caroveg's journal

Hi, I'm on day 3 of omad. I'm doing a vegetarian omad, mostly vegan actually, but I may occasionally have cheese. So far I am really liking this, for so many reasons:

~ I have weight to lose so I feel like I'm doing something to help
~ it's easier than I thought it would be
~ it saves me money and wasted food (I'll need to buy a lot less food now since there will only be 7 meals a week. I really like that)
~ I like the simplicity of it.
~ it allows me to have rich meals that I enjoy once in a while
~ unlike other programs I've tried I feel like I can really make a go of this and make it happen long term


Day 1 was a breeze. I did have some cough drops and almond milk with my coffee. I'm not too worried about that. Then I had Habit Burger veggie burger and sweet potato fries, with Dr. Pepper. I didn't even eat the whole thing, I got full too fast.

Day 2 was much harder. I had read that you need to make sure you get enough calories. During the fast my tummy hurt. Well, not hurt. Hunger pangs, tightness and hunger. But I stuck through (I eat dinner for my omad). At dinner I made a bunch of food - a big bowl of noodles with broccoli and a big plate of rice, chickpeas, avocado, and sliced banana with lime juice and garlic salt. It was so good but I couldn't finish it all. Usually I can eat a lot in a day so I was surprised. I ate too much I think, because my belly hurt from being stuffed. So Day 2 wasn't the best. My poor belly suffered through hunger pangs for most of the day and then too full at the end of the day. But I still thought omad can work and I just need to not overeat and not worry so much.

So now we come to Day 3. My belly felt full for a good portion of the day and only now (it's about 5pm) do I finally have a few hunger pangs. They are only slight and I plan to eat in an hour and overall I think omad is still great because I do feel good and I do like eating when I have real hunger pangs. (Before omad I would eat so often out of boredom or habit, not really from real hunger.)

So far Day 1 and Day 3 make me think omad can work. If I get bad hunger pangs again like from Day 2, I'll have some tea with sweetener in it (non sugar). If I really have to cave I'll have some fruit. I think overall weekly calorie deficit is what I'm going after. I can also try gum (sugarless) and distracting myself...which is sometimes easier said than done.

So there has it. My first few days on omad. I'm still pretty happy with this way of eating.

For my meal tonight I'm going to one of my favorite Thai restaurants. I'm going to order an appetizer and also a meal and ask they bring them at the same time. I don't want to get full on the appetizer first and then have no room for the entree.

I weigh 216 lbs and am 5'7" about. So I have a lot of weight to lose. I'm looking forward to my progress and plan to keep this up. I am down 4 pounds already from my high of 220 lbs. That's partly because I am also trying to run a 5k soon and am in training for it.

My lifestyle is very sedentary during the week. I try to get some exercise by walking our office dog and sometimes hit the gym where I train for the 5k using couch to 5k app, or do some walking or light jogging. I can't jog for very long without getting winded. I'm hoping losing weight will help my fitness level.

So just wanted to say hi and start my journal. I plan to make this a lifestyle if it works out, or maybe after I lost the weight, get to having just 2 meals a day (like a small bowl of cereal or something). Before omad I didn't have the discipline so I'll see. I like the idea of following my natural urges and I know myself, omad will only work if I'm enjoying it. If I get hangry or suffer through more days like Day 2, then it's not going to happen sadly. That's why I'll plan to keep doing omad but I have the caveat now that I can go to 2 meals if I need to. I am doing Dr. McDougall's plant based program for the most part too, except occasional cheese and oil. So I don't fit in anyone's box let's say but I'm finding omad is working for me now and I think it will keep working for me if I work it. Before I did omad I didn't have the discipline to stick with McDougall but omad has given me that discipline to stop my snacking on junk food and so on.

I'm really looking forward to dinner. Today was so easy. Maybe because I ate so much last night. I think for the most part omad will be easy for me to do, but I will see as time goes by.

Bye for now.
 
Day 4. Today I'm going to a Superbowl party where I will eat my one meal a day. I kinda feel today is a waste because I will be munching on munchies and since everyone else will be having pulled pork sandwiches I have only the munchies to eat. So I will probably bring a Subway sandwich for myself. I get the veggie patty with chipotle sauce, spinach, cucumber, and tomato. It's so yummy. So that will probably be my one meal for today, although, like I said, I will be munching also. Hopefully the timing will work out where I'll eat at the same time as my friends.

Hunger pang wise I am doing okay. I have slight pangs of hunger but nothing that really tells me I need to eat NOW. I also will be eating a little earlier than my usual eating time, probably between 3pm - 4pm or some time around that.

