I settled into eating twice daily. Lunch and Dinner on most days. I was provided free lunch at work and had dinner at restaurants whenever I was going out, eating with colleagues.
The free lunch at work was nice but I could not eat so much that it would be sufficient for me if I ate only one meal.
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| Staying on track is easier than readjusting |
Now I am experiencing the whole adjustment process again. I am going back to eating one meal a day and can already tell after the first few days that I have lost most of the momentum I had build previously. I do not continue where I stopped. Eating one meal a day almost takes as much getting used to as it did the first time.
And this leads me to write about the importance of positive momentum. I believe it is very important to stick with positive habits not allow any deviation. If you have found something that makes you feel good and works for you than do not change it. It will be harder to get back to it. Not as difficult as the first time when you were building that habit, but definitely some mental effort. It is like an alcoholic can never drink again, and if he has only one drink he will have difficulties again staying sober for some time.
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| Building momentum - also in the mental world |
The second biggest reason for why one should always stick with positive habits is, that it is very easy to forget about the positive benefits one has gained. For example with the OMAD lifestyle it is easy to forget how much clarity and mental focus you gain from the fasting and how good it makes you feel in general. Just after a few days of not feeling 100% you might accept this as the norm again but wont associate the lack of energy with the different eating pattern. And then you might not get on the protocol again because you have forgotten the subtle benefits you are only aware of when eating that way. And then you forget about the positive habit until you somehow get interested in it again. Or that might not happen at all and you loose the habit permanently.
Additionally some benefits of positive habits take time to develop. On OMAD you won't feel good right away. You might even feel worse and have to exert mental energy to stay on track. Only after a couple of weeks does your body run optimally in the fasted state and your energy is high and only eating once becomes a no-brainer.
Do not make yourself go to the adjustment period twice. Stick with positive habits. I speak from personal experience here now with this lifestyle.
But I am back on it. Because the benefits are definitely worth the effort.