Step-by-Step Guide to Eating One Meal a Day (Omad) with Keto

I think we can agree that:

Combining another diet when eating one meal a day may seem challenging and confusing.

For those interested in combining the keto diet with omad, there is hope.

To help you better understand the benefits of these diets, let’s examine both and see whether or not they can be used together. The ideas behind omad and keto are often very similar and may work to help you lose weight very quickly.

Let’s also take a look at the scientific findings that support the benefits of these approaches.

 

What is a Keto Diet?

 

The keto diet is structured around tricking your body to enter what is known as ketosis.

Before discussing that, let’s discuss the two different ways that your body gets the energy it needs to make it through the day.

The most common way it gets energy is burning sugar from carbohydrates. As the body digests carbs and sugar is introduced into the body, insulin is produced in the body to help process it.

After the body has burned this sugar, it will start to lag in energy and kick in your instinct to eat.

These peaks and lulls are well-known by most people as sugar highs and crashes. They are part of the reason why so many people in the world are obese.

People often overeat or focus on foods with simple sugar to get quick energy. As a result, they eat too much and too often.

Ketosis differs from this method because it focuses on burning fat and protein to provide you with energy.

Fat is a very dense and energy-filled food that will provide you with consistent power throughout the day.

This fact is particularly true if you eat a diet filled with healthy fats and protein. However, ketosis only goes into effect if your body has next to no carbohydrates in it during the day.

 

Tricking Your Body Into Ketosis

While ketosis is a survival technique that the body enters when it has no sugar, it is very easy to trick the body into entering this phase. Keto focuses on eliminating nearly all carbohydrates in your diet and focusing just on protein and fats.

Foods that you can eat on the keto diet include:

• Grass-fed meat (beef, lamb, goat, venison)
• Fish and seafood
• Pork
• Poultry
• Eggs
• Butter, gelatin, and ghee
• Saturated fat
• Non-starchy vegetables (bok choy, spinach, Swiss chard, chives, endive, celery stalk, asparagus, cucumber)
• Avocados
• Water
• Black coffee
• Pork rinds
• Mayonnaise
• Mustard
• Pesto
• Pickles

You can also occasionally eat some root vegetables, sea vegetables, full-fat dairy, high-fat seeds, and zero-carb sweeteners.

Amazingly, you can eat as many calories as you want and you will still lose weight.

However, omad focuses on limiting your food intake to a specific eating window during the day.

 

What Is Omad?

As mentioned above, OMAD focuses all of your food into a short period of the day.

Eating one meal a day is a simple approach. 

For example, you need to make sure that you get all of your vital nutrients and minerals with a single meal.

This balancing act includes getting protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats into your diet.

The exciting thing about OMAD is that it doesn’t have a particularly rigid eating system you have to follow.

For example, you can eat however many calories you want and get those calories in whatever foods that you desire.

However, it is a good idea to limit your calories to under 1500 per day.  Any more and you may ruin the fat-burning effects of this diet.

 

Omad Similarities With Keto 

The interesting thing about OMAD is that its extreme fasting window will often trigger ketosis.

Even if you eat carbohydrates during your one meal, their beneficial sugars will burn out of your system in a matter of hours.

At that point, your body will enter ketosis and begin burning fat to provide you with the energy you need to be healthy.

As a result, Keto and OMAD have a lot more in common than you might think.

Pairing the two is an idea that many people have already considered and even implemented.

Before taking this step for yourself, it is essential to understand how it works and whether pairing OMAD with keto is the right step for your needs.

Before making any dietary changes like these, make sure to talk to your doctor first.

They can carefully adjust your diet and ensure that you don’t hurt yourself during the process.

While OMAD and keto are perfectly safe when appropriately approached, there is a chance that you may not give yourself enough food or create a nutritional imbalance without help.

 

Is It Possible to Eat One Meal Per Day With Keto?

Eating one meal a day combined with the keto diet is possible and many do it with success.

That said, combining all of your foods into one meal with keto is going to be a little more of a challenge than with other methods.

