Starting 16:8 diet tomorrow... anyone fancy joining?

[Leopardpj]

I'm starting the 16:8 diet properly from tomorrow after trying it out a couple of days last week and finding it seemed to suit me OK. Would love it if anyone doing the same would like to share experiences??

My 'kitchen closed' at 6.15pm this evening so technically I think I can eat from 10.15 tomorrow but I'm going to see if I can last until midday and eat 12-8 on weekdays. I don't think I'll realistically be able to do it on weekends but am going to try to stick to the general principles of not snacking in the evening/ eating more 'mindfully'...

I have a stubborn half a stone to lose which I've never managed to shift since having my second dd (who is now 3).

I've always dismissed this diet before as I love breakfast/ brunch so much! But I'm now changing my mentality on it and saying I'm basically delaying my breakfast not ditching it. I'll have a big brunch style meal around 12 and then a decent dinner before 8.

I'm hoping it'll suit me as I am not someone who eats loads of sugar/ junk but I do love my food and hate diets - just the idea of being restricted makes me miserable but if I feel I'm just 'delaying' food I feel loads better. My big weaknesses are milky hot drinks (I'm probably going to allow myself a small splash of milk in tea in the morning that'll make it a lot more bearable for me!) also buttered toast, cheese, and snacking on the kids' tea leftovers at 5pm....

Be so lovely to have some company but if not I can always chat away to myself I guess!!

Also planning to listen to some Jason Fung podcasts which are supposedly v helpful!

Anyone else doing similar??

Hey @Lionoso welcome and sorry to hear about the antibiotics. I actually started this 16:8 lifestyle after three rounds (!) of antibiotics in February left me feeling absolutely awful and wanting to make a big change for the better and repair my microbiome a bit, as well as shift a few pounds! Have you taken a probiotic at all? Kefir also helps a lot!
i also really struggle with one meal a day but have you tried substituting a meal with a bone broth or a broth based soup? (Pret a manger do good ones, or you can buy good daylesford ones online to put in the fridge, although neither options are exactly cheap I know!)
I find that I can’t go totally down to one meal only but I have had success substituting meals with one of those. Find it surprisingly filling and makes me feel much nicer actually than a heavy meal. Good luck!!

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome and well done for losses this week. I’ve had a lovely weekend so far which unfortunately threatens any progress I made so far!! Ate far too much (and well beyond an 8 hour window!) today but will try and be more sensible tomorrow. Hope you’re all having lovely weekends too!

Don't worry, just get back on it. I undid a 10 day all inclusive holiday within a week. Just go as long as you can tomorrow and you'll soon feel better. I love the feeling of lightness just before I eat. My stomach feels so comfortable now it's not always digesting something.

170 dead on today. Have cleared out lots of baggy clothes which look awful. Brilliant feeling. So 20 gone and 20 to go - onwards

It is such a good feeling isn't it @whirlyswirly ! I am looking forward to getting back on it properly this week, too! Was pretty restrained over the weekend with one notable pizza-shaped exception!! We can do this guys!!

Hello everyone, hope it's ok to jump on here. I started 16/8 last week and 8 days in I am 2.4kg down, so feeling really encouraged and motivated to keep going. I am still about 12kg off where I would like to be (but that is extremely aspirational, if I could lose another 8kg I'd be happy to maintain at that level) so still some way to go, but seeing results quickly on a plan that I really don't find difficult to follow is so exciting.

I eat between 12.30-8pm. The weekend just gone I had brunch so was closer to 11-8pm but even with that I've still managed to lose. I am finding myself so motivated not to snack within the window and although I've also reduced my portion sizes (have half my dinner for dinner and keep the other half for lunch) I'm not feeling hungry and empty during the fast. It can be a little tough on the days I start work at 7am but I'm also drinking loads of water and allowing myself a splash of milk in my tea.

I'm so encouraged to see others have been dong this a while and seeing great results!

I accidently started, was busy yesterday so skipped breakfast and then to tired to get anything to eat after 1800. So after reading about the weight loss plus health benifits, I'm going to jump on the band wagon. Doing well today as haven't had time to eat yet.

