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 ...🍷

Well done downudderer!! It’s so nice to just have a choice of what to wear rather than just what fits - can’t wait until I’m there!! If I could stay under 10stone consistently I’d be a happy bunny.

Yeah, for a while I've felt like a roast beef that's all rolled up and tied with string everytime I've added a belt to an outfit, like I looked ok but I felt really constricted!! I'm really starting to not feel like that anymore!

I'm a pound down today, I'm super happy. I ate quite a big dinner last night, fried chicken breast diced, with avocado, green beans and carrots and sugar snap peas. Yesterday for lunch I had three chicken legs!

How is everyone doing?

I've been having savoury breakfasts lately..I guess I'm breaking fast between 10:30-11 so more like a brunch really. Made some Italian bean soup yesterday and had that to break my fast over last 2 days. It's just so good! Having it with a toasted bagel with cheese!

Also have noticed I am extremely thirsty for water in evenings which is odd for me. I always drink water in the day but at moment I can't stomach it in morning while in fasted state but am extremely thirsty from mid afternoon until I go to bed. Better than wine I suppose 😜

Bean soup with a bagel sounds lush!

I've had a good couple of days, one day I had an extra hour on my fast. I'm really trying to drink plenty of water, I notice more weightloss when I do.

I love IF, I'd love my husband to try it but he's not keen.

Hi guys, i have posted for a couple of weeks.
Still going well and feeling good, but weightloss haa still sfopped
I feel good though so hopefully if i carry on ill lose it eventually! Today is my 150thfast according to my app!

As before when I've tried 16:8, I've been struck by how much easier it is for me to resist food while still fasting (i.e. in the morning) than it is once I've broken my fast. It's as if having my first meal of the day 'breaks the seal' and kicks my appetite into action, and I'm then at least mildly tempted by snacks between meals (though much less so now that I'm eating 3 mea li s closer together). It's odd really, because you'd think I'd be at my hungriest towards the end of the 16 hour fast.

Interesting what people are saying about water. I definitely don't normally drink enough of it, but I'm finding I'm a bit more thirsty than usual. My skin and hair are looking a bit better than usual - I wonder if that's the start of the health benefits of the fasting, or the increase in water. Maybe both, I guess!

I think being intuitive is key to all this. You need to listen to your body and some days you might eat more than others. This is why I could never again do a calorie restricted diet. Today I broke fast with just a toasted bagel with jam, yesterday it was a big bowl of soup with beans and pasta plus a bagel with cheese! I'm definitely loving this aspect of IF and it works for me. I am starting to feel a difference in my clothes already 😃 and my energy is going strong! I work from home and do a mile walk before work, one after and then an evening one about 2/3 miles.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Yes, sometimes a small breakfast suits me, other times I have a bit more and that's what was needed that day. I managed an extra half hour on my fast this morning. I'm pleased with that.

I had an extra long fast this morning, because I forgot my breakfast as I was rushing out the door. I felt good for having an extra hour. If I'm really busy I can go with it, when I'm home I usually count down until I can eat breakfast!

I’m like that some days, usually when I’m busy I don’t notice the time anymore, when at home I’m usually clock watching!

Strangely though most days I’m not actually hungry at the end of my fast It’s like iv gone past it, I just love eating though so can’t wait for that time to come so I can start shovelling stuff in my big fat gob

I’m still maintaining the same weight. I eat around 1300cals a day, exercise twice a week. I think my body is happy at this weight and to loose more I’d need to drop calories and increase my exercise by quite a bit. Will see how committed I feel to the cause! I feel better with the half a stone loss so far, I’m happy to be more in control of my eating and am definitely making better food choices than before.

Alls good so far for me. Hope everyone else is managing ok

Hello! A month into 16:8 and I'm now down just over half a stone! A pound until I've lost a stone since the end of July! I'm now 13st1lbs.
I'm happy with this - I'm keeping to between 1200 and 1500 calories a day and make sure I hit my protein goal too (113g).
I have so much more energy, my resting heart rate has improved SO MUCH! I also sleep better.
I think slow and steady works for me as does this way of eating. I'm also exercising 5 times a week and try to walk 10k steps.
Loving hearing all about you all doing this way of eating too :)

@lazylinguist

As before when I've tried 16:8, I've been struck by how much easier it is for me to resist food while still fasting (i.e. in the morning) than it is once I've broken my fast. It's as if having my first meal of the day 'breaks the seal' and kicks my appetite into action, and I'm then at least mildly tempted by snacks between meals (though much less so now that I'm eating 3 mea li s closer together). It's odd really, because you'd think I'd be at my hungriest towards the end of the 16 hour fast.

Interesting what people are saying about water. I definitely don't normally drink enough of it, but I'm finding I'm a bit more thirsty than usual. My skin and hair are looking a bit better than usual - I wonder if that's the start of the health benefits of the fasting, or the increase in water. Maybe both, I guess!

Absolutely this! and now, a few weeks in, I kind of feel justified in pigging out during my window, bad I know, and kind of defeats the point. Before starting 16/8 I'd got into a healthy breakfast routine of just fruit, nuts and homemade yog for breakfast, I'm thinking now I should try and always break my fast with fruit...

I wouldn't shift any weight at all if I didn't look at what I was consuming during my eating window. I still want to lose weight, about 7lb. Once I reach target I'm sure I'll stick with 16:8 and just adjust what I eat.

