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.

@roastpotatoesss I'll be exactly like that in a few days. I find it so annoying but there's just nothing to be done. I am now trying to view my weightloss per cycle rather than necessarily per month or week as that factors in that I'm bound to feel hugely bloated and demolish carbs and crap for a couple of days.

I think I may be edging off my plateau. I was 10st13 this morning with a flicker down to 10st12 having been 10st11 for the first time since this started on Friday. My period is due at the end of this week so I'm hoping to see 10st10 before that as then I will have lost 3lbs this cycle.

One of the things I miss about eating out is going to all of the different restaurants and eating all of the different cuisines. There's a great Lebanese restaurant near us but it's not doing takeaway at the moment. I do hope it is able to re-open once it is allowed and that it hasn't gone under. Baklava is about the only food in the world that I find too sweet.

Morning all...weekend food sounds wonderful!

We had a nice quiet weekend (is there any other kind these days?!)

I've decided to try skipping the milk in my tea in the morning, hoping it will help with the fasting benefits such as a clear mind, as per Gin Stephen's book.

@roastpotatoesss don't worry, sometimes you just need to do what you need to do. Well done for the bike ride, I'm sue you'll see some progress really soon.

@anothermadamebutterfly Amazing re the Couchto5K. I started doing it years ago but think I only got up to week 5...

@Whoateallthechocolate sounds promising! I know I miss restaurants too - I really miss going out for lunch. Having a baby meant we didn't go out for dinner much but I love going for a ;azy brunch where someone else will make eggs for me! LOL.

Going to be really strict the next few days and see if I can increase the rate of loss back to 0.5kg per week.
FD today, so it's tomato soup for lunch (no bread!) and a roasted veg frittata tonight.

No gain this morning, but no loss either.... disappointing but not surprising given the weekend I've had, and the posh meal delivery in the week.

Back to basics this week, armed with my black coffee and ice water, ready to break my fast at lunchtime with a salad and stick to celery and fruit for snacks. Good luck for this week everyone!

Morning!
I had a virtual afternoon tea yesterday so although I stuck to my eating window I hate to think of the calories consumed. Was yummy though.

Had a loss of 0.6kg (1.3lb) which brings my total to 14lbs in 5 weeks. I’m now 13.1 and I really wanted to be under 12 by March so a loss of 1.2lb next week is my target. My next target will be to try and get to 12.7 by the end of March which will be when I can hopefully 🤞🏻 see my parents for the first time in 6 months 😀

I’ve decided to give up alcohol for lent, I did dry January and other than a bottle of Prosecco which I spread over 4 days in Feb, I haven’t had any alcohol this year. I’d forgotten the ‘joys’ of homeschooling, I already want to dive head first into a glass of wine.

Hope everyone else is doing ok?

That should say I wanted to be under 13 stone by March not under 12 stone (although that would be amazing!)

Hi all,

Have had a lovely weekend of birthday celebrations (albeit at home!)

Well done on the maintain @roastpotatoesss - be kind to yourself, we've got this.

Viewing this as a cycle sounds like a good idea @Whoateallthechocolate - also miss restaurants massively. Cannot bloody wait to get dressed up and go for a fancy dinner with wine pairings etc! 👍🏻 🍷

@ladybranstonpickle I'm with you on trying to increase rate of loss. Think Happy Scale has given up on me. We've got leftover homemade chicken ruby this eve, but going to bulk it out with spinach and serve with brown rice to try and make it healthier.

We had a Chinese takeaway last night and as much as it was lovely, me and OH got full up very quickly compared to pre-fasting days so something must be changing.

Anyway, back to the straight and narrow (she says...).

Hi everyone I've been doing 16:8 for 3 weeks and calorie counting I'm having about 1400-1500 a day but I'm not really losing much only lost 5lb total and only 1/2 pound this week after really sticking to it. I have a lot to lose about 6-7 stone so thought it would come off easier than this. Any ideas what I'm doing wrong. I do have an under active thyroid which I am on a very high dose of thyroxine for will that make a difference?