Just checking in as hadn’t posted much. Still been doing 16:8 apart from usually 1 evening a week where we have a family night with treats and occasionally I’ve had a cup of tea before my 11am window.

have logged calories (aiming around 1400 a day) and made better choices but weight loss hasn’t been as I hoped. We go away on holiday Sat and I was hoping to have lost about 6lbs but I’ve only lost 3lbs. I’ve lost 1lb a week and maintained this week

i know I’m going to gain whilst away as we have meals out planned and a birthday whilst we are away.

will be back after my hols

hope everyone else getting on ok

I've lost another pound after getting back into it this week, which I'm pleased with! And had a lovely day in the sunshine yesterday, I wore a skirt that I bought last summer and then didn't wear all summer as I decided once I got it home that it was too clingy around the middle - and I actually felt really good and comfortable in it for the first time ever! Things like that are really keeping me positive. It's amazing what a difference this has made to me a few weeks in.

I really don't find it too hard now but the thing I find tricky is getting my act together to eat earlier. I think eating early is a gamechanger. Even if I stick to 8 hours I'm sure it's not as effective if I eat after seven. I think I need to start thinking about meals earlier in the day, maybe even work out how my slow cooker works.....

Lovely to see new joiners @Bigglebiggle and @Ruibies ! Good luck and keep us updated!

Sorry losses have not been as quick as you hoped, @RM2013 .... it's quite slow and steady for me too, but if you keep going in the right direction you'll get there in the end and I guess for me the gamechanger is that it doesn't feel as hard as a real diet so I'm convinced that, unlike a diet, it is actually sustainable and I WILL get there without being miserable! I also had a bad few days a week or so back, but found it easy this week to get back on it and get back to losing again, hopefully you will too!. Enjoy your holiday!!!

Hope everyone is having a good week so far! Well done for the loss and non-scale victory with the skirt @Leopardpj. Enjoy your holiday @RM2013!! And welcome to the new additions to the thread.

I weighed myself this morning and have lost 1lb this week - despite going way off the rails last weekend. Going to try and be more sensible this weekend!

Well done everyone 🏆 And welcome to those juice starting 👋

I have just weighed in at 64kg which is 0.5kg (1.1lb) loss in the past 4 weeks. Slower loss than the month before but we also had a sleep regression during that time (and corresponding tiredness induced appetite!) so I'm not surprised 😅

When I get a moment I'm going to measure my waist circumference, apparently waist to height ratio is an important health indicator and even though I fall in the "healthy"BMI range I feel very round around the middle.

Has anyone experienced any health benifits from this at all, or generally just feel better?

I've just put on 4 pounds. I had two weeks where I had to travel for work. Very early starts, all the food provided was sandwiches and biscuits and lots of sitting down. Nine trains and four different hotels didn't help either.

Does anyone have any suggestions for who to cope with weeks like these?

Hello everyone!! I've been lurking on this thread as a previous advocate of IF, and I am really enjoying hearing about everyone's experiences and great weight loss. Honestly, it feels like I've found my people! I'm actually 35 weeks pregnant with DC2 though, so unfortunately I can't join you all quite yet, but I'm very keen to jump in when it feels right postbirth.

I'm therefore particularly impressed with @MerryHen for managing 16:8 when breastfeeding and wondering how you cope with the lack of breakfast, particularly if it's been a bad night? I was always ravenous breastfeeding DD, especially if she hadn't slept well. I need your top tips!!

Thanks for the warm welcome and great to hear about successes - I had a similar non-scale victory this week, putting on a dress that was too tight to sit down in in November, I can now sit in it but it will look even better with another couple kg down!

Travelling for work or getting out of routine is a big issue for me too @DisforDarkChocolate - I'm off on a hen do this weekend and will feel like a bit of a knob if I stop eating and drinking after 8pm 😣. I'm going to try and extend my fast into the afternoon as much as possible so I can still stick within 8 hours, but nothing is perfect is it. I think long-term consistency is more important than everyday perfection, so if you're hitting your fasting goals like 80% of the time, even though the setbacks are annoying you can still get back on the horse when you're back to 'real life' and hopefully continue to see progress.