That’s because of the unique dietary demands of keto.

As mentioned before, this method limits your diet to foods that are high in protein and fat.

Instead of eating high-quality grains and fruits, you are going to focus mostly on meats, nuts, cheeses, foods with omega-3 fatty acids, and vegetables that are rich in fiber.

Your fruits will be limited to only a handful of low-sugar varieties, such as blueberries and blackberries.

This restricted diet is going to be a challenge for many people to manage.

This adjustment period is further complicated by the carb cravings you’ll experience early in keto.

While these will go away after a few days, your body will crave sugary carbohydrates because it is so used to using them to fuel your body with energy from sugar.

As a result, it is essential to take a few critical steps before going all-in by combining keto and OMAD.

I have compiled a few steps that you can take to acclimate your body.

By following this simple process, you can get your body ready for the demands of the OMAD and keto diet.

How to Start an Omad/Keto Diet

1. Start Keto Before Omad

Before you start any combination, get your body acclimated to the demands of the keto diet.

Slowly adjust your food intake over several weeks.

Every week, remove more carbohydrates from your diet and replace them with protein and fats.

Doing it in this way helps avoid constipation and cravings and prepare you for eating ketogenic foods.

 

2. Start Eating Keto/Preparing for Omad

After your body is prepared for the ketogenic diet, start preparing to eat one meal a day.

Begin eating ketogenic foods into as many meals as you feel comfortable.

Make sure to choose an omad window length that isn’t too hard for your body to handle and agrees with your lifestyle.

 

4. Switch to OMAD 

You are now ready to make the jump to an OMAD/Keto Diet.

However, you shouldn’t make this change lightly. You are going to be eating a lot of calories in a one hour time.

It may be difficult for your stomach and digestive system to adjust to this change. Even worse, there is a chance that you may be suffering from nutritional deficiencies.

That’s why it is essential to take a multi-vitamin while you are on a keto omad diet. I also suggest taking singular vitamins, such as iron, to avoid deficiencies.

Remember to eat slowly during your feeding window and to vary the types of foods you eat every day.

Consuming the same couple of meals during the week will quickly fatigue your body and make it crave a change. Varying a single food in multiple ways is easy. For example, you could bake chicken with almonds one night and then use chicken to top a giant salad the next day.

 

Typical OMAD/Keto Meal Plan

The most challenging aspect of doing omad and keto is creating a meal plan that works for you.

By the time your feeding window opens, you’re going to be very hungry and ready to eat just about anything.

However, it is important to be patient and to prepare a solid meal. Your feeding window is 4 hours and choosing one of those hours to eat.

It consists of a single plate and a single drink. Your total caloric intake should be 1,200 to 1,500 calories. All goods are welcome on this diet.

 

1. Preparation

It’s a good idea to start preparing your meal at least an hour or two before it is time to eat.

Some people will take items that help promote healthier digestion, such as fiber supplements, apple cider vinegar, and psyllium powder.

These items have no calories and won’t ruin your fast.

However, they will get your starving body ready to eat.

Stocking Your Home With Food

Before starting, it is a good idea to stock your home with the food that you’ll need for at least two weeks.

I suggest the following as a way of starting your diet on the right foot:

• Three pounds of ground beef
• Two Italian sausages
• Two cans of pre-cooked chicken
• Four full chicken breasts
• Seven slices of ham
• 16 slices of bacon
• 22 large eggs
• One container of heavy cream
• One bottle of olive oil
• One bottle of organic coconut oil
• One container of unsalted batter
• One container of sesame oil
• One bag of mozzarella cheese
• One bag of cheddar cheese
• One container of cream cheese
• One medium green pepper
• One medium onion
• One head of cauliflower
• Seven cans of spinach
• Two cans of tomato sauce
• Two small scallions

Beyond these items, you should also have some almond flour, multiple cans of coffee, a bag of pork rinds, sugar-free ketchup, soy sauce, fish sauce, and various herbs and spices you can use to flavor your food.

Feel free to add to this list or alter it depending on your personal taste.

