16 8 intermittent fasting

[Chester6girls]

I have about a stone to lose and am thinking about trying intermittent fasting. Have others had success with it?

A couple of other questions...can I drink peppermint tea/green tea with lemon outside of the 8 hours?

Also, if I occasionally move the 8 hour window slightly is that a problem, ie such as if we are going out for dinner so I need to start and finish later?

Thanks

I dropped 3 dress sizes last year and am maintaining.
I actually have a drop of skimmed milk in tea (as I read its best to have some if it means you'll keep going as depriving yourself could set you back). This has worked for me and has meant I'm continuing to fast over a year on because health wise it helps.
I also change my timings dependent on what I'm doing and as long as I do at least 16 hours I'm OK with that. My app says my average over the year is 18 hours.

I started intermittent fasting around a year ago, with 3 stones I needed to lose and it worked.

I dropped from 12 st 2 lbs to 8 st 12 lbs. I'm post menopausal, with CFS, hypothyroid and fibromyalgia also so I thought I wasn't going to be easy, but it just worked out. I watch what I eat, but don't calorie count. I eat a plant based diet and do some exercise daily.

I also have a black coffee or peppermint/green tea outside the eating official window. I'm not too strict about things because I want it to keep working and if you make it too hard for yourself you're more likely to give up. You still need to enjoy life.

I do 16:8 most days, but if we're going out for a meal then it might be 15:9 or 14:10 for one day to adjust.

Thanks both. Well done to both of you...such motivational responses. I think I'll give it a try.

I've loosely adopted intermittent fasting - if i haven't worked out in the morning before breakfast, then I skip eating until lunch (I have to admit to sometimes needing a piece of fruit or a hot chocolate to get me through, but not always). I slowly have lost about half a stone, and haven't really noticed it as being a depricvation of calories in any way. I will caveat that by also saying over the same period I've been trying to reduce my intake of UPFs, and I regularly exercise. I am relatively slim (currently about 67kg, was 70.2 at the start of the year), but nearly 50, and menopausal (I think - I'm on HRT anyway).

Thanks @EmmaStone. Well done, sounds brilliant advice. Silly question but what are UPF's? Thanks

It's never worked for me but I only ever try to loose 7 - 10lbs, presumably more effective when looking to lose a bit more than that.

I'm following with interest on other peoples stories as I started this 2 days ago after hearing about the benefits. I get quite bloated aswell and this is meant to help too.
I heard you can drink black tea/coffee outside of the 8 hours so I've had a coffee in the mornings.

I find I maintain if I fast but lose if I fast and also go low carb or low calorie.

UPFs are Ultra Processed Foods (basically ingredients that you don't have in your kitchen, stabilizers, emulsifiers, things like that). I've been quite interested in the work Zoe have been doing on research into the gut microbiome etc, and have read some of Dr Tim Spector's books and I listen to some of the Zoë podcasts. They advocate for intermittent fasting, low UPFs etc. The fact that it's all actually researched properly makes me give it some attention, so much nutritional advice is just hokum.

Those with loses

Can I ask why type of meal plan you follow t (amazing and well done!!)

so something like soup for lunch and chicken stir fry etc .. then no snacks only herbal tea outside this window ??

But I need to stop my hot chocolates, because they're interfering with the fast! Should be black tea/coffee/water only apparently. The reasoning I heard in the podcast I listened to yesterday, was because having anything with some flavour in it sets off an insulin response, which is what you're trying to avoid in the fast. The bitterness of black tea/coffee prevents that, but even Earl Grey is a no no as the bergamot sweetens the taste, triggering the insulin, it's all so fascinating, and the human body is absolutely incredible!

@OnehundredStars, I will tend to have some kind of soup or a salad for lunch (avoiding what I used to do of a meal deal - UPF bread, UPF crisps, UPF drink), fruit, maybe some dark chocolate. Then our normal family meal in the evening (again following low UPF principles). It's an easy way of cutting out a certain number of calories a day, but if you literally eat whatever you want during your eating window, you won't lose. It's about good nourishment that keeps you full during your eating window, and you shouldn't really feel hungry during your fast. I find if I eat breakfast, I get hungrier for lunch sooner than when I fast.

Brilliant thank you. I really do need a plan that I can join in with a family meal in the evenings and I’m tired of cooking separately. I have the a slow cooker recipe book so I will buy lean meat etc but keep to the restricted time. Also could do with laying off alcohol a bit for a while. Thanks so much.

I've lost a lot with fasting but tend to do longer fasts

However, I wanted to share a friend's experience - she is 72 and made no changes to her diet (as far as she knows) and ate in an 8 hour window and lost 1 stone in about 6 months. She only wanted to lose 7lbs but is enjoying being the weight she was in her 20s again. She does walk a lot and enjoys her food, eating generally healthy stuff

And yes, @Chester6girls that's what I love about fasting - it is SO flexible. Change the hours whenever you want - extend them occasionally if you have to.

