16/8 support group

[Klaudia14]

Anyone interested in joining me here? I posted this on an older thread so will just copy and paste my story below:

I'm on day 8 doing the 16/8. I'm loving it!! I'm against dieting as restrictions always lead me to binges and feeling rubbish. I haven't weighed myself in 5 years as I got rid of my scales due to a very unhealthy obsession with weighing myself. I am very interested in intuitive eating and have been trying to get in tune with my body but it's been hard and the lockdown has thrown me off guard and I was overeating, feeling bloated and fed up. I'm loving 16/8. My eating window is 11-7 and I find this fits well with my lifestyle. I'm surprised at how much energy I have in the morning. Even managing an hour long walk with the dog ...getting up at 7 as well with lots of energy. Feeling less bloated and just happier overall! I think this is really helping me be more intuitively about what I actually want! Having good, hearty food. Butter and cheese and full fat yoghurt! These foods were always a no no for me but I much prefer theses to fat free/low fat options. I feel satisfied after my meals too .
Oh and I can't do this without a bit of milk in my morning coffee ( freshly brewed filter) so haven't cut that out. And have had a cheeky glass of wine during my eating window ...🍷

Can anyone advise on liquids during the fast period? Tea? Coffee? I need my morning coffee!! I'm doing 12pm-8pm eating window xxx

@SuperDuperC tea and coffee are fine during your fast as long as you don’t add anything (milk, sugar, etc) to it.

@CaveMum thank you, I'll ease off the milk! x

Hi everyone! Just spotted this thread. I decided to start a 16:8 diet this morning in the shower at about 7am.
It's 8:40am now (I'm in Australia) and I'm absolutely starving! Usually I have a slice of wholemeal toast with peanut butter and banana for breakfast at this time. Hoping the rumbling tummy will pass soon. Just enjoying a black coffee in the meantime.

Good morning everyone, hoping I can join too?

I actually started last week Monday (10 days ago) and weighed myself on Monday just gone and lost 4.4 pounds, happy days!

I’ve been finding it much easier than I expected especially given that breakfast was my favourite meal of the day and I wasn’t sure how I’d manage to get to midday without collapsing from hunger and/or bingeing completely afterwards to make up for it 😄

I’m doing 16:8 and my window is roughly 12-8pm, but due to my beautiful 9m old baby I’ve been finding that I fall into a pattern of giving her lunch and then I’ll eat after which is usually around 2pm. I thought all the meal prep for her would make me hungry but it hasn’t surprisingly. So my window probably is 2-10pm but I normally eat dinner latest by 9pm as it’s easier to do after she’s gone to bed and I find I’m not hungry at 5pm which is when she has hers.

I’m not really following any food ‘plan’ as such so I’m still eating what I want within reason. I’ve found that if I eat a carb heavy meal for dinner, the fast in the morning seems that much more longer as I’ll want to eat earlier.

Anyways so I have a lot of weight to lose but I’m not focusing on the end goal so to speak, just trying to lose 10 pounds for now. I actually lost 2 stones during pregnancy and during lockdown managed to put back on 1.5 stones so no more eating my feelings!

Oh and it’s also shark week so will be interesting to see what happens...

Arghhh! Lost a big post this morning. So annoying.
It was mostly waffle, so wont repeat.
Hope everyone had a good day 🙂

Welcome @snuggz
I think we could be twins - I also lost loads in pregnancy with my now 7mo. Then piled it all back on towards the end and in the 4th trimester. And I’m on my period this week!
Im finding focusing on little goals much less daunting than the big one. It’s slow and steady, but all in the right direction. I’m also loving the non weight loss benefits, particularly energy levels and clarity of mind.

Pandapotato I was really hungry at first but was really determined to do it quickly and then found it got easier and I stopped feeling panicky about hunger if that makes sense. I got to a point that my portion sizes were smaller anyway because I would feel full more quickly and in fact when I went out for dinner at one point during that period , I felt too full and didn’t eat much of my meal which never happens to me usually !

