Day 43 of 365 | The Carnivore Diet Experiment!
Hi friends: It’s day 43 of 365 of the carnivore diet experiment! One of the most popular questions that I am still asked is “How do I start omad?”
It sounds like a simple question. I can tell you how I started. First of all, for those of you that are not aware. Omad is the short form for one meal a day! I didn’t just wake up one day and say. I’m going to only eat one meal a day! Actually, everything started with a decision. The decision was I wanted to lose weight. I had a secret goal and a realistic goal. My realistic goal was 150 pounds but my secret goal was 130! I never thought in a million years that I would be 130 again.
I started omad gradually. I used intermittent fasting to get me there. I started by just eating regularly. I would eat my usual three meals a day and snacks. Then at 6 pm I would stop eating. I’m not going to lie but this was not easy at first mostly because of the temptations around me and my old eating habits. My husband, daughter, and I…well we would bond by watching television after 6 pm sometimes with a bowl of popcorn or chips…some form of a snack. We all love to snack. Actually, the popcorn was my daughter’s and my thing. She has braces so she felt like a rebel because she was eating popcorn. Not a lot just a small bowl for her and the rest for me. My husband would eat some sugar-based snacks.
Yes, the first night was hard and I did it as a challenge. I decided I would do it for one day. After 6 pm I had a lot of cravings. That night I went to bed at 10 pm. I had a difficult time sleeping. I wanted to get up and get a snack. Now I am not a night snacker but I felt hungry. I didn’t give in to temptation but I did get up and drink some water.
The next day, I was so hungry. I ate breakfast at 8 am and I decided I wanted to continue. I used intermittent to help me get to my goal of omad. I stopped eating at 6 pm and fasted until 8 am the next day. So that’s a 14 hour fast. That is a really good amount of time to fast actually. I did the 14 hours fast for several weeks. I noticed my clothes were getting lose just doing that. I wanted to lose more weight fast because it was summertime. I wanted to wear cute tops and shorts. So I extended my fasting time to 15 hours…then 16 hours….then 17 and so on. When I got to the 23-hour point…well that was omad! I would eat for an hour. Then close my window and fast for 23 hours. It got easier. People usually do the 20:4, 18:6, 16:8 or the 23:1…people do what works for them. The 16:8 is by far the easiest. I tried them all. So you would fast for 16 hours and have an eating window of 8 this is very doable and nobody would even need to know what you were doing unless you told them. Now that’s another topic. Should you tell your friends or family. I will expand on this in another blog.
OMAD! HOW TO START?
Here are my tricks – This is what helped me!
- I drank lots of water during my fasting time.
- I added apple cider vinegar to my water. One tablespoon to a glass of water.
- I took black seed oil in the morning and before bed. It suppresses the appetite.
- I stopped buying the foods that were the most tempting during my fasting hours.
- I would plan to eat my fave foods during eating window.
- I didn’t count calories.
- I took before pictures to motivate me to continue.
- I removed sugar from my diet eventually because it simulated my hunger during fasting times.
I also had two pairs of shorts that I have held onto for years. I hadn’t fit into them for over 25 years. I used these shorts as motivation. I am happy to say that I fit into both now. I went from a size 14 to a size 4 in a three month period. I lost 17 pounds in one month just from intermittent fasting/omad! My total weight loss was 40 pounds.
I hope my answer helps you. You can do it. I had hoped to get to 150 pounds but I surpassed my goal weight and actually attained my secret goal weight of 130 pounds. All things are possible. I know that sometimes it can be hard to see into the future but that is what imagination is for. I’m happy I took that first step. I feel that I am the healthiest version of myself and you can be the healthiest and happiest version of yourself too. It starts with that decision. I’m going to lose weight. I’m going to stop eating after dinner time (6 pm). That is the first step. That is how to start! STOP EATING AFTER 6 PM! You got this!
Check out my newest video Carnivore diet experiment 30 days of 365 update!
If you would like to join me on this experiment, please check with your doctor first. I will be posting on Instagram/lolaslifessons. If you are not on Instagram, comment here: Twitter/IamLola2017 and Youtube/lolaslifelessons Feel free to let me know about your process there.
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