My weight loss diary - 16:8, cutting out crap and drinking more water!

[MickeyMouseShithouse]

I’m using MN as my own personal blog/diary for my weight loss - Feel free to join me, chat, check in, lurk.. Whatever!

So here goes nothing..

Entry 1:

New Year, New Me.. amiright? Not really, more of a ‘New Year, Same me but in a much healthier and banging body’.

After having two children I’m now at my heaviest - which is something like 11st 6lbs (and that was pre-Christmas period!) I’m likely heavier now but my scales have died so I can’t weigh.. which I’m actually quite pleased about.

Ive chosen the 16:8 diet, I’ll eat from 8am - 4pm. I think this will work well for me, and for us as a family - as my partner is very slim and doesn’t need to lose weight, or cut down carbs ect, which had always been a big reason to why my diets have failed - because it’s not maintainable as a family unit (unless I faff with cooking two different meals)
So whereas my partner works full time the only meal we really have together is dinner; so now I’ll cook for him and the children but I’ll be fasting, I’ll just take a glass of water to the table at dinner time!

This diet for me isn’t about watching the numbers tick down on the scales necessarily. Of course it’s nice to see the numbers reduce - but ultimately as I’ll be working out alongside healthy eating I’m expecting some muscle to build. So instead of watching the scales I’m watching the mirror. I’ll take weekly photos to compare and hopefully start seeing a change.

If I like what I see in the mirror then what the digits say doesn’t mean anything to me.

For some personal background if you’re still reading; I’m lazy. I hardly exercise, I’m not someone who goes out for daily walks/jogs ect. - I think I would like to and I would enjoy it but I have social phobia disorder and generalised anxiety so getting out isn’t the easiest for me. - I’ll take the kids to the park or shopping but that’s about it.

That said, I’ve brought a treadmill. My minimum goal is to get 10k steps in every single day, whether that pottering the house while I clean, going out to the shops, running after the kids or using the treadmill, 10k steps is my bare minimum goal. I’ll likely have a gentle jog in the mornings, then check how many steps I’ve done by the evening and top up once the kids are in bed.

I’ve brought a blender which I’ll make smoothies with in the mornings.

I work mostly from home, so snacking is hard to control when the cupboards are right there! I’m going to stock up on carrot sticks, low fat hummus, chicken pieces and nuts to have as snacks through the day.

I really need to whip my arse into shape, I have to have my wedding dress fitted in April so I’m hoping to make a pretty big, yet maintainable change by then.

The Facts:
Current weight: 11st 6lbs
Height: 5ft (on the dot)
Goal: Slim down and firm up, but in numbers I’m hoping to lose 2st minimum by May.

Hi, I'll join if you don't mind. Also looking to kick myself into shape. Used to have it together but 3 children on things have changed considerably and I've gained 4st in total. My youngest is only 8 weeks old so I know it's early days but I've had my 3 close together and the weight has piled on. I'm breastfeeding exclusively but still hoping to try the 16:8 except I was going to aim to eat between 12 and 7 as our evening meal is the only time we really sit down as a family and I don't want to miss that.

So currently I'm 5"6 and 14st 1. Can't believe I'm even typing that. Looking to start tomorrow and really need to see the change. I just feel so heavy and uncomfortable!

I'd like to join in as well if you don't mind. I weighed in at 78.5 kg this morning and feel awful. It is the highest I've been outside of pregnancy. I too am home most of the day and and emotional eat and just feel everything is going out of control.

I am aiming for 18:6 at least, with a eating windown of 4 - 8 p.m., as I cannot fall asleep on an empty stomach. Maybe posting here will give me some accountability. I hope I can join in here with entries :)

Interesting thread. I'm exactly 5 ft as well and have been thinking about doing this type of thing. I know I've been over eating a lot recently and want to get back on track and lose some weight.

Hello
So I'm trying the 16 - 8 fast
I'm being kind to myself though ...and allowing black coffee in the morning ...I'm a teacher I need something!
I'm 5'6 and 74kg ..according to my very old basic scales

I’d like to follow you too! I need to lose weight and these threads help me. I’m the heaviest I’ve ever been and no longer feel comfortable in my own body. I’m having soups/ shakes breakfast and lunch and mindful chef meals in the evening.

5ft 4
75kg

Did 16:8 2 years ago and lost 4 stone. Was 13st something and got down to 9st. I'm 5'6.

I still do 16:8 but unfortunately gained and I've gone up to 10st11.

Good luck. It definitely will work for you!

@Lulu1919 black coffee is fine. Just remember to keep occupied. Then eventually you'll get used to not eating in the morning.

Can I join you? I'm also doing 16:8, between 1pm-9pm.

5ft 1, 12st 9.

