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.

Ooh, just downloaded Happy Scale and am very proud of myself that I was doing the same thing. Note to self - I could become an app developer
My next question is are people deliberately doing their exercise out with their eating window? Is it a 'thing' to do it in the '16' ?
I'd kill for an almond croissant, an almond Magnum and the BBC recipe Raspberry and Almond tart.

Do you like almond, @Mum5net ?

Sneaking back in to this thread after being a bit half-hearted of late.

No loss showing yet for me. I have mostly stuck to the timings of fasting but not strictly and probably over-indulged on a few days with one this another going on at home, a job interview I didn’t get, some stress with juggling home schooling and work, etc etc. But the sunshine this weekend has made me feel more positive and determined so I’m looking ahead and going to focus.

Who else has kids back to school tomorrow? Very mixed feelings on it for my 10 & 13 year olds but the routine will be good for us all and I might get a bit more work done within my actual hours instead of feeling like if I am awake, I am at work....

Good morning all! Welcome back @ProfessorInkling - good to see you. I'm starting to feel that I am talking to myself !

I also was a bit half-hearted over the weekend - although the big win for me is that I am clearly experiencing some appetite correction, only ate half a bagel with some salt beef at lunch plus coleslaw and a scoop of chopped liver yesterday and was satisfied with a glass of wine and some crisps for dinner, just wasn't hungry after the deli lunch! I probably should have tried a long fast from after lunch until today, but felt like socialising over a glass of wine with my husband...

Its a FD today, so lunch will be a small jacket potato and either tuna made with yoghurt and a tiny bit of mayo, or baked beans. Dinner is a harissa cauliflower traybake - a Jamie Oliver recipe!

Dropping my daughter off at nursery this morning I saw lots of schoolchildren on their way to school. I must admit I felt a bit emotional at the prospect of a tiny bit of normality returning. What a horribly traumatic year we have had.

Looking forward to hearing how everyone else is getting on.

Morning
I had a weekend off and the scales are showing every ounce of it. It is most annoying. Weeks a and weeks of being "good" and I largely stay the same; two days of not so "good" and I gain two pounds! I have to say I'm not too bothered as I know it's just water/bloat and we were in such a carnival mood here knowing the DC would be back at school that I wanted to celebrate with some cake, chocolate, ice cream and a glass of wine. I did walk for two hours each day and there was an element of control - whilst I had breakfast one day, I had scrambled egg and smoked salmon but no muffin or hollandaise.
@Mum5net I love the idea of you only weighing 200g on Cmas Day
@ladybranstonpickle I have checked in on the thread a couple of times during the week but then something has happened and I haven't had a chance to post.
I need to try on some work clothes later as I have to spend a couple of days in the office at the end of the week. I am nervous about the idea of a waistband and don't think my feet/knees are going to know what to do if I put on a pair of heels.

Morning! I've made it to week 2... I'm calling that a win. It's getting mentally easier, I think partly now I know I can, so I can... I was worried about this morning as I had to be somewhere while fasting, and I wasn't sure what it would do to my driving, especially as I've only driven about 4 times since Christmas and not into the city! But it was fine, so that's a lesson learned.

I bought Delay Don't Deny on audio and listened to it last week. Interesting, but also slightly depressing in her assertion that 16:8 isn't really sufficient for weight loss and that you may well need go for more like 19 hours fasting/OMAD which doesn't appeal at all! I'm also confused about the calorie restriction aspects of it. I think trial and error is going to be involved.

I can see 16:8 being something I can stick with longterm, so fingers crossed it does the job!

Sorry about interview, Professor, and hope sleep improves
No school age children here to celebrate return but I have hugged my mum in her carehome
And I have scaffolding on the front of our house and someone with a water cannon rinsing us as we speak. Will make for interesting zoom calls later.
Week 1 result was a 1.7kg loss and I hit my steps target. Would have been better if I had avoided bread and fruit loaf each day but at least I didn't go down the almond rabbit hole.
My big discovery is cocktail beetroot. Very few calories and is going to jazz up all my tiny lunches.
Trainers for a year here, too.

