Hi all

Good to be here. I have gained about 15kg from the time I had Covid in 2022 and unable to lose it whatever I try. I do OMAD regularly for almost 4 years, and eat only dinner. I eat mostly non carbohydrate foods (no rice, only cauliflower rice, and strictly no other carbs either, like no potatoes, I do not even have slow digesting carbs).. I do not count but I think I am consuming around 1000-1200 cal a day regularly, only with one meal. So will reducing just 200 calorie more make much difference? I think I have hit the metabolic slowdown, and I need to reset that.

I am 181 cm, Indian male and weigh around 86kilo.

Any suggestions would be most welcome!

Cheers
Barun

Hi Barun. I am not clear what you are aiming for. Your weight is good for your height and you don’t mention any medical problems you are addressing. So to your OMAD regime, maybe after 4 years you do need to shake it up a bit. Also consuming all those calories in one sitting cannot be helpful to digestion and also in the evening. I don’t know what to suggest but maybe spread the calories out a bit even if it means having a light breakfast like a boiled egg and a soup or salad lunch with your main evening meal at around 500 cals. However, I don’t know you or your lifestyle so you have to find something that suits you but from your post you are obviously not happy with your current regime.

Dear Sunshine girl

Thanks for your reply. You are right. I am not happy with my weight and would like to reduce at least 10-15 kilos. I was constantly 72-74 all this time but now I can’t get rid of the kilos. I’ve no medical issues except high insulin resistance which I checked last month. I’ll try breaking the diet in two parts maybe one protein shake in morning and remaining in the evening. I tried the 800 calories diet for a week and I quite strangely gained weight.

Thanks and cheers
Barun

Hi again, you say you gained on the 800 cals but I suspect it was what you were eating, not the calories. To get to 1000-1200 cals in one meal a day you must be eating a massive amount of non carb foods to reach that number of calories. Either that or you are eating carbs you are not aware really are carbs. It can take some time to get the ratio right and I have been doing this way of eating for nearly 8 years and still make mistakes. Check out a site called thedietdoctor.com and search for the list of carby foody on the fruit and vegetable list. You will be surprised, even tomatoes, carrots or onions can be high carb. I had a small kiwi with my breakfast and nearly fell off my chair when I saw it was 11g carbs which is nearly half my days allowance when I am being strict. Mainly, I manage between 25 and 40g, so it is not easy as the little blighters can creep in.

To work on the insulin resistance you have to really cut the carbs to around 25gm per day but as already said, that is not an easy target and can be done by slowly reducing and getting to know what you can and cant eat. Particularly on the resistance check out YouTube for Dr Benjamin Bikman or go onto a site called InsulinIQ where you can do a short course on that subject.

Most of all stick with us and don’t give up.

Hi Sunshine girl

Thanks for the links and the message.

Actually I am in low carb for a long long time and generally know the carb values in anything… so my general meal is cauli rice with grilled chicken, or eggs, or some low carb curry..
I will try to do the 800 calories low carb from Monday, strictly again, as I think low carb is not working with me, as I had too much for too long. I will post my results here for you. And I do not think I can spread it over meals, as if I had about 200 cal in the morning, 600 in the evening would be tough.. though I will try maybe a spoon of protein shake (no sugar, about 36 cal per scoop) in the morning.. that should get rid of my body’s OMAD madness.

I just wanted to know is 800 the exact number, or is it possible to sometimes eat lesser (of course not more but less?), just some time.

Cheers
Barun

I mean *not a low carb* diet..

Hi, okay I now understand the question. 800 cals is what you aim for but we all go over a bit now and then but it evens itself out over the week. You will need to log so you can see what numbers you are reaching. A good site is myfitnesspal.com. You go onto Food and click on each meal and just type in what you had and it will come up with suggestions so you add in your amounts. It will show cals, carbs, fat, protien, sugars etc. It is a bit of a faff at the start but eventually fills itself in so you will have a list of all the things you eat regularly.

One thing we get asked a lot is does exercise allow me to increase the number of calories I eat. The answer is NO, you are not allowed to eat more to compensate. In fact, calories in calories out is a fallacy as your body adjusts itself (homostasis). Also, people massively overestimate how many calories they have burnt. Myfitnesspal will do a daily calculation if you have included exercise (my fitbit does this automatically) but you can tell it to ignore. Unless you are running a marathon do not eat more. In fact Dr M says to rest in the first week or 2 and exercise makes hardly any difference to weight loss.

Hope that helps.