Welcome to you both!

@beautifulmonument How did skipping breakfast go this morning for you? (I'm guessing it must be evening in Australia for you now) It does get easier, i promise!

Also, how often does everyone weigh themselves? Daily? Every few days? Weekly? I'm always tempted to weigh myself daily but my weight fluctates so i dont want to feel disappointed!

Hi everyone, so I am on day 4 now - I felt like I might struggle this morning with hunger - but I've found drinking lots of water is really helping (loo roll usage is increasing 😂)
I've also switched from tea with milk to black coffee in the mornings.
I can't believe how positive I feel - so much more energy too. And instead of constantly worrying about food I'm thinking positively about and looking forward to what I will choose to eat when I break my fast.
I'm thinking of getting back into running soon - I'll redo the couch 2 5 K - anyone here run during the fast time in the morning? I've always liked running in the morning, but I'm worried it will make it too difficult to stick to the fast.
I can run in the evening if it does, just wanted to hear any one else's experience of am exercise while on the fast?

@JamieFrasersSassenach I'm glad its making you feel more positive. I like the fact im not always thinking about food too!

I'm sure i read somewhere (either on this thread or another one) that exercising during your fast is actually best, as when you exercise you are in your fat burning zone so your body is tapping directly into your fat stores. So id say if you can then run while you are fasting. Maybe start off shorter distances to begin with and see how you feel?

Hi @Sissy31 and all
Day 1 made it to 11am before giving in but it was a struggle.
Finished dinner at 6:30pm and haven't eaten anything since. Now it's 9:30pm and I'm starving again! My husband'a sitting next to me eating a huge bowl of coco pops the bastard. Not sure I'm cut out for this.

@beautifulmonument The first few days will be the hardest but its so so worth it. Drink lots of water or black coffee (no milk or sugar)
By the time you wake up tomorrow you will have already done over 12 hours!
Are you using an app to help?
I use zero, it helps if i can see the time counting down to when i can eat

Thanks @Sissy31 - it will be very gentle to start with - I have completely lapsed in the running dept so will be back to week 1 of couch 2 5 K!
@beautifulmonument what has helped me is black coffee and keeping busy - plus bizarrely for me, drinking water is really helping (I never usually drink plain water unless I'm abroad - always squash or diet drinks). My house looks a bit tidier than it has for a while - but I'm sure that's because I just feel more motivated and positive

@JamieFrasersSassenach I’m currently doing Couch to 5k (started week 4 this morning) and always run in the morning (out by 6.30am) as I know I will not have the motivation in the evening. I’ve only been doing IF for 4 days (or is it 5?!) so have done 2 runs during my fast and it hasn’t made any difference to me, I just make sure I have a glass or 2 of water before I go and then another 2 when I get back.

@Sissy31 I used to weigh myself daily but I would get too disheartened by the fluctuations which in turn would put me into too much of a ‘diet’ mindset, so I now just stick to once a week at the same time. It’s also a good idea to take all your measurements as even though the number on the scale might not move, you might be losing inches elsewhere.

@JamieFrasersSassenach same here with the water and loo situation 😂

I had black coffee for the first time this morning, it was ok, thought I was gonna hate it but I think I could get used to it. Bit of a clock watching fast today which I know was down to the 2 pitta breads I had with dinner last night.

What does everyone break their fast with - food or drink? I’m finding that I like a milky latte and this usually tides me over until about 3pm when I’ll actually eat some food.

@CaveMum - that's great thank you - I will start to psych myself up to get back into it!!
@Snugz - I felt much the same about black coffee - I've been making myself Americanos using my nespresso machine and they are really quite nice.
I've been breaking my fast with a cup of tea and something to eat - straight into lunch today.

