Trying out: One meal a day aka OMAD as a Foodie

I have recently ventured into a new “test out”/ project – this time I am trying out OMAD (one meal a day) or intermittent fasting (IF). The thing though is that I LOVE food, and luckily, I eat a fairly healthy diet and for some time now, I have been able to eat all I care for and keep a fairly healthy and fit body. So, I am not interested in doing this for weight loss even though I know that might be one of the main reasons people do it?

I was mainly thinking about the amount of food I was eating and how frequent I was eating (habits from High carb vegan diet). I do however do this with some caution, since I did have an unhealthy relationship with food in my teens and one I am very happy to have gotten out of eventually. I had some moments of starving and binging and bulimia basically all in effort to slim down.  I was lucky to not stay in that bad circle long enough for it to have lasting changes on me. Fortunately, in the past years (most of my 20´s) I haven´t been tempted by diets for weight-loss either, so yay, progress. I really believe that this had to do with finally understanding my African body and why it looked the way it did and actually loving it the way it is!

So why OMAD?

Well, I noticed that while being able to eat all I care for and still be able to keep my body weight where I liked it, it came with some bad habits: I could eat all the time, sometimes really close to bedtime that I would go to bed really full. I also almost often ate past satisfied, * always aiming for that knockout ( mainly during dinner) #funtimes. Also I have been trying to chew better because I had just been indulging mindlessly. While the foodie in me was happy, I kept wondering if my mindlessness could have other consequences. I have always allowed myself to be a big foodie, I don´t have many other “bad” lifestyle habits (not that you need to have one lol) but I always like a bit of balance. So, knowing that that was the thing I permitted myself to indulge in, I didn´t have many reasons to stop a good thing ya know?

However, wanting to become more in tune with my body, I just kept feeling like ignoring its signals wasn´t really the best way for me to establish a great relationship with it. Knowing I was overeating and ignoring it didn´t really feel that good after awhile.  (I would say however, that when I was team #carbup and eat all the vegan food I desired, that period did have its purpose; to teach me not to fear food and getting fat all the time. So I am grateful for that lesson.) Also, I wondered about what my body couldn´t get to do (healing wise), since I was constantly either snacking or eating delicious knockout meals that it had to spend energy and time digesting? I have long given up on perfection, but I am a big believer in progress and balance. I didn´t want to go on a full fast, so doing OMAD/ IF was actually a good enough thing for me to venture into for a moment.

So, that is currently what I am doing/ exploring. I am on day three now. It´s morning so it is hard to tell too much about today, except that I feel more energized this morning than I did on day two. Also, day one was really easy than I had expected.

My hope is to reestablish a healthier and more in tune relationship to food, one where I respect the needs of my body, fulfill my foodie wants and listen to the signals that my body send me. I am excited to see what else I can learn and feel very inspired by the many stories I have heard from people on this same quest, who are doing it for many different reasons.

Things learned so far:

1. That we don´t need as much food as we think we do
2. That “less is more” also applies to food
3. That a lot of us don´t know what hunger really is
4. That you make better food choices when you don´t have to make 10 of them each day
5. That our eating habits a more out of habit than need (e.g eating while not hungry)
6. That breakfast might be overrated
7. That you can still be a foodie – sans the knockout feasts
8. That there is so much time in a day that doesn´t revolve around food
9. That you shouldn´t be afraid to try new things

That´s what I am currently up to this early March, project wise!