LLama I should add I am reducing intake by 50% and trying to get to 20k steps so doing 16:8 with a twist. [Wish it was with a twist of lemon and a gin]

Hi, can I join please? I’d like to claim I have babyweight to lose, but DS3 is almost 4,5 now I did WW 2 summers ago and lost 7kg but put it all back on in the first lockdown. Since then I’ve lost 3kg here or there, but can’t keep it off. In reality, I need to lose 20kg at least. The last time I had great results was after my DS2 was born, I did a whole foods detox diet and lost 10kg in 4 weeks, totally changed how I ate, and it stayed off for well over a year until an injury and a job change saw it all piling on again. I tried that again end of Jan through Feb, and despite weighing more this time I only got 3kgs off. But I’ve kept most of those eating habits, so healthier food isn’t going to fix this, it’s a calories problem.

Anyway, I started the 16:8 after dinner on Saturday. And so far have managed two 17+ hours fasts (just naturally with meal timings). I’m hoping this will get me into better long term habits. I maintain fine normally, but if I over eat I absolutely pile on the weight, and then have a nightmare trying to get it off again.

Morning IFers!

@Whoateallthechocolate I did not mean to scold, I'm sorry. Just glad to see you on here even if briefly. How did it go with the work clothes try-on?

I sympathise with the seeming yo-yo of weight, I also see nothing move on the scale although am hopeful body composition is changing, I certainly see a bit more muscle definition in my arms.

@LlamaofDrama well done for getting to Week 2! You've done the hard bit. I also am rereading Delay Don't Deny - so far my goal is 16:8 but often its 17:7, only because of how my work schedule goes, plus I eat lunch with my husband as he is wfh too. I'm thinking about dropping the 5:2 and just focusing on completely clean, and perhaps longer fasts. That said, I worry that giving up those 2 low calorie days means I will have to do 16:8 on the weekend, which I've pretty much avoided so far.

@Mum5net Hugging your mum must have felt amazing! How was the water cannon, does your house sparkle on the outside now? And a 1.7kg loss is fantastic. I agree re beetroot, very satisfying for what it is. I also eat a lot of raw carrots, something about the crunch!

Enjoy the sunshine everyone!

and...
welcome @FingonTheValiant! Sorry, posted too soon. Sounds like you've made a great start! How do you feel this week with the kids back at school (if they are?)

Hi, I've been reading this thread with interest. I started yesterday as after a very bad weekend I decided to weigh myself. I'm 12 pounds over a healthy BMI so would love to lose a stone at least.

I ate lunch at 1pm then dinner at 6pm but had some popcorn at about 7.30pm which wasn't good. Will try for a healthier snack this evening.

I don't like breakfast so I won't find that bit hard just the wine and chinese and more wine at the weekend.

Well done everyone on your losses and just sticking to the plan- it's tough but we'll get there!

I have finally seen a loss this week, 3lbs. Over the moon! Hopefully things were just taking a while to get going and now I'll keep seeing the numbers go down. I did more exercise last week than I have for a while (a few long walks, was in the office a bit so just general moving around, did a bike ride) so I think that's probably got things moving. I'm not always the best at making myself go for a walk at lunchtime or after work since we've been WFH but that's given me the motivation now!

Well done, @roastpotatoesss. What a whoosh! You must be thrilled.
I just tried on some work clothes and am now kicking myself for not having been more disciplined. I'm not heavier than I've been for much of the past couple of years so they look fine... it's just they could look a hell of a lot better!

Thank @ladybranstonpickle - I weighed this morning and I’m down 1,3kg. I know it’s water weight, but it still feels motivating. I did just over 16hrs. Ate my lunch a smidge earlier than I normally do, (it’s 12.20 here) but I’m working from home today, and it’s killed me not to snack this morning!

I’m in France, so we went back to school yesterday, but after 2 week half term. How did the school return go in the UK?

Hi @AliceMadHatter , are you tracking all your calories? This is the first time I’ve done a calorie tracked diet and yesterday I was super good so had two pieces of shortbread after dinner. Felt really naughty, but was well within my calorie limit, so I think I wouldn’t feel guilty about popcorn

Well done @roastpotatoesss that’s great! I really need to up my activity, that really shows that you don’t have to go mad with the exercise, just move a bit! (I’m only on 1200 steps at the moment ).

Thanks all!

One thing I've found that is helping if, like me, you have a sweet tooth- M&S mini Colin the Caterpillars. They are 160 cals each and quite sickly so I find I can have one of those and don't feel the urge to binge in the same way I would with a packet of biscuits or something, and for a little treat I think the calorie content is quite low.