@doublemix Have you calculated your TDEE? You need to be eating 500 cals a day less than that to lose 1lb a week. As your weight decreases you will need to recalculate the TDEE and adjust your calories accordingly- depending on how much you have to lose you may have to do this quite frequently. 5lbs in 3 weeks is pretty good going I'd say!

[quote roastpotatoesss]@doublemix Have you calculated your TDEE? You need to be eating 500 cals a day less than that to lose 1lb a week. As your weight decreases you will need to recalculate the TDEE and adjust your calories accordingly- depending on how much you have to lose you may have to do this quite frequently. 5lbs in 3 weeks is pretty good going I'd say![/quote]
Thank for replying yeah I calculated it a 2239 so should be having 1700 and I'm having less than that some days I'm only having 1200.

I decided to brave the scales this morning in the end, and am happy that while there is no loss (as I had expected), there is not any gain either. Seems I was lucky this time…

On another note, over the weekend we were looking at the some photos from last summer, and I was absolutely HORRIFIED at how much weight I piled on during the first lockdown. I don’t recognise myself in the pictures, it is not the me I think I am! It has made me very determined now to not have a rerun of it this summer - probably a good reminder/wake-up call.

@ladybranstonpickle please let us know whether you find skipping the milk makes any difference. Those pictures from the summer have made me think I could face the day without milky tea if need be.

@Skinnydecafflatte you are making amazing progress! And how lovely that you will be seeing your parents again at the end of March. I miss seeing mine so much.

@doublemix welcome! 5 lbs does not seem too bad for 3 weeks, and I am not very good on calories and TDEEs, but maybe some of the others will have some other ideas about how to speed it along a bit. Just wondering how long you have been taking the thyroxine - are you having regular blood tests with the nurse/GP? If yes, would it be worth asking their advice?

@Whoateallthechocolate I tell you, we can defeat that plateau in the end! Baklava is disgustingly sweet, and I don't really understand my weakness for it, as I do not have a massively sweet tooth, my vices are normally salty. But baklava just melts.

Thanks for the reminder about recalculating TDEE. Mine is 1500 so need to be prepared for slow weight loss from now on (1000 cal a day not sustainable) or to get serious about exercise and moving more. Hard when tied to laptop a lot at the moment! A lot of you sound v active!

Hello everyone. I am new here. I just tried fasting for a week only eating 10am - 6pm and I am amazed I haven’t lost any weight yet. I do feel slimmer and I feel healthier. But scales show no weight difference. I am eating toast at 10am. Normal lunch (sandwiches/soup typically) and normal dinner (stuff that kids like - spag Bol, fish pie etc). I thought I wasn’t overeating. Trying not to snack at all. Hopefully I am just having a slow start. Going to persevere a bit longer

Hi @Bluebeeee- like you I'm hopeful that it's just a slow start!

Does anyone else feel like the roadmap news has hardened their resolve? I personally like a deadline for losing weight, usually it'd be a holiday but now I know I have 4 months.... 2 really until we can meet people outside, so that's my interim goal. Let's do this!!

I haven’t done any sort of dieting for a long time. And now I am over 40 I saw the weight creeping up I figured I needed to do something. But I feel like weight doesn’t shift as easily now I am a bit older.

Hi, I’m new to the thread but have been following 16:8 for two weeks now and haven’t lost anything.

Last week I put it down to maybe overindulging on Valentine’s Day and feeling a bit bloated, but this week I feel totally fed up.

Maybe I need to add calorie counting in?

I have IBD and I feel better in the mornings than before so I am loathe to quit and change to something else. I have done 5:2 in the past but the IBD is making me cautious about revisiting that.

So it’s tempting to go and eat a load of buttered toast for breakfast today as I haven’t lost any weight so what’s the point. I don’t think I’ll do that, because then I’ll feel like crap and start a cycle...

I am 5’9 and 12 stone. If I lost 10 or 12lbs my size 12 clothes would fit comfortably and I’d be happy, I’m not trying to lose a lot of weight.

