16/8 - 2021 thread

[feliznavidad2]

Anyone else starting afresh in the coming days? I've dabbled in 16/8 in the past but then got a tummy bug and didn't restart.

I'm now the biggest I've been in 10 years and am keen to start taking some action to make me feel healthier and to lose some weight. 👋🏻

Aside from 16/8, I'm going to be reducing my carb intake (although still eating some) and ensuring I eat more fruit and vegetables.

Hello to any others who may be keen to join. I'll be weighing weekly on a Monday and using the Zero app to track my fasts.

Morning
I didn't bother at all last week as was just in too much pain having done something to my back. This also means I didn't move at all really last week!
Just weighed myself at 11st3 which is exactly where I was two weeks ago. I feel like a sugar filled bloated mess having had a dreadful day yesterday constantly grazing from the cupboards & fridge.... but not the fruit bowl or vegetable rack!
I must take back control of my eating.
Sigh

Morning!
Very happy to report a 3.1kg loss! It is my first week though so probably a lot of that is water.

Anyway pleased that there is a loss and it hasn’t been too difficult. Usually I do slimming world and I spend all my time thinking what can I eat and what I can eat for ‘free’. This feels more liberating as I just know not to eat unless between 11-7 and using MFP I’m keeping track of my calories.

Hoping for a 1kg loss for next week 🤞🏻
Hope everyone is doing ok?

I have managed a 1lb loss (so now at 11st 3lb) which is better than nothing but feels a bit lame, I thought I had done really well overall this week (although there was a glitch over the weekend). Maybe I just need to be more patient - 1lb lost is better than 1 lb gained after all. And it is a lovely sunny day and I had a lovely walk in the snow yesterday, so not all is bad!

Maybe I need to sacrifice those dirty teas in the morning.

Losers - well done, non-losers, don't be disheartened.

I've had a fasting day today. Woke up hungry as always and at first thing in the morning it does feel bit daunting to know that there won't be any breakfast or milky coffees ahead of me. But it soon passes and the fasting went fine again. I broke my fast at 12:30pm with a scramble, some goats cheese and sautéed courgette as well as a Keto mug bread. Delicious. The milky coffee afterwards tasted like nectar too. I also don't feel bloated at all now which is great.

I weigh and measure myself every Monday morning, straight after waking up and toilet visit (sorry tmi). My weight and waist measurement is exactly the same as last Monday which is bit meh but I suppose the plateau was due coming my way at some point. I've lost consistently every week since October (except one week over xmas when I relaxed for four days).

I'm currently reading Jason Fung's Life in the fasting lane which is very easy to read. Hopefully it will delve into more information about fasting twice a week and still having health benefits. I am interested in reading the Delay don't deny book too.

Also using Happy Scale following your recommendation @ladybranstonpickle - here's to more of a loss next week 🤞🏻

@Whoateallthechocolate - hope your back is feeling better now. You're not alone in needing to regain control of eating, to a point, that's why we're all on here I guess, with a goal of having a bit more control. 

Amazing work @Skinnydecafflatte !

@anothermadamebutterfly I felt similarly yesterday am, but 1lb a week for a year, say, or even a couple of months would be a great amount to lose and as you say, so much better off than on. We've got this (or so I keep telling myself.)

Happy Tuesday all.

4yo is at playgroup today which means I have some peace to do... chores. Can't break my fast until 11am as closed it a bit late yesterday eve so going to try and do a HIIT video in a min. Wish me luck.

@feliznavidad2 Go for that HIIT! don't waste that valuable child-free time on chores!

You are right - 1 lb is 1 lb, and if that continues over a few weeks it adds up. Last week was not that difficult, and feels sustainable over the longer run. I am trying to keep everything as simple as possible as I know that being too ambitious will probably result in failure. And I find it difficult to calorie-count as it is so time-consuming. So the only 'rule' I have really is the 16:8, combined with trying to make sensible choices within the window.

@Whoateallthechocolate hope your back is better soon

I hope so! I ended my fast early by 2.5 hours this morning - had a very stressful morning involving a dash to the chemist for wound dressings and a late arrival to nursery for my baby girl. My husband got us our favourite almond croissant from our local bakery...and asked me to split it with him. I felt there's no point being rigid and I did have a good fast day yesterday at 650 cal...

Wishing your back a speedy recovery whoate

I'll add Fung's books to my reading list! Delay Don't Deny is good but she definitely harps on about the clean fast...not sure if I could survive my fasting without milk in my coffee! I'll give the gentler approach a couple of weeks and if I'm not happy will think about removing the milk.

