16-8

[Beachcomber74]

Day 1 of this adventure. I’ve got a headache but will soon be going to bed.
My eating window today was 8am-4pm. I’ve got so much to shift & hope I can keep this up. Anyone else want to join?

I’m looking it up!
@IdLikeToBeAFraser trust the process. Your body will try to keep you at a set weight . When you’re consistently eating less, it should start to lose weight.

Ugh its so frustratingly hard and slow isn't it? I weighed yesterday and was more than my previous weigh in.. Hoping its cycle related as I get so bloated pre period I think there's a lot of water retention and not a true weight gain. Should probably stop weighing around this time of the month, its too disheartening!

Also on being premenstrual - omg it affects my appetite so much 😧 I am absolutely ravenous this morning! All I can think about is food!

Have finally lost 1lb when I weighed this morning so it looks like ditching the crisps is the way forward. Still feel slightly dejected though as been doing for just over 2 weeks. But I said I didn’t want to get hung up on the numbers so on I go!!

Hmmm when I have done 5:2 in the past I would plateau and then get a whoosh and drop a couple of pounds. There is science behind your body trying to maintain a set weight by reducing your metabolic rate then allowing loss when it realises this reduction in calories is not temporary. I’m not weighing until Friday. I’ve been very strict this week with only water or herbal tea/ black coffee outside of window. Because I’m off(term time) I’ve been trying to eat by 6/6.30 and no lunch until 12.30 or later. No alcohol in the week and not eating any crap. I’m also doing at least 10k steps ( on phone so more in reality) a day. If I don’t see loss on Friday I will be sad/mad!
I guess one benefit of being 53 and post meno is I don’t get those monthly cravings. I used to.

I did 16:8 3 years ago to see if it would help my body to reset and get pregnant (I did) and I am doing it again since the end of June. I watched a video by Ben Azadi and he said menstruating women shouldn't fast the 7 days before periods as the body needs to build progesterone. I never took my cycle into consideration when I am fasting every day, but I wonder has anybody stopped fasting before their periods?

That's so interesting - I knew there were implications for your menstrual cycle but have never read up on it. I have heard in several places the Dr Mindy Pelz book Fast Like A Girl is very good - need to get hold of a copy as I want to understand this better.

I started 16:8 at the beginning of June. I've tried to listen to my body on the days before my period and if fasting didn't feel right then I've paused for a few days and gone easy on myself. I haven't stopped fasting in the 7 days before though.

Will try and find that video you mention.

Yes I’ve read that too. Mindy Pelz mentions eating more carbs that week but not refined. She talks about veg and fruit being carbs and obviously whole grains. My DD20 is aware of this stuff and does more gentle work outs that week. Apparently the week after your period is the time to go hard on everything.

These two articles useful on IF and the menstrual cycle
Fasting and Your Menstrual Cycle: Everything You Must Know to Successfully Fast While on Your Period (fastic.com)

Women and Fasting: Does Fasting Affect Your Cycle? | The Fasting Method

The second one looks like its written by Jason Fung but its not - its someone called Megan Ramos. Confused me slightly at first!

Yes @greengreyblue that week after your period does seem to be go hard on everything! I do notice my energy levels and mood are very up around that time. I am so finely tuned to my cycle after years of infertility - but it does feel like more women are aware and in tune with it these days, which is such a good thing. That's great your DD is clued up.

18hr fast
lunch: dry fried egg and mushrooms on sourdough toast, an apple.
dinner: Cajun turkey steak (small) with rice and beans and pineapple salsa( Googled a recipe and it was v tasty and under 500 cals) Greek yoghurt with blackberries.
10k+ steps

Did 20 hrs today as I met a friend for a catch up and by the time we stopped gabbing it was past lunch time.
lunch: prawns with salad and a bit of leftover rice, apple, clementine.
dinner: just making lean pork skewers to have with lots of crunchy veg , yoghurt dip and flatbread.

I did 18 hours today. It was DD’s A level results today and we went out for lunch and didn’t end up eating until 2pm.

