Congrats on the weight loss and accompanying benefits.
I’m curious - could you list what a typical meal or two consists of?
Thanks for the link, I’m going to check this out and try some since I am also concerned about depending too much on Eryhritol.
Boy oh boy. I’d be really concerned with your glucose.
If you get weak, faint or clammy eat something.
Thanks! It’s good to learn there’s a baking-friendly alternative to Erythritol. Hopefully a study doesn’t come out next month announcing a correlation between Allulose and heads exploding, or something 
Man, it is so much easier to lose weight once you retire. I went from 95 kg down to 69 (should be 68 - not long back from holiday), basically by eating properly and having the time to exercise more.
Anyways, congratulations to all who are working at it and succeeding. Keep up the good work!
One word of caution - 4 lbs a week may be a bit fast. 2 lbs is recommended. It’s easy to google, but here’s just one example (in the Top Tips section.)
j
This is almost certainly true. When I was on Keto + IF I lost 2.5 pounds a week, and even that felt like a lot. After four months of steadily losing weight, I decided I was done and tried to transition to maintenance; moving to a low-carb, three meals a day maintenance program. My body would have none of it and the weight came rushing back.
When I finally talked to my dietician she said you should only lose 10% of your body weight at a time, then wait 4-6 weeks for your body to adjust to your new weight before losing another 10% maximum. People who lose more than 10% often have problems keeping the weight off without going back into dieting mode.
Lots of questions (I’m not complaining), I’ll try to get to all of them in chunks…
A few times I’ve suffered from feeling left out - I mentioned the few family gatherings I’ve attended in which there was much consumption of foodstuffs. But there was plenty for me to eat, and I got over it. I tell myself this is what I signed up for, and I’ve already decided to do it, there will be no debate on whether or not to adhere to the plan. As I said, that had already been decided.
I live with my spouse, who could not care less what, how much, or when I eat.
Ahh, funny you should ask. This happened exactly once, two days ago, when I was outside doing (a lot) of yard work. I felt a bit weak and dizzy, so I paused, sat for a few, and hydrated. I was fine afterwards.
I appreciate the concern, but I know a bit about “sugar”. I am an RN and was a Diabetes Educator for ten years before I retired in April. The dizzy spell I mentioned above was the result of hypotension, not hypoglycemia.
ETA: Thanks, all, for the words of encouragement and support.
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I was 271 lbs. on August 7, 225 on October 23.
Yes, thanks, and I agree. 2 lbs. a week is actually my goal. I believe I will start coming closer to that number very soon; if not, I will make adjustments (eat a bit more).
Well, I was speaking for myself. I’ve never been one to brush and floss every single time I eat something. I’m sure some do, but I doubt that it is all that many.
I just learned about erythritol and bought a package. I was going to make a low-carb cole slaw dressing. Then I saw that study and threw it in the garbage. This all happened in a span of 2 days.
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Thanks for ]your candid responses. You seem to have matters well in hand. I’ve heard many of the same questions from my family and friends and have given them similar answers to yours. And it’s great you’re sticking with OMAD. I decided to add breakfast and lunch back into my day because it made sense for me, and I was still able to lose weight even though I increased my daily calories. Plus, my spouse doesn’t like eating alone, and mealtimes are one of few times we can sit together and chat during the day. I assume you still meet with your PCP on an annual basis so you can get routine blood work done, and that your PCP is very happy with your weight loss journey.
In terms of future sustainability, I recall reading years ago that now retired General Stanley A. McChrystal has only eaten one meal a day for decades. This isn’t the article that I originally read but covers the same ground.
https://www.wearethemighty.com/articles/gen-stan-mcchrystal-one-meal/
I do something similar most of the time but finish eating before 7PM each day.
Everybody looks like a pro when first serious about shedding pounds. The first 20 or 30 are pretty “easy”.
If you are keeping notes it will look like 4 or 5 pounds a week. At first. But as you journey along your average will most likely decline, and 1.5 to 2 pounds every week or 10 days, something like that, is doing very well.
I think there are a lot of other benefits to calorie restriction or time restricted eating. One, something not thought about much, is giving our digestive system a bit of a break. I disagree with those who say they (now) wish they didn’t have to eat. What’s really going on, is you have to pay attention to what you eat. I enjoy cooking, and eating, and other people, and cooking for other people, and so on. It’s a very social thing to do.
