Fasting 16:8 - does it make any difference?

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Anyone done this and feel like its made a difference? Helped get results?
Obviously combined with low cal etc

I’ve been doing it since beginning of May. Not seen a huge result weight loss wise but I’m not very active so have relied on keeping calories around 1300 and occasionally extending the fast to 18-19 hours.

As someone who has a history of yo-yo dieting this is the longest I’ve stuck to something as it doesn’t feel like a diet. I’m the kind of person who once I start eating, that’s it I’m off for the day. I knew with lockdown and wfh until the end of the year the pounds would soon pile on so this seemed a sensible option.

Overall I’ve lost half a stone (starting weight 12 stone) but I wish I had done my measurements at the beginning because I have definitely lost from my waist - I fit into jeans I haven’t worn for a long time - and my face has trimmed down.

Ive had two days where I’ve not fasted and both times I felt quite ill so it seems that this is it for me now I think - no more eating before 1pm!

That's interesting. Thanks.
I was going to give it a try but putting it off cos breakfast my fav meal!
Do you not even have a brew?

I've been doing it for 6 weeks and am down 3kg. It doesn't sound like loads but it's the longest I've completely stuck to a diet of any kind and it feels sustainable. I tend too fast for longer - 18-20 hours, completely clean so no milky tea or anything (black/green tea or black coffee is ok) and really don't get that hungry! I used to love breakfast so much as well!

I don't count calories, the point of IF is that you shouldn't have to, your body naturally corrects your appetite and you just eat to satiety. Read "The obesity code" or "Delay, don't deny."

I agree it definitely corrects your appetite. I’ve got to the point where I put my calories in at the end of the day thinking I might have gone over but more often than not I’m under. I’ve even started leaving some of my dinner as I’m too full (unheard of for me, I’m a pig).

I do miss breakfast but black coffee and planning an amazing lunch makes up for it, plus I would miss dinner and alcohol much more!

Im really interested in this. Do any of you exercise? I like to exercise first thing and I suppose my worry is that I'll exercise and then I can only have black coffee until lunchtime which doesn't seem quite right. I have to work 9-5 so I can't really exercise much later (although it's possible I guess as I'm now working at home)

I'm doing it alongside mfp and have lost 1.5kg in 10 days. I do low cal so 1200 calories but am eating any calories burned during exercise so could loose more if I didn't use those calories. I do have tea first thing with a splash of milk

@temproasted I don't, but am in a big IF facebook group and lots of people there do. They are very keen on exercising while fasted, just making sure you have adequate water/electrolytes on board.

@SockQueen I'll have a search for that FB group then. Thanks!

I don't know what my hours are but, not religiously at all and with plenty of milky tea and sometimes a broth at lunch, or lentil soup... I've totally forgone breakfast, extremely light lunch and whatever I want at dinner including pudding, crisps etc.
I've lost since lock down the huge tyre around my waist. Legs better etc.. I've done intermittent light excersise a few times a week.
Just for the milk deniers... You may not been to be so strict.
Also if I want lunch I will have lunch. But the driver is not wanting to be ill with covid, being fitter to get through this winter which I expect will be a nightmare.

Maybe try shifting the timings a bit op.
I eat my evening meal fairly early, meaning I fast from 6pm until 10am the following day.
At 10am I will have filling breakfast (usually something egg based), a couple of pieces of fruit in the afternoon and then dinner at 5.45pm.

I tried it. But it was incompatible with work shifts. I work (generally) 3-10.30. So my meal would be at 11pm, and my eating window would open just as I went to work (can't eat on shift).

I try to keep to 16:8 on days off, but, whilst I can do the fast and often extend it, because I run at lunchtime, don't feel hungry before and after running, it is suprising how much food it is possible to consume in the remaining hours.

I think, like most other diets, it works because it makes you think about what you are eating and when you are eating it. It does not allow for the fact that it's possible to eat an entire pack of Co Op cheese puffs in ten minutes...

Im really interested in this. Do any of you exercise? I like to exercise first thing and I suppose my worry is that I'll exercise and then I can only have black coffee until lunchtime which doesn't seem quite right. I have to work 9-5 so I can't really exercise much later (although it's possible I guess as I'm now working at home)

I don't do 16-8 for any particular reason, nor do I watch my weight specifically, however I do often only eat after 6pm, particularly when I'm fit - the less fit I am, the more likely I am to eat earlier in the day.

When commuting, I would generally do 45minute cycle to the office, a lunch run 7-12km and 45 minute cycle home, not eating anything until 6-7pm. Only with really intense exercise for a long period would I need the calories sooner - which is reasonable, when fit you have a lot of ready fuel for exercise and it takes a lot of intensity to exhaust them.

When unfit though, a smaller amount of exercise has me reaching for food earlier in the day, this is also expected, less fit means less fuel stored and more of it used rather than the masses of longer term fuel you have.

So if you need food after your exercise really depends on how fit you are, just try it - you certainly don't need to eat before exercise, although it may well impact your sensations when exercising - you might feel you can't as hard etc.

When i exercise in the morning, it suppresses my appetite further so I don't eat until lunchtime.

I do 23:1, drink herbal teas/ water thourhgout the day then do my exercise on a fasted state and then eat straight after

I started back up this week as I had got a bit lax (habit of comfort eating when I am down) and lost 4lbs already

it works well for me like this (I've lost 8.5 stone btw and happily maintaining)

I'm not hungry in the mornings, it's MUCh easier to control myself then and I'm busier, so I eat breakfast after midday, usually about 12:30

I have lunch about 3pm

Dinner about 7pm

If I have an early breakfast, say 7 or 8am, it kicks off a kind of hunger cycle for me and I'll need to eat again before midday

So by doing IF it means I have fewer calories to the tune of a meal and a snacks worth, plus probably stops some afternoon snacking too because I'm having my lunch then.

Hope that makes sense

I've done it in the past, and am back to it again. Not for weight loss as such, but more because as I get older I don't need three meals a day, the routine suits me and I am quite convinced by the benefits of fasting. I drink black tea, coffee and water.

When I'm working, it's great not to have to bother with breakfast in the morning. I eat lunch with my colleagues and they are always ready to eat by 12h15 which helps too as I am proper hungry by then. I do have to be careful in the office though - biscuits and things being around are a temptation mid-morning, but I'm only tempted if they are there, I wouldn't go looking for them. I have a large lunch (usually three courses (I'm in France), avoiding carbs and plenty of veg / protein), If I am at home I'll have a large salad with plenty of cheese / eggs / fish / meat. Then I don't get hungry again until dinner, and again I have something fairly low carb which fits in with the family meal. We will often have a glass of wine with dinner. We finish eating by 8pm. After that, DH and I might have herbal tea through the evening (rock n roll!).