16:8 diet

[Mummytron]

Anyone doing it and can give tips please? I know it's where you only eat in an 8 hour window but wondered if there's anything else I should know?

Giddy I think it depends on what you were eating before. I try and stick to 2 meals but often have a bowl of yogurt and fruit as well which is what I would have for breakfast anyway!

I'm really hungry today not sure why, I just keep chugging down the water. 12 o'clock can't come soon enough

I'm slowly getting back into the routine after a week's indulgence on holiday. Finding it tough for the first few days but I think I'm getting there now.

There's an article on 16:8 in Woman's Health this month - the one with Weepy Louise from Made in Chelsea on the cover. I must pick it up!

Can someone chip in please?

Have been doing the 16:8 for last three weeks but didn't know it was an actual diet when I started, just fell in to it

Have been ticking along doing 1200 calories and 20,000 steps and lost circa 4-5 lbs a week, so a stone in three weeks. Decided then to do three days of 800 cals and go up to 24,000 steps. My Fitbit is telling me I am burning >2600 calories but I have put weight on...

Was moving out of my '1200 rhythm' the wrong thing to do? Or now that I've moved my BMI from 26.3 to 24.0 have i got to the point where it is harder to lose?. Or am i just being stupid and impatient?
I thought upping my exercise from 20k to 24k would be an instant benefit.

I know that my 1.5 l daily consumption of water should be higher.

Does it take a few days for your hard efforts to show?

Hi 46 I would give it another week as it might just be a water fluctuation. I doubt if the trend will continue as you are eating less and moving more.

Forty six I'd say give it time and results will come. Increased exercise can cause weight gain for a couple of days and (if you are female obvs) it could be a menstrual cycle blip - as I said up thread I find ovulation worse than actual period for bloating lard. Hang on in.

So day 2 done. Shocking headache all day and am bored of weeing but food wasn't an issue until this evening when for various reasons I didn't eat until 8.30 having had lunch at 12.30. I struggled to get something quick as i'd already had eggs. Normally I'd have had toast so I need to find a 'go to' option.

On the plus side I was v happy about the carbs in the sausages. I thought they'd be awful but actually 5gs for 2 which I thought was fine.

I've been breakfast free for nearly 2 weeks apart from on Monday. Feels totally normal now and i've been early leaving for work too! I would normally have a boiled egg with wholemeal/seedy toast or porridge or bircher muesli then nothing until 12.30 ish so I'm dropping 250/300 cals per day. not eating any differently now at lunch and dinner but I do eat healthy food anyway(just was eating too much of it!) but I feel so full now. Has my stomach shrunk? Anyone else?

Hello all.

I've been doing 16:8 for about 2 weeks now. I don't want to jinx myself, but I'm finding it so easy. I have even found it easy to turn food down, as I seem to be able to distinguish between being actually hungry and just wanting to eat.

I'm 5'7" and a. Size 16.
I don't know how much or even if I have lost any weight as I'm not weighing myself. But my jaw line has reappeared and a couple of pairs of trousers are definitely looser.

I am feeling hopeful....

jamesclear.com/the-beginners-guide-to-intermittent-fasting

Informative article here.

Hi all - hoping to join you.

I have been on 5:2 since Jan (did it very successfully in 2013, and then put some weight back on). However this time around, I haven't lost any weight since March, and it's getting me down.

I don't want to give up as I am now post-40 and on the precipice of easily putting on weight!

This seems like it's definitely worth a try, as I don't eat breakfast anyway.

One question - sugar-free gum! Is it ok to chew it during the fasting hours?

So I'm back down at 9.9 1/4 this am. And on tues I was 9 . 12 but I'm on my period this week what's going on.,, I have fasted since sat

Littlemiss as in you've not eaten since Saturday?!
I'm hoping that's not right!

Thanks for that article Giddy I can understand all the benefits of fasting etc. but I'm still a bit unclear about what to actually eat during the 'eating' hours. Is everyone low-carbing? It just doesn't appeal to me, I have a really sweet tooth and would be inclined to eat an awful lot of biscuits & chocolate etc. and since starting this IF diet I've not had anything other than one shortbread finger so I think I'm doing ok. But I am still eating bread, rice and pasta - albeit the 'healthier' versions. I'm hoping that by skipping breakfast and all the rubbish every day, as well as the effect of fasting, I'll still lose weight. Am I right?!

Welcome to TheDowager - I tried 5:2 but its just too restrictive for me, this IF way of eating seems quite easy (just the whole carb thing has me confused right now) but sounds like you know what you're doing. I'm not sure about the gum but hopefully we'll find out!