Also lay, though I do walk my son to college and usually do a hike or bike ride at the weekend. Definitely need to up my exercise though.

Hi all, glad I’ve got some joiners here. I like to hear about people progress.. and the slip ups if we have them as they make me feel much more human!

I hoped to update this thread sooner but I’ve been busy trying to mentally get in the game.

Entry 2:

I feel: Motivated. Like this time I can stick to it and maintain this new healthy lifestyle. I feel much less tired and as strange as it sounds I think even the last few days I can feel my insides thanking me for the greens. I just feel I’ve been giving a revitalising shot!

Cravings: Not as many as I thought I would. My daughter asked for candy floss yesterday and that set off a craving for that.. and I saw the dairy milk in Tesco and I think I start salivating, but otherwise I’m actually feeling a lot better for eating healthier recently.

So far, so good.. isn’t that always the way, or am I being cynical? I know I am.

This weeks food shop looked considerably different to the last few weeks worth.. I’ve swapped out cake, chocolates, cheese boards, cured meats and BOOZE! I’ve swapped them for Fish, chicken, cous cous, salads and coconut water!

Now, I’ve always loved my fruit and veg anyway so eating healthy isn’t hard in that sense, but the sugar cravings are real. I’ve filled myself with so many Christmas treats recently that my new adopted diet has me feeling almost shaky at the thought of a single square of dairy milk..

But I’m willing, I remind myself why I mustn’t give up.. I have a wedding dress to get into (well it fits.. but I want it taken in a size or two!) and to add fuel to my motivation, I caught a glimpse of my bare arms on a video at a party last week.. I am embarrassed!

So far I start my day with a super blend metabolism boosting tea, I add a drop of honey for that sweet fix I used to get from the teaspoon of sugar in my regular tea.

Then I drop the kids off at nursery and return home to make my smoothies for the day. The first one I made was:

Two handfuls of spinach
A banana
An avocado
Peanut Butter
Honey
Coconut water.

It was delicious! It was like a peanut butter and banana milkshake.. but very green.

Todays smoothie is fruiter:
Two handfuls of spinach
Half a cucumber
A handful of mango
An avocado
a banana
a tin of peach slices (in juice)
coconut water.

Again, so nice! The cucumber makes it so refreshing while the peaches give it a lovely fruity taste.

Lunches have been salads, with either baked chicken breast or grilled salmon and rice.

Snacks have been a handful of almonds or cashews, or hummus with celery/carrot sticks. I’m also trying to drink plenty of water, Juno on the treadmill at least once a day.

The scales are still broken, so I don’t know if there’s been any progress yet. I don’t look any different but it’s only been days..

Feel free to share any healthy recipes, tips for overcoming those pesky cravings, any decent home video workouts ect.

You're doing way better than me already. All I've really done is cut down the time I allow myself to eat. But within that time frame I've not been very strict about what I eat. It's still be a struggle though. I feel hungry when I wake up but make myself wait and not snacking before bedtime has taken effort. I've realised how comfortable I'd got with just reaching into the fridge or cupboard for a square of chocolate several times a day and it's taken a second thought to shut the door again when I've been on auto pilot. Doesn't help that there's still sooooo much junk in the house. My children will take weeks to get through it all 😖 so far I've lost 3lbs since I weighed myself the day after boxing day. But that could be a lot of water weight for all I know. Been out for a few long walks and been working up a sweat just trying to get the house back to a fit state after Christmas but haven't really started any proper exercise regime yet. Wish I had a treadmill!

This morning, I weighed in at 77.5 kgs. (I am in Denmark so I will post in Kgs as my scale shows only that :) ). I don't think I have lost anything as I feel my previous weigh-in was faulty.

Anyway, I have been fasting between 16 - 19 hours, but have not been counting calories during my eating window. I feel that is the key. I don't have an exercise regime either and need to work on that. I also have an appointment with the doctor next week for some bloodtests for thyroid function, as I have never struggled like this with weight loss before.

OP, I am at home all day too and the temptation to eat with the food right there is enormous :) I will start posting my meals soon.

Sorry, today was a total bust. Was in a bad mood and when I am, I binge. I am going to write today off and start again. :(

A week of mostly doing 16:8 and I have stayed the same. Better than a gain I guess. The Christmas treats are gone now, so I will make sure what I eat is sensible, although I am going out twice this week. Exercise wise, I have done 10,000 steps most days and been on a 22 mile bike ride today.

I also had an off day and ate a ton of rubbish yesterday.

I’ve decided not to wipe the skate clean and start again, because I do think there will be more off days and I don’t always want to feel like I’m back at square one. So this was just an off day, and now I move on and continue trying to eat better and exercise. I did a small run on the treadmill this morning. I’m going to jump back on at lunch and make myself a smoothie to replace lunch today as a bit of a catch up.