I measured waist and hips on 1 January, and am planning to measure on 1 Feb. I do feel a bit leaner but not really seeing it on the scale.

Thanks - I did a Team Body Project workout courtesy of YouTube this morning and loved it.

Now for the chores...

I'm doing the same as you @anothermadamebutterfly - my only rules are trying to stick to my window and attempting to 'clean' fast. I'm aiming to keep going long term rather than doing something unsustainable and stopping by the end of the month.

Hope you and yours are ok @ladybranstonpickle - sounds like a stressful one.

Yes, we are all ok. Struggling with some eczema on my daughter's back and basically, she scratched it open quite badly this morning, and plasters just weren't covering it well enough. We had run out of micropore tape in our first aid kit here at home and I didn't want her going to the nursery with an open wound that she would scratch all day, so we dashed to the chemist to get some sticky dressings. Applied in the car and gave some spare to nursery in case it fell off.

I'm so upset about her eczema - I suffered terribly with it throughout my life and only managed to heal permanently when 35 (long, hard story) so seeing her scratch brings up a lot of bad feelings for me and quite honestly I think some trauma memories. I've been trying all sorts of remedies including cutting out dairy and eggs, oats/Epsom salts in the bath, various emollients from the doctor etc., but nothing seems to be working at the moment. We even file her nails every day to reduce the harm caused by scratching.

I hope that covering it might give it chance to heal and we can take it from there, but it breaks my heart to see her skin like this.

In fasting news, I broke my fast early but still made it to 14 hours, so it could be worse! Pretty normal day today in terms of food - following the %;2 thread advice about the weekly TDEE pattern.

Hope everyone else's day is going well.

Hi, newbie here. 73kg, my all time heaviest. Doing 16.8. this is day 2. I'm doing weekdays only. Really hoping for some success. Cholesterol is 5.9 so I need to cut out all the butter, cheese, excess red meat etc which I'm hoping might help my weight loss too.

Do I need to do calorie counting as well as the 16.8? I thought it was eat normally butwithin that window?

@ladybranstonpickle you may well have tried this but can you give your LO some anti-histamine to stop the itching? Hydrocortisone thankfully works for my DD which I suspect is caused by too much tomato soup and/or beans on toast - but when it's lockdown and snowing outside what more do you want?(disclaimer - I can't WFH so OH does home learning and lunchtimes)

I was super busy at work this morning- due to a balls up in another department yesterday- so I completely missed breakfast and had my smoothie at 1pm, then obviously was too full for my lunch (will have it tomorrow) and really full after dinner. Did online fitness class tonight which I enjoyed.

Hi all xx just a few questions really x how do you track your calories in the day ? Is one milk in coffee really going to stop the fast from working? How many calories should I be aiming to eat if I'm looking for weight loss xxx

@PeacheyPeach if you are eating less calories, one coffee with a splash of milk will not make a huge difference. The way 16:8 works is, you will be eating less calories by default as there are less hours to eat, so people usually have 2 meals a day instead of two. However, milk in coffee may cause insulin to spike which will end your fast, but that shouldn't stop you losing if you are eating less calories IYSWIM.

As to your next question. You need a deficit of 3500 to lose a pound, so that is a defo it of 500 calories a day. So you should aim to eat 500 less than the calories needed for your sex, height, build etc. This is often quoted as 2000 for women and 2500 for men, but smaller people will not need that much.

I should have added *that is a deficit of 500 calories a day to lose 1lb a week'

@JamMakingWannaBe thank you for that suggestion - I had thought about it last week but you've reminded me! I'll pick some up today. She was very restless last night because of the itching, poor thing.

welcome @Handbaghag! I don't think its necessary to count calories, unless you are eating well past your TDEE. I find it useful to track so I do. My rough plan for the week is like this:

Mon: FD 500-600 cal
Tues: NFD TDEE of my goal weight
Wed: FD 500-600 cal
Thurs: TDEE of goal weight
Fri: TDEE of current weight
Sat: Anything goes!
Sun: TDEE current weight

It's a FD today for me - planning some tomato soup for lunch and then a light spinach and tofu stirfry.

Stay strong everyone!

[quote CantWaitForSummer2021]@PeacheyPeach if you are eating less calories, one coffee with a splash of milk will not make a huge difference. The way 16:8 works is, you will be eating less calories by default as there are less hours to eat, so people usually have 2 meals a day instead of two. However, milk in coffee may cause insulin to spike which will end your fast, but that shouldn't stop you losing if you are eating less calories IYSWIM.

