16:8 does not feel like another shitty diet!. I managed to lose fat, have more energy and feel positive about life.

[sbh1991]

Hey,
I want to share my experience, I tried several diets in the past with little luck, I found them boring and I usually ended up caving in, binging on food and ending up back at square one.

However, I finally found the 16:8 fast really worked for me in losing weight.
I enjoy my food and more importantly I enjoy life without having to restrict myself anymore. Life is too short as they say!.

Weight loss can fill like a constant uphill battle, I know that feeling first hand. So, I would like to help where I can, let me know your struggles with the diet or what problems you have?. Happy to give tips or inspiration to others from my experience.

It is the little steps every day that add up to big results over time 😀. Let's all help and support one another!.

I’ve bern listening to a lot about autophagy today and it’s SO interesting. I’ve decided to throw a long fast into the mix once a week. So tomorrow I’m going to fast until Monday am. I started tonight after dinner so it should end up being a 36 hour fast.

Evening all. I'm on day four. Doing well. Hope I haven't just jinxed it! I'm refusing to weigh until Weds but I feel lighter.

Doing well here too. I can't help but be nervous about calories: sometimes I tot up the days total and it seems too high but like many of you I want to escape 'diet head' and avoid my usual all or nothing yo-yo ing.
I will weigh next week and see how this approach is working!
Thanks for your support everyone, this thread is so helpful.

If you are worried about calories then I suggest listening to Dr Jason Fung’s advice, there are loads of lectures/interviews out there you just need to google it. He recommends not counting calories & explains why much better than I ever could.

I agree that’s it’s not really about calories (although I am trying to be mindful about the little sods) it’s about what you’re eating and how you’re eating it.

The key to weight loss is keeping your insulin quiet. There’s no point in reducing your feeding window to say 8 hours but then eating lots of crap in that window. That just won’t lead to weight loss. The idea is to give your body more fasting time where insulin isn’t triggered and ideally you are accessing stored glycogen to fuel your body.

I agree with the not eating crap in the 8 hour window but also not eating constantly in the 8 hours. 3 regular meals & no snacking in between.

Totally agree.

Completely went off plan last night. Socially distanced drinks with neighbours turned into a bottle of bubbles and a few gins which didn’t end until 2 hours after my eating window...

I was going to try to extend the fast today to do 18:6 but I don’t think I could manage it! I’ve been for a run so will just go back to it today.

Annoyed with myself but we did have a lovely night!

Woke up ravenous today. Had a lie in to try and use up some of the time and now just need to keep myself busy for another hour and a half.

It’s my 18th fast and I’ve lost 6lbs according to the scale yesterday so I’m pleased with that as I’m not doing low carb or particularly counting calories. Trying to do an hours walk a day too.

Skeleton, that’s amazing! Well done you!

I’m on day 7 and I’ve stuck to my eating window all week, despite getting quite drunk during it on Fri! I stopped drinking at the stroke of 8 and stuck it out determinedly until 12 on Sat. I didn’t drink during my usual Sat Zoom call with friends, which is highly unusual for me, but it starts at 8 and I didn’t want to ruin things. I didn’t weigh myself at the beginning but I did take waist measurements - AF has started so I’ll give it a few days and measure again. Fingers crossed!

Inspired by this thread, I finally started this last night. This morning was a KILLER! I woke up absolutely ravenous - I am a real two cups of tea and eggs in a cup person before I can even function - and I was all fuzzy headed and almost blacking out. I couldn’t deal with the kids at all until I’d eaten at 11am.

Tell me it gets easier?! I’m already LCHF and can happily skip meals on it - just not breakfast!

Good afternoon everyone

I hope it's ok to join you? I've read the thread and feel inspired by your experiences.
I'm going to start tomorrow but I think I'll go sit in the sun for a bit and listen to a couple of Fung podcasts. 😎

I started this yesterday. I'm doing the "no food after 2pm" rule - I personally find it easier to skip dinner than skip breakfast, I'm always ravenous when I wake up!

Well done Batshittery it will help you no end 👌👊

Reading with much interest. I've done low carb before which has been v effective while I've done it, but as soon as I stop (and start eating some carbs) all the weight is back on. I think I'm nearly doing 16:18 as I rarely have breakfast, just a mug of tea and a coffee at 11 - though nothing of these have milk in. Don't have much difficulty not eating til 1 with these. But cannot stand black tea... lots to think about.

Welcome to those who have joined. I really recommend getting an app to track your fasts as it’s nice to see a log of what you’ve achieved and also I don’t break my fast as I don’t want to break my streak! I personally use ‘zero’.

I’m noticing how me being hungry has so much to do with me being bored. I posted this morning that I was starving and to be honest I was feeling quite mopey. I ended up taking myself off to the shop to get some bits and some stuff for the garden I needed, then when I got back I got on with some jobs in the garden, and before I knew it it was 2pm and I’d been fasting for 17 hours! Before I was busy I was counting down the seconds so it definitely is more tricky for me when I’m sitting around.

At the moment I’m only doing 16:8 during the week and at weekends I’m eating breakfast and snacks after 8pm. Should I be aiming to do it every day?

went to the beach earlier and dh took a photo of me and dc.

omg I look like a blob round the middle.
my legs though look fabulous and slim

Found a great article on fasting and dental health. I’m 20 hours into my 36 hour fast abs it’s reading stuff like this that helps me dig in.

www.drstevenlin.com/can-intermittent-fasting-cure-gum-disease-naturally/

I'm pleasantly surprised by how quickly this has become the norm for me with minimal issue.

I'm not sure if it's because I have a clear target of a stone loss by July 15th (I've already lost two in the past year) or if it's the heat? I'm thirsty all the time but not particularly hungry.

Thanks I'll read Jason Fung's advice about diet. I'm not keen to follow a completely low carb diet but it makes complete sense to reduce them and especially the more refined carbs.
I broke my fast with an apple and a cheese and spring onion omelette today, followed by full fat yogurt and it kept me full for ages compared to when I've had sandwiches or pasta.

Is anyone suffering with any bloating and/or indigestion? I’ve struggled a lot with it the last 24 hours (I was awake much of the night with chronic indigestion). I never have any issues normally. I did slightly longer fasts the last few days, just because i found it fairly easy to stretch to another hour or two, but I wonder if I should limit to 16hours. Are there any rules or tips on what to break your fast with? Another thing I’ve been thinking is that maybe I need to ensure I break the fasts with certain foods (easily digested?)...

I really don’t want to have to stop as I am finding it fairly easy to do the fasts.

@beacdreaming2020

I’m not quite 2 weeks in yet so by no means an expert. But I felt very bloated the first week. Much better this week and my stomach is looking flatter. The book I read also mentioned you might be constipated for a bit after starting and that this was nothing to worry about.

Thanks Moo that’s very helpful!