A Public Health Epidemiologist Fasted Her Way Down 80 Pounds in a Year, Ending on One Meal a Day

Martine Etienne-Mesubi, a Baltimore-based global health epidemiologist with a Ph.D. in the field, started at 225 pounds at age 42, struggling with fatigue while parenting young children and unable to sustain previous approaches like running or strict dieting.

Beginning in early 2019, she started with an 18-hour fast and a 6-hour eating window, then shifted in April 2019 to eating just one meal a day (OMAD), typically at dinner — nutrient-dense meals like Haitian rice with oxtail, arugula salad with turkey necks, avocado toast with eggs, or fish tacos. "I have one satiating meal in one sitting," she said, "then I'm done for the day." She widened her eating window to 6-8 hours around holidays, and experimented with 48-to-72-hour fasts for about two months before dropping that approach.

By January 2020 — about a year after she started — Etienne-Mesubi had gone from 225 pounds to 145 pounds, a loss of 80 pounds. She has credited the change with helping build the confidence to return to work after seven years at home with her children. Dietitian Samantha Cassetty has flagged general concerns with OMAD, including high dropout rates in studies and possible nutrient deficiency risks.