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It’s that time of year again! One of my favorite times of year. A time to bid farewell to days gone by and dream big, proclaiming a plan to be all you can be. It’s time for New Year’s resolutions!
I think what I like most about this time of year is the overall feeling of hope that surrounds the goals we make at the start of a brand new, untarnished year. It’s so exciting to think about the potential a year holds. Three hundred and sixty-five fresh days to try again. So many possibilities!
SHAMELESS PLUG: If you haven’t already seen my post about my health related plan for 2024, you can read that here. I am making it a priority to practice OMAD (one meal a day) during 2024 and I’m journaling my progress along the way, on this blog. I’ve also created a journal for anyone who would like to join me so they can play along. It includes the 52 prompts I’ll be writing to stay focused on my goal. Check it out! And come join me! I’d love to cheer you on, too.
Top 5 Tips for Starting OMAD
OMAD worked for me to lose a ton of weight over the last couple of years and I’m excited to continue to get stronger and leaner in 2024. For this post I thought it would be helpful to share my top 3 tips for getting started. This is exactly what I did when I started and what I do to stay inspired now.
- Start slow. Skip one meal a day for the first week or two, THEN move to one mean a day. I do not recommended going straight to one meal a day, beginning the first week. Start by just skipping one meal each day for the first week or two. This will allow you to adjust mentally and physically to all the changes that happen when you fast in a manageable way. It will keep you from feeling overwhelmed or giving up too quickly.
When you practice a fast, you aren’t just removing food from your routine, you are also removing all beverages with the exception of water, black coffee or unflavored, unsweetened tea. That can be a huge adjustment for your system so start slowly and only eliminate one meal. This will make it easier to adjust.
OMAD/intermittent fasting, requires time to work so you will need to keep trying in order to see results. Start slowly so you will be able to stick around long enough to see the fruits of your labor. I PROMISE its worth it! - Read up on fasting. I recommend these two books to start. The more you understand about fasting, the more likely you are to practice it correctly and see the most benefit.
My favorite book to read regarding OMAD is Gin Stephens, “Delay Don’t Deny.” It is a very quick read and gives you the highlights of the science of fasting without overwhelming you from the beginning. I have read this at least a dozen times and I’m starting it again right now. It really inspires me and I can finish it within a day or two. Perfect to get me going!
My second recommendation is “The Obesity Code”, by Dr. Jason Fung. It goes further into the science of fasting, so you can really geek out on the way it improves your overall health and resets your hormones that effect how/when/what you eat. Dr. Fung recommends a keto diet in addition to fasting but I do not follow that advice. I like carbs, sugar, and alcohol, so I only follow OMAD.
Both of those books are on my shelf and read repeatedly. I learn a new tidbit with each read. Education is a gift to yourself. Spoil yourself silly! - Don’t obsess about the calories in your one meal. Pick your favorite foods and give yourself permission to eat them without judgement or worry. Have dessert and a cocktail with your dinner. Really enjoy your one meal! I did that every night for months and lost 70 pounds in 6 months. If you are allowing yourself to do this, you will enjoy food and be mentally satisfied, allowing you to get away from being controlled by the judgmental punk in your head, who ruins every meal you eat with their constant commentary. This is your one meal. Eat what you want!
The one guideline I would put around your meal is, eat until you are satisfied but not stuffed. Don’t count your calories. Your body will start to figure out how much food to eat if you let it get reacquainted with hunger and satiety hormones, but don’t eat until you are uncomfortable. I have never counted calories while fasting but I don’t stuff myself either. I eat until I’m completely physically and mentally satisfied but I do not count calories, macros, carbs, etc.
- Drink ice water all day long. I know every diet you have ever heard about says this same thing and fasting is no exception. If all the experts are saying this one thing consistently, regardless of the diet discipline they are preaching, there must be some ounce of truth to the water message. Water, helps. Drink it.
I drink water all day long, and it does several things to help me stay fasted for as long as I want to be. First, drinking water will help your system wash out all the fat your body releases, once the fasting kicks in. If the scale is your idea of a good measure of success, this is key to moving the needle. Fast and drink LOTS of water.
Also, ice water will curb hunger pangs better than you can imagine. If you suffer from physical symptoms of hunger, ice water is your best friend. Drink it all day long and I promise it will stop the headaches, nausea, and bad attitude fast. Buy yourself a super cute water bottle and consider it your crutch. This is mine and I have it with me all the time. It’s affordable, insulated, and fits in my cars cupholder. - Stay busy. Staying busy is key for me. I love food and love eating, so when I get bored, I get snacky. This one is pretty simple. Its 100% a mental. If I’m busy, I am able to stay fasted for the full day. On days I don’t have much going on, I find its mentally harder for me to stay committed. So get a hobby! There are so many things to do out there. Find your passion and share it with the world!
Now if you are paying attention, you might have noticed that I didn’t mention exercise as being one of the top 5 tips to practicing OMAD. That’s because exercise is extremely important to your health and I strongly encourage you to begin a fitness routine, but it is not necessary to begin improving your health with OMAD. Your body will release fat stores if you are practicing OMAD even without exercise.
Again, I want to reiterate, I strongly encourage you to move your body and grow muscle so you can live your most satisfying life, BUT if you aren’t able to commit to that just yet, start with OMAD. The exercise will become more enticing once you feel better. I practice joyful movement and strength training. Its something I love and look forward to every day but it didn’t start that way.
Joyful movement is just a term that refers to movement that you enjoy. I only do exercise that I enjoy. Period. Most days, I just go for a walk. Not a super fast, harsh walk. Just a walk. Some days, I feel like dancing, so I dance.
The only thing I do even when I don’t feel like it, is strength training. I mostly like it, but I also don’t feel like doing it some days. The reason I strength train anyway, is because of a strong desire to stay mobile and independent. It is important to be able to move your own body so that you can better care for yourself and your family. Muscle is necessary for those activities. Once you become weak and sedentary it is harder to regain your independence. Notice I said harder, not impossible. Please don’t ever give up because you think you can’t do it. You can do anything that you are willing to work for.
So those are my top 5 tips for getting started! Check back next week for my week one progress report.
I have a few other resolutions I’ll share with you this year too. All of the goals are part of a bigger personal growth project I’m working on. I really suffer from self sabotage in the form of what I refer to as perpetual poppycock. It’s the swirl of thoughts that prevent me from achieving my goals every day. I am committed to overcoming that by not overthinking everything.
So, my resolutions for 2024 are repeats from many, many years that have passed where I did not get beyond the perpetual poppycock to achieve them. Each of them will require a plan and some self discipline. I will share more about each one as the time passes.
Here they are in no particular order:
- 52 weeks of OMAD, posted to my blog
- Pay off 20k in debt
- Learn to plan an instrument with some level of proficiancy (piano or guitar)
- Learn to speak Spanish
- Practice gratitude and grace for myself and those around me
I hope you have some good goals in mind for the year and are feeling inspired by the calendar refresh to get recommitted to living your best life!
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