I went to Whole Foods today to try to find Millie's sipping broth but they didn't have it. I've already ordered some online though. I didn't buy anything other than some tiny muffins to share at the party today. I have broth at home, it's just the sipping broth I really wanted to try. Looks like I'll have to wait for it.

I've also thought about getting mineral water but haven't done that yet. I may today though.

Hope everyone's omad is successful! Happy Superbowl Sunday for those in the US.
 
Welcome to the OMAD diet forum, @caroveg ! It sounds like you are off to a good start, and I think that you will find that OMAD can fit almost any kind of lifestyle, because it IS a lifestyle and not just a diet where you are regimented in what you eat each day.
Some days will work for one meal better than others do, and when it is a celebration, then you can either choose to make that your meal, or just not worry about OMAD for that day , as opposed to a diet, where if you don’t “eat right” then you have “fallen off the diet”, and at that point was when I usually just quit.
With OMAD, I look at it as an eating style that will work for the rest of my life, even if some days I eat more than one meal, as long as I am planning and choosing what I do, and not just bingeing on food.
 
Thanks for visiting Happyflowerlady, and the warm welcome. I am seeing this is a lifestyle. I like that I can change up when I'm eating to suit what comes up in my life.

Superbowl Sunday I ate so much. I probably extended the 1 hour over 2 hours. Now I'm back to my regular schedule. The one benefit of overeating yesterday: I'll probably be hardly hungry at all today, so that's good.

I ordered broth which is supposed to come today or tomorrow. I also bought mineral water. My plan for today is green tea and mineral water. I will probably go to a restaurant tonight but I'm not sure which one. I'm babysitting so it'll depend on which one the child wants to go to. Maybe I'll have pizza. :p Then back to healthy eating tomorrow or the next time I'm back home in my place.

Incidentally, my cold is much better. I hope today is the last day for it.
 
Day 6. Last night I had pizza, pizza, and more pizza. Then I had some junk food, just to top it off. Definitely not what I want to repeat everyday, but it worked out schedule-wise because I was watching a kid for a friend. Not sure what my schedule is tonight, I'll find out later today where I'll be, so I'm either going back to something healthy or else another junk food night. I am having coffee with almond milk creamer right now. 25 calories for a tablespoon, so I'm probably almost at my 50 calorie limit. However I had to get up extra early and really could use the caffeine and I hate it black, especially on an empty stomach. I think little cheats like this also make handling the hunger pangs easier. Oh, and the broth arrived. I'll try it today for "lunch" if I get to the point where I'm really dealing with hunger pangs, just to tide me over. Not sure it will be needed. What's weird is that yesterday I had hunger pangs at lunch time, ignored them, and they went away so that an hour or two before my meal I was fine, not starving or anything. Our bodies are weird. Anyway, I'm glad I had the sipping broth if I really need it. I also have mineral water. So far omad continues to work for me. The only thing I notice today is I'm extra sleepy and tired, but that's probably from having to get up super early.

Enjoy your one meal :)
 
I have noticed that hunger pangs seem to come and go also, and it helps a lot when I distract myself from thinking about food. Sometimes when I am swimming, I am thinking about what I want for my meal when we get back home, and then I notice my tummy is growling.
Once I start thinking about something else besides food, then the hunger and tummy-growling disappears, and I am fine again.
The broth is great for those cold days when I want something hot and that makes me think I have had real food. Mostly, I use the powdered Knorr’s boullion broth, because that is easy to make.
 
Thanks for the idea. I am using sipping broth that comes in tea bags. It's good because it's a bit incognito in my office, and also easy to make. I am still researching about this way of eating so maybe I will change up how I do things in the future. I'd just like it to work. The hunger pangs aren't that bag today, which is good. The broth and coffee with creamer really helped.

I still do not know what or when my one meal today will be. I'd really like to have it be something healthy but I may be stuck with leftovers from yesterday. We shall see.
 
Well friends, tonight I made a decision that I think is best for me. I think I will add in another meal and go for 2 meals a day. I'll eat based on my hunger pangs basically. I'll trust my stomach and treat it like a baby that needs to be fed and loved, nourished with healthy food so it can do its only job of keeping me alive. I don't want to experience those hunger pains and pangs to the extent I've had these past few days. It's like my body has been screaming at me to eat something. My job is to feed my body healthy food which I intend to do. Basically turning my immense will which I used to deny my stomach food to instead choose healthier food than I have been for my stomach. Omad felt right intellectually, but it never felt right at the literal gut level, especially when the hunger pangs got so bad. So I don't think I'll be doing omad any more because in trying it I've found it's not right for me. I feel I know a healthier, happier way to eat, Dr. McDougall's program, and I'll work on sticking to that and making yummy food to satisfy my hunger pangs -- as they happen, instead of waiting and waiting and waiting. Anyway, good luck to you all.
 
