My 16/8 / 18/6 fasting 80 pounds to lose journey

[TarasChoc]

I've just started this Woe last Monday and I'm very happy with how much more naturally this comes to me than anything else I've tried. I fell into it accidentally after starting The fast 800 a few weeks ago. I had a few things on and found the low carb and calories aspect hard to stick to but realised I was still in a decent deficit, eating less sugar and doing a 16/8 without finding it all too hard. I've now fallen into 18/6.
I am tracking calories, I'm only eating two meals and the occasional snack so I don't find calorie tracking hard.

I'm looking at losing 70 pounds so I'll be in this for the long haul. I'm currently doing a lot of research listening to Gin Stephen's podcast and reading Delay, don't Deny , The Obesity Code and Fast, Feast Repeat.
I've been weighing everyday to track the trends but my official weighin day will be Monday.

@mumlikeaboss diet brain! What a great term and description, thank you.
You don't know how good it is to hear how posite you are about following this long term. Do you mind me asking what you do on holidays and the likes of Christmas?

@turnaroundtouchtheground and @Carusa123 I feel I stumbled through the early weeks of this. I was initially trying the fast800 but realised after a short period and reading on here that I was really fasting. It took a little while to find my current routine. When it falls into place you'll manage the unexpected better. Having said that it's impossible to be perfect or always have a plan. The main goal should be after any blip or planned time off, you restart the next day.
What's different about this WOE for me is that on the few times I've woken up and felt I could've done much better the previous day and I've messed everything up I've still kept going and it wasn't hard to do so. I can only surmise that all the positive effects of fasting are helping by continuing to control hunger hormones and this time the only willpower I need on occasions like that is for my head.

Here's to a good week for us all. It's so nice having people to chat with.

I was so hungry today. Hungrier than I can remember been since I started fasting.
I've broken my fast a little earlier than planned and will probably eat 19/5.
I'm going to have more calories and up my protein today. I think it maybe influenced by hormones as I'm having symptoms. I'm peri menopausal so I never really know where I'm at.
I'm also going to have a look at my food diary. I've been really busy since the weekend and I suspect my protein has been too low.
I've had a large meal and I'm starting to feel quiet full, at least I won't be tempted to snack besides now.
I'm glad that I resisted my first impulse to just eat what was to hand. It was hard resisting while I prepped my food but worth it now.
I didn't have anything nutritional to snack on so I decided not to chance treats as who knows where it would've ended up!
I think I should've eaten a bit sooner rather than allowing myself into danger territory. I'll remember that for next time.

@TarasChoc just wanted to say how inspiring this thread is. So many threads only post the first week or two. The post at the beginning when you lost 1.4 lb and was mildly disappointed…. Then suddenly I’m reading you kept at it and are over 20 lbs down. Well done and keep posting please!

@TarasChoc I can hardly believe myself that in a couple of weeks I will have been fasting for exactly 2 years!! I have NEVER stuck to anything else for so long, and I still love doing it so I know it is something I want to do long term.

For me it's been a really long process of trying to find peace with food and not be afraid of eating.

I'm an avid researcher and reader, and over the years have acquired a TONNE of information about what's good/bad to eat... So I've done the rounds of trying to avoid fat / carbs / sugar / wheat / dairy, etc, etc! And of course all the counting, whether it's calories or points or syns or grams of carbs.

But it got to the point where everything I read contradicted something else I'd read, so I was paralysed with indecision... and then I'd rebel against the deprivation and end up comfort-eating complete junk anyway!

I can't live like that anymore. I know in an ideal world we would all be healthier and feel fabulous if we ate fresh, organic produce and no refined sugar or processed foods BUT for my mental health I have to accept that we live in a world that's fulllll of junk and processed food, and to avoid it requires way too much mental energy.
(This is just for me, with my perfectionist tendencies!! I realise some people are able to "eat clean" without stressing over it, and that's great if you can!)

