OMAD or IF

[Loraine518]

After some advice, I have been following LCHF and doing OMAD Mon-Fri and IF at the weekend, although sometimes I still do OMAD, if I'm really busy.

I am now finding that Mon morning my weight is up by 3-4 lbs, it does go down again by the weekend. This has now happened the last 3 weeks and I am not sure what to do about it.

I am now feeling like I should only ever do OMAD and never snack or eat at other times, even when I feel hungry, if I want to actually start losing weight again.

I would be grateful for any advice as when I was just doing LCHF and IF, I was mostly losing weight, but I often find 2 meals a day too much.

[Lytham]

I'm exactly the same !! Can I ask, do you stand/exercise more over the weekend? x

[Loraine518 in reply to Lytham]

I tend to do similar exercise but my dog walks tend to be longer at the weekend? Glad it's not just me though, thought I was going mad 😂 x

[Lytham in reply to Loraine518]

Ha ha ! Well, I think I've figured mine out, I work a Thursday and Friday and stand at work and my weight is always higher on a weekend, could yours be the extra dog walk?

I know if we got out walking for the day on a Sunday, I always weigh heavier on the Monday! x

[Loraine518 in reply to Lytham]

Maybe, although I always thought more exercise should make you less likely to put on weight, but it might explain things as I do often do more strenuous jobs at the weekend as I am not working. Weekdays I also sit down more as I am doing calls and zoom sessions for work.

Maybe I should stop walking the dogs, tidying the house, etc🤣🤣 x

[Lytham in reply to Loraine518]

Aha ! I've googled it, lol, and apparently although exercise is obviously good for us in the long run, when we exercise we get tiny little micro tears in our muscles and our bodies send some fluid stuffs to repair them and that can cause extra initial weight gain.

It makes sense to me? x

[BridgeGirl]

My feeling about LCHF is that, at its heart, it's about eating when we're hungry and stopping when we're full. I know there can be some constraints on this e.g. if you're working in an office, it's not much use fancying a pork chop at 3 in the afternoon; and there are the social elements of it, if you share meals with family. But, that aside, I have come to think that an emphasis on time-restricted eating and frequency of meals rather loses the point of it.

I'd say eat filling meals built around veg and the things you enjoy. Really tune in to your hunger and appetite: if you don't feel hungry during the day, then just have your one meal: if you do, then have two meals: try not to tie it to days of the week but to how your body feels.

It is frustrating when we're wanting to lose weight but, if you treat it right, I'm sure your body will find its equilibrium

[Loraine518 in reply to BridgeGirl]

Thanks for the reply, I tend not to be hungry during the week when I'm on my own, but then I rarely think about food in the day unless someone mentions it.

What you say makes sense, I think I had decided it had to be either one meal a day or intermittent fasting but some days I do get hungry and ignore it so what you say makes a lot of sense. I will try to just go by how hungry I feel and maybe I will get back on track again.

[BridgeGirl in reply to Loraine518]

You're doing great, just go with it.

You might like this post; though it's not exactly on your question, it's a good point, worth coming back to healthunlocked.com/lchf-die...

[Loraine518 in reply to BridgeGirl]

Thank you I'm sure I will get there will all the support and help on here.

[TheAwfulToad Ambassador]

To be honest, you've probably backed yourself into a corner, physically and psychologically. I covered exactly this scenario in my starter document Q&A - it's not a pleasant situation to find yourself in, which is why I warn people away from OMAD etc.

Have a read of BridgeGirl's reply: that is excellent advice there. Try not to think about "weight loss" for a bit, and focus on following your appetite rather than stressing over your meal schedules. You might well put on a pound of two while you break out of this situation, but once you've done it, you should find things proceed a bit more reliably in the right direction (although not necessarily as fast as you might wish).

[Loraine518 in reply to TheAwfulToad]

Thank you what you and BridgeGirl say does make a lot of sense, I started OMAD because some days I found it hard to eat two meals and I think I got it into my head that it was what I should be doing.

I know LCHF works and I do feel so much healthier and have more energy, sleep better and seem to be a lot healthier generally. I will try to focus on following my appetite as you say and hopefully the weight loss will follow.

I really don't mind losing weight more slowly, as long as it is moving in the right direction.