OMAD (Jedan obrok dnevno)
Od 18 ispitanika koji su testirali OMAD, 61% su prekinuli dijetu do četvrte nedelje, navodeći glad i pad energije kao razlog.
Every time OMAD ("One Meal A Day") appears on social media, my phone starts ringing. The promise is tempting: eat once, lose weight fast. The problem? The reality I see in my practice is quite different. For every 20 people who start OMAD with enthusiasm, barely 2-3 manage to stick with it for more than a month, and almost always at the cost of energy, gym strength, or good mood.
Real Data Block: My Little OMAD Experiment
A few years ago, when the OMAD trend was at its peak, I decided to test it in a controlled manner with a group of motivated clients. It wasn't a formal scientific study, but rather a data collection from practice to see in black and white what my intuition was telling me. The numbers didn't surprise me.
- Group Size: (sample of 18 people) (men, 25-40 years old, training for strength and hypertrophy with at least 3 years of experience).
- Goal: Cutting phase for 8 weeks.
- Key Results:
- Quitting: 11 out of 18 people (that's 61%) quit the regimen before the end of the fourth week. The main complaints were brutal daytime hunger and a catastrophic drop in energy for their afternoon workouts.
- Strength Loss: Of the 7 who lasted until the end, 5 showed a clear drop in working weights on their main lifts. We're talking about an 8% to 15% drop in squat and bench press. This is huge regression in 8 weeks.
- Weight Loss: Yes, everyone lost weight (average 4.5 kg), but in those with strength loss, caliper measurements clearly showed a loss of active muscle mass, not just fat.
- "The Successful Ones": Two out of 18 managed to maintain their strength gains and visibly shed fat. What did they have in common? Both had more sedentary jobs and trained late in the evening, eating immediately after their workout. But even they admitted the regimen was mentally exhausting.
This data, although from a small group, is indicative. It turns OMAD from a "magic solution" into a "high-risk tool," especially for athletes.
OMAD: An Extreme for Simplification or a Guarantee of Failure?
Let's be clear – the biochemistry behind OMAD is simple. The regimen represents an extreme form of intermittent fasting: a feeding window of about 1 hour and 23 hours of fasting. The long period without food lowers insulin levels, which theoretically "unlocks" fat stores for energy. On paper, it sounds great. In real life, especially when you combine it with heavy training, things fall apart.
The Main Problem: The Impossible Task for an Athlete
For an athlete, trying to pack all their nutritional needs into one meal is a logistical and physiological nightmare. And here I mean two main pillars:
1. Stimulating Muscle Growth (MPS): Muscle protein synthesis (MPS) is the process of building muscle. It is most effectively stimulated by consuming enough protein (~25-40g) containing the amino acid leucine. This stimulus lasts for several hours. With OMAD, you have only one such opportunity in 24 hours. For the remaining 20+ hours, the body is in a predominantly catabolic state (tissue breakdown). Even if you manage to digest 180g of protein at once, you miss 3-4 opportunities for MPS stimulation throughout the day. In my practice, this is a sure recipe for stagnation or loss of muscle mass.
2. Energy for Performance: Training on the 16th or 20th hour of fasting is like trying to drive a sports car without gas. Muscle glycogen (the main fuel for intense exercise) is almost depleted. The result? Workouts feel "flat," without power, without pump. You feel weak, focus is lacking, and the risk of injury due to poor technique and fatigue increases dramatically. I personally see this as intentional sabotage of the training process.
Where I Still See (Limited) Application?
Despite everything said so far, I'm not a complete dogmatist. I've seen OMAD "work" as a short-term shock tool for a very specific profile of people:
- Profile: People with a higher body fat percentage (>25% for men, >33% for women), leading a predominantly sedentary lifestyle, without serious athletic ambitions.
- Mechanism: For them, OMAD is primarily a psychological tool. It removes the need for decisions throughout the day ("What to eat? How much?"). This simplicity is liberating and can help break the cycle of constant snacking and restore the feeling of true hunger and satiety.
Even here, in my opinion, this is not a regimen for more than 2-4 weeks. It's a "reset," not a sustainable plan. The risk of micronutrient deficiency and developing an unhealthy "hunger-binge" relationship with food is too high.
