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 ...🍷

Today...

Avocado, buttered shroom and curried chickpea salad with lots of spinach

Snack of carrots and hummus and a cheeky bag of crisps in between.

Vegan chorizo Sausage and roast veg pasta with half a plate of broccoli to lessen the room for more pasta on the plate!

I normally do 16/8 sometimes 18/6. I don't eat junk really and no sugar. Some carbs but not loads, I'm pretty good really! I've got lots to lose, about 3 stone so thought it might come off a bit quicker in the beginning?

Does having milk in tea count as breaking a fast?

Apologies as I’m sure this has been asked many times! I stared this yesterday but can’t imagine not having tea in the morning! Black tea is a no!

Ok I’ve done an advanced search and see this was discussed earlier on this thread. I like herbal teas so I’ll try that for the mornings.
I know I shouldn’t weigh every day but yesterday I was 83.2kg and today 83.4 but I’ll keep going! I want to lose about 15kg...

@Lazt Yes milk in tea is breaking the fast. Even some herbal tea (fruity ones) are in the grey area.
Best thing to do is a clean fast (so water black coffee and black tea) for a few weeks so you know the clean fast feeling then try adding herbal teas if tou want too. Then you will know if it effects you. Some people react to them and others dont.
I just have plain water during my fast and open my eating window with a cup of tea with milk

A typical day for me would be water during the fasting period then a small snack to start my eating period. This week it's been a mini pepperami and some cubed cheese.

When the weather isn't so scorching I might also have a cup of bovril.

Then when I finish work I'll have my main meal at about 4PM. This week it's been vegetable curry with a small portion of rice. Other regular meals are stir fry, oven roasted chicken and vegetables, fish. Sometimes pasta but I'm try to avoid carbs.

Then usually nothing but water until the next day.

At the weekends I relax a bit more and have a more substantial lunch and a later dinner. But still minimum carbs.

Today I had smoked salmon and cheese with tartare sauce on crackers for lunch and I've got roast pork, coleslaw and salad for dinner.

Can I join please? I’m four weeks in, mostly 16:8 but the odd 14:10ish

Hi all :). I went on a diet/exercise regime in 2018 and managed to lose around 17kg. I've put 2 back on in the interim but am now a healthy weight (albeit with a big tummy).

Dp is a big bloke and has about 25kg to lose and wants to start the 16:8 diet so all our meal times have changed. We are early risers so 9-5pm works for us (until I need to go back to the office!).

Problem is the hunger is waking him up through the night. Is this a stage he needs to go through or will it continue? I remember getting the same (though I wasn't doing exactly this diet but something similar) but I can't recall if I changed something to deal with it or whether it just went away.

Hi @RumAndRaisinIceCream Have you tried moving your eating window later? Even if its just an hour or 2
I know personally i cant sleep on an empty stomach. I stop eating at 6.30/7pm and find thats perfect for me. Everyone is differant to try ajusting your times

Hi @Sissy31 - it's a good point and I think he needs to make a trade off. If he's going to want a meal at 7pm he can only realistically start eating at 11am but the problem is we are both up at 6am (bed at 10pm) and he's really struggling in the morning to wait that long to eat .

I just can't remember what I did. I have a feeling I just got used to it! But I wasn't doing this specific diet - I just cut down on the crap I was eating and didn't eat carbs in the evening I think.

Thanks, I will speak to him. He really needs to set himself a routine (he's good when he's got a plan) otherwise I can see he will just fall off the wagon.

@RumAndRaisinIceCream The beginning it going to be difficult, most new experiences are. And i wont lie, he will be hungry to start with but itll pass.
I get up at 6am too and go to bed a similar time. He just needs to find an eating window that fits him

@RumAndRaisinIceCream make sure he’s drinking plenty of water in the mornings as this will curb the hunger. I probably drink at least 7 or 8 glasses in the morning, but I don’t break my fast till 1pm as we don’t eat dinner till about 8pm.

Yes the first 4-5 days he will just be hungry. Once he accepts that he can push through and I second drinking lots.

He just needs to decide when he’d rather be hungry. At night or in the morning and shift his eating window accordingly.

Alternatively I know some people do a week of 15:9 first to ease into it and then start 16:8 the next week. I now usually do 17:7 but didn’t start with that.

@RumAndRaisinIceCream what is he eating when he does eat?

I know I'll feel fuller for longer if I have a big plate of chicken and vegetables as opposed to something carb heavy.

Also second the water intake suggestions. I'm never without a pint of water these days!

Thanks, you're right, particularly in this weather I don't think he's drinking enough.

I actually don't think he's eating enough either. He's 6 foot 4 and even though he is v overweight I actually think cutting his calories too quickly is going to make him give up quicker and snack on crap (he is a terrible snacker). He cooks everything and does it v healthily. I will suggest he piles on some more vegetables and a bit more protein.