Snuggz i agree, but im always so tempted to weigh myself everyday haha!
I wish i would have taken measurements before i started. My stomach has defo slimmed down a little (although weight loss has stopped and stayed the same)

I usually break my fast with a drink
So today i broke my fast at 1.30pm with cup of tea, milk and 1 sugar. Now im sitting picking at a bowl of cucumber, carrot sticks and cherry tomatos whilst watching tv and tidying up
Then ill have dinner at about 5.30/6ish, followed by some fruit if i want it and fast again from 7pm

I find breaking my fast with a cup of tea satisfys me for another hour or so before i want food. Currently working on dropping the sugar in my tea, i used to have 2 sugars but working on cutting slowly

I must measure my width but part of me doesn't want to know! But I will bite the bullet and do it.

Today I didn't even get a break at work till 11.30 and I was a bit shaky. Luckily I had a banana handy so that helped. Because obviously after that it was lunchtime before I could eat anything. Note to self: always bring a banana to work!

I am going to try to not weigh myself for a full month. I don't want to get caught up on a defeatist path when the numbers aren't moving as fast as I want. I figure there HAS to be improvement after 30 days.

Besides I read something online: It takes 30 days for your efforts to make any difference, 60 days before other people notice any difference and 90 days before you yourself see any difference in the mirror.

It's called the 30:60:90 rule or similar.

I think today has been the toughest so far for me, I’ve felt hungry since about 7am but held my fast till 1pm (I had to go to my workplace 9-12.30 so couldn’t have eaten even if I wanted to!).

I shall have dinner once the kids are in bed - cod and chirozzo fish cakes with pesto pasta and a pile of veg, so hopefully that will set me up.

Ladies can we talk constipation? I'm so uncomfortable on day four of 16:8 xxx

Oh dear. Too soon to say if that is going to happen to me, but I'll let you know if it does!

I have heard of it when browsing the relevant subbreddits though.

Well I’ve been completely off the wagon the last two days due to a birthday and just giving in too easily to temptation. But back on as of tomorrow and going to do more exercise tomorrow too. I can’t eat till 1.30pm tomorrow but that’s not too bad - will aim to finish eating by 8pm so I can do 12-8 the following day but worst case will be 1-9.

I am another who will be restarting couch to 5k!

Lost track of this thread but just catching up - hi to everyone new!

I also break my fast with a milky coffee (at 11) - I find that tides me over until lunch.

I've been doing this nearly two weeks and have lost two pounds. To be honest I'm just glad I've stopped gaining - I've packed on weight so fast during lockdown. Have been really surprised at how sustainable this feels so even if it takes ages to lose weight on it I feel I can keep going.

I had constipation early on - it did ease, I think after a week!

Evening all!
Today has felt long - baby had me up at 5am. I was starving around 9am! But I did what they talk about in the podcast and waited a bit to see if it passed. It totally did in about 15 minutes and I didn’t break my fast until 18 hours in. I’m really pleased with myself for this, because sleep deprivation is always a driver to overeating for me.
Had some feta & tomatoes on toast for lunch. A few slices of ham as a snack and sausage, mash and veg for dinner.

@Sissy31 I’m trying not to step on the scales too often. And log my weight every Monday morning. The loss feels painfully slow right now. I need to do some measuring as my clothes definitely feel better.

@JamieFrasersSassenach I find water really helps. I drink heaps of hot or fizzy.
I know exactly what you mean about the positive way of thinking about food. We have our wedding anniversary this week & have been given a hamper of delicious treats as a gift. Usually I would be gutted that it would “spoil” my diet. But with this way of eating, all I feel is excitement at digging in when my window allows 😋

@Snuggz I break my fast with food. Usually picking on something while I make lunch. But I only ever drink black coffee or water anyway.

Good luck back on the wagon @mortigua. I will join the couch to 5k ers when I’m a bit lighter and not risking my knees.

Right - switch off time for me. And hopefully a later start to the day tomorrow 🤞🏻

Oh, yes. My constipation tip is to have a few prunes with a yogurt or something. I suffer badly with it before my period, and doing that every day helps Keep things moving.