
The Bhikkhu Diet (2003) - sridca
https://tricycle.org/magazine/bhikkhu-diet/
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octosphere
Similar to OMAD:

[https://omaddiet.com/](https://omaddiet.com/)

[https://www.reddit.com/r/omad/](https://www.reddit.com/r/omad/)

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JoshMnem
I've been experimenting with calorie restriction, water fasting, and
intermittent fasting for 2 1/2 years and you don't need to go as extreme as
one meal per day to see results. The hunger gets much easier to manage. I
don't think that people should do it without also adopting a high-nutrient
diet (vegetables, legumes, whole foods, nuts, seeds, fruits, etc.), because
there isn't much room for empty calories.

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andai
I just finished a month on a beef-only diet and I've never felt so good in my
life. Stable energy all day, the bottomless pit in my stomach is gone (a
combination of depression, cravings, and not feeling satiated).

Two days ago I ran out of money for beef, so I'm back to eating mostly carbs
(and grains), and within 36 hours my depression and skin problems are back.
It's amazing, like an on/off switch for my well being.

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chriskanan
Why beef over other sources of protein? Why not fish, birds, or other mammals?

Red (mammal) meat contains a particular glycan (Neu5Gc) that accumulates in
our bodies when we eat it. Some studies have argued that this particular
glycan causes cancer and inflammation:
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4299224/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4299224/)

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andai
A friend with similar symptoms to mine got better after trying a beef diet. I
don't like fish or pork, and I don't respond well to chicken. I can eat eggs
(nice and cheap) but not too many or I get bad headaches. I eventually
discovered studies that found eggs to be the #1 migraine trigger food.

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toomanybeersies
For a while at university I was eating one meal a day. I half did it to lose
weight, and half because I was lazy and was poor.

I found it surprisingly easy. I didn't really have any problem with cravings
or hunger pangs.

These days, I eat 2 meals a day, one at 1 PM and one at 7 PM, I generally
don't snack between meals. I guess it's technically intermittent fasting? I
also often forgo eating on Sundays, I just can't be bothered. Recently, I've
also been eating less meat, just once or twice a week, also not on purpose,
but I just stopped wanting to eat meat.

Between all these changes in my diet, I've managed to lose about 10 kg in 2
months and I'm still steadily losing weight.

In the end, I'm convinced that it's all in your head. Some people
psychologically want to eat more than others, and that's why they're fat. It's
not your metabolism, or because you eat too many carbs, or because you're not
practicing intermittent fasting. Fat people are literally addicted to food.

If only there was a way to rewire your brain to eat less. There have been
studies that show that ketamine used in a therapeutic setting can help with
overcoming alcohol addiction [1]. I wonder if it could also be used to tackle
obesity?

[1] [https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jan/24/radical-
keta...](https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jan/24/radical-ketamine-
therapy-could-treat-alcohol-addiction-erase-memories)

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andai
What you are doing is called time restricted eating. It is very healthy.
Eating at the right times (and only within a specific window) is good for your
metabolism. And that's good because it makes you stronger and keeps you slim.
Doing it wrong can lead to cancer and diabetes.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6KClPkotxM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6KClPkotxM)

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joflicu
I wonder whether calories in - calories out is too simplistic a picture. Why
do people put on antipsychotics gain an ungodly amount of weight? If
metabolism slows down sufficiently, it will take more effort to burn those
calories you take in (even if one hasn't substantially increased ones intake).
This is a complex issue and I wish more scientists studied the link between
medications and weight gain.

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chongli
Yes, calories in - calories out is too simplistic. It really ought to be
modelled with a partial differential equation, where calories out depends on
calories in, current fat storage, exercise levels, sleep routine, stress, and
more, with all of those things being affected by subjective energy level.

It is a well established fact that the body makes a host of metabolic
adjustments in response to changes in diet.

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crankylinuxuser
I've heard from 2 dieticians (professional, not online), that the primary way
we lose weight is through our breath.

Food we eat is drained of nutrients and excreted. The excretions are less than
the food, and the rest is absorbed into the body.

The other excretion we have is sweat, which is primarily salts and water.

The only avenue in which we can shed weight is by CO2 exhaled...

(I do not have a citation for this from a paper, but heard the same
description from 2 different dieticians. I accepted this as fact.)

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IAmTheTucan
I've eaten one meal a day for years. I don't do it because I'm on a diet
though. I do it because I like to eat big meals. A big dinner is much more
enjoyable than a tiny breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I don't get hungry at all.

People apparently think this is strange but I'm equally baffled by the assumed
need to eat three times a day. Like, you'll be okay, lol.

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toomanybeersies
I'm in the same boat. I haven't eaten breakfast as a regular thing in about 5
years, I just don't enjoy eating cereal and don't have time to cook up a
proper breakfast and eat it. I'll usually have a big lunch, and then a small
supper (often something like an avocado and some corn).

People say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but I feel no
ill effects from skipping it. People just love to repeat things they heard
years ago like they're some kind of ground truth. My mum still goes on about
how I shouldn't add salt to food and I should avoid fat like it's the devil.
And now that I've become a vegetarian, I'm getting the full force of years of
marketing from the red meat lobby coming from her.

