This is a really important question if you are going to embark on this type of fasting journey. The reason being is because it can be hard to eat enough calories because you will always be at a deficit. Which is great if you want to lose weight. OMAD is eating in a 1-hour window 23:1.
| How many calories you should eat on OMAD all depends on what your goals are. If it’s to lose weight, you definitely will because of eating less food and using glucose and body fat for energy. One key thing is to make sure you are at least getting close to protein intake recommendations of .7-1 gram per pound of bodyweight to retain muscle. |
Let’s take a look at how many calories you should eat while on OMAD diet?
How to Figure Calories for OMAD Diet?
As mentioned this all pertains to your goals. Typically someone who wants to OMAD is looking to lose weight. And if you are overweight or obese eating at a calorie deficit is what you’ll want to do anyway. OMAD will help you accomplish this because of a shorter eating window.
OMAD works great because not are you only eating in a shorter window and eating fewer calories but your body is burning through stored up glucose and burning body fat.
On the flip side, it’s a good idea to track calories especially if you are only eating in such a short window anyway. Mainly because you do want to meet your protein requirements to keep lean muscle.
To figure up your calories to be in a deficit or to be at maintenance can be done by using TDEE. This is a rough estimate and the number may have to be massaged a bit.
TDEE recommended 2,350 calories for me to be in a calorie deficit. And really I had to drop down to 2,100 calories for weight loss. OMAD is a tool I use if I feel I have been slipping up on my diet. By no means is it something I use passed getting to the weight of my desire.
| TDEE can be used to figure out your daily calorie intake. If you are doing OMAD it is because you are looking to lose weight or to get lean. One of the benefits of OMAD is it is really easy to stay within a calorie deficit. It all depends on your goals. |
OMAD Fasting Benefits
Fasting has numerous health benefits and studies to back them up. Here is a link from Reddit showing before and after results from people doing OMAD. Not only does doing OMAD fasting help with weight loss but has health benefits as well.
It’s been shown that intermittent fasting or OMAD type of diets can lead to improvements in many health conditions. Things such as obesity, cardiovascular diseases, neurological disorders, and diabetes.
However, the studies on fasting are fairly new and we do not know how long term effects of fasting are.
Even though fasting results in fewer calories consumed throughout the day, it seems that just weight loss in itself is not the main driver in health according to the preclinical and clinical studies from doctors from John Hopkins University.
While weight loss in itself doesn’t seem to bey the key alone to improved health but a rather key component is metabolic switching. This switching happens when the body’s energy stores switch from burning glucose stored in the liver to ketones stored in the fat.
“Ketone bodies are not just fuel used during periods of fasting,” the authors wrote. “They are potent signaling molecules with major effects on cell and organ functions.”
Essentially they are saying that being in Ketosis protects against a host of diseases. This is done by cellar signaling the body’s pathways that are responsible for health and aging.
“Repeated exposure to fasting periods results in lasting adaptive responses that confer resistance to subsequent challenges,” the authors explain. The “broad-spectrum benefits” include not only disease resistance but also improved mental and physical performance.
| Fasting has numerous benefits as the studies I’ve linked are only some of the many. We’ve been taught to eat many small meals throughout the day for health. In reality, we are finding out that most are improving health and metabolism by eating in a smaller window. |
Can I Gain Weight or Muscle on OMAD Diet?
Typically doing an OMAD type of diet is not thought of as a muscle building or weight gaining diet. The purpose of OMAD is to help those who have struggled with their weight and following countless other diets.
As always you should consult with your doctor if OMAD is right for you. It is possible to gain weight or dirty bulk on OMAD by eating high-calorie food s such as fast food.
I do not recommend this but it can be done. It’s just really challenging to try to eat over your caloric maintenance while only eating in a 1-hour window.
| It’s possible to gain weight or bulk while on OMAD but not recommended. You would have to eat a lot of high calorie processed foods to be in a calorie surplus. OMAD I meant more for weight loss and improved health. |
How to Control Hunger While doing an OMAD Fasting type of Lifestyle?
This is one of the biggest hurdles while doing fasting is ghrelin a hunger hormone that is the body’s hunger response. Your hunger signals throughout the day are caused by your eating frequency.
Basically, you start to train your body when to eat by how many times you eat in a day. The less you start to eat your body will naturally adjust. For example, I rarely eat breakfast anymore and rarely am I hungry in the morning.
It can take a few weeks to adjust but you can have things that are 0 calories to help get you to buy. I drink things like black coffee in small amounts to help curb hunger. Any kind of sparkling water or things with 0 calories will not break your fast. Also, drinking water or go do something to take your mind off of boredom eating.
| Getting used to fasting is not easy but as long as you stick with it your body will adjust in a couple of week’s time. Things like 0 calorie liquids is okay to help get you through until it’s time to eat. |
Final Thoughts
OMAD is a great tool to help you lose weight but like always I don’t recommend for everyday eating or long term use. One big perk of doing OMAD is you don’t have to track calories as often. At some point when you want to come off of OMAD it is important to track calories to teach yourself the size portions and calorie amounts in food. You can go to TDEE.com to find out how many calories are needed for your goals.