For example, some people won’t enjoy beef and may prefer eating fish instead.

That adjustment is a perfectly acceptable way to change your omad keto diet.

 

   2. Foods to Consider

There are many healthy foods you can eat on OMAD. For example, many people eat a high level of eggs to get healthy fat and protein in their diet.

It is also a good idea to combine a variety of leafy greens, such as spinach, celery, lettuce, and beet greens into a healthy salad. Top this salad with balsamic vinegar to give it a little more taste.

You should also focus heavily on a variety of vitamin-rich vegetables, such as broccoli, asparagus, carrots, zucchini, and much more.

If you have a hard time enjoying vegetables, season them with various herbs and spices and add a dab of butter.

This flavoring will help make everything taste a little better and can even add nutritional benefits.

It is also essential to include multiple sources of protein, such as beef and chicken, and a few dairy products.

Cheese is good in small doses. Too much can clog up your digestion and fill you up too quickly. Make sure you also have various fruits to eat.

Blueberries and blackberries are among the healthiest and tastiest foods in the world.

Create a Weekly Meal Plan

You will want to create a meal plan when preparing for an omad keto diet.

A good meal plan should focus on integrating a variety of different foods into your diet.

For example, you could start your one meal a day with a big salad balanced with nuts and other types of healthy fats.

Add a few slices of green pepper and top it with a sugar-free salad dressing.

Balsamic vinaigrette is an excellent choice here because it is rich in flavor and low in carbs.

The next day’s meal could include a lot of protein and fatty foods that fill you up without weighing you down.

Chicken is an excellent choice here because it is light in texture and not as hard to digest as other meats. Make sure that you alter your diet regularly to ensure that you don’t get bored.

For example, if you eat chicken one night, try to eat beef or sausage the next.

You also need to make sure to change the way you cook foods, add new types of spices and flavors, and add side dishes that are delicious, healthy, and easy on your digestive system.

A good dietitian can really help you out with this step.

 

3. Focus on Your Meal

Even when eating your one meal for the day during your window, take the time to ingest it slowly.

A slower rate gives your body time to digest the food a little more fully.

Overeating will fill you up too quickly and make it hard to finish the meal. Slower eating also ensures that you enjoy your food more fully than if you devoured it.

Also, make sure to thoroughly chew all of your food to make it settle more efficiently in your stomach.

 

4. Decide on Your Exercise

If you are interested in pairing exercise with OMAD and keto, you need to be careful about how you approach it.

I suggest working out after you’ve been fasting for about 16-18 hours. Exercising before you eat is a smart idea because it will increase your ketosis process and burn even more fat.

It also isn’t a bad idea to pair a small protein shake with your exercise routine.

Matching a 100 calorie protein shake with your exercise won’t cause you to ruin your fast because your body will so quickly burn up these few calories. It also won’t ruin your ketosis because fiber is an okay carbohydrate in your body when on a keto diet.

There are many different types of exercises you can perform.

The kind you choose will depend on your diet goals.

If you are merely trying to lose weight, it’s not a bad idea to focus on fast-paced cardio exercises. However, you should also focus on muscle-building routines.

People on omad and keto have a lot of protein in their diet. This protein can be easily converted into extra muscle bulk.

How is Keto Beneficial With Omad?  

There are many reasons that keto is so beneficial with omad.

This fact is particularly true of OMAD.

Keto and OMAD have a unique series of benefits worth exploring.

If you are interested in trying either of these diet styles out, it is worth knowing why they work so well together and how keto can help with any intermittent fasting method.

 

1. Keto Can Make OMAD Easier

One of the most difficult parts about OMAD is the feeling of hunger most people experience when on this diet.

Feeling excessively hungry before, during, and after your feeding window is very common.

For others, it may be difficult just to get through the fasting window. However, keto helps here by making you feel fuller than you’d feel with a normal diet and avoiding sugar crashes.

As we already mentioned before, a diet rich in healthy carbohydrates makes a person dependent on a regular intake of sugar.