Lol no sorry I mean I've done the 16/8 since sat I usually don't do it on Sundays or Wednesdays actually so maybe it's that

Thank you Giddy and Phyllis for your encouragement, I will just be patient. May I stay with you?

So just passed the three week mark and my stomach is definitely shrinking. When I do eat my two daily 'meals' I feel quite full.

I'm going to stay with the 800 calories and 24 k steps for another few days as I am not feeling especially hungry and feel very well within myself. However I am taking on board more water and managed a litre before 11.00 am.

I can't lie, it's taking me at least another 2 hrs a day to hit this amount of step activity from where I was pre-effort (mid May) but my clever friend told me to view it as taking on a little part-time job.

Takes you up to 3 hours a day but you get paid in weight loss rather than actual money!

Thank goodness littlemiss I was worried about you!
Forty that's a really good way of looking at it
When I fast I usually have coffee with a splash of skimmed milk. Today I have only had black coffee and I swear it's been easier. I'm wondering if maybe the milk is setting my appetite off? Or maybe I'm just not that hungry today!

Hi Dowager I think sugar free gum is fine as in it has no calories BUT i've heard that chewing it sets off your stomach juices so that they expect food so it might make it more difficult.
Macnab before skipping breakfast, I was following the NO S diet(no snacking, no sweet, no seconds unless the day starts with S) and before that I was a healthy eater(no stealth boast, I just happen to like brown rice, avocados and plain yoghurt etc and don't have a sweet tooth) so I just eat at 12.30 and by 6.30, 2 healthy meals with NOTHING in between apart from tea, coffee or water. I eat fruit straight after each meal.That's my bespoke version but those articles say you can eat 'normally' and even eat 3 meals in the 8 hours. I find I can't eat that much and I want to eat healthily to be well nourished. Cake and biscuits won't do anything for me, merely a moment on the lips. Try to think about food differently, as fuel and nourishment. Here endeth the sermon

Thanks Giddy I'll stick with staying off the rubbish but eating healthier carbs

Fortysix 24K steps - I take my hat off to you! I have a desk job and would struggle to get anywhere near that in a day, well done.

Macnab I work from home six hours/ day, have a dog and youngest DC is 17 so my situation gives more flexibility than most as spared a commute and supervising younger DC

My understanding is that we are supposed to eat a protein and a vegetable at every meal. So I have been shopping for 'pairs' of items with this in mind.. .smoked trout /beetroot; salmon/green beans ; chicken/broccoli, steak and asparagus etc

My Go To this week is Parma Ham with the wee strips of fat ripped off. My current favourite is a one egg omelette with a thumbnail of cheese, and one slice parma ham with some cucumber on the side. Easily less than 150 calories.

Morning all, another pound off this week so now 9st 7.5, only half a pound from initial target but carrying on to 9st 4 for wiggle room. Really loving this way of eating.Going so long without food has retrained my appetite to recognise hunger so I am totally satisfied after lunch and not even as hungry at dinner time as I used to be. I haven't craved anything between meals at all. I even had fish n chips last night(half a large portion)

Wel done giddy that's brilliant!
I'm also finding that the less I eat the less hungry I am. It's so odd. I used to graze a lot and would never have missed breakfast. Yesterday wasn't a fast day for me, I met up with a friend in the morning and we had scones & coffee. I didn't eat after 7pm though so was back on track again today. Starting to feel an improvement on the waistband of my trousers, only doing this just over a week so I've a while to go but it's all very encouraging
Onwards & upwards folks (or downwards since we're talking about waistbands!)

Hi all :)
Lost 2lb two weeks ago and 1 in the last week so I'm now at 16lb lost since January.

I tend to only eat two meals - lunch at around 10.30- 11 and then dinner around 5.30. Sometimes I have some fruit or another snack mid afternoon but not usually. I also find that I'm just not as hungry when I don't snack. I'm also much more in tune with when I actually am hungry. I don't eat if I'm not hungry but if I am really hungry then I sometimes break my fast a little earlier. But I've also learnt that if I am hungry a little bit, then that feeling is ok - I don't have to run and fill it up with something.

Giddyaunt - The idea behind the fast is that the body is put into fat burning mode after 8 hours. So if you stay within your personal allowance of calories during the non fast period you will theoretically lose weight. Have you worked out your TDEE? (Total daily energy expenditure) & BMR ( Base metabolic rate) They are useful to know and there are online calculators to help you work it out.

And to work out any goals ie weight loss or maintenance by giving you a tailored calorie allowance.

Sorry Giddyaunt - The above may have been in response to another poster & I don't see it now!