I can't believe I've been doing this two weeks now. I feel great! My favourite part of IF is the amount of energy I have!! I sleep better and have energy all day! Yesterday I went for an hour and a half walk in the woods after work. At weekend I went for a 9 mile walk with a friend. We're in tier 2 so only allowed to socialize outdoors so we just continued walking for ages!
I ended up doing an 18 hr fast on sunday as I wasn't hungry until 12 and still stopped eating at 6! Found that really interesting! My body just didn't want food at 10 and I was really full at 6 so decided to start my fast again.

My only downside is the food I'm eating. I too need some more healthier snacks and meals ! Yesterday I broke my fast with tortilla chips and hoummus.... in my defence I was really busy with work and only had 5 minutes to eat something and this was the quickest and most convenient, plus I wanted savoury

I think with fasting it isn't 'one size fits all'. I have learned the following things:

• The earlier I start my fast, the quicker I lose
• it I eat one meal a day I can eat literally anything I want, and if I fast for around 24 hours I will still lose
• drinking a bit of milk in my tea hasn't stopped me losing
• I maintain/gain weight for the 5-6 days around ovulation, and then lose a few pounds quickly to make up for it
• as soon as I start eating, I want to eat loads. This is why one meal a day is good as I can get all my eating into a small window and then fast again on a full stomach

I've lost a stone and a half

@CatsLikeChocolate how long have you been IF?

@DownUdderer around 4 months

I'm really impressed that you've lost 1.5stone! Are you happy? You must be!

I'm down 5lbs for October, so I'm feeling happy with that. Sometimes when the scales don't move for a week I really get frustrated. I think that's daft, and I'm being too impatient. But sometimes I can see the big picture and sometimes I can't.

Have just started 16/8 and four days in I'm impressed by how easy it is, and how good I feel. Don't find the mornings (fuelled by black coffee) difficult at all in terms of cravings and also have much more energy than before (always used to have a mid-morning slump). Only tiny regret is that I love breakfast food, but I guess I can just shift it into the occasional lunch time. Main aim is to get blood pressure down, improve metabolism and lower heart rate, but if weight loss kicks in I won't mind

@BistroCafe good work! I like IF because it just gives me a framework to stick too. It's not complicated or difficult to figure out.

Hello,
Advice and wisdom welcome!

IF has worked for me previously but not sure it’s really doing anything for me now. Reading some of the posts here, I can see that I need to tighten up and maybe eat less during the eating window.
For the past few weeks I’ve been fasting from 8-9pm until 12.30ish. Like a pp, once I stop fasting, I feel I can’t stop eating.

Any tips on how to just eat less or know when to call it a day and not snack so much?
It’s like my brain is telling me that relaxing after work and once kids in bed = eating snacks in front of telly.
I’m also on ADs so wondering if that is not helping with my weight loss attempt.
Sorry for the ramble, guess it’s my way of trying to join the thread.

Oh and can anyone recommend any apps please ? Maybe this will help me keep focused. Thanks.

I used to use the Fastic app to help me at first - I didn’t pay for any services just used the free bit, I liked it as it shows you what stage your body is going through and what stage is next at what time etc. I found this helpful to keep me focused.

I don’t need to use it now I’m sorted with the timescales of IF now I just need to stop eating so much, even though I eat more healthier than before - I eat when I’m bored, happy, sad, stressed, eat just as I get a brain kick out of it. Really need to sort my snacking out!! I got good at sticking to 1300 cals but I know most days now I’m cheating myself. Hence no further weight loss.

Still feel better for doing IF, I’m trying not to beat myself up over it as I’m not gaining any weight. TOTM & kids/exh stressing me out prob all add to it.

Hope everyone is still going strong 💪🏼

SunnyHens - Hi and welcome!

Tbh the main reason IF works for me is it stops me snacking on the sofa in the evening exactly as you describe. I'm afraid you almost certainly need to close your eating window before your sofa time begins. I close mine as soon as we finish eating family dinner, usually about 6pm, sometimes 7pm. I vary it around shift work and maybe 3 times per month do later window for wine and nuts when I have a weekend off.

Evening eating was my main (not only but biggest) problem too - if you're the same you can't lose weight with an eating window which allows you to snack all evening.

Try 10am to 6pm, or 11am to 7pm.

I've also changed my snacks - I have a jar of almonds, walnuts and cashews which I get a bowl of if the family are having crisps in my eating window or if DH is having crisps on a wine night :) They're full of useful vitamins and minerals and easier to stop eating than crisps. I also have a small handful whenever I really want to grab something unhealthy. It seems to help.

Im 18kg down since mid July as of today - first day of my period so I'm hoping to finally have a BMI under 35 when the period water retention goes :o (I started with a shocking BMI of 41, which is dangerous and also the reason I've been able to lose quite quickly obviously).

Good luck!

Thank you UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme
Yes, you’re so right - evening eating needs to stop and definitely sounds good to try and close the eating window before I sit down on the sofa every evening.
Last night I went to the dentist at 5 and then straight to Ikea and this helped to avoid eating but can’t do this every night!

Thank you Gordonbennit for suggesting the Fastic app. I’m using it and so far helping me keep focused. Early days however as only on day 2 - I’ll be thrilled if I can manage a week of doing this properly (and not just telling myself I do IT because I manage to skip breakfast and not eat lunch until 12.30!).