16:8 and Menopausal - worth a try?

[SadlyACupOfTeaDoesNotSolveEverything]

After a summer of self loathing I have decided to try 16:8 intermittent fasting to see if I can finally start to improve my gut health, lose weight and embrace my impending 40’s.

Thanks to chronically early menopause (peri at 34 and menopausal at 36) I feel frumpy, sore, lethargic and know full well my weight isn’t exactly helping the situation.

On Sunday morning I weighed in at a frightening 228lbs and had a good cry in the bathroom. When I got myself together I opened up my fitness plan, put in the data and looked into IF. Since then I have aimed for 1500kcal a day consisting of two meals, one or two snacks and one oat milk flat white - all between 12noon and 8pm.

Has anyone else found success doing this or if you too feel the same so you fancy joining together to share recipes, tips and help motivate each other?

I've had a lot of success doing this and have lost nearly 2 stone this year since January.

I don't eat before one and then have a light lunch and bigger dinner.

Can I join? Planning to start tomorrow with first meal as 12pm. Hoping this is the strategy that will help me lose the menopausal weight (as well as the couple of stone that pre-date it)

Welcome @Frazzledbuthopeful, the more the merrier!

@ShrinkingSusan I’m not bright enough to know how to link up 🫣.

I am sticking to my weekly Sunday morning weigh in but a few small victories this week… 1 -I went to the cinema and the theatre and did not die from lack of overpriced snacks!
2 -I can feel my clothes are getting looser.
3 -I have slept 7hrs a night for a whole week. Literally unheard of in almost 5yrs.

Good morning! How is everyone getting on? I got on the scales this morning and have moved up into a new bracket 😳 although I was expecting it after what I scoffed on holiday. I have meal plans made up for the next week - fingers crossed I see an improvement next Sunday when I weigh myself again.

Hi I hope i can join this thread. I started IF 4 days ago, and have lost 3lbs so far. My aim was to do 16:8, with my eating window being 11am-7pm, but I’ve probably done 17:7 - 20:4 just because I’ve been out and about this weekend and busy enough to not notice.

I’m on the small side so don’t have much weight to lose but would like to lose about 7lbs, which seems to have snuck on this year. Maybe due to my age as I approach 40. Or because my diet is generally not great. I like IF because I feel like it still allows
me to have treats but it doesn’t give me the time to have many and probably most significantly I’m not raising the fridge for chocolate once my DS has gone to bed!

My main reason for IF is not weight loss however. I usually have huge energy slumps in the afternoon where I feel like I have to have a nap, and my brain fog is terrible. I cannot retain information. So I’m really hoping this will be life changing. I have two coffees with keto powder or MCT oil in the morning and that seems to set me up for the day. Has anyone else experienced a reduction in brain fog with IF?

Morning everyone, how are we all getting on? Welcome to anyone who has joined us.

I have been away for a few days and I’m scared to jump on the scales when I get up this morning. I had some wine and treats, although much less than I would have had previously, but felt sluggish having had no alcohol since I began IF.
Will report back later today.

I have a mix of social commitments, birthdays and trips away over the next 6 weeks so trying hard to account for these too.

I'm menopausal too.

16:8 on its own didn't work for me. I only started seeing results when I combined it with cutting down carbs and even then it was slow going. Menopause has screwed my metabolism. (Have just got back from holiday and unfortunately weight has gone back on now so back to square one. 😐)

I’m up 1lb but back to eating plan today so will check again on my usual Sunday.

Hi all,

May I join you?
Lots resonating and inspiring me on this thread.

I’m 48, now menopausal, recently started HRT, 14’9”. Really achey joints.

My GP recommended IF to me, but I’ve felt too defeated, pessimistic, omni-hungry and sluggish to start.

I used to have an alcohol problem but I seem to have cracked this thanks to Kate Bee’s Sober School.

Hoping to combine IF with upping my steps to 15,000 a day, reducing carbs (a bit). Tbh I eat so much garbage I’m hoping to lose weight if I can just stop eating half a packet if biscuits plus a packet of crisps on top of everything else.

I already have reduced quality of life, and if I don’t crack this soon I will soon have co-morbities.

Onwards… :-)

Please can I join you?

