i first started eating one meal a day with a challenge to do it for 30 days straight but then i loved it so much i ended up doing it for a full year and now i can't go back there's a difference between being awake and being sharp and fasting gave me that sharpness that edge there's real neuroscience behind this there's a process called autophagy that kicks in during extended fasting where your body starts cleaning up damaged cells and regenerating itself no matter how clean i ate before i would still deal with that weed postmeal fatigue or heaviness the truth is we've all been sold a lie the food industry wants you snacking grazing and dependent because that's how they win that's how they keep you buying let me give you some context i had spent years deep in the trenches of the fitness industry i was immersed in books studies forums coaches and podcasts and honestly i reached a point of paralysis by analysis everyone had a different opinion about what you should do some said "eat five meals a day to keep your metabolism firing." others said "fast for longevity eat carbs before training don't eat carbs ever go paleo go carnivore go keto." it was madness and i was the kind of person who didn't just read it and move on i would hear something new and immediately think to myself okay how does this fit into my body i would test it i would live it i would adjust it that's how i've always learned through experience i wanted to feel the truth of these ideas in my own physiology not just hear them echoed in studies or social media chambers so i tried every diet under the sun paleo keto carnivore low carb no carb carb back loing highfat if it fits your macros five meals a day not out of desperation but out of this deep curiosity to understand my own biology and eventually that curiosity led me to one of the simplest most radical shifts of all omad i didn't choose omad because it was trending i chose it because i was done done being ruled by food done revolving my day around meals done with the constant tupperware life hitting my meals in the back of the gym planning my calendar around meal timing obsessing over protein intake and carb sources and eating windows i was in great shape physically but mentally i was fatigued food took up too much space in my life and the thing was i wasn't overeing i wasn't binging i was following every right protocol high protein breakfast preworkout carbs post-workout shakes clean eating macro targets microsracted and still i felt bloated more often than not always a little foggy constantly thinking about my next meal unsatisfied even when i was full weirdly anxious if i missed a meal window i clearly remember scarfing down oats and protein powder in my car between clients i remember feeling guilty for eating too early or too late i remember googling things like "can you gain fat if you eat carbs after 9:00 p.m." i remember trying to hit 150 g of protein like my life depended on it and still feeling like i was falling behind and that's when i realized this isn't working and more than that this isn't freedom i didn't want to feel chained to food i wanted to feel in control of my own biology so i said "screw it i'm going to eat once a day for 30 days one solid complete meal no snacks no hacks no half efforts and let's see what happens." the first 30 days now week one was a slap in the face you don't realize how conditioned you are until you try to break the pattern i'd be fine focused training and then out of nowhere my stomach would growl and my brain would just freak out it was like "feed me now." it wasn't even real hunger it was habitual panic because here's the science your hunger hormone grein spikes when it expects food and that's because you trained it like this you told it "i eat at 9:00 a.m at 1:00 p.m and again at 6:00 p.m." so it learns and now it throws tantrums when you break that pattern but the beauty is it adapts just as fast by day five or six those hunger pangs weren't hitting as hard and by day 10 i wasn't even thinking about food until midafter afternoon i was still training hard still working full days and i had mental clarity i hadn't felt in years no crash no midday slump just long clean focus deep energy like i had unlocked a second gear and my digestion best it's ever been no bloating no food hangovers just smooth efficient function by the time i hit day 30 i realized i had unintentionally solved about four different problems that i had accepted as just part of being attentive to nutrition the micromanaging the cravings the hunger spikes the constant food tracking gone and that's when i decided this wasn't just a challenge this was a new operating system now some people will hear this and say "well why didn't you just eat like a normal human being three balanced meals a day and i get that that's what we've been told is healthy responsible adult behavior." but here's the thing nothing i've ever done has been normal i don't follow normal because i don't want a normal life most of what society considers normal i don't value it i don't aspire to it normal to me is average normal is homer simpson i want to feel extraordinary physically mentally spiritually and sometimes that means going left when the whole world goes right omad might not be the normal but neither am i and that's exactly why it worked for me so why did i keep going let me be clear omad wasn't a gimmick for me it wasn't a fat loss hack or a phase it became a way of life because it solved problems i didn't know had solutions here's what made me stick with it long past the 30 days omad gave me mornings without brain fog a gut that finally felt quiet freedom from food panic stronger workouts simpler days and a body that i trusted again first of all mental clarity