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Summary
On episode 466 of 40+ Fitness, Coach Allan sits down with Alyssa Sybertz, a freelance journalist and copywriter specializing in health, nutrition, fitness, and food, a frequent contributor to Woman’s World and First for Women and food editor at Closer Weekly.
Alyssa discusses her book, The OMAD Diet: Intermittent Fasting with One Meal a Day to Burn Fat and Lose Weight, and explains OMAD as an extended daily fast built around one well-rounded meal rather than a license to eat whatever you want once a day.
The conversation covers how OMAD affects insulin and growth hormone, how to ease into it instead of jumping straight in, how to pack real nutrition into a single meal, and what to consider around exercise timing and medications.
Links
- https://alyssasybertz.com
Key Takeaways
- OMAD is an extended daily fast, not just calorie restriction. Eating one meal a day means roughly 23 hours of fasting, and it’s flexible enough to be built keto, vegan, vegetarian, or gluten-free depending on how the meal is composed.
- The length of the fast is part of the fat-loss mechanism. During an extended fast the body works through its stored glucose first, then switches to burning fat, so the longer the fast continues past that switch, the more fat gets burned.
- Insulin is the biggest hormonal lever OMAD pulls. Eating once a day gives the pancreas long stretches without needing to produce insulin, compared to the near-constant demand created by frequent small meals and snacks, which over time can contribute to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.
- OMAD can also raise human growth hormone (HGH), which supports lean muscle mass and a steady metabolism and naturally declines with age, so extended fasting may help partly offset that age-related drop.
- Ease into it rather than jumping straight to one meal. Alyssa recommends stepping down from three meals to two first, experimenting with which time of day to eat, and staying hydrated with water, black coffee, tea, or bone broth during fasting hours, since thirst is often mistaken for hunger.
- A single daily meal has to be deliberately nutrient-dense. Alyssa’s recipes emphasize protein, fiber, and vegetables to cover a full day’s nutritional needs, and eating slowly and mindfully, without screens or driving, improves satisfaction and helps the fast feel sustainable.
- Exercise timing around the meal is personal. Some people train well fasted and see real benefits from it, while others feel nauseous or weak, so it’s worth experimenting with training before or after the meal, and “fat bombs” (coconut oil or butter-based treats) can serve as a small fasted-friendly option around workouts.
- Anyone on blood sugar medication needs medical guidance first. A major change in eating pattern, like moving to OMAD, changes how much metformin or insulin someone needs, so that conversation with a doctor has to happen before starting.
- Alyssa’s three strategies to get and stay well: find activities that are good for you and also make you happy, since you’re far more likely to stick with something you actually enjoy; be kind to yourself when life derails a plan instead of treating it as a reason to start over; and get outside as much as possible for its calming, stress-reducing effect.
“Happiness is such an enormous part of fitness and wellness that I really don’t think these things are worth doing unless you enjoy them.”
Alyssa Sybertz
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Episode 477 – Lose weight and feel great on two meals per day with Brad Kerns