Mornng all! Sorry I missed checking in yesterday, work has started to ramp up...!

@anothermadamebutterfly I'm giving the no-milk tea a week to see how it feels. I am a bit worried about staining my teeth, but I suppose I can always whiten them at some point. I've put some Rooiboos tea in our Sainsbury's order for next week, I think that might be less likely to stain and its delicious without milk anyway.

I'ts only been three days but Happy Scale is telling me my rate of loss is 0.3, which is very slightly up from the 0.2 last week! I'm down to 64.4kg this morning, which is really motivating. I have a busy weekend of eating coming up though where I won't be able to do 16:8 - so who knows what will happen on Monday! I'm trying to think of it as an opportunity for my body to realise its not starving, hopefully it'll result in a whoosh rather than anything else.

Welcome @ProfessorInkling! Have you read Delay Don't Deny by Gin Stephens? She says to not expect any loss until at least 28 days of fasting - it takes that amount of time for your body to adjust, use up its glycogen stores and start burning fat. Are you taking measurements? Sometimes they change when the scale doesn't.
And, you can have the buttered toast - but in your window! It's only a few hours right?

I'm doing 5:2 as well as 16:8 (note to the newbies, this is not necessary, I'm just trying to boost my weightloss), so today is a FD. Lunch is chopped herring (left over from our bagel lunch earlier this week) and melba toast, with a bit of tomato and cucumber salad. Tonight is creamy smoked haddock and spinach - we've discovered the fat free creme fraiche from Yeo Valley, it's really quite delicious!

Enjoy the day peeps, looking forward to hearing how everyone is doing.

Hi @ladybranstonpickle, thanks for your reply - wow, no I haven't read that book and didn't know that - I've downloaded a sample onto my Kindle to have a look at.

That's really encouraging though as otherwise I am pretty happy with this WOE. I will take measurements, I was planning to just go by my jeans, I am in a 14 and have the same pair in a 12 which are my target. But measurements might add in a bit of motivation.

I've eaten exactly what I wanted within my window, salami fillled bagels, jacket potatoes, pasta, baked salmon, nachos... normal food. I avoid a lot of (but not all) processed ingredients as they can cause IBD flare ups - I think the long fasting window helps with this though too as my gut gets a proper break.

I do put unsweetened soya milk in my tea, I'd rather not cut that out at this early stage, I probably have two cups in my fasting window, three if it's a bad morning.

Oh that’s interesting and reassuring. I didn’t realise it takes 28 days for the fat burning to kick in. I will persevere for a bit longer too.

Hi all, can I join? I started last week and have lost 4.5 pounds but that might have been helped by weighing with fewer clothes on! I have 30 pounds to lose to get to my target. I’m using the Fastic app. So far, so good but missing my usual coffee in the morning.

Morning everyone! It's a busy day for me as I am OOO tomorrow, so need to get lots done at work.

My husband wants a "City Lunch" today, so we will probaby get takeaway from our little Korean/Japanese place. I love the bibimbap although I think it's probably a lot of calories - quite oily but DELISH!
Last time I ordered the Bulgogi not realising it was battered and fried...wasn't so happy. Dinner tonight will be light, perhaps a toastie or plain cheese sandwich, as lunch is so heavy.

Welcome @Covenready, @Bluebeeee, @doublemix.

@roastpotatoesss - my resolve is strengthened to some degree although to be fair I already had in mind our return to the office as a deadline to be looking sleek and fitting in to all my lovely work clothes. Happy Scale keeps telling me I won't reach goal until late May, though :(

What's everyone else planning today?

Morning all. Didnt weigh this week as only managed 2 days of 16:8 last week. So far on day 4 this week. Still having milk in tea and eating normally between 12 and 8. Am tied in to a ww membership so logging on that and just adding milk to breakfast on the app!

Hiya - Can I jump aboard please?

I started the 16/8 last Thursday.

I'm 29, 5"2 and weighed 12 stone 11.4 lbs!