Still no batteries in the scales, but I doubt they would have changed much yet!

Hi I'd like to join too please. Am doing the 16:8 6pm-10am though usually go to about 11am. I'm 5ft2 and weigh 11st 4lbs. Always was a slim person then fibromyalgia flare with a vengeance, osteoarthritis and bad back plus am 49 so have a lot going against me 😂 I'm 50 in March and my aim was to get my health back before I hit 50! Anyway I'd like to get down to at least 10 stone. I don't work due to health but walk the dog etc so aim for 10k steps a day but only manage up to 8k. Anyway here I am and thanks for this post xxx

Oh also I'm gluten free due to intolerances and family history x

Hi, I've started today.

Will eat between midday till 8pm. I will try and have 3 black coffees and then water.

I need to reduce wine and sweets and eat more veg.

I've found my people!. I'm doing 16:8, eating 10am-6pm. Im the heaviest I 've ever weighted in my life 😥.
I started last Monday and by Friday had dropped 1lb...really gutted! Weighed myself on Sunday and had put 1.5lb back on. I should say im only fastin Mon-Fri, I enjoy my weekend breakfasts🤣. I also got into a habit of daily weighing which is so bad so im making myself do a weekly Friday weigh. Good luck everyone, I hope we all get some great results

Far be it from me to say, but there are more than 500 calories in the banana, avocado and peaches alone in your ‘frutier smoothie’ and I’ve gone for lower end calorie suggestions depending on the size of the item - (I’ve not included the mango and other bits).

You're blending them up, so removing the slow-release of energy part of the meal….. It’s basically a massive sugar hit that goes straight into your blood, then you’ll be hungry again a short time later!

You’d be much better off choosing one of those pieces of fruit and having it with a couple of tablespoons of plain yoghurt if you want fruit.
Or an avocado with mozzarella cheese……….
Or making a smoothie with veg and one piece of fruit for a bit of sweetness………

Your portions are huge (sorry!), so regardless of eating within a window of time, you’ll struggle to lose weight.

Just honest feedback on what you’re doing.

I’ve never struggled with my weight as I’m always careful with portion sizes (5’7 and size 8-10) although I regularly eat chocolate, cake, eat out etc.

You may say that I don’t understand if I’m not heavy. But I’d say I’ve just always understood portion sizes and calories and eaten accordingly.

It takes a while to adjust to smaller portions, but feeling hungry occasionally isn’t a bad thing, particularly if you’re looking to drop excess weight.

Good morning,

Yesterday I managed to fast only managed 14 hours as I was having a sugar crash from the day before.

1 p.m Lunch - a handful of peanuts
7:30 p.m. Dinner - homemade pork dish with onions, sweet soy sauce, and thai spices. Eaten with cauliflower rice.

Only managed to get 8500 steps on the pedometer as was home all day. I love this Zumba workouts, and as they are only 15 minutes each, I can do as little, or as many as I can fit in. There are many other workouts in their channel.

Found this amazing Yuka assortment of tea in the local supermarket. I got two that smell of strawberry and coconut. I am fasting for weight loss and not autophagy at this point, so I will use them to get through the fasting hours.

I am not going to weigh myself for another week as I find the daily fluctuations discouraging.

Wishing everyone a good day!

Morning,

So day 1 completed:

Morning: 3 black coffees
1pm: Pasta & 1 sweet
6.30pm: steak, mash & veg / small mousse
No wine.

So did fasting but I didn't calorie count though. I weighed in at 10st 10lb yesterday morning.

Hope everyone has a good day.

Morning, I woke up in a very down mood and brain fog.....im putting this down to sugar withdrawal??. Im cutting out breakfast and although it was granola, I suspect (and know) its high in sugar. So far ive had a banana, 2 satsumas and a handfull of salted peanuts (dont shout!), im very hungry today 🤣

Hello,
I hope you don't mind me hopping on to your thread. I'm back on the wagon. I planned to lose 1st last year and now I need to lose 2st 😑I feel very motivated though. I start a new job in a month and I'm ready to break out of my rut. I even went out on a bike ride yesterday. I was shocked at how exhausted I was after tbh.
I'm going to be loosely doing Fast 800.

My motivation is slipping again today. I’m just so snackish! I blame working from home. It’s not even like I’m desperately hungry.. I’m just bored and fancy nibbling something while I’m working.. but I find myself reaching for the biscuits instead of the almonds I have sitting in the cupboard.

I think like above it must be sugar withdrawal.. because I don’t even like biscuits that much.. and I love almonds! 😂

Try chewing gum. Or buy a stress ball or something.