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 ...🍷

I too am going through the freezer and using up oddments out of the fridge. Sometimes I feel as if we just buy some of the things for the purpose of being 'oddments'.

I made sausages and mash yesterday as we all like it; husband and kids had beans with it. I purpose made it in bulk so we have it for today too (husband doesn't cook) and I've portioned some for myself for today and tomorrow 4 chippolatas chopped up into 2 tablespoons of mash. That's one meal, fits into a 1930s dessert bowl so it's not a large portion. I use those bowls often to portion-sense my food because it's just too easy to keep going even if I feel full in normal bowls.

I have some pomegranate seeds and Halloumi cheese that I might dry-fry and make into a salad. I had that out somewhere, it's lovely. Just a balsamic/bit of olive oil dressing. I have a bag of pea-shoots just for me - nobody else likes them.

I've weighed and lost 2lbs. That's just about right, I can do this 16:8 forever, the timing works for me. I know I'll have the odd day where I won't be able to do it, if I stay in a hotel with somebody then they generally eat breakfast and I'll have to follow suit but that's not too often.

I might incorporate 5:2 later on, I just want to get into the swing of this properly first. The water though... 2 litres of the stuff. It's hard going

Can I join?? I've done 5:2 with great success before, and kept the weight off for a couple of years. However, working at home has been challenging to say the least so I have started 18:6 to try to address/halt my evening snacking.
Is 16:8 just as effective?? I'm really struggling already with the 6 hour window and wondering if the 8 hour window would give me results. I only want to lose about 10lb so not masses and it's always harder to get rid of that last bit of weight I find.... Any views welcome.

Good evening!
Great to see new names! The more the merrier.

@Hoolajerry you definitely don’t need to worry about a slice of ham!

@Klaudia14 the social distant cake was actually very sweet. My parents only live around the corner. The road in front of their house is a dead end and they are the last house, so we took our camping picnic table and had cake with them staying on their drive. The kids thought it was very exciting!
Great news about you being able to WFH.

@ChangeThePassword not being able to pop to the shop in the same way as we usually would is doing us good, I’m sure! Pre lockdown DH was always popping out for chocolate.

Pomegranate and hallumi sounds lovely @LyingWitchInTheWardrobe.

@emsyj37 I can’t do 5;2, it seems to really trigger my migraines. I have a few mates who have been doing both ways long term and seem to maintain a healthy weight with ease.

A funny day for me today - had a migraine and felt rough all day. Damn hormones. Didn’t eat much until dinner time, but then I made up for it with some yummy sweet potato chilli tacos. I always feel a bit hungover after a migraine and want to eat all the salty snacks, so tomorrow may be a challenge.

I hope everyone has had a good day. The baby is terming hard, so I’m off to bed in anticipation of a good few wake ups 😟

Evening all.
LyingWitchInTheWardrobe your salad sounds amazing. I might have to try that.
Pandapotato rubbish you've had a migraine. I feel the same as you after one - I just want all the carbs!
Okay day here. I do feel like I stuff my face during the day but that is possibly down to boredom at work. Today I had toast, marmalade and coffee for breakfast. Chicken and ham gumbo with rice, salad and sour cream for lunch followed by berries with greek yoghurt and granola. For snacks I had a handful of brazil nuts with two squares of dark chocolate, an apple, nectarine, half a small scone, half a snack size crunchy and about 5 murray mints. I've also done a 15 minute hiit workout and been for a 45 minute walk.

Been doing this over a week now. Didn't weigh myself until a couple of days ago so will be interested to see next week if I've actually lost anything.

Oh god! Up with the baby since 5:30am ..... 11 feels like days away.

@Hoolajerry I lost a couple of pounds a week to start with. Nothing last week, but I was definitely eating too much chocolate and having too many sweets. Going to try not to this week and see where that gets me. At least I’m not gaining though!

Good luck @klaudia14

Klaudia14 good luck. Hope you find am eating plan that suits you.
emsyj37 welcome! I find 5:2 too hard although now I'm getting used to feeling hungry I think I might be able to give it a go.
I really like this. I have found it very easy to stick to.