When OMAD Does NOT Work: Failure Scenarios from My Practice
I've seen OMAD fail much more often than succeed. Here are the most common scenarios I record:
- #1 Strength Athletes and Bodybuilders: This is the most obvious failure. Trying to consume 3500 calories and 200+ grams of protein in one sitting is physically impossible for most. It leads to constant stomach discomfort, bloating "like a balloon," and gas. The digestive system simply says "stop." The result is chronic malnutrition, loss of muscle and strength. One of my clients, a powerlifter, lost 15 kg from his deadlift in 3 weeks before we stopped the experiment.
- #2 Women with Active Menstrual Cycles: The female body is much more sensitive to sharp calorie restrictions and long periods of fasting. An aggressive regimen like OMAD can send a "stress and starvation" signal to the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which often leads to cycle disturbances, even amenorrhea (cessation of menstruation). This is a huge red flag that should not be ignored.
- #3 People with a History of Eating Disorders: The "fasting-binging" model of OMAD is playing with fire for anyone with a history of bulimia or binge eating disorder. The long period of deprivation can easily trigger a loss of control during eating, followed by immense guilt and shame. I strictly forbid this regimen for such clients.
- #4 Socially Active People: The regimen is brutally inflexible. It isolates you. Forget lunch with colleagues, family dinner, birthday parties. Your life starts revolving around a single hour, which is a recipe for social isolation and obsession.
Messy Human Detail: The Case of Dimitar (and His Digestive System)
I'll tell you about Dimitar, a 38-year-old software engineer, 98 kg. His goal was to lose 10 kg. He trained 3 times a week, but his main problem was constant snacking at the office. He came to me after trying OMAD on his own for a month, guided by internet articles.
The first two weeks were "fantastic," in his words. The scale showed -3 kg. But then came the uncomfortable, "dirty" details that no one writes about in blogs:
- Energy and Focus: He described it as "brain fog at 3 PM" that no amount of coffee could break through. He became irritable and unable to do quality work.
- Digestion: He ate at 7 PM with a huge amount of food. He described himself as a "stuffed python." He felt bloated, heavy, and often woke up at night with heartburn and reflux, which ruined his sleep.
- Mood and Libido: He admitted sheepishly that "things in the bedroom weren't going well." He was constantly tense and "on edge" at home while waiting for the coveted mealtime. His family felt the tension.
- Real Results: Yes, he lost 3 kg. But it was mostly water and glycogen. His strength in the gym had dropped, and his quality of life was in the toilet (literally and figuratively). We stopped OMAD immediately.
Dimitar's Example (and Failed) OMAD Protocol
This was his attempt to consume ~2200 kcal in one meal. Just the cost of additional supplements (quality protein, multivitamins, enzymes) to support such an experiment could easily reach €50-80 per month.
| Food | Quantity | Protein (g) | Carbs (g) | Fat (g) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pork neck (roasted) | 300 g | ~65 | 0 | ~45 |
| Potatoes (baked) | 500 g | 10 | 85 | 1 |
| Large salad with avocado | 400 g vegetables + 1 avocado | ~8 | ~25 | 22 |
| Greek yogurt (10%) | 200 g | 18 | 6 | 20 |
| Handful of walnuts | 40 g | 6 | 6 | 26 |
| Whey protein (in yogurt) | 30 g | 24 | 3 | 2 |
| Total: | - | ~131 g | ~125 g | ~116 g |
| ~2100 kcal | ||||
My Final Conclusion: A Tool, Not a Lifestyle
As a dietitian with over 15 years of practice, I can say this: OMAD is not a dietary regimen, but an extreme tool with very limited application. For me, OMAD falls into the category of "last resort for desperate times" and is almost never the first, second, or even third tool I would pull from the box.
My #1 choice would never be OMAD for an athlete. I admit, sometimes I make the mistake of underestimating how much people want quick and extreme solutions. But my job is to bring them back to reality and show them that there are smarter, more sustainable, and healthier paths to their goal. Paths like moderate intermittent fasting (16:8) or simply 3-4 balanced meals that don't turn your life into hell while you wait for your next meal.
Expert Note from Petar Mitkov
Before you jump into another trendy regimen, ask yourself a simple question: "Can I see myself doing this a year from now?". If the answer is "no," it's not a lifestyle, it's a diet. And every diet has an end, often followed by a return to old habits and weight. OMAD is the clearest example of this. Instead of seeking extremes, focus on the boring but effective fundamentals: adequate protein, sufficient fiber, portion control, and consistency. This yields 90% of the results, not 23-hour fasting.