Intermittent fasting. Experience?

[Patbutcherismyhero]

Like lots of people I've put on loads of weight during lockdown and am keen to get it shifted. I find being at home all day tough because I'm constantly tempted by food in the cupboards and fridge.

I've read about intermittent fasting and the 16/8 approach sounds doable to me. I usually eat dinner about 7pm anyway and can hold off breakfast for a few hours to give myself an 8 hour window of eating throughout the day. But is it really that simple? Does it actually work? And how strict do you need to be with the food you're eating during that time? Would love to hear some thoughts.

Bump

Hi OP,

I’ve used 16:8 for the past 10 months or so and I’ve lost nearly five stone so it definitely works! Honestly I’m pretty strict on my calories during my eating hours and try not to go over 1300. It works for me because I know when I can eat so I’m not grazing all day which is very easy when at home all the time! I don’t have to think about food constantly either and I’ve found I don’t need as much.

For my meals I eat whatever DH has to save making two things, I’ll just have less carbs or sub for a salad on the side etc. I think the reason fasting works so well for me is because it stops you from snacking so if your meals are relatively healthy your pretty likely to loose weight. I also have a takeaway once a week and a small bit of chocolate or something most days so my cravings are satisfied.

I am pretty sure I will continue to fast once I’ve reached goal weight just adjusting calories I’m so used to it now. x

Look for the mega thread on this under weight loss. Really interesting.

I’m doing it at the moment at the same time as low carb and after just a couple of weeks I’m actually shocked at how easy it was and how many calories I was over-consuming before.

I now eat a decent sized brunch (either an omelette or big salad) at 11.30/12 and then dinner at 6.30/7 with no snacks in between and I can honestly tell you that I’m not hungry. I was also previously a religious breakfast eater and would get hangry if I hadn’t eaten for a few hours so this is a complete revelation that I actually only need 2 meals a day.

I won’t lie, the first few days of waiting to break the fast were tough but it’s amazing how quickly my body has adapted

It didn't work for me. Strict 1200 Cal's during window and not a sausage lost. Nothing gained though admittedly. So I have 10lb quarantine weight I can't shift. So I'm trying another approach.

All I gained from the experience was how to ignore hunger pains

I am going through the menopause though so things aren't the same.

Here’s the link for the thread
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/weight_loss_chat/3892690-16-8-does-not-feel-like-another-shitty-diet-I-managed-to-lose-fat-have-more-energy-and-feel-positive-about-life?pg=1

I’m on fast ten now and it’s been difficult sometimes but mostly easy and doesn’t feel restrictive because I’m never banning myself from anything, I just know I can have something later if I’m fasting. And often I don’t want it all that much.

I would normally be stress eating like crazy tonight (anxiety v high) but I had my dinner as usual and have been able to not do that as it’s fasting time.

I did 16:8 to kick start losing the baby weight. Fast results which helped me stay motivated and clean up my act a bit. Now I feel I've broken a lot of the bad habits I have relaxed it to coffee in the morning and no food until mid day with no real cut off point at night. This has worked because the first couple of weeks broke my post dinner snack habit. The weight is still coming off consistently but not as fast. I'm happy with that though.

It also helped me recognise actual hunger again. Before I was eating regardless, now I'm aware that hungry and will eat then but not just because I should.

Didn't work for me at all (tracked my calories and kept them below 1300 most days). Upset my sleep. However, I do have a dodgy thyroid and there is some suggestion it's not great in these circumstances.

I do still try and stop eating by 8 though which is helpful and I try not to breakfast before 9.

I lost 24lb on it 6 years ago. Kept it off.

I found tonnes to drink in a fast day helps a lot. I try not to eat anything until 3pm. I fast 3 days a week when I'm doing it and never weekends. Weight loss is about a 1/2 lb a week.

I also exercise 3/4 times a week.

Started in October by jan had lost the required 2 stone been maintaining ever since. Bmi was 27 now 21

I fast from dinner at 7 ish to lunch 11-12 ish. Meals on smaller plates. Minimal snacking cardio an hour a day most days. Eat what I want at weekends

I've been doing it for a couple of years now. As an absolutely minimum I will always miss out breakfast but otherwise the daily fast varies between 16:8 18:6, one-meal-a-day and I've done 24-hour and 36-hour fasts before as well. I tend to be stricter during the work week and more relaxed at weekends.

I just drink black coffee and water, occasionally a cup of tea with a tiny splash of milk, and then whatever I want when I do eat. i don't count calories but I am probably below 1500 most days. However I've also given up the booze recently so my chocolate intake has increased considerably

I really love it, I find I am full of energy when I'm in a fasting 'zone' and I sleep much better too.

Should say, some days obviously I'll be a lot below 1500 cals but it all evens out over the course of a few days I find.

I’ve been doing it for 6 weeks and I cap my calories at 1000 max but I’ve only lost 1.5 stone and I’ve stayed at my current weight for two bloody weeks!

@Clevererthanyou I think 1.5 stone is amazing g in 6 weeks!!

@Clevererthanyou I think 1.5 stone is brilliant in 6 weeks! I’ll be overjoyed if I can lose half that in the 3 weeks I have until my holiday.
Do you have much weight to lose to begin with? I’m always in between 120-135lbs but can’t ever get below about 117 no matter what I do but that’s probably a healthy weight for my height anyway so I tend to just try to maintain when I get there

it's just another way of restricting calories; obviously won't work if you guzzle in the 'allowed' hours. If it works for you, fine. As with all strange eating patterns, watch that it doesn't become an obsession.

two requests:

• don't bore on about it, nothing duller than diet talk
• stop it if the long hungry periods make you nasty. No-one wants to have to deal with an obsessive grumpy dieter.

I've just started (last Friday). No breakfast, brunch at about 12.30, no food after 8.30pm (we often have our main meal after 7.30 since lockdown). My worst habits were morning grazing (after breakfast) and snacking before bedtime. Lost 2lb so far without counting calories and am enjoying being properly hungry at lunchtime. However I have a routine for baking sourdough bread first thing in the morning, got some out of the oven earlier and the smell is torturing me.

I've been on it for 2 months. I lost 3 pound in the first 3 weeks then nothing. I don't know why I'm carrying on tbh. I also find it really restrictive having to worry about getting dinner in before my fast begins and it ruins an evening. Usually after work at 6pm we would have gone out for a walk/run/visit family etc but now we can't because we have to cook and eat dinner in that time slot.

Does 10:30 - 7:30 sound ok?

Thats 9 hours. You need to have an 8 hour eating window so would need to eat between 11.30 and 7.30 if you wanted to stop eating at 7.30.

Oh @Patbutcherismyhero it's you, sorry I didn't twig that you were the OP

Yes you need an 'eating window' of 8 hours or fewer.

I also find it really restrictive having to worry about getting dinner in before my fast begins and it ruins an evening. Usually after work at 6pm we would have gone out for a walk/run/visit family etc but now we can't because we have to cook and eat dinner in that time slot.

Can you not just move your fasting window so you eat later? It shouldn't ruin your evening - adapt it, make it work for you not the other way around!

I don’t bore on about it but friends and acquaintances have contacted me privately to ask how I’ve done it!

I lost 17kg in 5 months. I ate normal sized lunch and dinner but with no wheat based carbs. No snacking, apart from occasional watermelon. No booze apart from one eve each week (after the first 6 weeks) where I'd relax my food and have a drink with DH.