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 ...🍷

Thanks

So does anyone have any tips for evenings? Finding them so hard this week! My window is 11 to 7,eating dinner between 6 and 630 ish, I get the kids to bed and tidy up a bit, then sitting down with book/telly around 8:30,and by 9 I'm starving! Drinking water is not really helping and I feel like it's too hot for tea/coffee... Anyone have any luck with lemon water or any other zero calorie drink??

Hello everyone.
Great to hear how everyone is getting on.
FieldOverFence i tend to drink fizzy water with lots of ice and some lemom slices. I don't know why but it seems to fill me up. I also drink quite a lot of camomile tea.
I tend to do my exercise in the evening. I find this is a really good appetite suppressant.
Thanks for the prunes tip. I'm going to give that a go as I have definitely noticed less regularity! It's weird as I'm eating a lot more veg so would have thought it would be the opposite.
I have done 5:2 this week. Monday and Wednesday have been my fast days. I have found it quite hard but certainly manageable. I think I've had 600 calories today but I have eaten lots of veg as a distraction. We have a dc birthday tomorrow so there will be cake and fish and chips for dinner.
I think I'll probably try and stick to a couple of days of 16: 8 along with my 5:2. I feel so much better for it and enjoy not feeling bloated.

@pandapotato that's brilliant - happy anniversary!!

I had a few beers yesterday evening and finished my non fasting at 10pm instead of 9 - I'm really pleased that the alcohol didn't lead me to inhale the entire contents of the biscuit tin (it normally does) - I think it's because I now have this framework of when I can eat. Whatever the reason I'm blooming chuffed!!
So my plan today is to break my fast at 2 instead of 1, but to aim to finish eating at 9 as I have been doing to get me back on to the 16:8 again - has anyone else done that in a similar situation? My thinking is that it's important to keep the 16 hours of fasting as that's what brings all of the benefits?
Anyway, 2 black coffees down so far 💪
Hope everyone else is having a good day?

I've managed 14:10 for 4 days in a row, and 2 of those were actually 16:8 by the time I'd got around to eating.
Period arrived today and I'm so bloated, not going to bother weighing myself until at least next week.
@FieldOverFence also struggling with evenings, I'm having herbal tea and trying to keep busy or watch something I like to distract me - I think it's just habit for me to graze in the evening.

JamieFraser yes we do this at some point most weeks. Last night we had a bottle of wine and didn’t finish drinking it until nearly 11, so really shouldn’t eat until 3 today. We’ll see if we get that far...

But yes we’ll still stop eating at 9pm today.

@Hoolajerry I'm going to try that fizzy water thing, the bubbles might help me feel fuller :D

@JamieFrasersSassenach Yes i do that.
Ive actually naturally moved to more of an 18 hour fast as after 16 hours i'm finding i am not too hungry.
If i can go further than 18 hours i will, but i always stop eating by 8pm not matter what time i start eating at, even if i dont start eating till late afternoon.
The fast is the most important part and as long as you get your 16 hours in it can be whenever

@Pandapotato I feel like we’re living the same life lol, I too was up at 3, 4 and 5am today as baby is teething so this new fresh hell of sleep deprivation is most definitely not welcome! I thought I’d be ravenous this morning but a few hunger pangs and a black coffee later and I’m perfectly fine. I just can’t believe that before this, by this time of day I’d have had 3 slices of buttery toast, bowl of porridge and 2 or 3 milky lattes by now. I’m quite enjoying the actual feeling of hunger and learning to enjoy my food when I do eventually eat.

Also feeling super proud of myself as baby didn’t finish her toast for breakfast and normally I would have finished the leftovers but this time I threw it away!

@FieldOverFence my tips for the evening are to distract yourself, whether that be watching something on TV/film, reading a book or tidying a cupboard etc. Drinks wise I like sparkling water but I try not to drink too much in the evening or else I’d be up all night peeing lol.

I’ve also been really struggling with constipation over the last few days, and trapped wind! I had my period too so I don’t know if that contributed too.

Due to the above constipation and period I haven’t weighed myself in a few days. I had planned a complete day off yesterday as I was having a big breakfast, but I still managed a 14 hour fast which isn’t too bad. I had a big meal and a few drinks last night and managed to fast until 2pm today. I found myself really craving a cheese omelette so I’ve just had that with some crisps and a protein shake.

I’ve started reading The Obesity Code today, excited to learn all the science behind this!

I’m not suffering with constipation but I’m also not going as often as I did. I put that down to just not eating as much! 🤔

Argh I think you are all doing far better than me! I forgot this morning and shovelled in three spoons of my DS’s cereal without thinking and also had milk in my first coffee!

I'm wondering if the milk will really throw us off? I've had a splash in my coffee each day, I'm saying a splash but is it enough to ruin the fast? Can it affect what our bodies produce in a fasted (is that a word?!) state? Anyone? x

I have absolutely no specialist knowledge or anything so may be wrong - I know some people say a dash of milk is fine - but I steer clear because I can really feel when I've had the coffee with milk that I always break my fast with (which is milkier than a splash, but not a latte or anything) so it feels to me like it definitely does end my fast mode.

I really struggle without coffee and would get withdrawal headaches and just be unable to survive on the sleep I get without it but I do hate it black. Maybe the answer is just a splash then!

I only have a tiny amount of milk when i have tea but i dont havr anything but water when im fasting.
Milk is technically a food substance (think like if you were going for surgery) Milk needs to be digested ect.
Ive have read that some people do have it during their fast though

I think I'd really struggle with black tea. It tastes just so bitter! So I'm really conflicted on that as I just don't think it's sustainable long term for me. Whereas a splash is. But yeah, milk is definitely food and it raises blood sugar slowly. So it's probably detrimental to the whole point.

I had a drink or two last night.

I broke my fast at 11.30. Theoretically I should have waited till mid afternoon. But I just couldn't. I might try the next time. But trying to get to grips with the basics before I go onto Level 2 i.e. Sticking to 18 hr fast no matter what. Probably a bit advanced for week 1!

I can't drink black tea without milk either so I've switched to green or camomile during my fast, and I've found that a much easier swap than I had imagined it would be.

Tbh if you think it's unsustainable to cut the milk then I'd just have it - even if it breaks the fast a little it's better than doing nothing!

On the milk in tea/coffee front this is what Cynthia Thurlow says, of course it’s up to the individual whether they want to follow her interpretation

Oh no! I need to learn to love black coffee I think!

I have probably a teaspoon of skimmed milk in my coffee. I’ve just inputted it onto MFP and it’s 2 calories. I’m not going to worry too much. I‘m still seeing results.

I'll try and have black milk tomorrow and see how I get on. I am worried about it though as it feels a bit like deprivation, which is the exact opposite of what I want this plan to feel like.

To have a clean fast it’s a no to the milk. But I’m in this for the long haul and once it feels like complete deprivation I know I’d say ‘sod it’. So I do allow milk in my tea/coffee and I’m still losing.