Sheesh, what an essay.

All that because I wanted to try and answer your question about what do I do on holidays / special occasions...!

I don't consciously try to do anything different, because I'm very aware that I don't want to trigger my brain with any thoughts about being "good" or "bad".

If we're on holiday or visiting friends or similar, I will definitely end up with longer eating windows because there's usually lots of lovely food that I want to fit in. I love food, and I love enjoying it with friends and family.

But I am also gradually getting much better at hearing what my body is telling me when I eat... I don't feel great if I eat really late at night, and I definitely don't feel good if I end up eating 3 meals in a day - so I will always skip either breakfast or dinner depending on the circumstances.

And then I just make an effort to enjoy what I'm eating and not stuff food in just because it's there! There are lots of previously "forbidden" foods that I just don't bother to eat now because I realised I don't like them that much... And I don't want to waste my appetite on things that I'll regret having eaten later.

Again, sorry for the thesis!! 🙈😂

Ah thanks so much @FoxandFeathers you've no idea how much that means to hear. I feel a bit self absorbed sometimes with all my posts but they help keep me focused. I hope too that if I'm posting in real time detailing the ups and downs it will help others when they're struggling.

@mumlikeaboss thank you for your reply and all the contributions you make to this thread. So much of what you say about your attempts to lose weights until you found fasting resonates with me. Your posts helps confirm to me that fasting suits some people very well and I'm one of those people too!

So much of your post resonates with me. I was stuck in an awful circle for years. Read and knew in theory what should work for weight loss and could implement them all for short length of times. None were sustainable long term.
I don't really read much about fasting anymore. I read some books initially, joined a Facebook group and watched some YouTube videos. I had planned to immerse myself and learn as much as I could. As you say eventually you'll end up finding contradicting evidence. Even earlier in this thread someone decided it would be helpful to join in and criticise fasting and certain people who are well known for speaking about this topic.
At that early point their opinion almost had me wavering. I nearly went down the wormhole of finding proof that this was just another fad. You know what though it wasn't that easy. My body naturally wants to skip breakfast, does not usually get hungry until later and when I do eat fills up enough in a few hours to last until the next day all while maintaining a calorie deficit and weight loss. At that point I decided to shelve any further research and while it's working continue what I'm doing.

I think on holidays I will take your approach and go with the flow. My brain is mainly in the right mindset, I don't want to knock it out of kilter by feeling deprived or behaving like it's a week of free for all eating.
Now that's a thesis😂

That's a great mindset 🤗 and I think so long as you approach fasting as a long-term solution then short-term blips over holidays or whatever don't really matter so much. You just step right back in where you left off, gradually work back up to longer fasts if you need to... It's not like being on a strict diet where if you slip off and binge for a week then it's REALLY hard to get back on track.

Also, I agree that if you look hard enough you can definitely find stuff online that would put you off fasting!!! There are tonnes of blog posts from people who tried it for like 3 days or maybe a week, and rant about how awful it is 😅😅

I don't read much about it anymore, except occasionally something by Jason Fung if I come across something new of his... And I still listen to the Gin Stephens podcasts, they're quite fun.

At the end of the day, it probably isn't for everyone, but I do think the majority of people could actually handle it if they gave it a good try and allowed themselves time to adapt to it. It is a perfectly natural way of eating and we are DESIGNED to be metabolically flexible - meaning sometimes we burn incoming food, sometimes we burn existing fuel (fat cells). Sometimes we feast, sometimes we fast. We are perfectly equipped to do that, all of us (obviously barring medical complications like T1D etc.).

Good morning all! I am delaying my first weigh in until Monday because I messed up two days last week due to Halloween parties! Fingers crossed!

Good luck for Monday @alwaysonadiet1 I had planned to change my weight day to a Friday but I actually find Monday works as it's fresh in my mind over the weekend and Keeps me a bit more careful.