The human body is remarkably capable of managing to operate in a variety of
conditions. Whether that's a vegan diet, or an Inuit diet that consists almost
solely of meat; intermittent fasting, or continuous grazing.

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atomical
It's funny how a lot of these articles start out about how the diet made them
feel so good and it felt so natural. By the end they've gained back the
weight. If it was so great why couldn't you continue with it? The obvious
answer is that in the beginning it was new and exciting and the drawbacks were
ignored.

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KozmoNau7
People think a diet is something you can just do for a while, and then stop.
You need to make a permanent lifestyle change, and most people are unwilling
to make the commitment.

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malkia
I've started low-carb (very few fruits - like strawberry, raspberry,
occasional orange), just a bit of veggies, and mostly meat, cheese and othr
dairy products (no milk though). Seems to work fine for me, was able to lose
30-40lbs in several months, without any calorie restriction.

When feeling that I need something sweet, coffee helps a lot then, and lately
have been taking a chunk of 100% cocoa solids Montezuma's chocolate.

Had N of (lights) beers for the number of months that have passed :) (Used to
be quite a beer drinker, IPA's, Stout, etc.)

But one meal a day is probably going to be hard to keep on - socially, and
just in general.

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kjeetgill
I've done something simmilar (keto) with one meal a day. I lose cravings
eventually but when starting my big go-to for sweet cravings is almond milk
and super salted cashews.

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malkia
Tried almond milk time ago, and wasn't my taste, but really love almonds,
peanuts and my secret sin: sunflower seeds (loved them since I was a kid).

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Zarathust
We live in a society (many of us) where "low calory food" is synonym of
"healthy". I think it's one of the ultimate modern luxury, to look for food
that will yield little energy for you.

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moltar
I’ve tried eating one meal a day, every second day. But I ate at 6pm. It’s
quite tough at first, but gets easier with time.

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clanreborn
My belief is that the best diet is what your forefathers ate.

Gene function changes per your environment of which diet is an important part.

Darstic changes in lifestyle or diet can result in diseases.

Then you may ask, didn't humans survive famine so how can you say humans
aren't resilent to drastic changes? Yes, they did but as a whole tribe not
individually, usually a large portion of the tribe was usually wipped in such
clamity unless a massive luck strikes.

I want to see the research backing for my idea.

This came to me through meditation.

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KozmoNau7
Fad diets here, fad diets there, fad diets everywhere.

Don't eat this, only eat that, don't eat at these times, only eat at these
times, fast, don't fast.

It's been going on for decades, and it's both silly and counterproductive.

There is no easy shortcut to losing weight and being in good health. It takes
discipline and dedication, and a complete lifestyle change. Yes, it's hard,
but we just have to deal with that, instead of thinking we can somehow cheat
our way to it.

Eat less, move more. I'm not going to try to get more detailed than that,
because then everyone will just start nitpicking, based on their own pet
theories.

"Move more" is the most important part. Almost everyone in western society is
moving way too little. Our sedentary lifestyles are killing us. Stand up at
your desk. Go for a walk instead of watching a movie. Start riding a bike.
Take the stairs. Doesn't matter, just _move_.

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trukterious
Yes, discipline is needed, but knowledge helps too, because it shows some of
the directions in which discipline may be applied, for example:

One can learn that carb and fructose-rich foods are addictive and cause
diabetes when consumed in excess.

One can learn that drinking alcohol just before eating causes the liver to
prioritise metabolising alcohol and the other calories go into visceral fat
(the so-called 'beer belly').

One can learn that eating just before bed or when one is normally asleep puts
strain on the heart and causes fat to be laid down (importance of circadian
rhythms).

One can learn that people who aren't even slightly fat are killing themselves
from drug overdose, which may seem irrelevant until one recalls that many
people _eat for comfort_. (So this is a personal/mental problem as well as a
physiological one.)

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KozmoNau7
All of those are absolutely miniscule when compared to the effect of
undermoving and overeating.

The carb/fructose thing is scaremongering. Type 1 diabetes is genetic, type 2
partially genetic, and is not caused solely by carbs/fructose. One of its
factors is a generally poor-quality diet, but saturated/trans fat intake plays
a larger role than sugars. And all of that is completely dwarfed by the
influence of obesity on the risk of contracting type 2 diabetes.

Drinking alcohol does make your body prioritize metabolizing it first, but
alcohol also slows down digestion and can make you feel fuller for longer,
leading to a decreased food intake. "Beer belly" is a myth.

Eating at night or before going to be is not unhealthier than eating during
the day. That has been debunked countless times.

Food addiction is a real thing, however. And unlike tobacco or alcohol, you
can't go "cold turkey" (haha) on food and just stop eating. You need rules,
motivation and backup.

This is the best FAQ I've found is this:
[https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=34...](https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3483424)

Yes, it's SA, notorious for its bad comedy forums. But the exercise and diet
forum is seriously quality stuff, with hundreds of success stories of fat
nerds getting in shape, and keeping it.

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trukterious
Cold turkey sounds like a healthy diet :-)

But seriously, the idea that saturated fat causes type II diabetes is news to
me. Can you provide an explanation and/or sources? Thank you.