On OMAD, the body is more likely to suffer from a severe sugar crash a few hours after your feeding window.

This drop is likely to occur even if you eat a substantial amount of carbohydrates. That’s because the body will use that sugar quickly and leave you feeling hungry.

However, keto avoids this problem by adding fat and protein to your diet.

Once your body burns through these items, it will turn to your stores of natural body fat. As a result, it won’t need the sugars in carbohydrates to stay active and healthy.

This change dramatically decreases your urge to eat and makes getting through fasting even easier.

 

2. OMAD Improves Ketosis Speed

The main goal of keto is to kick your body into ketosis.

While spreading your food throughout the day will still cause this process to occur, it can slow its implementation speed.

That’s because your body will focus on digesting these items first and using them to supply the body with energy. As a result, ketosis on your body’s fat will occur more slowly.

However, eating all of your food in one meal will cause your body to turn to your fat reserves more quickly.

This change makes your body enter body-fat-burning ketosis more rapidly and will provide you with a boost of energy.

Even better, it will help you slim down and lose weight more quickly than eating your meals spread out through the day.

Even better, all of this protein and fat will kick your body’s immune and healing systems into overdrive.

These changes benefit you by healing your body more efficiently while you sleep and providing it with more protection against disease.

That’s why people who focus on these kinds of diets are often healthier and happier than those who still focus on carbohydrates.

 

3. They Can Clear Your Mind

We’ve all suffered from a food coma after eating way too many carbohydrates.

This state occurs when your body is weighed down digesting sugar.

While this process will eventually give your body and your mind the energy it needs, it can also cause your mind to become muddled and confused while your digestive system operates.

However, combining OMAD with keto will clear your mind and help it work more accurately.

That’s because you will never suffer from the confusion caused by too many carbohydrates.

Instead, your body will run efficiently and effectively by burning the protein and fat in your body. It will also send essential nutrients throughout your body and mind.

Psychologically, it can also be a significant benefit because it will keep you from obsessing over food throughout the day.

Rather than carefully planning your day around when you can eat and what to eat, you will get all of your food in one sitting.

While sticking to the one-hour period it takes to eat this food may be distracting, the 23 hours you spend not obsessing over food is more than worth it.

 

4. Increases Exercise Efficiency

Exercising when doing omad and keto will improve your weight loss and make you a happier and healthier person.

For example, many people will exercise a few hours before their feeding window to improve the body’s digestion and the absorption of their food.

However, others will workout after eating to burn those calories and to get the energy they need to exercise.

The Omad diet schedule also allows you to condense your eating into one sitting and avoid interrupting your routine at the worst possible moment.

That said, it is almost always a good idea to ingest a small protein drink just before your exercise.

The few calories in a homemade protein juice aren’t enough to ruin a fast.

However, the protein it adds to your body will make it easier for you to exercise efficiently. It will also avoid the kind of fatigue and muscle strain that can occur towards the end of a high-energy routine.

 

Other Ways Omad and Keto Will Benefit You

Now that you have a pretty good idea of why keto and OMAD work together so well, it is also essential to understand other great benefits.

That’s because omad and keto is often a misunderstood diet that causes a lot of misconceptions.

Many people think that it is an unhealthy dietary approach that can be harmful to a person’s body.

That’s true only if people don’t follow a reasonable schedule.

Any time you change your diet, it is essential to talk to your doctor to learn more about how to adjust to a new diet.

 

1. Decreases Insulin Levels

For people who suffer from insulin imbalances, fasting is often used as a medical treatment.

This benefit is particularly true when paired up with a keto or OMAD approach.

By limiting your intake of carbohydrates, you make insulin less necessary for your day-to-day life. As a result, you’ll have lower levels almost immediately.

Even better, lower levels of insulin can help a person burn higher levels of fat. Insulin stops the body from burning fat by converting sugar into energy.

Without insulin in the body performing this process, you will burn fat more quickly and efficiently off of your body.

Beyond this benefit, many people with diabetes use intermittent fasting as a control method for their insulin levels.