Had a good day today although not eaten enough veg. I've been at home today with the dc and pretty much forgot about food. I had muesli and a coffee for breakfast and king prawn and coconut laksa for lunch with greek yoghurt and granola for pudding. For snacks I had a handful of brazil nuts and a couple of squares of dark chocolate, an apple and a banana. I've also done a 25 minute interval run.
Pandapotato hope you've managed to get through the day. You must be shattered!

Hi this also has worked for me in the past but I got terrible headaches the first few days. I'm feeling motivated to try again so please count me in. Just trying to decide on the eating window, we normally have our family meal 7.30 ish so haven't finished eating until 8pm, but I might ask them if we can eat more like 6.30.

Hi all, the salad was really nice, I will probably have it quite often (it's a Tesco recipe, very simple - it would have to be for me! ).

I've just come back from Morrisons and picked up some tuna loin steaks for a third of the usual price so we'll be having those with some new potatoes and salad.

Klaudia sorry to hear that you're struggling. My hair gets a bit thin and I've been taking Viviscal for it for years now, I don't now if it works or not but my hairdresser says my hair's better. It's a bit pricey but i dare not stop now.

How's everybody getting on with their eating today? I've been out and forgot to go 'off fast' at 11am, didn't eat until 3pm and have to fit in a day's food from now till 7pm. I'll have to keep an eye on that because I go past hunger and then feel a bit sick and don't want to eat.

I did though buy a tub of Halo 'ice cream' which I shared. It's only 270 calories a tub, this one was 'Birthday Cake', it's ok but quite sweet. Quite good level of protein though.

That's understandable Klaudia, hope it improves soon!

I'm using up chicken wings from the freezer today. I'm trying to use up as much non wholefood plant based stuff as I can before I get my tesco delivery next week. I then have a plan to do a month's batch cook to freeze (other than things like stir fry that need to be made on the day) - so I need room in my freezer!

I can't comment on 18:6, compared to 16:8. I'm guessing the longer the fast the better, but it's about finding the balance of what is sustainable and effective. I know some people do just one big meal per day. Which would save so much time!

@Hoolajerry yesterday was a looooong day. But i, surprisingly, didn’t Struggle to keep to my fast. I’m super pleased about that as I definitely tend to over visit the pantry when I’m tired.

@tinkywinkyshandbag I always get headaches at the start of any new diet / change in eating habits. I think it’s part of the adjustments. Make sure you drink enough water. We are having our family evening meal pretty early since lockdown as the baby is always ready for bed around 6. It’s freeing up a lot of evening time and we like it.

@LyingWitchInTheWardrobe 270 cal for a tub of ice cream sounds ace. Must try it!

@ChangeThePassword what kind of things are you planning to batch cook? I’m always after some recipe inspiration!

A good day here today. Broke my fast with a carrot at 11am while I was prepping for tonight’s meal. I know how to treat myself! Had a gorgeous lunch of tomatoes and feta on toast. Dinner was Kiev, mash and veg followed by melon, Greek yogurt and honey. I didn’t feel like snacking much today.

How is everyone getting on? I was just under 12st this morning for the first time in a long time. Still very overweight, but I feel like that’s a bit of a milestone 🙂

@Pandapotato thanks for the welcome and hi to everyone, I'm definitely going to give this another go, I think to break myself in gently I will start over the next couple of days having a brunch mid morning and then I will start properly on Monday not eating before 12. I think one of the things I like about this way of eating is that I don't end up going to bed hungry, which I do tend to on slimming world, because I find the low fat meals less satisfying, and then I don't sleep well, which as we all know is linked to weight gain. I also really dislike the low-fat/artificial sweetener culture of slimming world, I just dont think it's as good for you. I am on a slimming world group on Facebook and people post pictures of their meals and most of them look really unappetising to me. I'm not knocking slimming world, I know it works for lots of people, but I think it's not the best plan for me. When I am able to start working again I may need to tweak my hours but for now am going to aim for 12 to 8pm, that gives me time for a square of chocolate after my dinner in the evening.

I found myself rushing dinner last night at 6.55pm (fast from 7). I need to organise my time a lot better. The fasting itself is great, I didn't 'break it' until 2pm which is better bodywise.