And on the drop of milk in tea/coffee - some people find it helps and others find it makes them more hungry. You can only find out by trial and error.

I'm another Gin Stephens / Michael Mosley fan - my go to people (alongside Tim Spector).

I stick with the Gin Stephens protocol so only black coffee outside my eating window. No lemon or milk - avoiding flavour is the main issue and works for me. It’s not that you’ll ruin everything, but that you might actually be making it very much harder for yourself. The IF episode of the Zoe podcast is good and clear on this.

Yes, moving your eating window is fine and even a good thing sometimes. The flexibility is what it’s all about. Some days you’ll go longer, some days shorter.

I've lost 2 stone doing IF. I eat whatever I want in my eating period. I don't have anything at all except tap water in the fasting period. I move my windows around to suit my lifestyle. Most of the time it's 14:10 but sometimes longer. Works really well for me.

Hi Chrster6girls

How has the week gone for you? I've started IF 16/8 this week I did it a good few years ago and it worked brilliantly. Hoping to get rid of a few stone before summer this way now.

I'm back on it now altho I did manage to eat an entire mid sized toblerone yesterday in my eating window so suspect the scales won't show movement ! But feel quite good and stomach has stopped growling at 10am

The way I make it work is to just drop breakfast, and put off lunch for as long as I can. Once I eat, then the 8-hour window has opened.

That said, I do have a couple of mugs of tea with a dash of soya milk during the morning, and whilst I know that would be better to avoid it, it doesn't seem to stop me losing weight, or make me more hungry. It's finding that balance of what changes you are prepared to make, whilst keeping it manageable for your life. Tea is my non-negotiable, and I hate it black!

Along with the time limitation, I try not to snack, but to eat better food at mealtimes. I end up eating more, but of better food - more vegetables, more protein, and feeling more full - than when I am constantly hoovering up snacks! When I have 'snacky' days, I am never properly hungry, so tend not to eat proper meals. It's a vicious circle.

Letting myself feel hungry and not immediately reaching to feed that hunger is a big part of it. That's a key mind-set shift.

I started doing this last week! I went from 9st 13 - 9st 8.5 in 4 days!

I fast for 16 hours and then just eat normally within my 8 hour window. I will say, I have been more mindful of what I'm eating definitely within that window but not cutting anything out. So for instance, yesterday I had my lunch at 1pm which was a wrap, some low cal crisps and fruit, then a pasta bake for my dinner. Minimal snacks and lots of water!

During my fast, I only drink tea, ( with a drop of milk ) and water.

Enjoying it at the moment so will see how it goes

I’m doing this and lost 2 stone so far this year, though do have lots to lose.
I started out at 16:8 and slowly moved to 20:4. I find I don’t get hungry until my usual late lunchtime as I am now used to it. I then don’t have long till my early dinner so the only odd mild hunger pang is just before bed. I manage by going up earlier and I think all this means I am sleeping better. It is recommended to stop eating 3 hours before bed but I know lots of people struggle with that.
I drink water and black coffee whilst fasting and if I accidentally add a splash of milk I get hungry soon after.
The good thing about intermittent fasting is you can eat your normal diet so I wouldn’t get too hung up on making massive changes to your normal diet. Obviously it’s good to eat healthy foods but you can fast and lose weight on any food. Saying that if you eat 5000 in a small eating window you will gain weight. I combine IF with calorie tracking but am eating 1850 and losing weight.
So my advice is to track the calories in what you eat and use a small eating window to control hunger whilst you lose weight.

I have been a faster for over 5 years.
You can lose, maintain or gain with it like any eating pattern. Weight loss comes from calorie deficit, harder to gain with a restricted eating window though. So long as you are hitting macros it's great. I find it a much more convenient way of eating, prefer a shorter eating window of 2-4 hours most days.

Finished my 2 week and I am feeling so much better for it (5lbs off) sleeping better and definitely making better food choices in my eating window. Going to do this for the next two weeks and then do a few weeks of fast800.

I’ve landed on this thread because I realise I’ve accidentally fallen into a 16/8 diet for the last two weeks. I realised I’m not overly hungry in the mornings any more so rather than try to force a healthy breakfast, I’ve just cut it altogether.

im having soup or salad for lunch and a normal (fairly healthy) dinner.

I am easily doing 16–18 hours fast at a time and don’t have tea or coffee during this period.

now that I know what I’ve fallen into, can anyone recommend a good podcast for me on this subject?

Gin Stephens' Intermittent Fasting Stories are very good. She has also done another series called Fast, Feast, Repeat which goes into the science side more.