How to stop binge eating when you’re on OMAD? One Meal a Day (OMAD) is a type of intermittent fasting. It’s a powerful tool that can help you lose weight. I’ve tried it. It didn’t work for me in the long run.
Each time the clock hit my eating window, I found myself eating so fast that I didn’t taste the food. I just wanted to fill my stomach with food. OMAD turned into a cycle of restriction followed by a binge. If you experience the same thing, then you might want to try mindful eating. To help you get started with mindful eating, here’s our mindful eating guide.
How to Stop Binge Eating Because of OMAD
OMAD is safe for many. It is an effective method to help you lose weight. But you must do it properly. Otherwise, you’ll end up having a scarcity mindset. That is, your brain will know that you won’t get food for another 23 hours, thus, it signals your body to eat as much as possible and as quickly as possible.
This is where many OMAD followers fail:
Loss of satiety signals: You forget what it feels like to be full. Is it until you’re stuffed?
Digestive distress: When you fast all day, and you overload your stomach, you’ll end up suffering from bloating, GERD, and ulcers.
Food obsession: You spend your entire fasting window thinking about your one meal.
How to Bridge Fasting with Mindfulness
You don’t have to give up the benefits of fasting just to stop the binge cycle. You just have to change how you eat your one meal. Mindful eating requires that you practice being fully present when you eat your meal. That is, no watching Netflix or scrolling through your Instagram. You must use all your senses to acknowledge your food without judgment.
Re-Learn your Hunger Signals
When your eating window hits, check in with yourself. Are you really hungry? On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being starving and 10 being sick), you are likely at a 1. But some people are still not hungry when their eating window hits. However, make sure to eat until you reach a 7. It means that you feel satisfied. Don’t allow yourself to reach a 10.
When you fast for 23 hours, your hunger hormone, ghrelin, is at an all-time high. Your leptin, however, is dormant. If you break your fast with highly processed carbs, you trigger a massive insulin spike. This makes your brain think that you’re still starving even if your stomach is already full. That’s why you can’t stop eating after a 1,500-calorie meal.
The First Five Minutes Rule
For most people, not eating within the first five minutes will make you binge. That’s why to break that cycle, you must commit to eating your first few bites in total silence. With silence, you can taste the food. Notice the texture. Smell the aroma. This slows down the rush of dopamine that can lead to mindless overeating.
You should also remember to eat for 20 minutes. Remember that it takes approximately 20 minutes for your digestive tract to send a signal of satisfaction to your brain. Don’t finish your OMAD meal in 10 minutes. If you do, you will feel empty. You also keep looking for snacks after eating.
In other words, you must slow down to the pace of your biology.
Use a Mindful Eating Journal
As a mindful eater, tracking data can change outcomes. Tracking calories can help. However, tracking your intent is another. When you document how you feel before and after your OMAD window, you start to see the patterns that can lead to binge eating.
When you write down how you feel before and after you eat, you’ll realize that quality does matter. You must only eat nutrient-dense foods that can prevent the post-fast crash.
If you feel that a binge cycle is starting, you must stop. Put your fork down and walk away. Drink water. You should also ask yourself if you’re still tasting the food or if you’re just swallowing. The zombie-eating state breaks after the 120-second reset.
Stopping Your Binge Cycle
How to stop binge eating with mindful eating? You’ll be able to re-learn your hunger cues. If you’re tired of the restrict-binge-repeat cycle, visit our mindful eating guide.
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