anyone know about 16/8 intermittent fasting?

[happyfrown]

im looking to try this out but so much conflicting info im reading.

so do I just eat what I usually eat, breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks in the 8hr window. OR do I skip a meal meaning im say 3-400 cals down?

im not over weight im skinny fat -yes its a thing- and just need to tone up that last stubborn bit of fat. belly fat is an issue - with that extra poochy bit its making me look bloated. even tho I ab train. its the damn fat. -and possibly a little loose skin- not showing off my hard work lol. also I do glute work but no amounts of squats will tone up the ass meaning I give myself a round of applause when doing jumping jacks!

I usually eat around 1400-1500cals a day, I count macros and try to keep to a protein high lower carb diet. I have a fit bit that shows how my cals in vs out are doing. I always burn more.

I go gym 2 days a week for weights and do home weights/exercise for abs/ arms etc. but no matter what I cant get the last jiggly bits rid!
according to the gym machine im 22% fat.
any help on this fasting is appreciated.

[Bellebelle]

Hi happyfrown

There’s a really good thread on the 16:8 further down the board which I suggest you check out, lots of helpful advice there which I read through at the weekend before starting the 16:8 today. I wanted to reply to you though as you could be me! I’m relatively slim but I can’t get rid of my last bit of stomach fat despite my upper abs never having been better! Been trying to loose weight using MFP for the past month but literally haven’t lost an ounce despite never eating more than 1500, doing some kind of exercise everyday and going to bed each night feeling hungry. I’m hoping that the 16:8 will give my metabolism a boost as if I eat below 1500 calories a day I feel terrible - feel faint during exercise and come down with a cold within days.

One thing I’d recommend for toning up your bum is a combination of barre and Pilates classes if you can find them. I started doing a class of each about 18 months ago and can’t believe the difference it’s made. Much firmer and I swear my bum has lifted a bit - DH agrees!

[happyfrown]

hi yes id posted this in chat then came across the fasting topic so asked for it to be moved here. I might copy and post this in the coments.

how was your first day? ive woke up so hungry... its gona be a long morning! got gym and never done a fasted weight train.

I tried cutting calories down to 1200 last year and looked gaunt, I lost abit of weight but never managed to tone up and just looked a skinnier skinny fat? I also burn too many cals to go any less. I eat 1400 (1500 tops) and burn 1800+ on a good day so I guess the 600 deficit was too much.
ive looked for barre classes but theres none near enough or at the right time to tie in with school days/times. I do Windsor pilates of you tube so that will have to do lol.

[Bellebelle]

I am finding the mornings really hard and I’m about to post in the longer thread to ask if it gets easier! I really like breakfast and have definitely trained my body to expect food within about 30 minutes of getting up. I also don’t drink tea or coffee (just never liked the taste) so don’t even have anything to get a caffeine boost from. It’s not practical for me to do it any other way though as I can’t imagine not eating anything after mid-afternoon and I don’t want DD’s to see me not eating it that makes sense - easy to say that I’ll eat breakfast at work (not a lie technically just not until 11am!) than not eat with them in the evenings. I’ve got through it by constant cups of peppermint tea until 11am but reckon my work productivity levels are at about zero for the first couple of hours of the day but I make up for it later. Going to give it a week to see if it gets easier as life’s too short to be obsessed with feeling so hungry every morning!

[happyfrown]

morning, I think your body just needs time to adjust to the change maybe? it was my first day yesterday and I woke up so hungry! but after an hour or so it subsided and I done an hour and 30min weight /gym workout. surprised me as I thought I wouldn't get through.
can you do 10-6? is that window fit you and your DD's dinner time?
im used to having our dinner and washed up by 5.30pm so yesterdays 6.30 dinner wasn't too bad a change.

what I found hardest yesterday was worrying how to eat all 1500 in 8 hrs I was writing down eating slots to try and space out my snack + 3 meals!

hope the mornings get easier for you. I was loving my flat stomach until around 1pm yesterday

[Bellebelle]

Hi,

Today was much easier, it may have been because I was in meetings all morning so had more to keep me distracted but I really didn’t feel all that hungry. Tomorrow will be a better test of whether I’m getting used to it though as I’ve got a clear morning and a list of about 20 things to get done by lunchtime so it will be a real test of my concentration levels! I wouldn’t be able to manage 10 - 6, most days we’re not all home until 6.15 so I’m having to get straight into eating as soon as we get in, it’s okay as I do lots of food prep at the weekends so everything is normally ready by 6.30pm.

However, today I got in a bit later and as I’d had such a busy day at work I didn’t manage to eat everything I normally would - I usually have breakfast (yoghurt or porridge with fruit), lunch and then a smoothie mid-afternoon. Today because it wasn’t appropriate to take a bowl of breakfast into a meeting I had my smoothie at 11, lunch at 1.30 and then didn’t get the chance to sit down and eat the breakfast I’d taken in with me so just left it at work to eat tomorrow. It left me with about 800 calories to eat which I didn’t manage to do before 7pm so I’ve ended up only having about 1150 calories today. I don’t feel hungry at all but I wouldn’t want to do that everyday as I think I’d get ill and I don’t think it’s particularly good for me long term. Like you I’ve ended up eating below 1500 before (was down to work stress in an old job rather than intentional) and I looked pretty gaunt and of course when I got past that to my happier life all the weight went straight back on again with a little bit more. It does make me wonder if really what this diet does is make you eat less.

I only get the chance to weigh myself on a Friday morning (don’t have scales in the house so go to the Boots after school drop off on a Friday which is the only day I do) so although I’ll only have completed 4 days I’ll be interested to see if I’ve lost anything at all.