I'm going to take progress photos and try and do waist measurements too. Last time I lost a lot of weight the progress photos were shocking and kept me motivated so hoping to see some visual progress soon too.

Hope everyone has a lovely bank holiday weekend!

Hello!

I'm so busy trying to get everyone ready and out the door in the morning that missing breakfast hasn't felt too difficult. And I find being busy with baby classes in the morning means I don't feel hungry.

Some things I think help though are:

Staying well hydrated. I have a bottle of water stationed where I usually feed, and another in the side of the change bag so I'm never without.

I make sure my last meal before bed is filling and contains a good amount of protein to see me through to the morning.

Sleep! This is a big one. I have been much better at sleeping whenever I can this time around. I go to bed with 4yo DD about 8pm while DH takes DS in the sling so I can get a good 3-4 hours sleep before DS needs feeding again. Sleep for the rest of the night is usually quite broken because DS is a frequent snacker but those few hours of sleep have helped with the sleep deprivation and in turn with appetite and not feeling the need to reach for the biscuits every ten minutes. I don't feel anywhere near as tired this time around (I hope I haven't jinxed that now 😅)

And I have tried to be more mindful about snacking . So instead of snacking on five different types of biscuit during an afternoon boob session I'll set up a snack station with a couple of biscuits, some grapes or chopped apple with peanut butter, carrot sticks, and a boiled egg. I boil up a few eggs at once and chop a carrot in the morning/night before so there's always something healthy to quickly grab from the fridge.

I listen to my body and I'm kind to myself. If I'm feeling absolutely ravenous I break the fast early. If we've had a sleepless night I accept I might feel hungrier and crave more carby foods. If I'm meeting friends for brunch or DH has made pancakes for breakfast at the weekend I break early so I don't feel like it's a chore, I just try to make sure most days I'm sticking to the fast window.

I absolutely couldn't have done it during the first couple of months. I started once the breastfeeding induced hunger naturally settled a bit and it felt like the right time, I imagine this differs between everyone.

Best of luck with DC2! Your body is doing (and will continue to do) an absolutely incredible job growing a whole other human. Whenever you feel is the right time to start will be the right time :)

21 pounds down as of today. Hooray! 18 to go which I'm aiming to do in 3 months and have a holiday booked to hopefully celebrate.. we'll see.

Early mornings and work travel are a pain. I think if things are unavoidable just make the best choices you can and go with it.

I have a lot of work dinner events and often the main course doesn't turn up until 9.30. I hate that. The odd day or week doesn't break things though. Something crops up for me at least once a week and it might mean I reach goal a month later than planned but it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things 👍

Nice to have lots of new joiners. 😊

Reached my goal weight/fat % today. Have lost 8.5kg since February. I was stuck at the same plateau for 3 weeks so did a 24 hour fast to move things along.

I am now wondering whether to have a new goal weight but would really like to build muscle. I think I am going to have a goal navel size instead as my waist is quite small but still have a massive belly.

Good to hear everyone's updates and positive progress. The impetus of upcoming holidays and sun really helps motivation.

Two pounds off this week after my gain with lots of work travel.

Feeling much better. I really like how eating this way makes me feel. It's not like being on a diet (though I still use MFP some days to keep me on track with protein and iron), my whole digestive system feels better for it.

I've started this this weekend. Really enjoying it. However I've booked an Italian tomorrow and a few drinks (it's BYO) for. 8pm tomorrow. Do I just enjoy and get back on at 12 the next day?

Well I completely fell off the wagon this weekend. Hen do on Saturday meant I broke the fast early and all sensible/healthy choices went out the window as i consumed my body weight in prosecco. Couldn't face fasting on a hangover so Sunday was a write off too, then in the evening my little one spiked a fever and 111 directed us to A&E. Finally crawled into bed at 1am but also couldn't face fasting on Monday due to being absolutely wiped out. I grazed my way through the day - so disappointed with myself but also know I was doing what I could to get through a tough weekend! Little one is fine, just an infection, he's got antibiotics.