I decided to give fasting with omad another try. I'm back again. I figured I could just pass up the little meal I had since I was still hungry anyways (I was trying to establish a habit of 2 meals a day, skipping breakfast). I just don't know what to do about my stomach when the pains get too much, or if I feel light headed. Maybe I went too long before eating but my tummy actually felt in pain. The reason I want to try omad again is so I can eat the foods I like and still lose weight. I have been fasting all day, and just had coffee and tea to drink. For some reason today isn't so bad. I will be having Chinese tonight at my friend's house. Guess I am going by feel - experimenting with this but it does take commitment. I have to distract myself from the hunger and that works.
 
I ate breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner today. So I did very badly omad. I was stressed learning coding and felt I needed breakfast to get on with the lesson. The food did help but I wish I toughened it out. Oh well. Tomorrow I'll try again and just commit to it. I have some great dinners ready...Buddha bowls, my favorite meal, and soy yogurt. Anyway. Onward to tomorrow.
 
I did another whole day of omad. I had tea and broth for lunch and a rice bowl with veggies and beans for dinner. It was so good. Oh, also some yogurt. I'm full. I really distracted myself today (well, work did) and that helped with my hunger pangs, but they were only slight anyhow. So it was a successful omad day.
 

Jimmy Swartz

Administrator
Staff member
@caroveg love reading your journal updates! Keep striving towards your goals even if you have some setback days. You are doing great by documenting your journey. This will only help you in achieving all your long term goals.
 
Thank you for visiting and your support. I think it does help to journal so I can see how I'm doing and find out when and why I slip up. I'm fasting again today and having coffee, green tea, and broth. I do allow almond creamer in my coffee because the calories are low and I'm going by overall lower calories each week, and the coffee with creamer seems to settle my stomach. I'm also trying to up my exercise but I've realized that it's hard to find time to exercise. I'll try getting up early tomorrow but hopefully still get enough sleep. When I'm tired doing omad is much harder for me. Happy fasting everyone.
 
Well, I forgot to use the app again. My dinner dragged on as I nibbled on this and on that. I had a Buddha bowl to start which was very satisfying, and then some crunchy snacks and soy yogurt. All very yummy.

Today I had coffee with almond milk creamer and water so far. I'll probably have broth for lunch, it seems to settle my hunger well.

For dinner I might get Chinese because I'm visiting my parents for Valentine's Day so I can't make a Buddha bowl unless I hold out even longer and wait. Not sure I can do that. I think I like my Buddha bowls more than I like take out Chinese. So we'll see. Maybe I won't have an appetite and it'll be easy to wait longer.
 
I'm using an app called Zero Calories. I'm not sure it's the best app to use (not sure what's out there) but it times from when you stop eating until when you eat and then saves it. Thanks for the reminder, by the way! I just finished eating so I hit start on the fasting app.

I ended up getting Chinese takeout which wasn't as yummy as my homemade veggie bowls. Not bad though. I ate that, some snacky foods, and some M&Ms. Whereas in the past I would save my leftovers, I've found I've been composting a lot more food with omad eating. The reason is I think I'm pickier about what I eat if I'm only eating once a day. I think the quality (except for today) of what I eat is up. For instance, in my Buddha bowls I have spinach, avocado, chickpeas, rice, Brussels sprouts, sliced banana and chopped tomatoes (with lime and lemon juice and garlic salt to season). All very yummy and healthy, and I eat a lot of the spinach. I found Meyer lemons at the dollar store so I tried them sprinkled on the spinach and Brussels sprouts. I put the lime juice on the sticky white rice. It's a very satisfying and tasty meal. Fast food (which I sadly ate a lot of before) just doesn't compare.

I have a lot of food in my kitchen now that I wonder if I will ever eat. Only the best for my tummy these days it seems. :D
 
I forgot to chat about my exercise. I haven't been that good about getting real exercise lately. My job is sedentary. I do take the office dog out for walks every day but that is sometimes my only exercise! I really don't think I need that many calories anyhow, so omad is right for me right now. That said, I do want to get some more exercise and plan to this weekend. I'd like to incorporate more exercise into my daily life but it's hard to find time. I know, I just gotta make the time. Just gotta do it.
 
I'm up early so I have time to go to the gym and get some walking in. It's pouring rain outside or I'd just take a walk/jog around the block. I'm actually really looking forward to my fast today, and having the tea, coffee, and broth that I'm getting accustomed to. Tonight I plan to have one of my Buddha Bowls. I may take a picture if I have enough patience and remember to. Today will end my first work week of eating omad. I plan to continue through the weekend, not taking any days off of omad I mean.
 
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