I'm using the 'Fastic' app so if anybody wants to be buddies on there, that would be great. I've only been doing this a week but so far, so good. .. if I can just organise myself properly!

How did it go for you today @tinkywinkyshandbag? I hope it’s getting to feel easier.
I agree with you about the slimming world stuff.

What does the fastic app do @LyingWitchInTheWardrobe? I’ll take a look.

I downloaded my fitness pal today. Thought it might help to monitor calories. Gave up half way through entering lunch. Such a faff! Counting stuff definitely isn’t for me.
Another busy day here. Didnt have any food until lunch time. I usually stuck to 7-11 or 12-8. I’m finding I’m not as hungry now as I was in the morning. Walked for almost an hour with the baby in the sling. He’s 9.5kg now, so that’s pretty hard work. Might help towards the pizza I scoffed for dinner.

Hope everyone has had a good day.

Disjointed few days here. Fast 15 00 to 10 00 on Wednesday to Thursday as we were having fish and chips last night. Just had a fish and a few chips but I did wash it down with 3 large g and 's although I ran 5km to get them l. Didn't eat then until 11 00 yesterday when I had a avocado, feta and rice salad and fruit salad. Somehow then managed a 24 hour fast until just when Ive had a smoothie. Already walked the dogs and done an interval workout with my daughter. Was a bit light headed in thee end. Going to have an 11-7 eating window today and try and get back into a routine. If I haven't lost any weight by next week I'll be mightily pissed off!
LyingWitchInTheWardrobe I'm going to check that app out too. Might help me keep track.

Have a good weekend everyone 😊

Pandapotato and Hoolajerry, it was recommended by another poster on another thread (which I now can't find). I typed 'body fast' into my phone and that was the one that came up.

It's actually a great ap, I'm on the 'free-version' can't upgrade as I can't get my google play thing to work but it keeps great track of how your body is 'working' through the fast and it's so simple to use (it would have to be, for me).

I managed a 20 hour fast today, 7pm last night until 3pm today so a four hour window to eat. I'm quietly optimistic that this could be the eating regime for me having tried many, many others.

Today I've had two crusty white rolls with ham and salad, bit of mayo and a paw patrol icecream lolly (love those!). I'm not hungry now but I'll eat some soup or some toast before 7pm.

I also went on the Exante site and bought quite a lot of shakes as I want to make sure that I have something ready-prepared if I'm running late (as I always seem to be).

Or Greek yoghurt with some blueberries and walnuts as I've just remembered I have some.

Hope everybody's having a nice weekend, weather's glorious here.

Decided on a ham and cheese (a bit) omelette with two pieces of wholemeal toast with small amount of butter. Happily fasting now. :)

I started on this way of eating last weekend after being inspired by one of the threads on MN. The week has gone well- my window is 11-7 and that’s fine for me. I get a bit hungry in the morning around 10 but by then it’s not long to wait. I find a decent brunch (eggs and toast or similar) means I don’t really snack- perhaps a biscuit with a cuppa at 3pm ish and the tea at 6/6.15. I miss a wine at night, but often wine equals snacking and loss of control so I guess that’s no bad thing. I don’t own scales so that’s a plus for me as my head gets fucked by the dieting and weighing stuff... I know I am overweight but I’d like to know I’m heading in the right direction so will probably weigh in about 3 weeks time after a month of this.
Frozen slices of lemon are proving a delicious way to encourage water consumption. Two slices in hot water in the morning and one in cold water several times during the day- I’m assuming that’s okay in the fasting hours???
Nice to read how everyone else is getting on.

@PandaPotato I don't have anything very exciting on this months plan. What I'm planning to cook and freeze is:

Tomato sauce (for pasta)
Pesto
Veg chilli
Veg curry
Bean burgers
Lentil 'shepherds' pue
Soup
The freezable bits of chickpea salad (add mayo later) or soup, depending on what I feel like on the day!

And, if I have room in the freezer, bread and fruit portioned up for smoothies.

