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?

I don't normally weigh myself but am tempted to because I'm curious to see what this 16:8 really does. Not liking the idea of seeing my starting weight though! I lost quite a bit when I was eating low fat while waiting for my gallbladder op and have put it back on (and more).

Do you do 16/8 every day & stick to TDEE?

Thing is I would end up having about 3 cups of tea with milk to get me through the full morning and even using skimmed milk I would worry it was too calorific.

This way I only have one first thing and one in the evening.

But perhaps I'm wrong. I just remember doing WW and having 30 points a day and realising I was using 8 of them a day on milk in my tea!

I'm not having anything to do with calorie counting, TDEE or any kind of restricting what I eat. Two rules for me: eat within 8 hour window, no snacking between meals. I've started having green tea in the morning rather than my usual black tea with milk. Or might have a black decaf coffee.

Meant to add, the whole appeal of this plan for me is that the only difficult bit is over by 11 a.m. - I've never been an evening snacker, and if I eat at 11, 1.30-2pm and 6 I shouldn't really be wanting snacks in between. I think the theory is that even if you eat the same amount of food as before, the 16 hr 'fast' improves your metabolism and makes you lose fat anyway.

My late night snacking had gotten terrible in recent weeks. DH comes from a "crisps watching the telly" family and I've just been joining in. And there's often chocolate or ice cream too. I just started to feel ugh.

So already on day 3 I feel much much better that I haven't eaten at all in the evenings, regardless of whether weight loss even happens.

And actually I haven't weighed myself and don't think I will. I will be able to tell by my clothes and I think that's probably less stressful for me.

Had a lovely Mexican omelette for breakfast with onions and paprika and chorizo. Won't eat again now till 1.30.

My snack point is usually about 4pm, so having less time between meals might fix that. I very very rarely ate anything at all after 7pm anyway, so that bit should be easy for me. Stomach is rumbling now though!

Hi everyone. Glad to have found this as I started on Monday and have lost 2lbs already!

I also bought The complete guide to fasting by Dr Jason Fung on the recommendation of a friend who's husband had lost all his belly fat. The book only came out last year but explains why it works and is a really easy read - been trying to link but it won't work-sorry...

He also lots of videos on youtube. Some videos are shorter (4mins) and some longer (45mins - 1hr) although I find it all fascinating so could quite happily sit and listen to the longer videos all day!! He explains the reasons why this works in a very easy to understand way - calories in/calories out is a myth and might work short term but will never work long-term. It's reducing the level of insulin in the blood that is a key factor and why fasting works.

The first day of fasting for me was hellish as I had a massive headache due to sugar & carb withdrawal-for me I do better when I stick to LCHF and eat no/very little sugar & carbs. Today it's a doddle - and it was nearly 3pm before I had lunch. I'm planning on doing 24hr-36hr fasts in the future. I was well on the way to type 2 diabetes as it runs in my family and I have a massive stomach despite being a size 10/12.

I go until 1-2pm before I have lunch. I'll have a large coffee with almond milk or a "bulletproof coffee"- google it.... (coffee blended with a chunk of butter in a nutribullet - the most gorgeous creamy coffee ever!) I'll then have dinner between 6-7pm.

Dr Jason Fung - "Therapeutic Fasting - solving the two compartment problem" on youtube - have got no idea how to upload this or if I even can!

It's so good to hear everyone's take on this - and great to hear that people are making this work in different ways.

Today is day 1 for me. I'll be following this thread with great interest for tips. Thanks!

So dinner down already - enchiladas for us, rejected enchiladas that turned into bloody fish fingers for the kids (don't get me started, they loved them last week, I couldn't believe it) - and DH suggests tonight be our weekly wine 'n peanuts 'n shite telly night.

I think I'll do it, just take a night off. It's only ever once a week but I do enjoy it and a diet that doesn't allow things like that isn't sustainable.

God I hated having to "point" wine. Or add up Syns for it. Always made you feel "bad". And it was only two big glasses of wine!

I don't think you have to actively calorie count on this diet. I have just found that I personally get best results when I do 16:8 combined with actively counting calories.

Feeling really hungry this morn

Yes, I am drinking far too much coffee with a 'dash' of milk.....have to stop and go back to herbal tea.

Craving carbs this afternoon, and I've only just had lunch. Oh dear. Luckily tonight I'm having two burgers (albeit Quorn ones) so I'm looking forward to that. Will try to keep at it but today is the first day I've felt a bit low on energy and craving food. I wasn't hungry until I ate my lunch. Now I've had it I feel like I want more? It's very odd.

Anyway, so far lost about 6lbs so it's working at least.

You're a kinder parent than me Elspeth - I don't offer alternatives, particularly if it's something they ate last week!
I failed yesterday; I was starving after my exercise class and had an evening snack. Want a snack again tonight, but I'm trying hard not to.

Can I join you?

Over the last two years I've lost 3 stone with slimming world but I've really stalled recently. I think being "allowed" to each so much isn't good for me I'm too greedy!

I started 16/8 four days ago and I'm combining it with just eating really healthy and eating as few carbs/sugary things as I can happily manage.
I weighed myself this morning and I'd lost 5.5lbs, I couldn't believe it!

Shamo welcome- I have started 16/8 last week too REALLY hope it's gunna work like they say it will

Sham, that sounds fabulous. Darent weigh myself in case I get disappointed, but your result sounds excellent.