 

2. Boost of Human Growth Hormones

Omad and Keto can boost the level of human growth hormone in your body.

That’s because this hormone reacts heavily to protein and a lack of carbohydrates in your body.

An increased level of this hormone leads to a variety of incredible benefits to your health.

For example, it can burn fat more quickly, boost your muscle gain, and even help your damaged body cells heal more efficiently.

In some instances, it can also help with some types of bone loss and make your body stronger and healthier.

People who are into sports or regularly exercising are particularly fond of the latter benefit, as it can make it easier for them to work out, lose weight, and stay in shape.

However, those who are just getting into exercise can also benefit from a high level of this beneficial hormone.

 

3. Decrease Your Caloric Intake

While OMAD and other forms of keto allow you to eat a varying degree of calories, most people on this type of diet typically eat less than they would on a normal diet.

There are a few reasons for this effect.

First of all, sticking to a fasting window helps to decrease the intake of excessive calories you may have tried to ingest without the diet.

However, omad and keto make you feel fuller for a more extended period when you do eat.

That’s because your body will adjust to your new routine and tweak its hunger cycle accordingly.

Omad and Keto prove just how efficient and adaptable the body is when it needs to change.

 

4. Improved Metabolic State

While you might think a body in fasting mode would have a slower metabolic rate, that isn’t quite true. That’s because many people suffer from a misunderstanding of starvation mode.

This metabolic rate kicks in when your body believes it is starving. It slows your metabolism down to get the most out of what food you get and can cause you to gain weight.

However, starvation mode won’t activate until caloric intake has been below 1,200 calories for over a week.

In fact, intermittent fasting causes the body’s metabolism to increase because it adjusts to the new eating schedule and make sure to digest food when it is available.

And when ketosis starts during your fasting period, your metabolism will increase even more.

 

5. Improved Liver Health

One of the least discussed benefits of omad and keto is the effect it has on your liver.

Few people understand that this organ often stores a high level of glucose and fat for emergency situations.

These items are harmful to the liver, and excessive amounts can cause it serious damage over a period of several years.

However, omad and keto will burn up the fat and glucose in your liver and decrease its stores.

While your liver will still hold some small amounts of these items for emergency reasons, diminishing that level will improve liver operation and ensure it remains healthy for a more extended period.

It may not reverse liver damage, but it can help manage some liver diseases.

 

6. Improve Nutrient Absorption

Another major benefit of omad and keto is the ways it can increase your nutrient absorption.

As mentioned above, fasting can help to boost the speed of your metabolism and make it run more efficiently.

This increase in speed will break your food down more fully and provide you with a healthier dose of vitamins and minerals.

When these items are broken down more efficiently, it is easier for your blood and the tissues of your body to absorb them.

As a result, your body will be stronger and healthier.

This benefit is particularly prominent if you regularly take multi-vitamins to overcome any nutritional deficiencies caused by your diet.

Even better, increased vitamin absorption lowers your appetite by avoiding surprise cravings.

 

Potential Downsides of Omad and Keto

While we’ve already discussed the many benefits of combining omad and keto, it is also a good idea to know about its drawbacks.

Like any dietary method, it isn’t a flawless way to lose weight.

There are many potential side effects, problematic concerns, and issues that need to be discussed before it can be considered a 100 percent efficient and safe diet for your needs.

While doing omad and keto is not unsafe or dangerous for most people, it may not suit the lifestyle of many.

Adjusting to its demands may be too hard for some or may even cause some physical and emotional health concerns.

Make sure you are well prepared before you make the jump to a keto diet with an OMAD meal schedule.

 

1. It Can Complicate Eating Disorders

While omad keto or other methods are healthy when approached properly, they can cause complications for a person with a history of eating disorders.

For example, those who have experienced the negative effects of anorexia and bulimia may fall back into their problematic eating behaviors when trying out keto intermittent fasting.

Even worse, it may cause some people to develop disorders they didn’t have before trying out keto intermittent fasting.

