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.

Hello. I disappeared for a bit as I was constantly losing and regaining the same 2lbs and getting a bit demoralised with it all. I stuck to 16:8 throughout and, for the past couple of weeks, have really focussed on what goes into my mouth during those 8 hours and made sure there's no processed sugary snacks (so I'm still eating fruit), little to no gluten and limited dairy. I've also started wearing my step counter again and am actually doing 10,000 steps again rather than pretending to myself that I am. The efforts are paying off and I've now lost a stone in total since starting in Jan. 7lbs of that was in Jan with the other half stone taking me three months so it's taken longer than I'd hoped but I'm getting there and am feeling the benefits.
I definitely want to lose another 4-5 lbs, ideally another half stone which would get me under 10st by a whisker, a weight I have only been for the odd week or so in the past 2 decades!

@Whoateallthechocolate welcome back! I hear you on the losing and regaining, it's so frustrating isn't it? I feel similarly, hence the refocus on adding more vegetables into my diet. Sounds like you have a really good plan at the moment!

@MaverickMum86 welcome! What an amazing achievement - what tips and tricks have you learned since starting? Would love to hear!

I also would like at least another 4-5kg although I think that's a bit optimistic. I'd really like to get back into size 10 jeans, but I am aware that since having a baby it's possible my hips have expanded rather than it being fat, so a size 10 is no longer possible.

It's City lunch day today so my husband and I are going to eat out! Our local cafe which we adore is open for outdoor dining so we are going to try and get a table at lunch. I am so excited, I don't know what to get. They do these amazing enormous vegetable salads topped with your choice of deli filling, I usually get coronation chicken. Definitely going to get an order of sweet potato fries too! Won't have dinner so hoping to get a longer fast in until lunchtime tomorrow.

Morning all! Well a Tuesday after a Bank Holiday is a like a double Monday, isn't it? Feeling a bit draggy today.

Caught the sun over the weekend so doing a bit of TLC on my face...it's a bit red and itchy :(.

How was everyone's weekend? Today I'm trying a recipe for home made Caesar salad dressing. It's my husband's favourite salad and in my quest to increase our vegetable intake I thought I would try making it at home. I'll add some grated carrot and sweetcorn to the salad, as well as the usual lettuce. He doesn't eat cucumber or I would include that as well.

Hi there! I'm finding it harder to stick to this when doing more STUFF - from swimming to socialising to work meetings in the morning, as normal life returns, I feel more tempted to eat in the morning. I have managed not to except for Sunday when I had a croissant at 10.30 before going on a long walk, but it's a stretch in a way that it wasn't during lockdown. Is anyone else finding it more difficult to stick to 16:8 as life gets more 'normal'? I am really keen to maintain my weight now - I'm at a 'healthy weight' according to the BMI calculator for more or less the first time in my life and at 42 that's quite a feeling. Hope you are all doing ok!

@ladybranstonpickle I love proper Caesar dressing ... would love to see the recipe. Definitely in the mood for a massive crunchy salad

It's this one but I'm going to scale it down considerably as I don't need quite as much!

Hi All
Can I join? I lost 2 stone in weight over 6 months from this time last year by using MFP. However, over the last six months I’ve basically stayed the same - yoyoing up and down by about half a stone. I’m pleased that I’m basically maintaining as I’ve never managed that before, but it’s about 10-14 lbs over where I would really like to be. My BMI is 25-26 and I just want to get it less than 25.

I thought I would give 16:8 a go as my problem seems to be that when I start eating, I can’t stop. So, I thought reducing the opportunity may help.
I’ve done 4 fasts now - I started Saturday evening. The hardest part has been stopping eating after dinner, the next morning bit has been fine up to now.

I have also been exercising regularly - I have Apple fitness+ which I think is fab.

welcome @GinnieHempstock! Sounds like you've made great progress. What do you do with Apple fitness? Is it like video workouts?

I'm feeling good today, down .5kg on the last time I weighed, surprised because I had a very indulgent weekend - quiche, cake, lots of wine...I think that I'm ramping up the fat-burning even without trying too hard. I have been eating a lot more vegetables, especially at lunch as trying to cut back slightly on carbs, although I still have bread! I bought a pair of wide leg jeans a couple of months ago -the 14 was far too big, but the 12 was really snug on my tummy and waist. It'll be a milestone to fit into those, maybe will try them on next week.

Lunch today is spinach, blueberry and blue cheese salad with a cranberry sauce vinaigrette. Had it yesterday and it was delicious!

Hoping everyone is having a good day.