I'm the laziest person! Hate any form of exercise, including walking and spent most of my time on the sofa watching TV as I work and eating crap. Late night chocolate snacking, a shit ton of carbs and at least 2 take aways a week! I barely did 1000 steps a day and only drunk sugary tea, juice and pop!

Last week I started trying to lose weight by;

• Fasting 16/8
• Drinking at least 1.8L water a day
• Water before meals
• Reducing calories to 1400
• Doing at least 10,000 steps a day.

I weighed myself this morning and I've lost 3.2lbs 🙌😄 I'm so happy and so motivated!

Hopefully as I get fitter, I'll start more intense exercise and cut down more on the carbs!

The cravings in the evening are hard to resist but hopefully that'll soon pass!

How is everyone else getting on? Where did you start and where are you now?

@ladybranstonpickle I love the sound of a Korean/Japanese “City Lunch”! Sounds so stylish and tasty. My lunches are fairly rubbish when I am at work, although the canteen went through a phase of serving Chinese noodle soup, made with fresh ingredients and served with fresh coriander, would that almost count?

That is really interesting about the 28+day time lag. Since (and in spite of) my glitched week I have recently been starting to actually feel fitter and healthier, even if that is not yet manifesting so much on the scales. Also, I no longer feel bloated (I used to sometimes after lunch, even if it was a normal and healthy lunch). Sorry if this is TMI.

It will be interesting to hear about how the no-milk tea experiment goes.

@ProfessorInkling I have things like buttered toast in my window, just not too much of it. I am not sure that everything is worth giving up…

@roastpotatoesss I love the summer and hot weather and am pretty motivated by the idea of warmth and summer clothes. But like @ladybranstonpickle my main resolve when I started was to look at least OK in work clothes. The boat has passed for that one though as I will be back at work in a week or two, so maybe I should refocus on summer socialising instead! I hardly wore my nicer clothes last summer, so this could be the summer to make up for it. Today there was a beautiful blue sky and it definitely made me feel optimistic!.

Today I had porridge for lunch (I was in a bit of a rush) with banana and honey, and an orange for desert. I am not sure what dinner will be as in theory it is an evening when the kids cook, and I have not seen much activity there so far. I have to keep my distance otherwise I find myself ending up cooking it.

This evening I am venturing on to week 5 of the couch to 5k. Wish me luck!

Hello @TVDFan! Sounds like a great start, brilliant!

Evening snacking was a weakness of mine, and I think under the first lockdown was the main reason I put on a lot of weight. Since starting the 16:8 I have found that the cravings have gradually disappeared, hopefully you will find the same.

I started at 12 st on around 27 December, and am now 10 st 13. I found I lost at lot at first, and then stagnated a bit for a few weeks, but now I am hoping things will start moving again. I would like to get to 10 st as that would put me solidly in the 'healthy' BMI range, anything more than that would be a bonus!

I am doing the 16:8 and trying to eat sensibly in between but am not calorie counting as I am too lazy. I have also started the couch 2 5 k and have just finished week 4 and moving on to week 5. I am also trying to drink more water as I something think I forget to do that, but I do drink a lot of herbal teas (including jasmine tea, which is delicious and supposed to be healthy and full of antioxidants).

I'm another one who was planning on returning to the office looking sleek and definitely won't be! The scales still aren't moving much but I am definitely losing the bloat. I may have said before that, a few years ago, I was doing 5:2 and C25k and the 30 day shred (I am such a MN sheep!) and stayed the same weight for something like 7 weeks whilst going down a dress size. My body does seem particularly resistant to weight loss. Sometimes I get one of the DC to go on the scales just make sure they're not broken! This week I won't be able to complain if I stay the same as, whilst I am eating healthily, I think even the most basic amoeba would move more than I have as work has been crazy so I have burned about 4 calories all week.
I like the sound of the city lunch. Actually, I like the idea of any lunch which doesn't involve me thinking about it, buying it, prepping it & tidying it up!