Thanks for your help with this!

My weight has finally started moving again, albeit only 0.5lbs after a few weeks of maintaining the same weight.
Its only a small movement but its something which is great!
I was away last weekend and stuck to my fast, even skipped mcdonalds when everyone else had one and sipped my bottle of water!
Fridays are always my more relaxed eating day. I've made a ham salad baguette to take to work,ive been trying to have less bread in general but i do love a baguette!
(everyone else in the office gets a bacon/sausage/egg sandwich from the fast food van on Fridays)

Hope everyone else is doing okay too?

Day 5 here and generally going well here, I even had my first black tea!!

Minor slip up last night with popcorn when I was watching a movie with the kids but just re set the zero app and managed the 16h.

I’m also calorie counting trying to keep to 1200-1500 a day, 1200 if possible with room for a bit more without feeling I’ve let myself down.

Starting weight - 13st 5

Week 1 - 13.3
Week 2 - 13.1
Week 3 - 13 stone.

So far this is the easiest ‘diet’ I’ve ever done. I’m barely hungry, only in the hour or two before I break my fast but that’s manageable and then I eat if I’m hungry and I’m always stuffed from dinner when I start my fast.

I love it.

I started at the end of May and so far have lost 10lbs. I do at least 16hours, but most days closer to 18, every day. Some weeks my weight goes up, sometimes it stays where it is for 2 weeks but it goes down eventually. I make a very vague effort to keep my calories around the 1500-1600 mark but if I stray over a little bit I don’t stress about it.

I’m loving this lifestyle. Fasting for 16 hours is a piece of piss now, I don’t even start to feel hungry until around hour 17.

Well done all!

@Pombearsandwich I am similar to you in the way my weight goes up and down some weeks then stays the same then drops. It can be quite frustrating but i know it is normal to fluctuate!

My weight loss has been slow, but I hit my first goal today of lowering my body fat percentage!
1st Aug i was 25.7% today i hit 23.9% (my goal was 24%)

@CaveMum i love these scales you recommended, defo keep me motivated and more focused on my body fat than my actual weight!

Glad you are loving the scales @Sissy31!

We are on holiday this week so while I’m trying to stick to IF where I can I’m not being religious about it. We’ll see what damage has been done when I get back!

I'm a few weeks in now. Not weighing myself because I don't own scales but I know I've lost weight because yesterday I managed to get into my favourite jeans that I haven't been able to wear for months!

I had a bit of a slip over the weekend but felt awful because of it so I'm even more motivated to stick to the plan now.

Hello all! Back from my holidays and only just over 2lbs heavier to show for it!

Firmly back on the wagon now and I’ve actually managed to get DH to join me! He’s put weight on over the last 6 months but very much had his head in the sand over it. I persuaded him to jump on the fancy scales and he was shocked to find he is nearly 2 stone over his regular weight and is borderline obese.

He’s a tall, well built guy so apart from a bit of a belly you wouldn’t really think he was that overweight, but he’s shocked himself into action so we’ll see how he gets on too!

Hi everyone, haven’t checked in for a while - it’s been a busy month!

We haven’t been the most disciplined over the past few weeks, I have to admit, though we have fasted most days.

We both probably have about a stone still to shift (well, I definitely do, my partner maybe 5kg or so). We’ve decided to try and nail this thing and do the fast 800 again for the next month, with one day off a week.

Fingers crossed we can get over this final hump. After initial fantastic losses we’ve been stalled at this weight for months - gaining a little, losing a little, never making real progress.

I’m three weeks in to this now and absolutely loving it. I hardly get hungry anymore and I’ve gone to two meals a day (and snacks in between - if I feel like it).

My weightloss is slow and very minimal. I think I’ve lost between 3-4lbs altogether? But I’m not sure - my scales are very temperamental

However...

The changes in my body have been dramatic. I have quite a large stomach that has been saggy from childbirth so it’s not usually flat. I put over a stone on during lockdown and my stomach was awful - bloated, wouldn’t fit in my jeans, was really noticeable.

The change in my tummy has been unbelievable!! I put some leggings on today and I could wear a tight top with it for the first time in ages. I feel much taughter too I’m so happy with it. I’ve lost weight (noticeably) on my hips too, they look a lot trimmer. And my back fat has somewhat smoothed out too.

My partner is doing this alongside me, he’s not really changed much in weight when he’s weighing himself but I’ve noticed the same changes in him - half the stomach, trimmer hips. Less bloat. He looks great!

It’s strange with the hardly any lbs shifted (maybe it’s water in the fat cells? I’ve been reading the science behind it all) but I’ve realised now how little the scales mean and how much the change in body shape means more.

Overall I’m happy. And I have loads more energy. And it’s easy!