’re doing fine.

2
internetladOP•

Honestly I expect that probably 10 lbs or so of my total weight loss has been water weight (I had HORRIBLE habits and zero self control around food going into this), so that might be more comparable than you think!

It's not all about weight loss, either. I've been looking into stoicism and changing my mindset and OMAD fits well with that. Let the world send what it may, I'm going to be strong enough to weather the storm and appreciate that it happened to me and not someone else.

That's the goal anyways haha. Day by day is filled with challenges both from within and without. Like Red Green says, we're all in this together! Just sharing experiences with others has already made this so much more encouraging than staring at the scale as my only reward.

Hopefully we can share this journey and toast our roadmap moments as we reach them!

1
privacy2112•

Give it time. I wouldn’t even consider it a plateau until the scale hasn’t moved for a month. Weight can vary up and down by several pounds just due to fluctuations in water weight, and those can happen for any reason or no reason at all. The scale is a very, very noisy signal. You can’t reliably see trends on a shorter timescale than a month.

2
internetladOP•

Yeah. I guess I just got used to seeing those initial pounds come off as a lot of motivation. I knew it wouldn't last, honestly. It's just having to shift and find a new "reward" than looking at the scale and seeing it go (mostly) down every morning or couple of days.

1
[deleted]•

Ultimately it is calories in vs calories out so you either need to eat less when you break the fast, or fast longer.

1
internetladOP•

That was my understanding for a long time as well. More research recently suggests that going below 1500 calories a day "crashes" one's body's fat burning as it tries to hold onto it, so I don't know for sure. There's a lot of conflicting information and I'm still very much a neophyte and not sure what to trust.

It seemed like simple CICO was an easy rule to follow, but of course it has to be more complex than that because doing the same thin for almost a month has given me a graph that has varied wildly. At it's base I think CICO is reliable, but I do think there's more to the story as well.

1
[deleted]•

but I do think there's more to the story as well.

Certainly! Fat cells are mostly water, and its no big deal for the body to keep the cells full of water even after using the energy.

There is lots of interplay, I'd say if stuck for a month and sure you are under your needs for calories, then try a nice big cheat meal with lots of salt and fat.

For whatever reason it helps me let go of water weight.

1
tristan-rupert-neve•

stay the course for at least 2-3 more weeks. 16lbs over 3 weeks likely includes 8-10 pounds of water, which you've probably partially gained back (and you shouldnt worry or care about that). even if you lost 10 pounds of water weight you would still be losing 2 pounds per week, which is on the high end of what is recommended. So keep at it, the scale will likely start moving again soon, but hopefully only in the 1-2 pound a week average range. look at the scale over multiple week averages ' trends more than individual numbers and you wont drive yourself crazy. If the scale hasnt moved in 3 weeks, consider adding a longer fast 1-2 times per week.

1
internetladOP•

Yeah, I get that. I think it's just a bit of war weariness in sticking with OMAD and a low calorie diet. Missing some of the foods I used to eat, mostly junk food which I'm not too upset about being gone. Missing being able to drink a lot. I used to drink fairly heavily but that just doesn't fit in with a low calorie diet. It's just a big life change and I need to get past this hump.

1
tristan-rupert-neve•

from what you're saying I would recommend slowing down. it's a marathon not a sprint. The slower you lose weight, the better your body can manage loose skin, and the more intact you can keep your muscles. Most bodybuilders view 1 pound a week as the ideal for cutting down with minimal muscle loss.

If you burn out and quit, or even if you hit your goal and quit, all the weight will eventually come back. If you're not excited to sustain what you're doing indefinitely, you should modify what you're doing to make that more palatable. Maybe you wont hit as low of a weight, but it will be far more likely to be permanent.

1
internetladOP•

I agree, it's a real concern, and part of the reason I'm reaching out. The potential burnout is real. I don't intend to quit, but nobody ever really does. I've tried to stick with workouts and meal plans before and I usually make it 2-3 months before I stop. The thing about this is that with this is that not going to the gym is an inactivity. Eating against the rules is an activity. I think I can hold myself to the rules of OMAD, or at least a dirty OMAD like 20:4.

I also recognize that it's a long term thing. I don't intend to stop when I hit my weight goal. Maybe I'll modify my diet or use what I've learned to change things up, but I don't really want to go back to the place where I was. At least, I don't have that intent at the moment.

For me, at least, I view sub-200 as "comfortable". 165 is "ideal". Maybe the frustration comes from expecting to see a number without a leading 2 on the scale. 200 was where my body seemed to sit for many years. It's only been in the last year or so that I crept up to 225 due to bad habits. I think I have a disappointment with myself that I allowed that to happen and I'm trying to wash it away. If that makes sense.

Anyways, goals and weight aside, you're right. I should take more pride in myself that I've actually done what, to me, seemed impossible even a month ago. When I read that I should be intaking only ~1500 calories a day I thought "That's impossible, I couldn't live like that." Yet, here I am. Doing what I thought was impossible. Maybe I need to just take a breath and view my success through those terms as well.