As to your next question. You need a deficit of 3500 to lose a pound, so that is a defo it of 500 calories a day. So you should aim to eat 500 less than the calories needed for your sex, height, build etc. This is often quoted as 2000 for women and 2500 for men, but smaller people will not need that much. [/quote]
Thank you xx you've explained it really well xx
I have followed 16-8 before and managed to lose 2 stone but I kind of made it up as i went along ! So I wondered if there was something that I needed to do different. But i can see that I'm doing the basics here already!!

I managed to get out for a run this evening (if I can call it that - week 3 of the couch to 5 k app so a lot of walking rather than running). Met several people I knew on the way, and had to stop for some brief socially distanced conversations, so the whole thing took much longer than the intended 30 mins, and overall was quite leisurely, but still felt really good! I used to go running when younger, but haven't for ages and am so unfit. I have been doing it for about four weeks, but not as regularly as hoped for, so have only just got started week 3 now.

@ladybranstonpickle I had bad eczema (and asthma) as a kid, so my heart goes out to you and your daughter. I remember my mother was quite distressed about it at times as she could not stop me scratching it. I grew out of the worst of the eczema (or managed to find ways of managing it) in my late 20s, and only get occasional outbreaks now. I have discolouring/scaring in some places (insides of elbows, and backs of knees), which flame up at times, and when I do get an outbreak it makes me feel really stressed and helpless, as I am never really sure what will help.

@JamMakingWannaBe thank you for your advice re the anti-histamine. Gave her some baby piriton before bed last night and she slept so much better. Was a bit groggy this morning when I woke her up but I think that's to be expected. Antihistamines can make you very drowsy.

We put a tiny bit of Milton in her bath last night which I think has helped - her skin looked a bit better this morning - not quite so red and inflamed.

@anothermadamebutterfly I know, its awful. I suffered terribly so I know exactly how uncomfortable she must be.

I've also got some Ecover Zero washing powder to try incase its the detergent that's bothering her.

Thank you for the sympathy, it really helps.

In diet news - finished yesterday at 654 cal, and today another day another 16:8 (!). Very much looking forward to my lunch though - planning some crumpets and cheese and salad! Skipping breakfast every day makes me miss breakfast foods, so having toast etc for lunch to make up for it.

Feeing really hungry this morning. Roll on 11am!
Have been managing to stick to around 1400 calories for the last ten days. I’ve been clean fasting between 7pm and 11am, I’ve a bad headache today and wondered if I take paracetamol would that affect the ‘clean fast’? Or do I suck it up until 11?

Can I join you? I have three stone to lose (probably more but that's all I can cope with thinking about ATM).
I was already overweight at start last March then put a stone by August, managed to stop gaining since then but it needs to go.
I have not done this before but plan 12-8 eating window.
I will miss milk in my morning tea though. Would skimmed milk be ok?

Welcome @fastingnewby . I'm no expert but depending on some fasting experts, it is ok to have little bit of milk in your tea/coffee in the morning without it breaking you fast. It needs to be under 50cal.
But some other fasting experts prefer a completely clean fast, no milk, no lemon in your water etc.

I had an 18 hour fast again today but my calories ended up being 300 more than what I "allow" myself on a fasting day. The good news is the carb count is only 18g today so I'm happy with that.

I'm thinking of giving a heave ho to my clean fast, I'm just not getting into drinking black coffee. Even though I use a bean to cup machine, a bit of milk just makes it so much nicer. So on my next fast day on Monday, I will have a single espresso with 40ml of full fat milk which is about 33cal.

@fastingnewby I am no expert either, but I am firmly in the camp of those who find having some tea or coffee with milk in the morning is absolutely essential for my sanity.

I suspect I could have possible lost a bit more weight if I had not done this, but I have still made progress I am happy with. I guess my main aim is to keep it as simple as possible and develop habits that I can stick to longer term at the moment. I am quite lazy about things like calorie-counting, or cooking different meals for me than for the rest of the family, even though I am sure both those things would help a lot too.

@ladybranstonpickle I use Ecover products a lot, they are expensive but they seem to be good. Hope things are looking better for your daughter. I know that for me the weather also used to make a difference - cold damp weather was not good at all.

Morning everyone
I just did a mid week weigh in and am down to 11st1. This means that I might be able to get to 11st on Monday ... provided it doesn't go pear shaped over the weekend. I did 5:2 a few years ago and could consistently lose 2lbs a week only to gain one again each weekend.
So, this weekend, I need to have a plan. I can't gain or stay the same but need to actually lose weight. First step will be to avoid the gin this evening as that inevitably leads to crisps. Then I need to plan food and stick to it.
It could be a long weekend!