This past week, I tested out the OMAD strategy of intermittent fasting, otherwise known as “one meal a day.” When I got diagnosed with Crohn’s last year, my doctors wanted me to get a colonoscopy to check for polyps. After the first failed attempt, I had to do it again immediately the following day, meaning I ended up going two full days without eating. What surprised me during the experience was that I wasn’t actually that concerned about eating the whole time. The hunger didn’t get worse over time; eventually, it went away.

Though the colonoscopy didn’t pan out, I came to realize that I didn’t need to eat as much as I thought. When I went back to my three meals per day routine, I found that I was hungrier than when I didn’t eat anything, resulting in three meals turning into four meals. With OMAD, all of my meals are compressed into one hour of eating, which I’m finding has its own pros of cons. In terms of pros, the focus of only eating once cuts out all thoughts of snacking from my mindset, including at the grocery store. I don’t buy it, so I don’t end up eating it. Also, when I’m buying food, I tend to focus on what’s going to be satiating and provide me enough energy/nutrition, rather than focusing just on what tastes good. Empty calories become less valuable, in the same way that frivolous purchases do when you’re short on funds.

In terms of cons, I have concerns about the sustainability of the setup. I’ve never been the type of person that can eat a considerable amount of food at once. Going over 1000 calories in one meal can be a challenge for me, so getting up to the minimum 1500 can turn eating into a slog. Using the entire hour certainly helps, but I want to look forward to dinner, not turn it into more exercise. Long-term, I may want to spread it out a little more to 2 or 4 hours, so I have more time to take in the food and not unload too much on my body at once. I used restaurant food as a means of getting myself into the rhythm, as I always look forward to restaurant food. I ate out once a day instead of doing grocery shopping this week, and it went pretty well. The only concerning factor was some mild numbness in my left arm, but that might be indicative of me undereating. Balancing the right amount is something I’ll need to strive for this coming week, as even if I widen the window I don’t intend on going back to more than two meals per day.

Wakeup Call chapter 2 is on the home stretch. I’ve drawn out most of the panels now. I just need to finish the rest and arrange them properly. Then I can start doing the sanity checks. Should be done by the end of the month. I also did some major cleanup in my Cosmic section, correcting and tweaking many of the terms and powers as I continue to develop my system. One new development that has greatly captured my attention is the new legacy system, which provides a global effect on the match when an alien is eliminated, making eliminations a bigger deal than just one player going away.

I think that’s about everything for this week. More work to be done. More things to learn. And I still want to serve up some tasty drinks at my bar. Stay thirsty! And make the most!