I appreciate the framing, it's a good place to shift my viewpoint and mentality to.

1
tristan-rupert-neve•

hell yeah. I promise you will often be frustrated with slow weight-loss if you dont do an extreme low cal diet, but if you are looking 1-2 years out and focused on sustainability, its easier to think about why the long term matters more than the short-term. I've majorly upped my lifting recently (I eat 2000-2500 on non-fast days, nothing on my 2 x 36 hour fast days) and that has dramatically cut my monthly weight loss. I went from 6-8 pounds a month down to maybe 2 or so over the last 3.5 months, but my strength is up. It is hard to lose that extra boost you get from seeing the scale move and I have done much second guessing, but Ive also stuck with it and I know what Im doing will give me results I want over time and is also sustainable. maybe in another few months I'll reconsider if Im not happy with the results, but for now Im down almost 100 pounds and sticking with it indefinitely.

1
jasonpjets•

Not sure if this is the tip/suggestion you want to hear, but when i was at a plateau i incorporated keto into OMAD and was dropping weight like đź’©.

1
internetladOP•

Your comment is pretty similar to another user higher up so i'm just gonna copypasta my response to them because I don't feel like retyping it.

I try to work in about 6oz of spinach per meal as a simple salad. I'll work some other stuff on top. couple of eggs are always a good bet.

I think the only foods I'm eating that have carbs are a meal replacement drink I bring in (ensure usually), as well as occasionally doing an apple or banana.

I haven't been nearly as hungry as I would have expected. Mint teas help throughout the day.

I really have been feeling bloated after meals, but that may come from eating too fast as I try to fit it into an hour.

as an example here's what I had for my meal last night

2 cups lentil chili (made out of 1 large chicken breast, 16 oz lentils, shredded carrots, diced tomatoes & tomato paste, red bell peppers, jalapenos. Spices salt/pepper/cumin/italian herbs. I think that's all that was in there.)

2 boiled eggs 3 oz shrimp 2 tbsp cocktail sauce 2 kiwis 1 honeycrisp apple

For the salad 6 oz spinach 2 tomatoes 1 green bell pepper 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

To drink 1 can v8 original 1 cup whole milk 1 packet carnation instant breakfast

I'm sure there's some carbs I could cut, likely in the fruit and of course the instant breakfast. I worked the meal replacements just to bolster nutrition as it was relatively low calorie and rounded out all the vitamins and stuff. Not the best solution, I'm sure, but I'm still learning.

Anyways, all of that in an hour honestly left me stuffed. It was fine for the first few weeks but I'm wondering if my stomach is getting used to eating less (or at least less frequently) because I didn't have issues eating this much to begin with. Now it leaves me feeling bloated. I'll try just slowing down. I don't think there's really any evidence that 23:1 is any better than 20:4 so I might just go with a loose/dirty OMAD and see what comes.

Any thoughts on that?

1
Velocitydogman•

I was around your starting stats and I find that an extended fast of 36-48 hours usually pushes me past the plateau. To mirror what others have said, as long as the math adds up to you losing weight, all it takes is time.

1
internetladOP•

I've considered a 48 hour fast. Maybe I'll work that in if I don't see any progress by the end of my diet month (on the 12th). Have a little celebratory steak or something then skip a day.

1
Velocitydogman•

Yeah definitely try it out and see if it works for you. I feel that with IF, everyone is different and you have to find the IF style that works for you and your lifestyle.

Enjoy the steak man! Best of luck on your journey!

1
internetladOP•

Thanks! I'm actually feeling a lot more inspired just because of the positive comments from everyone in this thread.

I really do appreciate it! Y'all are great.

1
aswanganation•

as someone that has fluctuated in weight over the years its pretty normal to see 10-20lbs come off pretty quick then hit somewhat of a plateau…

most of your initial weight loss is water…the pounds that follow is the real deal…just stick with it.

maybe weight youself a little less…dont obsess over the scale…often time the scale isnt reading what you want but maybe your clothes are baggier etc…

1
internetladOP•

Yeah, I think I was just kind of pegging out because I hit my first plateau. Since then my weigh has continued to come off just by sticking to my OMAD and 1500 kcal/day. I've started to work in a biweekly fast because my saturday evenings are busy anyways and it's actually more convenient for me to just not eat. My most recent weigh in was at 188 so the progress is coming, albeit slower. Flip side of the coin is that after 2 months it really did just become more of a "lifestyle" mindset and I'm thinking about it and the progress less and just letting it happen without worrying too much.

As far as the actual data tracking, I'm noticing that after my 48 hour fasts my weigh drops like a rock (my latest fast was a gap of 3-4 lbs between daily weigh ins), but then hovers a couple pounds above my fasted weigh-in while slowly trending down over the week. Now that I know what to expect I see it less as a "plateau" and more as a "correction" of a weight that wasn't accurately high due to my 48 hour fast.

Thanks for the continued support. I'm enjoying being part of this community!

1