As @mumlikeaboss says if people allow themselves to adapt this is quiet an achievable plan to stick to.

I had two moments yesterday that involved prawn crackers and a birthday Cake. I wanted the crackers, enjoyed and allowed for them. Next thing my adult son and his lovely girlfriend called with a beautiful birthday cake for him. I extended my fasting window by an hour and took a slice. I couldn't eat much as I was still full and it seemed very sweet to me. But I wasn't rude, ate within a 19/5 hour window and still had almost 1000 calories of a deficit.
I still had this feeling that I had messed it all up and what was the point! Very happily that ridiculous inner voice of self doubt isn't as convincing as it was and after a few minutes I realised that for some illogical reason I was feeling like a failure and going to throw in a journey to change my life over some prawn crackers and a bit of cake😂😋Like seriously 500 calories. Even ten times that wouldn't be worth thinking twice about!

The main reason I think I'm having better success on this plan is I've only one battle going on instead of three.
The one battle remaining been my emotions the two I no longer have are hunger and cravings.

WEEK 10 WEIGH-IN
I am down 2.6 taking my total loss to 24 pounds.

Week 1 -5.5
Week 2 -2.3
Week 3 -1.4
Week 4 -2.4
Week 5 -1.4
Week 6 -1.2
Week 7 -1.8
Week 8 -2.6
Week 9 -2.8
Week 10 -2.6
Total -24

An average of 2.4lbs a week is amazing! 🤩🤩

Fantastic results @TarasChoc, huge well done. This WOE really seems to be suiting you. I'm one step forward, two steps back at moment. Had another unexpected event which meant family descended on our house for several days and all discipline went out the window. Back on the horse - again- today so hopefully I can get a good streak going this time!

Thanks @mumlikeaboss I hadn't even thought of it like that!

@Carusa123 keep plodding away, it will click. I was faffing for a few weeks with fast 800 before I realised I had evolved into intermittent fasting. It took another while to figure out how to make this work with my day to day life.

I was up two pounds today on the scales. I weight daily and take my average weekly loss as my total.
I'm up because I had a carton of chicken and veg soup yesterday. It was lovely but has a very high sodium content. Thankfully when inputting on myfitnesspal a warning came up to let me know so it wasn't a shock this morning.
It's helpful to have the information and not wreck my head today wondering what I've done "wrong"!

Weighing in almost a week late due to quite a few cheats! 2lb down though, it's a start

Well done @alwaysonadiet1 it's a great start. It takes time to get into a fasting routine that suits everyone individually, having a loss too is excellent.

I've been slipping by having a couple of extra cups of tea with a splash of milk outside my eating window and also drinking water with sugar free dilute drink. Not on purpose but just mindlessly having them. I've found while I'm not hungry I'm not as satiated as usual this last few days.
I think the drinks are the culprit so need to be more careful.

Week 11 weigh in -1.4

Week 1- 5.5
Week 2 -2.3
Week 3 -1.4
Week 4 -2.4
Week 5 -1.4
Week 6 -1.2
Week 7 -1.8
Week 8 -2.6
Week 9 -2.8
Week 10 -2.6
Week 11-1.4

Total lost -25.4

I was just reading through this thread to encourage me on keeping up with this WOE and when I got to today's post, I converted the lbs into kg on Google and my jaw actually dropped! I think that's the first time it's ever happened to me I thought it was just a turn of phrase😂

Anyway, blooming well done to you 💐And thanks for this thread, I am feeling extra motivated now 😃

Well done. So brilliant.

Well done @TarasChoc ! That’s bloody amazing!
move done day one today and it was a 18/6 - not planned but went with it!

would love to get to your stage and mindset re this WOE

@Littlepiggiesinblankets thank you that's so nice to hear. Keep going it's so worth the initial break in period.

Thanks @alwaysonadiet1 hope you are doing well😊

@MooFroo thanks and well done with the longer fast. Trust in the process and before you know it you'll be flying along.