Morning! Whoateallthechocolate (btw I can confirm it was me) and Ladybranstonpickle I'm with you in the yoyoing. I was back up the 2lbs it's taken me over a month to lose. Looking better this morning with 1.5 of them gone again so just need to make them stay gone!

I'm also finding it, not harder but more complicated as life opens up a bit. I've found that I can take my first meal with me ready prepared if I have to so that's a lesson learned. I've just joined a gym, and schedule workouts for during my eating window as I can't exercise effectively before I eat. I think it's just experimenting, working it out and accepting that there will be some things I try that don't work, and draw a line and move on. If I intend to stick with this way of eating long term, whichi I currently do, it's worth investing the time to find out hope it works best for me. And then grit my teeth when I'm desperate for an early breakfast!

Hi @LlamaofDrama (great name) - it is so tricky with exercise isn't it. I've managed to make it work if I have a personal training session first thing (so at 8.45, after stopping eating at 8pm the night before). My trainer said this morning that I seemed really energetic. So I'm going to keep on with that, but I can imagine that if I tried to do it at eg 11am I would be flagging quite a lot by then.

Can I pick one of your more experienced brains please?
I started 16:8 around 3 weeks ago and am a bit disheartened to see I've only lost around 2kg..it's been quite a lot of effort and willpower so I feel a bit flat.
I've been eating dinner at 6pm with the family and then not eating again til 10/10:30am. I've been pretty healthy family meals, lots of veggies, no sweet stuff, way less wine.. Just not sure why I'm not losing more.
My only downfall is a splash of milk in my morning tea/coffee.. I find I get heartburn /acid tummy if I have it black. But could this be the reason it's not going so well for me?

Thanks @ladybranstonpickle. Yes, Apple fitness+ is similar to Les Mills, Peleton, etc with lots of different workouts. We have a rowing machine and exercise bike, so I do this classes, plus some strength and core. I tried a dance class earlier this wee but realised I have no coordination, so won’t be doing that again

@BigLittleRedOne sorry, I’m a newbie at this as well, so can’t really help. I would say though, that the amount you are eating in the eating window is still important. I am combining 16/8 with calorie counting on mfp.

My question for those more experienced is, what do you do at the weekend? Do you still fast? I have been starting my fast at 7-7.30pm but I’m keen to have a glass of wine tonight and some of the Lindt mint chocolate I’ve just bought. So, I thought I would extend my eating window until about 10pm and then fast from then until 2pm tomorrow. Does that sound reasonable?

Morning! @GinnieHempstock I sort of fast at the weekend. It's the only time I have to eat breakfast with my baby so like to do that. What we sometimes do is eat breakfast on Saturday, possibly skip lunch, or delay eating on a Sunday until 1130am, which is my baby's lunchtime. We have something like pancakes or eggs in that case. I still always stop eating by 8/8:30 pm though.

@BigLittleRedOne, I'm not an expert, so take with a pinch of salt...

I read the Delay, Don't Deny book and in it she says that research shows that pretty much anything either with calories or with sweetness during the fasting period breaks the fast, which would suggest that your milk does (apparently so does fruit or peppermint tea etc, despite being calorie free). I therefore decided to "clean fast" and I only have water during the fasting period.

HOWEVER it can't work for you if you can't do it. If the only thing getting you through the fasting period is that splash of milk in a cup of tea or coffee, and 16:8 works for you, just not as fast as you'd like, that compromise of getting there slower might be worth it?

I rejected the idea of IF for ages because there's no way I could do 5:2. I really couldn't. 16:8 is tricky for me sometimes but is doable, and I'm getting slow results but they are going the right way (and, tbh, i wasn't overweight to start with, i was over the weight i like to be, which is slightly different).

I read somewhere that after 4 days of 16:8 your body recognises the new eating pattern and stops expecting food at the old time. I must be 3 months in by now and I have NOT got the memo! It's a battle Every Single Day

Morning all, I successfully resisted a croissant this morning on the way back from the nursery run. Was so tempted and am feeling very hungry this morning...not sure why, I finished eating relatively late last night so perhaps that's a factor?

I'm going out for lunch today with an NCT friend who was my lifesaver during the first two lockdowns (while I was on mat leave). She was literally the only person I saw some weeks other than my husband and baby. Was a hard time. The restaurant we are going too has a proper marquee and lots of heaters so hoping we will be relatively comfortable. I convinced myself to skip the croissant as I know lunch will be more extravagant than usual.

Should we invite more people to the thread? I saw a couple of 16:8 threads bumped up the Fasting section?

Can I join the chat please? I have previously done the 5:2 diet successfully but now giving the 16:8 a bash because I think I'm likely to stick to it better. I have about 8 or 9 kilos to lose. How many calories do you eat in your window? I'm going to try and be much more careful than normal but wondering how strict I need to be to see fast results. Wine is my downfall so no more weekday drinking... thanks

Hey guys,

How is everyone?