Make sure to try this approach only if you have a positive body image and are comfortable with the way you look.

Otherwise, it is possible for somebody to get obsessed with their diet and suffer from emotional problems.

 

2. Constipation

Whenever you try out keto with OMAD, you need to take heavy doses of fiber supplements.

These supplements are necessary even if you are eating food with a lot of fiber, such as vegetables.

That’s because the unique demands of the keto diet often cause a person to suffer from severe constipation. An OMAD approach only complicates this problem.

In extreme situations, it is possible to suffer from a bowel obstruction that makes it impossible to complete a full bowel movement.

While it is possible to treat this problem with suppositories and laxatives, an extreme case may cause severe damage to a person’s bowels and even lead to death.

 

3. Worsened Thyroid Issues

People who have problems with their thyroid or adrenal glands may complicate these disorders with omad and keto.

That’s because it may cause higher levels of stress while they adjust to the change.

This higher level of stress is particularly common in people who may be suffering from eating disorders related to intermittent fasting.

When these stress levels go up, it is possible to damage the thyroid or adrenal gland.

Even if it doesn’t hurt these organs, it may cause the body to store higher levels of fat and damage your muscles.

As a result, those who try this diet should consider relaxation techniques if they otherwise suffer from high stress and thyroid issues. Otherwise, keto intermittent fasting may be too problematic for them to try.

 

4. May Worsen Caffeine Addiction

Coffee is one of the best drinks for omad and keto because it is free of calories, suppresses your appetite, and improves your energy levels.

However, people who drink too much coffee during their fasting window may cause sleeping problems, increase their levels of anxiety and depression, raise their blood sugar and insulin, and complicate keto-related constipation.

Even worse, it is possible to increase your levels of the stress hormone and cause further complications with your thyroid gland.

In some cases, people who drink coffee may also turn to other stress-relieving techniques, such as smoking cigarettes, that can further complicate their health. Ironically, smoking doesn’t relieve stress but increases a person’s level of stress hormone.

 

5. Contribute to Binge Eating Behaviors

While most people who are omad and keto will carefully control their diet during their fasting window, others will struggle with their control.

For example, they may exit a fasting window by eating as many foods as possible in a short period.

Even worse, they may binge on foods that aren’t healthy, such as potato chips and pizza.

Binge eating is an unhealthy eating pattern for several reasons. First of all, binge eating on a keto diet is likely to cause bloating, inflammation, and other serious health concerns. It will also lead to food cravings during the fasting window that can destroy a diet.

That’s why it is so important to follow the dining tips I suggested above.

Eating slowly and breaking down your meal over a one-hour period ensures you avoid binge eating behaviors. It also helps increase the efficiency of your omad keto diet by preventing insulin and sugar imbalances that can throw off your metabolism.

 

6. Worsen Food Intolerance

If you are allergic to certain types of foods or have other types of food intolerance, it is possible to worsen them during an omad keto diet.

For example, those with a gluten intolerance may end up making it worse by sticking too heavily to a diet rich in fat and protein. In some instances, a person keto intermittent fasting ends up having to stay on this diet for life.

However, it is also possible to worsen these intolerances by overeating a single type of food.

For example, those who are not lactose intolerant could become so by eating too many cheese or dairy products. Omad and Keto are best approached by somewhat limiting your intake of dairy foods and using them mostly as an occasional taste boost.

It is also possible to develop a temporary intolerance of carbohydrates during omad and keto.

That’s because your body will be unused to eating these foods and negatively react to them. While the body can gradually adjust to eating more carbohydrates again, it is often hard to leave a keto intermittent fasting diet once your body has acclimated to it.

 

Final Thoughts – Omad Keto

As you can see, a keto diet paired with Omad can be a beneficial way to lose weight and get healthy. That said, this method isn’t the right approach for everybody.

Following a well-integrated and reasonable approach to omad and keto will ensure that you lose weight, feel healthy, and get into shape more quickly.

 

Have more thoughts or questions about Omad and Keto?

Leave a comment below or visit the Omad Diet Community Forums.