I'm happy to report that I'm getting my "diet brain" under control. The last two weeks I've really struggled to fully believe that I can do this. At times it's been a huge battle of will to stop myself self sabotaging.
What has been different this time compared to when I've tried to lose weight on other plans is that even when my eating window isn't as nutritious as I aim for, once that window closes I don't eat. This has really saved me. There's no decent into evening snacking or grabbing a takeaway and wine. My mind maybe telling me one thing throughout the day but when my window closes both my mind and body is very clear that I don't need or want anything else to eat.
I picked up Gin Stevens Fast, Feast, repeat again over the weekend. I had read Delay, Don't Deny when I first started out but only glanced through this book. It's really helped reset my though process. I feel much more confident again in myself. Its also made me see that never again will I be on a diet. After 30 years of attempts of every diet going and constantly seeking a solution, in the process gaining more weight, I'm done with all that. Yes I've plenty more pounds to go but they'll come off the same as the last 25 in a way that suits my body and does not feel like a diet.

I find Fast, Feast, Repeat more indepth than Delay, don't deny. I'm learning more about clean fasting, calories and how different foods can effect people differently. The calorie information is really good and while it doesn't dispel that weight loss/gain is based on energy in/out, it explains further why the calorie model alone isn't ideal.

One thing I'm not sure of though is if I had read this book first, would I have been happy to spend the first 28 day's just adjusting to the fasting phase and not expecting to see any weight loss. But now I can see it makes full sense. But whenever I've started any weight loss plan I've been desperate and want immediate results and I wonder now what I would've thought of that especially as ingrained in me would be the idea that like everything else IT would turn out to be another failure for me.
But as I say now it makes perfect sense. This period is called The Fast Start, its the period during which your body will deplete glycogen stores and switch to fat burning after which you'll see results. I actually did this period unintentionally before starting IT as I had been loosely following the fast800. It gives you time to figure out what eating window and time works for you and removes that pressure to be perfect straight away. It's basically preparation for the real thing and any weight/inches lost is a bonus.

I'm going to keep the book to hand and next time I start to doubt myself either pick it up or listen to a podcast and remind myself that this is a WOE that works and not another bloody diet which I'll end up not been able to sustain.

Thanks @TarasChoc ! I’m now on day 3 and doing a 17/7 today
totally agree with you re the cut off time - that’s what I want to get j to as it’s my normal danger time for mindless snacking so trying to drink more water instead in evenings - just need to watch the toilet runs!
also joined a small gym that specialises in group weigh training so that’s helping me to stay focussed coz it’s hard work!
but as you highlight it’s a long game and long term changes for a better life - I’ve spent half of my life being overweight so can spend the rest of it getting and staying healthy x

Hope it’s ok to post on here @TarasChoc
ive just started using the Fastic App- to help me stay focussed on fasting
did some Googling last night and realised I shouldn’t really be having any milk in tea during fasting hours so stopped that this morning and had a green tea and peppermint tea instead of my builders brew.

struggling with the water intake but keep trying
deffo eating less carbs and junk - and trying to get more high protein foods while leaning what they are so I can reverse type 2 diabetes.

Have around 25kg to lose overall to be ideal weight and aiming to lose 5-7kg by Xmas. Slow and steady …

Of course it's okay @MooFroo it's lovely chatting, the more the merrier 😊

Check what teas are okay when clean fasting. I only drink regular tea so I wouldn't be certain but I'm sure I've read certain teas even though calorie free will trigger insulin to raise due to their sweet taste.

Week 12 weigh in -1.6 pounds

Week 1- 5.5
Week 2 -2.3
Week 3 -1.4
Week 4 -2.4
Week 5 -1.4
Week 6 -1.2
Week 7 -1.8
Week 8 -2.6
Week 9 -2.8
Week 10 -2.6
Week 11-1.4
Week 12 -1.6

Total lost -27 pounds