An OMAD diet plan is an extreme form of intermittent fasting. If you wish to practice it, you have to fast for 23 hours while your eating window is only 1 hour each day. But what is the best time to eat on the OMAD diet plan? Is it in the evening or morning?
When is the Best Time to Break Your Fast on an OMAD Diet Plan?
It’s a common practice to eat that one meal in the evenings. There’s no specific reason for it. But it’s typically the recommended time window.
Read: How One Meal a Day Works?
Then again, it depends on your lifestyle. Since there’s no specific rule on the time to eat your one meal when you’re on the OMAD diet plan, you can choose whenever you want to eat your one meal.
In other words, the best time to eat the one meal is whenever it felt right for you.
Is It Better to Fast in the Morning or Evening?
It depends.
Just remember though that when on the OMAD diet plan, you can only eat one meal each day. In that case, you have to consume the right amount of food within one hour.
If you get tired after eating, this feeling might be intensified if you eat a supersized meal. Thus, it makes sense to eat in the evening so you can avoid the afternoon crash.
Now, once you have chosen the time of the day to eat your one meal, you must follow it every day.
But what should you eat on OMAD?
What Should I Eat on OMAD?
One best thing about the OMAD diet plan is that you don’t need to restrict yourself to food. But it still depends on the reason for practicing it.
If you wish to lose weight, then make sure to consume only the recommended amount of calories for your height and weight.
Here’s a calorie counter to estimate the daily calories that your body needs to maintain your current weight or lose weight.
That is, you must only eat the number of calories that you need to meet your daily energy. It’s not recommended to consume fewer than 1,200 calories a day.
If you don’t get enough calories, you’re just compromising your immune system. Your body will use other ways to maintain your energy causing it to break down muscle mass.
Furthermore, you must maintain proper hydration when you’re practicing the OMAD diet plan.
While you’re in fasting mode, you can drink water, coffee, or tea. However, if you want to go by the book, then ensure that you only drink water.
Protein
When you break your fast and eat your one meal, you should get enough protein. The amino acid in protein will help in building lean muscle.
Consume animal-based food, such as organ meats, cheese, eggs, fish, and meat. They are important sources to get the right amount of protein for the day.
Fats
An OMAD diet plan includes eating healthy fats as well. Fats are vital in regulating your hormones and thyroid level.
You can eat up to 180 grams of healthy fats to help you stay fit and healthy. They can also help you feel full for a lot longer.
The best sources of healthy fats are avocados, eggs, olive oil, fish, nuts, and seeds.
Carbohydrates
Even if you integrate the keto diet with the OMAD diet plan, you still need to consume carbs.
However, when on a ketogenic diet, the amount of carbs you can eat per day is reduced significantly, depending on your age, weight, and height.
Find out here if the ketogenic diet is better than the OMAD diet plan.
You can safely eat rice, quinoa, bitterroot, and turnips. They are good sources of carbs.
When you need to eat fruits, make sure that you don’t eat them in excess. Keep in mind that fruits contain fructose, which isn’t good for your body.
Vegetables
Instead of focusing on fruits, try to eat more vegetables. Vegetables contain antioxidants. They also include a gut microbiome that can improve your intestinal health.
Spinach and broccoli contain a high amount of antioxidants.
You should also consider adding herbs and spices to your food. They don’t have calories only micronutrients.
Does it Matter What You Eat on OMAD Diet Plan?
Yes, it does matter what you consume on your one meal a day. That said, you should eat balanced food.
Eat a moderate amount of protein, healthy fats, and carbs.
Avoid eating junk foods in your eating window. They will only make you feel hungrier during the fasting phase.
Will I Lose Weight If I Only Eat One Meal a Day?
It’s a common question among those who wish to practice the OMAD diet plan. Losing weight if you only eat one meal a day is possible.
However, it still depends on the number of calories you eat per day.
The general rule here is to reduce your calorie intake to fewer than 500 calories per day than your body needs. You can lose about 1 pound of body weight each week.
The recommended daily calorie intake for women is 2,000. If you only consume 1,500 calories per day through the OMAD diet plan, then you can lose a pound of your body weight each week.
If you go lower than 1,500 but higher than 1,200 calories, you can lose more weight.
1,200 calories each day is easy when you’re on an OMAD diet plan. But it’s also easy to overeat when you’re eating only one meal a day.
You may reason out that since you’re only eating one meal a day, you can eat whatever you want and how much you consume won’t matter anymore.
However, you can’t achieve your weight loss goal if that’s your perception of OMAD.
It’s true that one of the attractive features of the OMAD diet plan is that you can eat whatever you want.
If your goal is to lose weight, you can eat whatever you want as long as it’s less than the recommended daily intake according to your age, height, and weight.
Is OMAD Diet Plan for Everyone?
Sadly, it’s not.
It’s not that dangerous, though. But it surely is not for everyone.
OMAD diet plan can reduce your BMI. However, when you achieve your weight loss goals through OMAD, you need to sustain them.
Hence, when you practice it, you have to be ready to commit to it long-term.
Since it’s an extreme form of intermittent fasting, you have to do the short-term fasts first. For instance, you can fast for 12 hours a day for one week.
When your body is accustomed to it, you can fast for 14 hours or 16 hours.
The key here is to listen to your body. If you experience negative effects, you should stop.
OMAD diet plan can be an effective way to lose weight. Plus, you’ll have fewer dishes to clean up.
Conclusion
When is the best time to eat on the OMAD diet plan? There’s no rule here. But most folks who are eating one meal a day prefer to break their fast in the evening.
In that case, choose whatever time fits your lifestyle.
Before you follow this diet plan, make sure to read more about OMAD. For instance, you might want to know whether or not OMAD can cause ulcers?
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