16:8 advice please

[Camrette]

I have nothing but water for 12/13 hours but then do have two teas with a small amount of milk before 16 hours is up. Is this making it pointless?

Also I’m someone who has always had breakfast as soon as I get up and am finding the first 1.5 hours really difficult. After that I’m ok but that first bit of the day I feel really sick and shaky and just want to eat. Does that reduce once I’ve been doing it a while?

And finally if I sometimes do 14:10 and sometimes do 18:6 does that matter?

Hello, I can do up to fourteen hours, but find sixteen hours difficult. I also like to eat breakfast as soon as I get up. I just stick to what I can manage really.

Hello! I’m not an expert but I need a proper cup of tea when I got up with milk in. So I have one. Rest of the day my drinks are water, green tea and black coffee with a very occasional hot chocolate in my eating window.

I tend to still feel hungry in the morning but it passes over. I tend to finish eating by 6pm so that I can have a late breakfast after work if I want one. It’s actually rare for me to bother tbh but I like to know I can.

And yes I sometimes do shorter fasts and often do longer ones… works for me 😊

Hi... worth looking at Gin Murphy - you only get the full benefit of the 16 hours if u fast clean ie without milk.

Eating a small amount of salt and drinking lots of water keeps headaches/dizziness at bay.

Is it worth trying to have your final meal earlier if you want to 16:8 and want to have breakfast? There is nothing stopping you having breakfast.

And worth knowing your body can take a few weeks to adapt so perhaps if 16:8 is too much to start with, start with 14:10 or even 12: 12 and increase it gradually, listening to your body.

And absolutely fine to mix it up with some longer fasts and some shooters ones

Thanks everyone
@loveyouradvice do you have a link for Gin Murphy? I’ve googled but only getting results for gin. I mean if you’re saying I can have gin instead of tea then I could get on board with that but I’m pretty sure that’s not what you mean!

I do 16/8 I have tea and coffee with a small amount of milk before my eating window. I fast from 8pm - Midday. I have 2 cups of tea and 1 coffee before midday.

Hello - I do 16:8 (sometimes it is 15:9 or similar but I don't beat myself up about it). I do have a little milk or creamer with my coffee sometimes - I actually find it is a useful way to stave off breakfast on occasion, if I want to wait until 10am for breakfast. Maybe not ideal, but I don't think it makes it all "cancelled" at all - and I don't do it every day.

The thing I have found is that IF becomes part of life after a while - I don't get overly worried if my window is a little shorter or I eat a bit later than planned - overall it has been working wonders for me over the last 2.5 months or so. Perhaps a bit like if your exercise and it is a bit shorter or a bit more crap than usual - at least you are doing it and reaping the vast majority of the benefits

@Camrette

Thanks everyone *@loveyouradvice* do you have a link for Gin Murphy? I’ve googled but only getting results for gin. I mean if you’re saying I can have gin instead of tea then I could get on board with that but I’m pretty sure that’s not what you mean!

Ha ha I'm another one who starts the day with a cup of tea and splash of milk.

It’s Gin Stephens, she wrote a few books about fasting and says that a clean fast with only water, black or green tea (not herbal) is important for getting the benefits from fasting.

Is camomile classed as herbal? I drink camomile during my fasting window and presumed that was okay.

You can have your eating window at whatever times you like. If you like break-fast at a more traditional time of the morning then stop eating earlier in the day.
Some do fine with a dirty fast but I wouldn't often if you do it. If you are struggling with fast times you can try a bulletproof coffee or tea as that is keto, butter or mct oil in black tea/coffee for energy boost (dh likes this).

I've been fasting over 2.5 years. Controversial but I did it throughout my recent pregnancy too but with a longer eating window than when not pregnant. I do 16-22 hour fasts with occasional longer fasts not pregnant (max was 44hr). It is hard early on but as your body becomes fat adapted it gets easier.

Dr Jason Fung & Dr Eric Berg are good to watch on YouTube for fasting advise.

We release he hunger hormone, ghrelin, at the time of day we usually eat. If we start to eat at different time, we suffer to start with because ghrelin is released and we don't respond, but soon after, we start to release ghrelin at the new times.

Sneak up on yourself. Eat when you get hungry tomorrow. Note the time. Next day, eat 15 minutes later, and move it 15 minutes each day until you're where you want to be. I currently don't eat until 3pm, and I'm aware that I'm empty, but it's not the unpleasant 'I'm going to collapse/throw up/kill someone if I don't eat within the next 30 seconds' thing.

Control your ghrelin; don't let it control you!

And yes, milk breaks your fast. A pinch or two of salt in a glass of water can stave off the dizzy feeling. It's often salt we need, at that point, anyway, rather than a meal or a snack.