Do you love the idea of losing belly-fat without sacrificing your biceps and triceps? Or are you already toned and fit but want to benefit from the health benefits and longevity that come with autophagy?
If so, read on.
While the answer is debated among the world of OMAD people, it does seem that the vast majority of people can practise OMAD with no loss of muscle mass.
As long as they pay attention to a few caveats.
As with anything, if you’re gonna do it, may as well do it right.
Separating Fact from Fiction: Examining the Science Between OMAD and Muscle Loss
One important scientific study published by Pubmed demonstrated that as long as we keep our calorie deficiency within a manageable range, our first source of converted energy will come from fat stores and will not affect muscle mass.
But this changes when we demand more of our bodies than our fat stores can supply. We may have enough fat there, but there’s a limit to how much can be burned and transferred to provide useable energy each day.
So when the demand is too high, the body will tap into fat-free mass (FFM) instead.
The maximum energy transfer of fat to useable energy for people doing moderate amounts of exercise equates to 290 KJ (+/-25) or 70 calories (+/- 6) for every kg of fat per day.
This means that your body can burn fat every day to provide you with energy without loss of muscle, but if your deficiency exceeds the amount of energy which the body can burn for you in a day, then the energy will come from fat free mass (FFM).
As well as the limit on the energy transfer rate from our fat stores, there’s also the question of protein, which we look at further down this page.
And a certain amount of age-related muscle loss happens regardless of OMAD – if we don’t take action to practise resistance and strength-building exercises such as weight lifting for example.
What does this Mean in Real Terms?
One response to the limited amount of transference from body fat to energy would be to work out how many calories from fat per day your body can provide and then calculate how many calories to eat each day.
But this isn’t my preferred method as it doesn’t fit with the whole premise of doing OMAD.
OMAD isn’t just a diet, it’s an eating practice that can boost longevity and promote optimum health while at the same time burning off the excess fat. You can do OMAD as a quick fix or choose OMAD as a lifestyle choice.
If you’re going to count calories, you may as well be on a regular diet (yawn).
And then you’re back in that difficult zone. I mean really, if we ask ourselves; is OMAD hard to do when compared to traditional dieting? The answer is a big fat no.
Instead of counting calories, eat a wonderful balanced meal on OMAD several times a week. Depending on your individual circumstances, you might choose three times, four times or five times a week.
In other words, don’t do OMAD every day of the week.
While on OMAD, your body goes into autophagy and munches on its own weak or sick cells, acting as a clean up job. As well as this it transfers to burning fat for energy, so you can lose the flab and reduce your BMI while getting healthier at the same time!
So instead of counting calories, make sure you’re eating a fully nutritious meal which covers your daily protein requirements. And if it’s a bit low on protein, compensate on your non-OMAD days.
The Role of Protein in an OMAD Diet
Muscles need protein to maintain, repair or to grow, and when we eat our daily nutrients in just one meal, it can be difficult to eat enough protein in that one meal.
As a wfpb vegan you may or may not be in the habit of counting your protein intake – because there are two sides to the camp. Some people believe we do just fine on a nutrient-rich plant based diet, which others swear that they need extra protein to feed their muscles.
Whichever camp you subscribe to, one thing’s for sure. Our muscles need some protein in order to carry out repair work for muscle-maintenance and growth.
With a severe lack of protein it’s possible that the body will begin to break down muscle mass to use for energy and repair work in the rest of the body. But muscle loss can also be due to age, illness, starvation or idleness.
It’s important to eat protein in your diet, as well as to not starve yourself. Instead, eat a generous vegan WFPB meal on OMAD – one which includes plant protein sources like beans, chickpeas, tofu, tempeh, quinoa and lentils.
I eat vegan WFPB OMAD and I don’t count the macros. But I do include protein-rich plant foods, like lentils, beans, chickpeas, tofu, tempeh, quinoa, seeds and nuts.
Lots of sports people aim for higher protein levels, between 1.2 and 2 grams per day and if that sounds like you, it can be tricky to fit it into one meal.
If you’re into heavy sports, you might not be best suited by OMAD because you might also struggle to eat enough calories in one meal.
OMAD may or may not be the best type of intermittent fasting for you.
Exploring the Relationship Between OMAD and Muscle Loss
So we now know that we someone who’s moderately active and considerably overweight, practising OMAD brings a host of health benefits.
And as long as that person eats a balanced meal with plenty of protein, healthy fats, phytonutrients, fibre and complex carbs, they will not be damaging their muscle mass.
A person who only carries a small amount of fat will need to be more careful about the amount of calorific deficiency they cause if they don’t want to exceed the maximum transfer amount.
In this case, practising OMAD 3 times a week while doing a 16:8 or a 18:6, can be a solution.
Can You Grow Muscle on an OMAD Diet?
You can grow muscle on an OMAD diet, but if your primary goal is to grow muscle, you might consider other forms of intermittent fasting to make it easier to get all the nutrients, protein and calories you need rather than trying to eat them all in one meal.
If you do decide to go for the OMAD diet, you’ll need to make sure that you eat enough protein to support muscle growth. You need to supply more protein than the amount your body is breaking down every day.
For a moderately active person the minimum recommended amount of protein is 0.8g per kilogram of bodyweight and that goes up to around 2g for weightlifters and athletes. By including resistance training we stimulate the muscles to grow and adapt.
And this is the same whether you are on OMAD or not.
How to Build Muscle While Following an OMAD Diet: Tips and Tricks
Ensure that you eat plenty of protein in your OMAD meal.
Make each meal a fully balanced meal with all your nutritional requirements.
Include healthy whole fats in your meal
Do OMAD for 3 or 4 or 5 days a week while practising 16:8 or 18:6 on the other days.
Do some resistance training – weights or body-weight exercise.
Final Thoughts on OMAD and Muscle Loss
OMAD doesn’t have to cause muscle loss and conversely OMAD is and incredibly healthy way of life which has been shown to improve longevity and prevent and reverse chronic disease.
If you’re a woman facing the after effects of the menopause attack (i.e. among other things: belly fat!) then OMAD’s the best way I’ve found to combat those flabby fatty tissues, which never used to be there but which are so stubborn to leave!
Go get it! Be the healthiest version of you that you can be!
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.
