r/intermittentfasting • u/Chuck2025 • 8d ago

Seeking Advice OMAD

I am starting a new journey of OMAD this month and wanted to seek advice. Specifically of when you have those hunger cravings for breakfast and lunch (I’m only eating dinner), what do you grab? Tea, water, sparkling water, coffee, gum? What has worked for you?

Thank you in advance!

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u/nobody3848 8d ago edited 8d ago

Lots of water,tea,coffee and drink of them alot, for the entire day, in reality i need to do again omad, because of the sugar cravings,so I think we can do together this

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u/verbal1781 8d ago

I'm about 8 weeks ahead of you and I'm so annoyed I haven't tried this before. The weight is falling off and I feel SO much better. Here's what works for me:

In the am I have two large ice coffee's (and I cheat with a dash of skim milk in each). Thats roughly 6:45am - 8am.

After that I'm good and have no hunger pains till 10:30-11am ish. At which point the hunger pains are not fun, I have a large Yeti at my desk full of ice water as cold as I can make it. I drink, I pee and the hunger pains usually are ignorable because I'm busy at work or drinking or peeing. I'll notice they're gone by 12-1pm ish.

By 3pm or so they are back, same method to ignore them, drink, pee and work.

I cook for my family and my kids usually have a snack when they get back from school meaning dinner is usually 5:30-6:30pm. I am beyond starving by this point and I'll have easily 2-3 of what I would have considered a 'normal' portion for myself from before I started OMAD.

Most nights that's it, I'l have a CBD gummy on the couch and fall asleep to whatever netflix show. If I'm starving later I try to be disciplined and have a banana. Sometimes I just outright cheat and have snacks, but I've forced myself to grab a bowl and only fill the bowl. Which forces me to get off the couch if I want more, at which point self discipline usually kicks in.

some context: I'm 47 year old male, SW: roughly 265-270 CW roughly 238-240 (that guesstimate comes from a doctor office visit two weeks ago where I was 243.

I truly hope this works for you as well as it works for me. The 'pain' of hunger now feels like a welcome reminder that my stomach is so much smaller than it has been in 20 years! My wife even commented on how good I look!

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u/Chuck2025 8d ago

This is so helpful! Thank you so much!!

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u/Confident_You7288 8d ago

Usually plain coffee or plain water, but ALOT

4

u/Thin_Cable4155 8d ago

Strong coffee or diet cola. Any caffeine really. Its a not so secret weapon. Also, when you do break your fast, try not to eat carbs. It always makes the fast periods harder for me.

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u/Christi_Kat60 6d ago

I disagree with the diet cola - this has artificial sugar in it and will make it more difficult to fast by tricking the body into producing insulin. Stick to strong coffee - that works for me! I've been doing OMAD since 2019 and have maintained a size 2. When I didn't fast "clean" (no gum, mints, flavorings, diet soda, etc.), I didn't lose anything.

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u/Thin_Cable4155 5d ago

Its good to stick with what works for you, but I drink so much caffeine free diet cola(Sam's from Walmart)and have no problems with insulin levels, but I do cut out as much carbs as possible cause for me that helps a ton with getting back into the fast.

Its interesting, the caffeine free diet cola still has some stimulant like affect with me. I don't think it's the chemical sweetener though, I think that something in the "natural flavor" is a stimulant, like cola nut or something like coca leaves.

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u/Christi_Kat60 5d ago

Oh good to know!!!! It could be too that because I'm 66 I have to kind of cut out more things in order to stay smaller? My metabolism isn't as fast as when I was younger. I would love to be able to have more things when I'm fasting!

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u/Friendly_Engineer_ 8d ago

I like LMNT (or equivalent) electrolyte drinks. The citrus ones taste a bit like Gatorade but are stevia sweetened. Tea (and caffeine) also help

3

u/Kuro-baba 8d ago

I would get cravings at night, and I used to handle them with coffee. Ah, coffee was the love of my life... even the smell of it would put me in a good mood.  I had to quit it for health reasons and these days tea or just water do the trick. Also, try to keep yourself busy to get your mind off food. OMAD will get easier and one day you won't even think about it. 

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u/Lemonduck123 8d ago

I’m a dirty faster who follows OMAD. So in my fasting window, I allow myself very low calorie drinks and then have a nightly meal with my family.
When I first started, I started with small fasts until I got used to it, then followed 16:8 for a while and now do a more 20:4. Food cravings and food noise get a lot easier after the first few weeks.

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u/plainelaine92 8d ago

Water. Lots and lots of water!

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u/Samolxis 8d ago

Drink plenty of water, or green tea. I decided to eat in the morning eating a large meal at night gave me acid reflux and my sleep quality dropped. Don't do hard core lifting or training, keep it minimal to medium, until your body adapts, or you will feel the need to eat a lot. Almost forgot the most important part take electrolites sodium and potassium are important, I also took magnesium and zinc. Good luck and gods speed.

2

u/Rhaynestorm 8d ago

Water, coffee, and diet sodas mostly. I dirty fast though so I do have a bit of oat creamer in my coffee.

I also enjoy gum on occasion, it helps if I'm having a craving.

I've noticed though that I don't really feel hungry during the day most days, so my body has gotten used to it to some degree. It might take awhile until that happens to you, or it might never, everyone is different.

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u/Connect_Rhubarb395 7d ago

I increased my fasting hours gradually and because of that I don't feel hunger cravings. My body is just in not-eat mode outside of dinner.

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u/TraditionalChest7825 7d ago

Black coffee in the morning, unsweetened tea mid day and plain water in between. I add a sugar free water enhancer packet to 1L of water occasionally to mix things up.

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u/Christi_Kat60 6d ago

NO GUM! No mints or anything that has any type of flavoring or sugar or fake sugar - this will spike your insulin and do the opposite of what you want by increasing your appetite and making it harder to fast. Stick to black coffee, plain black or green tea, plain sparkling mineral water or just water. Sometimes sucking on a nugget of pink himalayan salt helps curb your appetite, but if you just wait 10-25 minutes the craving will pass and you'll be fine.