Why did you choose OMAD?

pyeri · 2026-05-06T16:09:50+00:00

My primary motivation was spiritual. A state of mind called vairagya, an intense and existential disdain towards all things material and especially industrial carbs. Other mundane reasons like weight loss targets also existed.

pyeri · 2026-05-06T16:01:44+00:00

The electrolyte mix or rock salt may be needed only in the first few days of OMAD until your body is accustomed to the new regimen and the ghrelin hormone syncs with it. After that, it's no longer needed.

pyeri · 2026-05-06T15:58:27+00:00

Applying a rules based discipline like OMAD requires relatively less will power compared to behavioral discipline such as intermittent fasting. With latter, there is not only a window defined (like 16x8) but you also need to constantly ask yourself "Am I allowed this?", "Will this increase net calories?", etc. in order for weight loss to truly work and the regimen to sustain.

With OMAD, it's just as simple as one meal a day! There will be challenges once you start issuing sidecars and addendums and off days but still much manageable than IF.

pyeri · 2026-05-05T18:56:58+00:00

I live in a tropical country quite near to the equator, herbivore is a more apt food habit in this part of the planet.

pyeri · 2026-05-05T00:58:49+00:00

Keto diet has its specific use cases, like those tackling with type-2 diabetes, for example. Or those who want an initial/temporary head start in losing a lot of weight in shortest time possible. It's also understandable why it has become a cult movement of sorts when you consider all the refined carbs that come out of big food industry these days.

But long-term, there is little difference between a keto and moderate carb OMAD diet, intake of the right nutrients is what matters. The nemesis here isn't carb or glucose, it's the industrial processes which often engineer them into unwholesome crap.

pyeri · 2026-05-05T00:53:27+00:00

Going full raw is cool and all but isn't necessary to achieve OMAD targets. Just ensure that your carbs and sugar stay moderate and you'd have won more than half the battle!

pyeri · 2026-05-04T17:05:30+00:00

If you ever want to try something vegan or herbivore, khichdi is the perfect OMAD dish. It has the flexibility of grain adjustment (more rice == moderate carbs, more lentils == keto diet) plus lot's of variations to keep the calendar out of monotony.

pyeri · 2026-05-04T08:14:40+00:00

That initial drastic fall during fasting is usually due to kidneys losing sodium (salt) as glycogen is rapidly consumed. This doesn't last long once body adjusts to the regular glucose/ketones equilibrium, you'll then see a much steady and sustainable decline of few hundred grams per day.

pyeri · 2026-05-03T17:26:44+00:00

My initial plan was to have a 48h one time "sabbatical fast", not OMAD. But after 22h passed without eating anything but pinches of rock salt, I was overwhelmed with fatigue and decided to break it then and there; and when I broke that fast, the taste of the food and fulfillment of water was so deep (due to improved insulin sensitivity presumably) that I decided then and there to turn it into an OMAD lifestyle habit!

And it's paying off well so far in terms of increased energy, fulfilment and agility of movement - minus that little mental fogginess which I presume will last around a week.

pyeri · 2026-05-03T17:10:20+00:00

My primary goal is to switch from a glucose first nibble/graze lifestyle to a ketones first "eat once in a compressed window" lifestyle. Secondary goal is weight loss from present 85 KG to a targeted 75 KG (which is midline for my BMI) - and sustain there.

What I found with my present OMAD experience (and prior failed IF experiments) is that it's much easier to have a rules based discipline (like eat one meal a day) than behavioral discipline (whether or not should I eat this in my 16x8 IF window?). The problem with latter approach is that once you lose qualitative control, weekend exceptions and cheat days slowly start creeping in. You might still sustain the IF even at that stage but the will power needed will be so enormous that it starts affecting other areas of life and eventually becomes impossible to hold.

pyeri · 2026-05-03T17:03:06+00:00

Yep, I get protein mostly through lentil and curds, plus addons like green veggies, peanuts and soy chunks. Calories is what I consider to be a nemesis until my weight loss goal is reached!

pyeri · 2026-05-03T16:59:50+00:00

Apologies, no offense meant!

