Quick 16:8 questions

[BendydickCuminsnatch]

Have started this on a whim this morning 😄

Am I right that is basically just skipping breakfast? So i’ll eat between 12 and 8, try and not pick at the kids’ food, eat healthier overall...? Feeling a bit assaulted by stuffing my face all day so am looking forward to a bit of restraint!

I’m trying to do it from 10am-6pm which means I have a later breakfast at 10 and then lunch as usual and an earlier tea x

I’m doing 11-7. I’ve struggled with it and eating a bit more has helped me lose some weight. I think you need to be well fed in the eating time rather than starving all the time!

Eat two meals and don't cram in three.

Drink plenty of water,also black coffee/tea/non fruity herbal teas are all best in your fasting window. This is called Clean Fasting

I usually fast for 20 hours but sometimes just 16. It depends how I feel. If I don't feel right I just eat and don't worry about it. I think it's good to mix it up a bit.

Read The compete guide to Fasting by Jason Fung.

And remember.....the hunger will pass!

Sarah, why no fruity teas? I drink gallons a few cups of peppermint or berry tea as it's easier than plain water.

Thanks folks! Days 1 and 2 have been fine, as in I didn’t feel hungry until around 11 and so then it was only an hour to wait until I could eat. What I ate though wasn’t particularly ‘losing weight’ food - was doing well until the kids wanted to make cookies, but I’m going to get used to the skipping breakfast part first and then clean up my foods.

@MotherForkinShirtBalls I used to drink loads of coffee and tea with milk and any herbal tea in my Fasting window. However I read a book that said that these can all raise your insulin levels slightly and that black tea/coffee and non fruity herbal teas don't. Peppermint and camomile are fine.
Some people do still drink the others and still lose but I'm trying to not spike my insulin. I also think it makes me less hungry.

I’m drinking tea with milk - i can’t cope without. Black tea and fruit teas are all foul! (This might be why I am not losing loads then!)

Thanks Sarah. I can understand the milk spiking insulin alright but I didn't think fruit teas would. Caffeine doesn't agree with me so it's just easier to avoid it with slightly flavoured hot water.

Glad you're getting the feel for the IF, Bendy. It took me about a week but I find it great and can now easily go until about 3pm before I eat if I'm busy at work or otherwise distracted. You're right to take it one step at a time.

It takes a while to increase the fasting window.

I used to despise black coffee but I've learned to love it and would never have milk. I don't drink black tea though so only have a cuppa in my eating window.

A dash of milk or a fruit tea will affect people's insulin in varying degrees. I prefer to 'clean fast'. When I started fasting I also couldn't do it without coffee with milk,it's what kept me doing it! My parents do 36 hour fasts and survive on white tea and Diet Coke and lose weight. I fast for weight loss but also the benefits of autophagy hence what's called a clean fast.

I have found 16:8 or 14:12 to have really assist with controlling my snacking. I personally have no breakfast (it took me a while to adapt to this way of eating. On the days I have reintroduced breakfast these are the days I have overeaten).

I have heard of someone else just having a huge breakfast each day the fasting for the rest of the day - this would never work for me.

I did a 19:5 fasting diet! I basically only ate between 1pm and 6pm and that would entail lunch and dinner. Lunch just after 1pm and dinner just before 6pm. It was usually a non creamy vegetable soup, brown bread and an apple or banana at lunch then dinner was anything really as long as it included a portion or two of veg. I lost 16lbs in 3 weeks. It's actually quite easy to follow and you feel great once you're on it. Water, sugar free juice, tea and coffee can be had at any time of the day.

I'm about to do it again and hoping to lose around 20lbs this time so I will do it for 5/6 weeks but I'm really considering making it a way of life for me

Thanks for more replies.

So I am not doing 16:8 today because I am at work and was worried I wouldn’t get chance to eat at all (working a festival) so I had a banana first thing, then a cheese toasty 😳 the rest of the day I’ve only had fruit though so not too bad a day. Don’t know what’s for dinner tonight.

Anyway. If I’m being honest with myself, this week has been 15:9 really, as I usually give in at about 11:30 while I’m giving the kids lunch, and then have finished eating dinner around 8:30 once kids in bed. I can’t eat dinner with the kids at 5 because I’m not hungry then. I’m not hungry then because I’ve been snacking all day because I know a fast is coming up....... which is silly because I am not someone who eats after dinner, so it shouldn’t make a difference for me.

So I have been eating a LOT in my eating window.

So this week I am going to:

Stick to not eating before 12 - I haven’t found hunger to be an issue, it’s just making food for the kids and picking at it!

Not eat between lunch and dinner.

Eat with the kids at 5pm so I’m not making 2 dinners - therefore limiting my opportunities for picking while preparing dinner.

Don’t know why I do this to myself! My mind know it makes sense but somehow I just keep stuffing my face 😄 around the witching hour i will be found stress-eating by the fridge 🤯

I try and do 10-6 bit I just can't give up morning cup.of tea with milk so.migjt be hampering myself but it has really helped me not snack in the evenings.

I'm starting this again, having fallen off the wagon. I find it hard to skip breakfast for the first few days, but then after that I don't miss it. I find it hard to go without tea with milk in the morning too, but I'm gping to grit my teeth and have black tea!

I'm on day 5 and really feeling crap today. I haven't been too strictly at 800 but I have been max 1000 and I'm down about 1kg already and my jeans are looser so that's good! I'm going to get myself another peppermint tea to tide me over until 12 when I'll have some scrambled egg and then an apple about 3 and dinner about 6. I've been doing 11k is steps every day too and bought myself a secondhand bike yesterday to start cycling the school run next week (we currently drive in the morning and walk in the afternoon) so the DC are very excited that I'll be cycling with them. Now I just need to get over my intense fear of cycling over the weekend...

I started with a 18:6 clean fast and found my body soon forgot about breakfast. Then I decided to do the same with lunch and went to OMAD (one meal a day) and now my body has also forgotten about lunch . After a week or so of adjustment, your body soon stops worrying about those meals as it stops expecting them.

One thing I have found that helps with clean fasting is Apple Cider Vinegar

I'm just finishing a 4 day water fast this evening and am full of beans, just on water and my apple cider vinegar drink.

I like Jason Fung as well SarahBeeney. One of his videos on YouTube is what got me into this and for once in my life I am finally losing weight AND feeling better. I cringe now when I think of all those 70s and 80s low cal low fat diets I used to do.

If you are only doing fasting for weight loss as opposed to the possible health benefits then by all means have a splash of milk in tea or coffee. For weight loss the feeding window is simply a means to make it easier (for some people) to keep calories at a suitable level. There's no particular magic in the 8 hour feeding window from a weight loss point of view. If you stuff your face with cream cakes for 8 hours you will reap results you don't want.