When to Avoid One Meal a Day And Intermittent Fasting

Primal Edge Health participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and other affiliate programs and therefore, may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. This comes at no additional cost to you, and all the prices and availability are accurate at the time of publishing.

One meal a day (OMAD) can feel like a cheat code. You skip the meal planning, keep insulin low, and for a lot of people the fat loss comes fast. The problem is that success stories make it sound universal, and it is not. If your body is already stressed, under-fueled, or struggling with digestion, one meal a day can quietly slow progress and make you think you are “failing” at fasting.

In this episode, Tristan lays out when intermittent fasting, especially OMAD, is useful and when it is a bad move. The key theme is context. Fasting is a tool, not a requirement, and not a magic fix.

Listen to the Episode Now

Click play on the podcast player below or watch the video on Youtube.

Meet the Host

Tristan Haggard is the voice behind the Primal Edge Health podcast. He’s helped thousands find health through nutrient-dense eating, keto, and carnivore diets by focusing on real food, simple habits, and a holistic approach to wellness. He’s also into homesteading and raising his family with a back-to-basics lifestyle.

Connect with Tristan on X.

Episode Highlights

Tristan explains why OMAD became popular in the first place. Short eating windows can help people lower insulin, improve insulin sensitivity, and simplify fat loss, especially for sedentary people who have a lot of weight to lose. But he also warns that OMAD is a more aggressive version of intermittent fasting, and aggressive tools need the right conditions to work.

He goes through situations where OMAD can backfire. If you are doing hard manual labor, training multiple times per day, trying to gain weight, or trying to build muscle, one meal may not give you enough total calories or protein to recover. If you have digestive issues like IBS, Crohn’s, or gut dysbiosis, one huge meal can be a lot to handle and may leave you feeling worse. 

He also calls out contexts where stress and sleep are already working against you. New moms who are breastfeeding, night-shift workers, and people with poor sleep or thyroid issues may do better with steadier nourishment rather than long fasting windows that can amplify stress hormones. The takeaway is simple. Match the tool to the situation, then adjust based on results you can actually feel and measure.

In this episode:

• Why OMAD can work well for fat loss in the right context
• When athletes, lifters, and manual laborers should avoid it
• Why trying to gain weight or build muscle often requires multiple meals
• OMAD concerns after gastric sleeve surgery
• When gut issues make one large meal a bad idea
• Why poor sleep, night shifts, postpartum, and breastfeeding change the fasting equation
• The real goal: use tools that fit your life and goals

Got questions? Drop a comment or reach out! We’d love to hear what you think or help you figure out your next step.

Please subscribe and give a 5-star rating on your preferred podcast platform!

Meet Our Sponsor

This episode is brought to you by CHOQ. Choq is our first choice for natural supplements to positively impact energy, mood, and stress resilience throughout the day. Shop now and use our code BIG53LIFE for 53% off all subscriptions for life!

Disclaimer: These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The contents of this podcast are for informational purposes only and do not constitute medical advice. The content presented here is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of a qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or dietary changes. Reliance on any information provided by this article is solely at your own risk.