please help me understand 16 : 8

[Ohanarama]

I am hearing lots of good things about this diet where you only eat within 8 hours. I haven't had a chance to buy the book yet and want to get going but I can't get much info off the Internet.

Surely you can't really eat anything you like on this diet? I could potentially eat a ton of calories in 8 hours. Also I don't understand if you have to stick to it everyday. If anyone has any info about this diet or has a success or failure story, would be good to hear.

Anyone pleeeese?

There is NO magic diet that lets you eat as much as you want, if what you want comtains more calories than you burn.

To lose weight, you need a calorie deficit and 16:8 is one of the ways to help achieve this:
you skip either breakfast or supper, to eat only within an 8-hour window.

Some people find 16:8 automatically reduces their calories, because they don't eat extra within the 8 hrs to compensate for the missing meal.
Other folk have to plan and calorie count their meals to ensure a deficit, at least until they learn to eat the correct amount for your body.

You can do daily 16:8 or you can combine it with another weight loss method, such as low carb, WW or 5:2 (do 16:8 on non-fast days)

Many of us on 5:2 successfully use 16:8 for non-fast days to help keep within our TDEE (daily calorie requirement).
Some days, I do Fast 5, which is eating only in a 5-hour window.

Some folk who tried 16:8 don't lose weight, because they still over-eat.
It is perfectly possible to eat more than your TDEE within even one hour if you binge on cheesecake and cookies.

But 16:8 is a useful technique if used sensibly. Try it and see ?

I'm doing 16:8 because it fits with my lifestyle much more easily than 5:2. I basically stick to eating between 12noon and 8pm. Outside that, I stick to water, tea and coffee. It's easy to skip breakfast, in fact it makes the preschool rush much more manageable only having children to think about! Then I keep busy through the morning, and have lunch at 12noon with the children if they are home from school. Same in the afternoon, dinner at 6:30/7:00 pm, that's it for the evening.

I don't go mad and eat anything during the eating period. ATM we are on holiday, so have to plan a big salad lunch, maybe with quiche or a couple slices of bread and pâté, yogurt and fruit after. I try not to snack in the afternoon, but may inhale a couple of biscuits with a coffee around 3pm! Sensible dinner, usually protein (chicken, fish, pork chop, quiche) plus a couple of salad or veggie dishes (rice salad, green salad, potato salad, couscous and roast veggies, Thai salad etc - I make big bowls of these and we help ourselves). Sometimes a small dessert, not always. A glass of wine with dinner most days.

The benefits over 5:2 for me were not having to plan the fast days, I much prefer having the same routine every day. As I'm getting older I find I don't need three meals a day, two is fine. Skipping breakfast helps make the mornings run smoother and I cut out a lot of unnecessary carbs doing that - I hardly eat any bread these days, and no processed cereals.

An I losing weight? My clothes feel looser I think. It's all been scupper we at points over the summer due to family camping trips as any routine / healthy eating goes out the window then! I'm using this time as a way of getting into the swing of it, planning full commitment when the summer holidays are finally over and 'normal' life resumes.

So summary, it works for me so far, you can't just eat anything during your 8 hour window, but it gives a great framework to eat healthily within.

I do this, combined with a generally low carb approach. So I eat between 12 an 8pm. For lunch I usually have eggs some way and salad - they are great at satisfying you, and not many calories, which means I can be very flexible with dinner - I eat what I fancy, but without the carb bit ( I tend to replace with roasted cauliflower which us delicious). I then don't snack. It's so easy I don't really think about it, and I was able to follow it on holiday and didn't put any weight on, even though I was eating desserts. At home I am losing 1-2 lb a week.

Interesting Kate, I've done low carb / Atkins in the past and it worked really well for me. I had to stop as we moved to a country where meat and fish are really expensive and we went down to one salary at the same time! But like you I've been able to combine a generally low carb approach with 16:8.

I agree completely that having two proper meals - as in protein (meat, fish, eggs etc) plus veggies or salads - a day is the way to go, rather than fasting all morning, having a sandwich / bread based lunch, then snacking all afternoon because you are hungry, then a pasta based dinner, then struggling to last until 12 the next day, would not be a good way to do 16:8. You really need to make the two meals you do have, count and be sustaining and satisfying, which carbs generally are not IME.

Can I ask does 16:8 offer pretty much the same hwalth benefits of say 5:2?

I have started 5:2 but finding it difficult. I don't need to lose weight but want the health benefits of IF. I'd like to try 16:8 if it still offers these IF health benefits

Yes, a daily fast of 16 hours should bring similar health benefits to those we believe 5:2 may bring

Many thanks bigchoc.thats great

I find this 16/8 diet is easy.. During the 8 hours I eat the filling and healthy way on weight watchers.. I can loose a lb a week easily..