I've started working and my 7 month old is up at all hours at night so have felt a bit knackered and haven't had time to update but have been watching the thread, you guys keep me going! I'm plodding along with the 16.8 but have hit a stall.. I'm so close to my target weight so I'm debating whether to switch things up or whether to just keep at it. How have you guys managed to get through? I fast at the weekends too.

Lunch out sounds nice @ladybranstonpickle. Definitely, the more the merrier! I always feel motivated after reading this thread. Have a good week everyone xx

Hi, can I join?
I've started doing 14/10 mainly because DH & I tend to eat dinner late after putting DC to bed.
Growing up, I didn't used to eat breakfast through most of my childhood, teens or 20s but started eating it as I thought I should. So I've managed this sort of plan, unintentionally before, so hoping I can slip back into it with relative ease.
I've no idea how much I weigh (scales have run out of battery) but tbh I'm more concerned about inches/how my clothes fit - but I'm guessing I need to lose in the region of 4-5 stone to be a normal weight for my height (5'7). In a size 22-24 & things have definitely been getting tighter this past year - lockdown sucks! I'd love to be a size 12-14 again - back to my slimmest time at Uni but that may be unrealistic.
I'm starting slow with 14/10 & then hoping to decrease down to 16/8.
I'm on day 3 officially - had a couple of gradual run-up days - & all going ok. Felt hungry yesterday morning whilst working. I currently wfh so the kitchen is a major temptation, but resisted till 12.30.
Today we're taking DC to soft play for the morning so that'll be a good distraction till lunch which will be KFC

Hi all, do any of you use an app to track your fasts or are you just generally following the same time pattern? I'm really forgetful and wondering if it would be better to try and follow a routine but it's not always easy with work etc!

Tagging in as I keep losing this thread. Started this a few days ago. Going to read and learn.. 👋

Ok I'm gonna post today's food
I'm taking the approach of "better choices" and eating when hungry inside the fast window.

Brunch 2 slices homemade sourdough toast with low fat mayo and sliced chicken. Okyos yoghurt.

Dinner 3 quorn Southern goujons in a toasted bap, around 20g cheese. Loads of chopped veg - peppers, about 7 baby tomatoes, sliced cucumber, carrot batons, 7 potato wedges (very small ones, more like chips ).

Drinks - 2 cups tea, 1 coffee, 1tsp sugar used all day. Water the rest of the day.

Evening treat tiny bag of buttons at 75 cal, pom bears at 65 so 140.

More bread than usual as it's just usually brunch bread but that's just what today's dinner happened to be.

No exercise today, started a new regime and have done 3 days in a row and my body hurts.

Today is day 4. Clean fasts. No scales, going by clothes and measures. I'm a size, well 18 😭.

Toasted sourdough, roast chicken, light mayo. Okyos yoghurt

3 egg omelette, (25g cheese, tsp oil) sweetcorn, a carrot cut into batons. About ten homemade chips (airfryer)

3 teas with ss milk.. 1 tsp sugar used. Drank at least 3 bottles of water (need to check size maybe 700ml??)

150cal treat before closing window.

Did Hit dance workout from YouTube.

Still catching up reading the whole thread.

I'd like to join and I keep trying it and failing!

12s8 at 5ft4.

I tried 15/9 and 14/10 and lost 4 lbs got to 12s4 lbs in a couple of weeks with sensible diet but not majorly restricting cals which was amazing for me but then fell off the wagon.

I'm breastfeeding and weaning so it's hard to keep to 8 hours of eating only as I find by the time I've put baby to bed it's 7.30pm and I've yet to eat tea but have snacked while she's eating.
Also when I wake up I can last until about 10am (sometimes 11am if I'm pushing it!) by which I've done 2 breastfeeds and I am ravenous.

I would love to lose 2 stone ! Anything more and I do start to look a bit gaunt due to muscle/frame.

Can I join please? I've gained about a stone over lockdown and was overweight anyway.

I'm currently 14st 2lbs and would love to be 11st or less. 10st is my ideal but I don't know how realistic that is now after 2 DC! Oh, I'm almost 40 and 5 ' 9".

I tried 16:8 a few months ago with some success but fell off the wagon for various (crap) reasons. Would love to drop at least a stone before my return to the office in a few weeks and holiday in August.

I started again on Tuesday and I'm 4lbs down already. Breakfast skipping seems to work quite well for me. I eat lunch at around 1pm and dinner at around 6pm. No snacks.

How does everyone handle weekends? It's the weekend wine that is my downfall