That doesn’t mean I’m gonna shovel unhealthy sourced foods and food-like substances into my body. Anyone who is diabetic or taking diabetic medication would be restricted I’d think, but the huge bulge of us should be able to cut back on meal frequency and calories. Don’t conflate IF or time restricted eating with Keto or low carb necessarily, bacon and eggs, meatloaf, cheddar, I ate a lot of carb laden foods and shed about 60+ pounds with plenty of take out pizza and have managed to keep it off.
I would consider it the dietary equivalent of walking a tightrope without a net, but it can be done. I assuage my guilt with the knowledge that Ice Cream undoubtedly has a lot of Calcium, right?
Science!
Great. I’m glad you’re on top of it.
Good luck.
Thank you for this. I wonder if that would work in my cole slaw dressing recipe (which calls for erythritol).
It’s pretty boring, to be honest. But eating just once a day multiplies the enjoyment quotient.
As I mentioned, I prepare the five Monday-Friday meals on the weekend. It is usually a soup or stew of some kind, often made in a slow cooker. There is a protein, most often chicken, sometimes ground beef or sliced up sausage. And then, random mixtures of different vegetables (cabbage, green pepper, onion, other types of peppers, mushrooms, broccoli, green beans - not all of these at once). Sometimes I’ll throw a bunch of crumbled bacon in the mix. I often use “Whisps” (cheese crisps) for crackers.
Next week will be a treat - “tacos”. I’ll mix up a good amount of seasoned ground beef mixed with diced onions and portion it out into five servings. The taco shells will be leaves of romaine lettuce. I’ll fill them with the ground beef and top with a bit of shredded lettuce, shredded cheese, cubed avocado, sour cream, and salsa. I’ll have enough for three large lettuce tacos.
Weekends, as mentioned, are different. We often go out or get carry out. We have a favorite local family restaurant that makes an awesome gargantuan chefs salad - one salad is enough for both Saturday and Sunday. Other weekend options are baked or air fried chicken with a vegetable, Buffalo wings with blue cheese dressing and a small salad, a large bun-less cheeseburger (2 slices of chedder, sauteed onions and mushrooms too), 4-egg omelet with vegetables and cheese, slices of bacon on the side (or on the inside). Oh yeah, you can also make nachos using pork rinds instead of tortilla chips.
Full disclosure: I really do missing having toast with my eggs.
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I think it sounds pretty tasty, as long as you have a heavy hand with a wide variety of herbs and spices (assuming you like jacked-up food flavors, of course).
I do get an annual physical, but I’m not due until January. I’m confident my weight and my blood pressure will show marked improvement over my January, 2023 visit. The bloodwork results will be interesting, they were pretty alarming last time around.
I’m particularly interested in my A1c, which indicated pre-diabetes last time.
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I would think it would. It’s granular, like sugar, but I haven’t tried that yet.
My annual in in December, and last year my A1c was good (5.1), but my fasting glucose was borderline prediabetic (101 mg/dl). My doctor couldn’t explain it, and it wasn’t until I wore a CGM for a month that I figured out what was going on. My glucose drops to 85 mg/dl during the night, which is in the normal range, but the Dawn Phenomena increases is to over 100 mg/dl before I wake up. It then slowly starts to go down again, and my morning exercise drives it back up over 100 again. I usually get my blood work done between 8:30 and 9:30 am, post exercise, and by that time it’s sitting well over 100 mg/dl. It then stays over 100 mg/dl for the rest of the day, not dropping back down to 85 mg/dl again until the middle of the night. I saw this happen over and over. I’m hoping losing weight and flattening my glucose spikes will make a difference… but I’m skeptical it will.
Interesting. I had no idea this was a recommendation but, purely by accident, this is pretty much what I did. I dropped from 95 kg to 82 - which I was pleased with - and was stable at that weight for a while. Then there was that pandemic thing - no holidays, no pubs, no eating out, no carry outs, no picking up casual snacks when we were out; nothing much to do apart from exercise - and that’s what got me down to around 68.
j
I buy these keto-friendly wraps. They are great for burritos or soft tacos.
They also make keto bread. It weirdly doesn’t toast very well, but it serves as an adequate yolk mop-up device.
I’m the same here, what does that mean for the one meal you do eat? Do you go for healthy nutritious stuff, do you indulge a craving to binge, what constraints do you put on this?