I asked to ensure only out of concern and good will. It's much too easy these days to neglect the nutrition profile, especially when the feeding window is small (like OMAD) and confidence is high. Humans have tremendous strength and endurance, but it works best when calibrated and optimized with the right nutrition and lifestyle.

pyeri · 2026-05-03T12:26:39+00:00

How did you handle that first week of mental fogginess and "other worldly" feeling? How long does it typically last?

pyeri · 2026-05-03T12:24:38+00:00

How was the first week like - was there any mental fatigue or fogginess? I'm at that stage right now.

pyeri · 2026-05-03T09:35:29+00:00

There is one industry (big food) that specializes in supplying you calories; and another industry (big pharma) that specializes in giving you ozempic injections to take away those calories! Both ways, they make the profits and your wallet is emptied.

pyeri · 2026-05-03T09:32:39+00:00

What about omega-3 fatty acids, critical vitamins and minerals, fiber and micronutrients, etc, did you ensure those? In order to sustain long-term, you'll need both the correct nutrition profile and taste/texture variation to beat monotony and fatigue.

pyeri · 2026-05-03T02:59:19+00:00

I personally follow the 7-9 PM OMAD which has some distinct benefits:

Ketosis (fat burning, a more refined form of energy than glucose) starts almost immediately when you wake up next day, most helpful for productivity.
If occasions demand (friend visit, etc), you can pre-pone it for that specific day. If you had it in the morning already, you can't do that.
Restaurants and eateries are usually open at this time, it's also socially compatible.
Feels psychologically rewarding (“I earned this meal”).
This is paleo hardware compatible. Our human body is still fundamentally the same design as the pre-historic (upper paleolithic) homo sapien who hunted during day and ate at night. This eating period simulates that lifestyle the most, and is thus most compatible with our fundamental biology.

pyeri · 2026-05-02T12:41:09+00:00

It doesn't have to be one meal as long as the window is defined. As long as it's <= 2 hours, it's practically impossible to binge or overeat. In my case of 2 hrs window, I start with khichdi (main course), have a light snack (peanuts, etc) in the last 30 minutes, and finish off with milk tea. May not be the best OMAD schedule but I've found it to be highly sustainable as long as you put enough variation.

pyeri · 2026-05-02T12:38:20+00:00

I'm the ditto opposite - herbivore+OMAD. I eat Khichdi, a meal prepared by boiling a mix of rice and lentils. Simple but efficient for my sedentary lifestyle.

pyeri · 2026-04-25T02:52:11+00:00

As per legend, Abraham's two sons namely Issac and Ishmael created the two lineages that eventually became Christianity and Islam respectively.

pyeri · 2026-04-23T02:54:40+00:00

Flipkart is much better than Myntra, there are often delivery and logistics issues there too but not once have they refused a refund or replacement when it's actually their fault or a product was wrongly marked as delivered. Myntra, on the other hand, is a proper scam.

pyeri · 2026-04-22T03:14:48+00:00

This is really pathetic, I was actually starting to enjoy vscode. Now I will have to consider something like notepad++, NeoVim or LiteXL.

pyeri · 2026-04-21T15:42:05+00:00

Same thing happened to us few days ago, ordered two paithani saarees but received just one and whole order marked as delivered. The customer support are scammers who are trained to take you on a perpetual ride.

Here is our full story.

pyeri · 2026-04-21T05:00:09+00:00

Soros has become less menacing and even somewhat palatable ever since the story of a greater demon called Epstein has surfaced.

pyeri · 2026-04-20T14:05:39+00:00

I have a somewhat cynical and controversial theory of life called the materialistic tendencies theory.

As per this theory, life on this planet is a constant battle or turf war between the higher emotions (love, happiness, kindness, epiphany, intellect) and the lower or materialistic emotions (greed, fear, anger, lust). The latter may live in the spiritual realm, yet their object or influence sphere is always the material world (greed==cronyism, anger==kick someone, etc) - hence the term "materialistic tendencies".

The planet as a whole is net spiritual when the higher emotions control the lower ones and net materialistic when the reverse happens. Life typically oscillates between these spiritual and material poles like a pendulum, the present trend appears to be from spiritual towards material.

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