there's a difference between being awake and being sharp and fasting gave me that sharpness that edge there's real neuroscience behind this fasting elevates neuropepinephrine which improves alertness it also increases bdnf which is a brain derived neutropic factor this boosts memory and focus but all science aside i felt it i could work for 4 to 6 hours straight deep in creative or strategic flow without reaching for snacks meals or distractions that was new for me and i didn't want to give it up the second thing is digestive peace my gut than thanked me no matter how clean i ate before i would still deal with that weird postmeal fatigue or heaviness but when you give your digestive system 20 plus hours off every day it reccalibrates there's a process called autophagy that kicks in during extended fasting where your body starts cleaning up damaged cells and regenerating itself i wasn't just digesting better i was repairing better and for someone who trains hard and demands a lot from their body that repair was everything and the third is simplicity this might be the most underrated benefit there was no more meal planning meal prepping macro counting snack packing constant interruptions one meal i ate it i enjoyed it i moved on the mental real estate that opened up from that was incredible for me i didn't just have more energy i had more life in my day and here are five shocking things that happened over the course of a year now here's what actually surprised me over the course of a full year on omad number one i stopped craving sugar like actually stopped before omad i always wanted a sweet thing after dinner even if i was full it was like my brain was still waiting for dopamine after a few weeks of omad that pull just dissolved and it wasn't willpower it was chemistry fasting resets your dopamine and insulin sensitivity which means that your body doesn't need sugar to feel good anymore cravings don't mean that you're weak they mean that your reward system has been hijacked by hyper palatable food by dopamine loops by constant stimulation when you fast you interrupt that loop you remove the noise you give your brain a chance to reset you're not broken you're just over stimulated and omad gives you the silence that you forgot you needed that's how it feels for me number two i had more energy not less i thought i would feel drained but when you stop constantly digesting your body reallocates that energy instead of wasting atp on constant food processing you use it for movement cognition recovery fasting increases mitochondrial biogenesis more mitochondria equals more power output and i felt it i could train fastered and still push to near max i recovered just as well if not better number three i felt free from food anxiety no more what if i didn't pack enough is this meal going to ruin my macros do i have time to eat before training that mental load just disappeared i had more presence more calm and when i did eat it was joyful not stressful most people don't even realize how much food controls them until they try not eating that's when the panic sets in that's when you realize that food isn't just fuel it's comfort distraction it's almost an identity omad stripped all of that away it exposed the noise and in that silence i got to see who's actually in charge here me or the food and when i took back the wheel it changed everything number four my workouts didn't suffer faster training was one of my biggest hesitations but it ended up being a highlight strength stayed solid endurance went up joint inflammation went down my body learned to tap into fat for fuel a concept called metabolic flexibility and because i wasn't constantly eating my body got better at adapting to real demand i wasn't overfeeding overs supplementing or overreacting number five i realized i wasn't missing out on social events used to revolve around food now i realized they're really about connection and the beauty of omad you can adapt when needed number five i realized i wasn't missing out social events used to revolve around food now i realize that they're really about connection and the beauty of omad is you can adapt when needed okay so really quick i want to share a resource with you that i have available if you are currently feeling injured stiff broken if you're a professional athlete looking to improve your mobility my mobility toolkit is currently helping over 50,000 people in 40 plus countries people ranging from all walks of life complete beginners professional athletes men and women in their 70s and 80s if you have 15 minutes to spare this will work for you and it's going to produce dramatic results within weeks check it out you're not on a leash you are in control when i choose to eat more socially i do and i enjoy it but most days i don't feel deprived i feel empowered so how does omad compare to other diets let's run it back a bit paleo it's great food quality but too much fiber and still obsessing over eating every few hours low carb or no carb it worked shortterm made me moody flat and foggy car back loading it was over complicated and fragile i had to time everything perfectly highfat i felt full but sluggish and mentally dull if it fits your macros excuse too much junk the numbers looked good but i felt terrible five meals a day constant prep constant eating constant fatigue carnival it helped inflammation shortterm but socially restrictive and unsustainable long term omad worked better not because it's a magic hack but because it reduced complexity and in that simplicity i found freedom energy clarity and control the truth is we've all been sold a lie the food industry wants you snacking grazing and dependent because that's how they win that's how they keep you buying hunger