Shamoffour that is amazing!

I lost another 1lb this morning, so that's 3lb in four days

I lost a stone last year through exercise (shedloads of cardio and some weights) and counting calories but it took me a year, it was so slow because I kept cheating and going over on calories - ultimately I just couldn't sustain it and ended up injuring myself doing too much exercise. So, it all went back on....... I had an inkling it wasn't the best way way to lose weight and after reading Jason Fung's books, "The Obesity Code" and "The Complete Guide to Fasting" I realised everything my PT had been telling me was a lot of crap. I have probably slowed down my metabolism with what I had been doing. We've all been doing it wrong for years. Eating too much sugar & carbs raises insulin and makes us store fat. And we all eat too much as well.

I am confident that this is something I can maintain for the rest of my life.

littlemiss 16:8 will work, and will give a faster loss combined with low carb, no sugar. Good luck!

I had my wine 'n peanuts night and felt surprisingly bloated and grotty the next morning despite only having two glasses and being in bed by 11. Amazing how you can feel it! I still enjoy it but wouldn't do it more than once a week.

I am finding it much easier than I thought not to eat in the evening but I question whether I'll lose any weight despite never eating processed sugar as I'm not calorie counting on purpose. It's not sustainable for me and actually stresses me out.

And yesterday we were out all day and had hasty Dominos for dinner. I still didn't eat after 5.30, not even a cup of tea just water as I didn't fancy it, but find it quite unlikely I'm going to lose weight eating the odd Domino's!

Regardless though I still feel much better not grazing 24/7.

This is Day 3 for me and I'm please to have woken this morning to a 3 pound weight loss (I know it's not fat yet but it's still motivating).

For my own info, I've been pointing everything I eat on my weight watchers app and I'm well under my maximum points per day due to the 'window'. I'm not purposely doing ww with 16:8, I'm actually eating whatever I want but staying mindful of making healthy choices.

If the weight loss is consistent, this is definitely something that will become a way of life for me. I don't find it too hard to fast till midday and I have my evening cuppa and biscuit at 7.55pm instead of 9.30 which makes the evening bearable. Fingers crossed I can deal with Friday wine night and a party on Saturday! 🤞

Can I join?

I've done the 16/8 periodically for the last year or so every time I've needed to lose a few ponds , I had surgery 5 weeks ago and weighed myself for the first time since and I've gained a stone due to being off work, so inactive and just sitting eating all day as I recover, this is the heaviest I've been in years. I go on holiday 7 weeks today so I'm aiming to lose a stone.

I always had my eating window between 11am and 7pm Sun-Friday with a day off on Sat, so I'm going to stick to that as it suits my lifestyle. Doing it that way I usually average 1.5/2lb loss per week but that is me pretty much eating what I want in my 8 hours and not calorie counting or cutting portion size which I will do this time to crank up the weight loss a bit for my holiday.

I always find with this eating regime it's not just the weight loss that is beneficial to me, I have a chronic condition and I notice I need less pain relief, I'm not as groggy in the mornings, more energised and my head feels really clear. I agree with the PP who mentioned that it does make you feel more calm as you don't have to stress too much about what you're going to eat, as long as you eat within the 8 hours then your not cheating or ruining your 'diet' if you do have that large latte and slice of chocolate cake. It doesn't feel restrictive. Sure some mornings are hard towards the end of your fasting period but they do become more bearable.

So I started yesterday and so far so good, I'm glad I've found an active thread on this diet as I love reading about everyone else's experience. I've been checking out the vidoes on YouTube mentioned about Dr Jason Fung, I love learning about the science behind the diet, I'm hooked.

Welcome to the newcomers I've been doing lchf 16:8 since a week ago Monday and I've lost 5 pounds but the weight loss seems to have stalled the last few days and I will admit to feeling a bit meh yesterday and then feeling more despondent because I felt tempted to stray for the first time last evening, but I had a handful of nuts (still in my eating window) and was fine. AF just arrived (sorry if tmi) but I guess that explains the weight loss slowing and feeling off yesterday - phew!

I'm still totally weirded out by my ability to cope without sugar - and if I'm honest slightly embarrassed about how easy it's been and my lack of confidence to have tried giving it up sooner! I'm also embarrassed at the shocking difference to my teeth quitting sugar has made . My Ds is 15 and does gcse food tech and he is giving me a hard time about cutting out 'an important food group' lol- bless him! I'd been slightly fretting about the 'high fat' aspect of what I'm doing also, but then I had a lightbulb moment the other day when I realised that compared to what I used to eat (constant cake, crisps, biscuits etc) I'm still probably eating less fat than I was and at least it's unprocessed fat now. Anyhoo enough of my rambling - it's so nice to have this place to come and chat though!

Iknow I always struggle the week before my period and even if I've managed to be good I quite often maintain or even gain a lb.
I'm really liking 16:8 so far. The only thing I find a bit tricky is having black tea and coffee during my fast so I've been having a drop of skimmed milk in it it doesn't seem to have done any harm. I had a big lunch yesterday and didn't feel hungry in the evening at all. I just had two rich tea biscuits with a cup of tea.
Lunch-ham,mushroom,and tomato omelette.
Dinner-homemade chilli with cauli rice.
Snack-Greek yogurt,raspberries and flaked almonds.

Hope no one minds me posting food, it helps me stick to it if I've put it down!