[happyfrown]

glad to hear it was better today, I think keeping busy is the best way. I find sitting still too long doing nothing makes me peckish. today I distracted myself with arm work out and 20min walk followed by my protein shake at 11am so actually timed well.
must be harder when having to eat round the work hours too!

understand what you mean about the squeeze to eat everything, my friend called and invited me over her house at the end of school, so I had to quickly eat my greek yogurt and fruit before leaving as I wouldn't have time to fit it in when I got back cos id be eating dinner!
I struggle to eat 1500, i eat force it because i don't look well if i don't eat enough plus i have low iron and blood pressure so need to eat.

has it helped you with evening munches? i find that i haven't felt peckish after my last meal at 7. not even my later coffees.

how much weight are you looking to loose? hope you get good result fri.
im not to focussed on my weight, i want to tone up meaning my weight will gain due to more muscle mass. hopefully.

i think we've missed the party on the other thread lol
all the best

[Bellebelle]

Hi! Yes, seems to be just us talking about this now!

Today was okay, felt quite hungry when I woke up but was then okay. Again struggled to eat all my calories and have finished about 200 down. Could have quite happily skipped my last meal but ate something although not as much as I’d planned - partly due to running out of time and partly due to not being terribly hungry. Like you I’m not tempted to eat anything after 7pm. How are you getting on?

It’s a weird feeling not wanting to eat as much as usual and I have to say that my stomach is struggling to cope a bit with all the food so close together but again that may calm down. I do keep on thinking that at some point the ‘magic’ is going to wear off and I’ll be ravenous! Going to go with it for now and not stress too much about not eating all of my calories each day as I’ve got a couple of social things next week where I’ll probably eat less healthily and then I’m going on holiday where it’s unlikely I’ll follow it so it is quite short term for now. May go back on it for post-holiday though!

I’m not sure about weight really as in the past 18 months I’ve toned up a lot so have more muscle mass and therefore I know that I’m a higher weight at the same size now. I really just want my clothes to fit a bit better than they have since Christmas when I put on a bit of weight that I haven’t lost and while how my clothes feel is the best barometer it does help me to weigh myself to check that things are going in the right direction. I started MFP about 8 weeks ago and lost 4lbs pretty quickly and have plateaued since. I think my jeans maybe feel a bit looser now than they did last week but not a huge amount.

I have to say that while I’m really enjoying being a lot fitter than I was and really toned I’m not totally delighted with my new shape. While my bum has lifted it’s also got bigger but then I’ve read that in order to get your bum to be perkier the muscle also needs to grow a bit which does make sense but it means that a lot of trousers are really tight around there (and my thighs - I do a lot of lunges!) My stomach is also massively improved in my upper abs, I’ve got some definition there now but my lower abs really bother me. The muscle is now really toned but my lower stomach now sticks out when it didn’t really before. I’m not sure if that’s just what happens or if it’s been down to bad technique when doing lower ab exercises - I don’t always remember to pull my stomach in! I know it’s all about being ‘strong not skinny’ but I’d have been happier staying the same size just being more toned with it if that makes sense? I’m
hoping to burn off some fat but keep the muscle I suppose.

[happyfrown]

some one did reply on the other thread.

im doing well, put on other thread that i wore my crop top today having flat empty stomach haha!

what are you eating? might be calorie dense, too much carb? so stomach not digesting fast enough maybe?
i eat same things pretty much every day, on rotation i mean. ill have Weetabix or porridge, followed by a fibre bar and protein drinki if ive worked out. then some kind of meat and veg salad for lunch. around 3 i have greek yogurt, blueberries and a half scoop of protein powder (for better taste!) dinner again is a meat and veg. sometimes like today i'll have a bit of rice. if i am any peckish ive got rice cakes on stand by but didn't need them today.
what if you just add an extra hour onto your window. so 11-8 sure it wont do too much harm? that way you get abit more space.

yea you can see if the ravenous comes as a delay lol must be stressful trying to do it with work and social plans. come the school holidays my routine is blown apart so i guess that's when ill wobble.

you'll have to tell me your toning secrets. i feel ive got no hope. the worse this is people telling me 'theres nothing of me' but i can grab fingers full of fat! i do have body dysmorphia so prob dramatizing it more. but cant help what my brain see.
i totally understand about getting a desired weight or size and not liking it. last year (with added stress causing weight loss) i went down to 50kg tiny size 8... although still skinny fat! and was crying into the mirror thinking how ill and ugly i looked. looked like a troll on drugs. even tho ive been dying to be smaller, lighter, skinnier... go figure lol

its so hard to get it right. now im like you where i don't want to be smaller just toned up. but you cant loose fat unless your in a caloric deficit which means loosing weight! yet to build those muscles you want to tone you - you have to be in surplus to build muscle..... arghhh!!!
i have tone envy haha, sounds great what you've achieved. upper abs are getting there (although them being red raw today from sunbed ) my lower abs stick out too. well not as much as before this fasting lark. i have bad form due to lower back strength so im guessing its preventing my lower abs toning. as for the glutes and inner thighs - i got more chance being next on throne

will just keeping going see what occurs ((big thumbs up to ya))

[happyfrown]

sorry you did tell me a tip for barre pilates. will be searching you tube vids soon as.

[NT53NJT]

I did the 16:8 for a few weeks and I lost a good amount of weight but due the physical nature of my job it wasn't a great idea for me to be going to work fasted and not eating till 12pm.

It depends how your body reacts to the insulin spikes from the fasting and eating volume. Try it for a week or two and see how you get on