is not a disease cravings are not density but they've made us believe that we will die without six more meals and a mid-after afternoon protein bar omad cuts through all of that it's not just a diet it's a rebellion when do i go off omad let's talk flexibility because i'm not a monk there are days when i eat more than once when i'm training really hard pushing volume skill work heavy loads i'll sometimes have a shake or a smoothie earlier in the day maybe some eggs maybe fruit and collagen it's not rigid it's intuitive and that's the power of it you're not breaking anything you are adjusting you are in command and that's the point the top omad myths that need to die now let's kill some real quick number one you will lose muscle no not if you train with intent not if your one meal is loaded with real nutrients muscle loss comes from weakness not from fasting number two it's not for women hormones don't make you fragile what messes with your hormones is ultrarocessed food undersleeping and overstressing women have fasted for thousands of years you're not going to break down from skipping breakfast number three you'll binge at night only if you restrict like a fool during the day if your one meal is full of protein fats carbs and fiber your body will feel nourished not desperate it's a starvation diet starvation is eating six times a day and still feeling inflamed anxious and ruled by food omad is not starvation omad is actually freedom you can't have a social life if your entire social life revolves around food that's not a community that's addiction in disguise you can eat when you want with who you want omad doesn't kill connection it kills dependency most people don't need a new diet they need a disruption something radical enough to make them stop and look at what they're doing and omad is that disruption it is a pattern interrupt it breaks the autopilot loop that you've been stuck in since you were 10 years old and from that break you get to rebuild not based on trends or fear but based on what actually serves you would i recommend it yes but let me be clear this isn't for everyone omad isn't a religion it's not the one true way it's not a miracle hack and it's not something to force if your body is clearly saying no but it is a tool a protocol a system reset that works precisely because it removes all of the complexity and sometimes that's exactly what your body and your brain are starving for not calories but clarity so would i recommend it yes if you're in a place where you are ready to listen experiment and take full responsibility for what works for you and what doesn't here's who i believe that omad is great for number one busy entrepreneurs and high performers who want real mental focus if your brain is your asset and your mornings are sacred omad gives you a clean window of energy with zero crashes no digestion fog and none of the mental clutter of food prep planning or decision fatigue number two people who've tried every diet and still feel stuck if you've bounced between low carb no carb paleo fasting windows macros clean eating and you're still tired inflamed or bloated omad cuts the noise you're not micro tweaking you are doing a full system reboot number three anyone craving structure and peace around food if food makes you anxious if you find yourself emotionally eating grazing or negotiating with yourself all day omad replaces that with one decision one window one moment to nourish then peace number four high functioning humans who want to simplify without suffering if you've outgrown the hamster wheel of food obsession omad gives you control without compromise it is a power move it's not less it's better here's who omad is not for at least not right now number one people with active or recent eating disorders if you have a history of restriction binge restrict cycles or disordered patterns omad can become just another tool for control you need to heal that first nourishment comes before optimization two those who need to gain weight or are recovering from illness or injury if you are in a rebuilding phase fasting isn't the priority fuel is you need calories you need frequency and you need restoration once you're solid again revisit fasting with structure number three athletes in high frequency competition prep or two a day training if you're training multiple times per day running high output or trying to hit high volume hypertrophy blocks omad might be too limiting you can still fast but a longer eating window or two meals a day will probably serve you better what people get wrong about omad they think that it's extreme no what's extreme is eating six times a day thinking about food every 2 hours carrying tupperware to weddings and still feeling like omad is just different and different only feels extreme when you've normalized dysfunction people think it's restrictive restrictive is when you eat all day and you still feel hungry anxious or unsatisfied omad is intentional it's one meal where you sit down you eat fully and you walk away done no guilt no cravings no measuring just deliberate nourishment people think it's unsustainable only if you treat it like punishment only if your meals are nutrientd deprived or you're ignoring your body's feedback but when you build omad around real food intelligent training and flexibility when needed it becomes the most sustainable rhythm in the world because there is really nothing easier than eating once and if you're still unsure start with 30 days like i did don't think of it as a diet think of it as a selfexperiment not to lose weight not to punish yourself but to reset rebuild rethink your entire relationship with food what happens when food is no longer running your life that answer is worth finding