I’m considering doing OMAD today as had a much more substantial meal at lunchtime than usual. Is that a good idea given that I already feel hungry? Am I likely to cave and eat something outside my window? Or should I have something small instead? If I do manage just on the one meal is it wise to bring my window forward tomorrow?

Only you know that @Rollergirl11 . Have a cup of tea and see how you feel.Hope your DD got what she needed .

If you went with omad then yeah I’d reckon you’ll need to eat earlier tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed your lunch!

Did 17 hours today, had ham coleslaw and cheese protein bagel for lunch. Leftover Thai chicken veg brown rice for dinner. Apple yoghurt peanut butter snack. Glass of white wine.

gonna step off the gas over the weekend as period is due Monday.

Morning all. Weigh-in day for me. I’ve lost some more but so close to that next starting number.
SW: 10st 6
CW: 10.01st
TW: 9st 10 but ideally 9st 7
I seem to make good progress in the week and then set myself back or plateau at weekend with wine. Radical thought….. don’t drink! 🙄

Also checked BMI and I’ve gone from 24.3 to 23.3. 😃

Well I did manage to do OMAD yesterday. I was quite hungry in the evening but had a handful of fruit & nut mix and that was it. I am starting to feel like it’s getting easier to go for longer periods of time without feeling hungry. Had a sneaky weigh-in and am another 1lb down this morning so I’m pleased about that.

DH and I are going to a wedding tomorrow; just the evening bit. There will be some food around 9pm. Not really sure how to plan around it. I will have to have amazing willpower to not have any when everyone else is eating around me. But then adjusting the time window will mean not eating until around 2pm tomorrow. I guess that’s doable. Or just have a day off? What would others do?

Ah well done @Rollergirl11 ! I agree it does get easier and we said upthread it’s almost easier to fast than navigate food offers. If it were me I’d eat before going to the party in your normal window. Hopefully you’ll be full when food comes round. If not pick one thing you really fancy. Most of the time it’s beige food and I find that easy to ignore.

I did OMAD yesterday too because I'd been out the night before and only closed my window at 10pm. I'm also doing OMAD today because we're about to go on holiday and I always gain. I'm not worrying about it, I know I'll get back on track when I'm back in my normal routine. But like others have said, I'm now finding it fine to go for longer stretches so I'll be interested to see whether it feels harder again after my holiday.

I like the flexibility, if I'm out in the evening I just push the window back the next day or I leave it and have a much smaller eating window to get a longer fast in the following day. E.g. Wednesday I closed at 10pm so Thursday I fasted until 5pm. But I have sometimes opened at 12pm as usual then closed at 4pm or so and done a longer fast the next evening/overnight. Basically, I monitor with an app and if my average is over 16 hours of fasting I don't worry too much about the odd day here or there. I think it needs to be flexible to be able to stick to it long term.

Wahooo! That’s great. And on the BMI front.

I can’t give up wine…

I’d have a day off and enjoy it

I'm interested in your experience of fasting to help with endometriosis. Have you had any good results?

Hi everyone,

Since my last post I found that I was feeling too dreadful fasting from 6.30pm until 12pm and I needed something in the morning. I've settled on having one piece of toast with fresh tomatoes on for breakfast every day, and then a small-ish lunch. I have supper with my partner and usually make it healthy-ish and lately have been serving myself smaller portions than I used to. Technically I'm only fasting from 6.30pm to around 10am now.

I wonder if my blood sugar is spiking less because I'm having smaller meals earlier in the day, because it's working surprisingly well for me. I'm feeling much less starving than I usually do, and I'm really enjoying the food that I'm eating.

Not sure if I've lost any weight as I'm not weighing myself but I'm hoping gradually my clothes will feel looser.

@Enviable thats 16:8 more or less so that’s great. It gets easier to go longer after a while. I am ending up doing OMAD today. Met a friend for a big walk late morning and had planned to have lunch together but the place we had in mind had closed. We ended up chatting over a sparkling water and realised the time . Got home at 4 and thought what the hell, may as well stretch to dinner. Feel absolutely fine bar a few growls. Made a green tea and look forward to dinner.This is a first for me so a huge milestone!
@Queencam Ive no intention of giving up wine, just might knock it on the head an extra night or rein it in a bit for a few weeks.