I'm sticking to pretty healthy fresh fruit and veg for meals outside of that, but for an occasional treat that makes me feel like I've really indulged without going mad on calories I think they're perfect!

roastpotatoesss ... we are on the same page - but I just eat his face as the faces are now available in bags, about 30 cals each I think ...

@Mum5net omg really?? I would just eat the whole bag probably

Morning all! Doing my usual check-in...husband just got back from the supermarket after dropping the baby off - says the traffic levels are crazy, guess it's the school run in full effect!

Doing my last FD today, I think I'm going to try just 16:8 for a while. I've been rereading Fast Feast Repeat and apparently this should be enough. I'll see if the appetite correction aspect continues for me, which will be exciting. Plus I just feel I need a break from the low cal days on Mon and Wed.

I do feel leaner but don't see anything on the scale....same old same old. I'll check measurements on 1st April. Positively, I finished my current 30 day yoga program last night and am now looking to start the next series. I think I will just do YWA playlist "Yoga for Weightloss" rather than one of the calendar series.

WElcome @AliceMadHatter! I'm also looking at about a stone to lose, although as I said above I am focused on the measurements rather than the scale.

What's on deck for everyone today? I've got a waldorf salad for lunch which I made yesterday and some leftover roast chicken from last night.

Does anyone else here consider cooking a hobby? I've always liked to cook and think I'm good at it but feel this year of being at home all the time has significantly improved my skills!

Ooh I love a waldorf salad @ladybranstonpickle!

My cooking skills have definitely improved in lockdown- over the last year I've made a lot of elaborate and complicated recipes that I normally wouldn't bother with simply because there's been nothing else to do! I enjoy it as it kills time and keeps me busy but I am looking forward to when I don't have time to make a two hour recipe every night...

I've got a big kale salad for lunch, which I've got quite into- dry fry some kale with garlic and salt till it goes all crispy, then into a bowl with some roasted chickpeas and whatever salad veg I have kicking about in the fridge. I find the garlic and salt makes the kale lovely and tasty, and it sort of takes so long to eat that by the time I'm finished I'm very full! Then dinner will be something with tofu, unsure what yet, but I had some to use so that's currently pressing in the fridge to dry out.

Good luck for today everyone!

It's much harder to do 16:8 with the DC back at school and DH and I going into work a bit. Just finished eating and it's almost 9pm. Due to meetings, I didn't eat until 1pm today but that was chance rather than the plan

Morning everyone!

Feeling slightly deflated this morning ☹ It's weighing day and I've barely lost half a pound!
I've been on four 'runs' this week (the most exercise I have ever done) and stuck with the fasting ☹
I'm gutted.
The only thing I'm clinging onto is the fact that me period is due in a couple of days!

Feeling pretty meh 😕

Morning all!

@TVDFan I can hear how disappointed you are! Have you by any chance taken measurements? Sometimes they change long before the scale does. I have barely shifted a kilo in the past month but was down 2 inches in my waist when I measured 2 March compared to 1 Feb.

My Fitbit scale measures body fat - I know these are notoriously inaccurate but the trend has been downward, so maybe try to measure that as an indicator as well as weight?

And you are right to acknowledge that your cycle could be masking the weight loss. Stay positive!

We ate dinner earlier than usual last night as we had a zoom birthday to join at 7:30pm...I resisted having a medjool date with my peppermint tea at 9pm just because I wanted to get a longer fast in while I had the opportunity! Hopefully will get close to 18:6 hours today.

@roastpotatoesss that kale salad sounds really nice, maybe I will add kale to the shopping list, although I prefer spinach...husband is cooking tonight - Manchurian chicken and vegetable egg fried rice - can't wait!

I'm reporting in for a loss today, woohoo! 1.25lbs off which means 2.75 in about 10 days which is way more than I would expect. It's reassuring, because I needed to know 16:8 could work for me. Aiming for 5 to 8lbs more.

As well as 16:8 I've been conscientiously walking more, which can't be doing any harm. I'm not a good exerciser because I'm a lazy arse but I don't mind a walk.

@roastpotatoesss I love the sound of the kale salad, might have to try that. I'm veggie, and working hard at keeping my protein plant based rather than too much cheese (apparently there is such a thing as too much cheese, which is just unreasonable).

@ladybranstonpickle those Fitbit scales sound interesting. I'm a sucker for data and anything that can give a more rounded picture of me being less rounded would be helpful!