At the moment I'm using up the stuff in the freezer and cupboards before my mean plan kicks in at the end of this week. Today I have eaten rubbish, quite frankly. Beans and cheese on toast, frozen veggie burger with wedges and onion rings and caramelised white chocolate. Dreadful, but I hate dumping edible food! And one it's gone, it will be replaced with home cooked food made from scratch from 'real' ingredients.

Isadora Frozen lemon slices! That's a great idea. I have lemons!

Ach shite! Rubbish day after starting so well. Had lunch of crackers, cheese and salad. Then my neighbour and I had a socially distanced drink (gin and tonic) , followed by two more and some crisps. Meant I didn't cook until late so finished eating just before nine. Will try and reduce my eating window now for tomorrow.

Hello!

@hoolajerry did you run 5k for the gin or the chips? Either way, I’m impressed!
I always eat crisps or nuts when I drink, so having a weekend off... so far.
The great thing about doing this is that I think you can adjust your fasting times following days like today.

Will check the app out when I have time @LyingWitchInTheWardrobe. It sounds good. Shakes are a great idea if you find yourself short on time to eat.

Welcome @Isadora2007! I have no idea about lemon slices. They do sound lovely. I only have black coffee & water. I drink hot water in the morning as I find it easier on the tummy.

Great batch cooking ideas @ChangeThePassword. I need to work out a way to make our freezer work better. We have a big American style thing, but the freezer part seems small. And it’s currently full of leftovers that I’ve kept for the baby. I want to get the kids eating more pulses, so might try them with a lentil Shepard’s pie. Thanks for the inspo!

I’ve been pretty good today, but my meals haven’t been all that healthy. I had bacon sarnies for lunch and lasagne with salad for dinner and Greek yogurt after. I don’t think I’ve actually snacked though - unusual for me! I had a long walk with the pram and also did a 20 minute power walk on the treadmill tonight. A thread on here about fitting into old jeans has inspired me to make an effort.

Hope everyone has had a great day.

Morning all,

ChangeThePassword, that is supremely organised and I'm pondering how I can make that work in this house too. We have so much 'oddment' food that ends up in the freezer and I think I will have to take better note of what's going in and on the shopping lists. I''m the only one who cooks/prepares food.

Pandapotato, I'm really in awe of that. I've never mastered the treadmill and 20 mins is great. I saw that 'fitting into old jeans' thread and you're right, it's inspiring.

Hoolajerry, I hear you on the bad day. It's not really a bad day, you still need those calories to function, it's just that you do better days - and I bet you do those more often than the occasion 'bad' day. That's why bad days hit us hard, I think, because they're not the norm?

No movement on the scales for me this week but I can feel it so I'm going to try not to let the numbers denote success or failure.

Not sure what we're having today - maybe chicken stir fry? We all seem to like that, even though there are groans from some mentioning no names, Mr Lying!.

I'm going to try to fast until 4pm today - apparently, the longer you fast, the longer the fat-burning continues - and the cell regeneration carries on. That's actually the main reason for me, I have MS and the 'autophagy' is responsible for 'recycling' mis-folded cells. It's fascinating to read about. Anyway, I'm hoping that the clean-up picks up some MS-blighted cells, reads them as a bit rubbish, and tidies them away for good. That's the plan!

I'm going to do 20mins on my bike with some great tunes. I have these amazing Sony MP3 headphones that are waterproof, I use them for swimming . Still, not wasted.

@LyingWitchInTheWardrobe its really not that impressive! I bought a treadmill at the beginning of last year, then found out I was pregnant a week later. I had horrendous sickness, so never used it. I keep putting it off because I feel way too heavy to run. So I’m trying to make myself do a few 20/30 mins power walks a week on top of my normal daily walk with the family. I figure anything that gets my heart rate up has to help right?
Interesting about the cells and the fasting. I need to make time to read about it. I was thinking of trying to introduce a longer fast a few days a week. But I’m still bf’ing, so will be cautious.

I’m shattered - walked 2 hours along the coastal path with the giant baby in the sling. That definitely feels like a workout! I’ve made a roast dinner and can’t wait to tuck in. Portion size is definitely an issue for me. I need to start work on getting that down.

Hope everyone is having a lovely Sunday. And those of you in England are enjoying a bit more freedom. I’m in Wales, so still fully locked down.