So couldn't face weighing in today, but I am going to try and push to a 20h fast today to see if that kick starts the week. I'll weigh in tomorrow but not hopeful. We have a much more relaxed weekend coming up, but the one after that is another bloody hen do, so feeling a little 'two steps forward one step back' at the mo. Anyway, going to try and make the best choices I can over the next 10 days and hope to see another 1.5-2kg come off.

Hope everyone else had a good (less intense!) bank holiday!

So great to hear everyone's experiences and amazing successes in some cases, @whirlyswirly @Wheretheskyisblue @DisforDarkChocolate !

I definitely think that 'life getting in the way' of the fasting window is the biggest annoyance. I think one way around it is to lean into slightly longer fasts when you can and then just forgive yourself if it goes awry other days. When I'm having a normal working day and I'm in control of my eating window, I do find I can usually go 17-18 hours and I do that when I can. Then, when I have less control - like a work dinner where the main course turns up late! - I don't feel I need to stress about it. I also enjoyed the Mindi Pelz book fast like a girl which talks about leaning into longer fasts early in your cycle and then giving yourself more of a 'hormone feasting' shorter fasts part of your cycle in the run up to your period. Basically she thinks varying the length of fasts is a good thing anyway. She also seems to suggest that the odd 36 ish hour fast, even if done very rarely, makes more difference than lots of regular shorter fasts ... but I just can't manage more than 20 hours, not with two young kids, I get way too hangry!

I'm the lightest I've been since before kids which I'm so thrilled about. However, I've been doing badly on exercise and I think it does show that I'm not looking very toned. I have such a busy work week this week and next but after that I'm going to really try and address it and do some more weights!!

Good luck everyone!

Also really sorry to hear about your nightmare weekend @Ruibies - little ones spiking fever is no fun at all and definitely justifies putting fasting on the back burner. I think you should be kind to yourself, maybe do a couple of longer fasts this week if you can manage, healthy eating exercise etc as much as you can manage, and then forget about it and enjoy your hen do while it's happening. You can always get back on it after. I had a weekend where I fell totally off the wagon, consumed by bodyweight in aperol followed by my bodyweight in toast the next day trying to nurse myself back to health (!) and it didn't manage to undo all my progress thankfully! Hopefully will be same for you x

Hi all

This is a wonderful thread and group and I've enjoyed reading your experiences. I hope you don't mind me joining you? I started 16:8 yesterday, after dabbling with it last year, then falling massively off the band wagon in the last few months when life just got too hectic.

I need to start looking after myself though and taking care of my insides! Hopefully this, along with managing my calorie intake will help me drop a good few pounds (I'm currently the heaviest I've ever been, even including pregnancy) and also help me feel less like a slug and more healthy all round....

Only day 2 but finding it great so far, it's the weekends which tend to be my undoing though...

I am almost 2 months into 16:8 now and after the first month where I lost barely any weight I am now steadily losing every week. I have started doing 18:6 Monday-Thursday and then 16:8 Friday-Sunday and it has really made a difference. My goal was to lose 3kg, and I am now down by 2.3kg so I have 2-3 weeks to go before I need to figure out a balance to just maintain.

For those of you who are just starting out, each week it gets easier. After a month I didn’t even miss breakfast anymore and I now quite enjoy the feeling of being slightly hungry. I also used to get indigestible quite often which has stopped completely now. I think it’s good to give your system a long break each day from digesting food.

I'm attempting this again. I'm aiming for 16:8 but due to my work hours it's working out I'm doing around 19:5. At the weekends when I'm not at work that won't be as easy for me so will probably do 16:8 is it ok to do it this way? So for example yesterday I stopped my fast at 1pm and started my next fast just after 5pm. Today I stopped my fast at 1pm and started my next fast just after 6pm. I will stop my fast again at 1pm tomorrow but I will probably start my fast tomorrow around 8/9pm. I assume as long as I'm doing at least 16 hours fast that's alright? Sorry my post probably isn't making much sense I'm confusing myself.