I'm 47 and currently 13 stone 3lb (on an upwards trajectory 🙈 Still adjusting HRT but it's sort of helping by taking the edges off mood swings etc.

Very stressful job and mum!

Would like to get to 11 stone 7lb...maybe by Christmas 🎄?

Am walking at least 3km per day for September to raise money for Sands.

Starting 16:8 tomorrow. Hoping to make it an 11am to 7pm eating window. Also need to cut down the alcohol. I'm not a big drinker anymore but a glass most days is still too much during peri for me it would seem!

Wishing everyone the best of luck x

May I join too please? I'm 40s and peri, on hrt, but the heaviest I've been since pregnant and nit happy with it. I tend to eat in the morning because I feel I should so I'm going to skip that. I also crave sugar so I'm going to try to stop giving in to share bags of m &m's especially ad diabetes is in my family!

Afternoon everyone and welcome to the newcomers.

I have stayed the same this week, which isn’t so surprising following a few days away, a day out with friends and one of the DC’s having a birthday! I am pretty sure my step count and general awareness helped avoid a big gain.

I have to remind myself I am 11.5lbs lighter than a month ago and to keep tracking and following the plan.

Can I ask how everyone else is finding alcohol? I had nothing for weeks and felt great, had 2 glasses and didn’t even finish the 2nd and felt dehydrated, sore head and hot flash like overnight. I’m wondering if until I ride out menopause I just don’t bother anymore.

Day 1 today and I'm very suprised I didn't eat breakfast for the first time in de cades and felt fine! Had first meal at 10:30am then will eat lunch and dinner at 5:30/6ish and stop. I'm definitely a night tome grazer so expecting that to be hard!

Hi everyone. First week done and I’m 4lb down. Woohoo! Today I had bread for the 1st time in a week and blimey I really felt it. I felt sluggish, bloated and my face was sort of hot and prickly. It actually felt inflamed. Will be better prepared tomorrow and avoid

Slow start for me.

So I managed Day 1 ok, but wasn’t really organised. Day 2 I felt really hungry, and had a feckit moment - chocolate digestives in the middle of the night and then at breakfast 🙈. Partly due to really bad insomnia, partly due to reading a thread on here about staying slim which left me feeling quite low.

I stop eating and drinking in 4 minutes! chicken Kyiv tonight with a huge portion of veg and one spoon of rice. Presumably chicken Kyiv is unhealthy but at least it’s protein. And had two glasses of AF wine - I’ve hopefully given up.

So, easing myself in, not weighed myself yet, but my starting position is 93kg. I had Covid last week so decided not to exercise today out of caution.

So are you giving up carbs altogether @Pinkshoes71 ?

I’m aiming to cut back but my first step is just to get eating and non-water drinking within an 8 hour window.

@WorkingOnMyMindset
am avoiding bread and trying to stick to maybe rice at weekends with curry etc. I just feel better without and have to try and eat clean or I find my joints hurt. I’m not fanatical about it but definitely notice a difference in how I feel. For me it definitely helps with the weight loss but now that’s almost secondary to how much better I feel.

@WorkingOnMyMindset
As you mentioned the hardest bit is being organised so I need to get my head around that.

@Pinkshoes71 that’s interesting to know because my joints are sore now too…

I’ve fasted 15 hours, but a huge bowl of fruit and fibre bran flakes, two small squares of chocolate and a slice of fruit toast so far :-/.

At least I’m becoming more mindful. My grocery bill is going to go up, though!

@WorkingOnMyMindset
Im sure it’s helping with the inflammation. I did 15 hrs today too, had a few bits of chicken left over from last night because I was busy. Got to 4pm and realised that’s all I’d had but didn’t feel hungry at all. Had some plain yoghurt, berries and nuts.

How's everyone doing?
I'm getting into a rhythm of no breakfast. Still snacking at night though - which I have to break.

The no breakfast bit is fine (although I love breakfast). I'm having a brunch and then a dinner, but can't seem to get dinner finished within the window!!

Have started logging calories in MFP which is also helping.

Scales are broken so have no idea on progress!!!

I am still here but celebrating a big birthday this weekend so trying to not gain V lose this week!

Realise it’s been a month but thought I would check in. I’m down 16lbs and steadily getting there. It’s slow progress but the most progress I have made in years.

Hope you are all doing well.