One Meal A Day for Weight Loss

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There seems to be a lot of divided opinion on having only one meal per day to help with weight loss. Is it good or bad for weight loss? And is it even safe?

Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of eating one meal a day, to see whether you should be doing it for weight loss.

What is OMAD?

Having only one meal a day, also known as OMAD, is basically a more extreme form of intermittent fasting.

Intermittent fasting is a type of eating that dictates when you can eat, rather than what you can eat, and restricts your food intake to certain times of the day.

The average adult that has three meals everyday will typically eat within a 12 hour timespan, essentially leaving a 12 hour window of fasting every day.

Most standard intermittent fasters will eat within an 8 hour timespan, then fast for 16. This typically allows for around 2 meals to be eaten every day, or sometimes 3 if the meals are eaten close together.

Having one meal per day means you’ll only be able to eat at one time. So you’re looking at an intermittent fast that looks something like 2 hours eating, then fasting for 22, because for most people it’s at most 1-2 hours to finish a meal.

So let’s take a closer look at some perceived pros and cons.

PRO: Easy to follow

The average human stomach holds about 2-4 L of food. By just limiting yourself to one meal, you can then theoretically eat as much as you want at that time, under the assumption your body and stomach will naturally stop you, allowing you to eat without the need to tediously measure portion sizes or count calories.

Some people also interpret OMAD to mean that you can eat whatever you want as well. If you do, you’ll need to be somewhat careful with this interpretation.

For example, if your only meal consists solely of junk food, you’re going to run into other health problems long-term.

PRO: Stronger intermittent fast

Some patients who have been intermittent fasting for a while and seeing good effects for weight loss, will occasionally try to improve its effects by transitioning to the more extreme OMAD. Especially since periods of fasting have additional beneficial effects on metabolism and health.

While this theoretically should help with weight loss, in real life, it’s not always the case. There are many reasons why patients do well on regular intermittent fasting, but do poorly on OMAD, which we’ll get into, but for now, know that just because intermittent fasting works for you, doesn’t always mean OMAD will be better.

CON: Promotes binge eating

Eating only one meal a day might encourage compensatory overeating, particularly if it’s taking a large mental and emotional toll to do it, as well as if you’re not controlling what you’re eating at all.

Although some people will naturally stop after eating so many calories, many people can continue to eat past a full day’s worth of calories in a single meal.

So it is possible for that single meal to still cause weight gain, especially if you tend to ignore your body’s fullness signals, and are eating foods high in empty calories like sweets or pastries.

CON: Too extreme a diet

Extreme diets have a common issue in that, while it may be effective in the first few days and weeks, it can be difficult to sustain in the long run. If you’re unable to keep it up, you might just stop, which is likely to cause some weight regain.

Sometimes this weight regain demoralizes people enough to give up entirely, causing even more weight regain.

This cycle of weight loss followed by weight regain over and over is known as yoyo dieting, and not only fails to help an individual achieve their weight loss goals, but can come with additional health risks associated with rapid weight regain.

CON: Nutrient deficiencies

If you eat mostly things high in empty calories, it’s possible that you start to develop some nutrient deficiencies in the long-term.

These nutrient deficiencies can make it harder for your body to burn fat and lose weight.

People who eat multiple meals are more likely to increase the variation of food eaten at different meals.

CON: Problematic for some people

Diabetics and those with blood sugar issues who are taking medication like insulin, will likely need to consult their doctor to modify their dosing to safely try this style of eating. The same would apply to those on blood pressure medication.

Periods of fasting can potentially drop blood sugar and blood pressure level too low, particularly in individuals taking meds for these conditions.

Other medical issues to note are pregnant individuals and those with eating disorders, so work with your doctor if you’d like to safely implement OMAD.

Who should try OMAD?

OMAD is not for everyone, and from experience, the patients that seem to do the best on OMAD don’t think too much about food or eating in general, or are more disciplined with their meal planning and eating habits.

So if you aren’t constantly thinking about food throughout the day, don’t have strong emotional connections to food, and tend to forget to eat because you’re too busy or whatever, OMAD might be quite effective for you.

If you don’t want to worry about calories, don’t like limiting what you can eat, and feel like you would prefer to enjoy one large meal at the end of the day, you might even enjoy OMAD.

Keep in mind that the content of that one meal becomes exceedingly important on OMAD. Make sure you eat a varied diet, packed full of good protein, healthy fats, and nutritious carbohydrates.

I recommend you eat slowly, take your time, and focus on eating when you finally do eat. It’ll help prevent overeating, which is definitely possible on OMAD if you’re not careful.

Feel free to have a little dessert or candy, just make sure the junk foods don’t make up a large component of your meal.

Who should avoid OMAD?

However, if you’re an emotional or binge eater, tend to eat things depending on how you feel, cannot deal with hunger well, and lack basic meal planning skills, OMAD might just make things worse.

Some people drink coffee throughout the day to control their hunger, but if you’ve never tried intermittent fasting before, you might end up thinking of food all day long if you’re suddenly being forced to refrain from eating all day.

Finally, remember that OMAD can be considered an extreme dietary strategy, meaning it might not be completely safe for everyone. So make sure you ask your doctor about it if you have any pre-existing medical issues.

Learn more about

• Intermittent Fasting for Weight Loss

See also

• 
  The Glycemic Index Diet: an overview
  The Glycemic Index diet focuses on foods that are lower in glycemic index and load, which can help with diabetes and weight loss.
• 
  Low FODMAP Diet: an overview
  The low FODMAP diet aims to reduce certain types of carbs that can cause bloating and gas. It can sometimes help reduce symptoms of IBS.
• 
  Paleo diet: an overview
  The paleo diet replicates our ancestors diet with wild game, fish, fruits, vegetables, and nuts, while avoiding dairy, grains, and legumes.
• 
  Anti-inflammatory diet: an overview
  The anti-inflammatory diet focuses on eating foods that have anti-inflammatory properties, and avoiding pro-inflammatory foods.
• 
  Gastric Balloon Diet Plan
  Once you have a gastric balloon, properly transitioning from liquids on day 1 to 3, to solids by day 14, is key to success on your balloon.