Who's doing 16:8?

[beezlebubnicky]

I started a week ago and am looking for others who are doing this too (16 hour fast with only water, black coffee, green tea - then only eating in an 8 hour window which can be altered to suit you). I'm a couple of stone overweight owing to sedentary job, antidepressants, being a lazy sod and eating too many family-sized bars of chocolate. I do walk a lot (can't run for health reasons) but need to get control of my diet.

So far the scales have been going up and down within 4/5 lbs which is probably water retention. I just got a Mirena coil recently which seems to be playing havoc with my bloating as well! I know it can take to see results so I'm trying to be optimistic.

I've found it ok so far, apart from one day when I was hungover and I could only make it to 12 hours. And the box of caramel eggs I inadvertently ate last night. That was a low point, but I'm getting back on it today and for the most part I've been eating fairly healthy meals and staying within a decent calorie deficit each day.

How are you getting on if you're doing it, or have done it in the past? Any good stories of weight loss or great tips?

I'm doing 16:8. 12.30-8.30 is my eating window. I'm a snacker in the evening so cram in my last snacks at 8.30 and sulk until I go to bed.
No big tips I guess but I remind myself that my window is there because I won't be able to stretch 1500 cals or whatever I'm on (using loseit to track deficit) from when I wake up.
I do, however, have two cups of tea with a splash of skimmed milk, no more than 50ml. There are differing reports about whether anything under 50 cals will make a difference during a fasting window but I'm not willing to give that up!

Just start IF this week, I need to lose 40lbs bit daunted by it.

Started 18/6 on Monday, haven't stepped on the scales since starting and hoping that I have lost something.

So far I am not finding it hard to stick to the eating window as I really don't feel like eating in the mornings anyway also increasingly eating very late doesn't seem to suit either.

I think snacking and alcohol have been a big downfall as I eat pretty healthy meals and don't really overdo portion size. But 1 Jaffa cake is not enough and a whole packet, not too much..

I have been drinking tea with milk, life has to still be worth living

I have been doing 16:8 for 2 weeks and have lost 1.3kg. I get hungry in the mornings so have 10am to 6pm as my eating window. Massively cutting down carbs, sugar and ultra processed foods really helps with the hunger pangs and I am rarely very hungry.

I embarked on 16:8 last Summer - with an 8.30am to 4.30pm eating window. Found it took about two or three weeks to settle into - and then discovered it really suited me. It was a relief not to have to prepare a full meal every evening - and not to feel sleepy all evening after eating it.

My regime slackened considerably over Winter, when I tended to start eating the minute I was up in the morning. And I’m still finding excuses for a random, tiny snack in the evenings. But in general, if I’m on my own I’ve completely lost the habit of cooking in the evening.

Some reading suggests there may be no significant benefit in keeping to 16:8 long term. But there are also strong health arguments for permanently cutting our food intake. I don’t know, but I do feel better when I’m following the routine fairly strictly, and that’s only partly because it means I can fit into my clothes.

Wow well done! That's a good solid start and good to know that you are not feeling deprived. Do you mind me asking how much you want to lose?
For me this does feel like a WOE that I can carry on with, make a life change. I was feeling pretty low about being overweight for so long that I looked into more of a quick fix like a VLC diet or even the injections, but I know that as soon as I stopped I would gain and be miserable doing it too.

sorry my post was in response to this one 🙄

Thanks Rumpole, I am only looking to lose 10kg in total in time for the summer holidays. I am hoping to also gain more muscle though and tone up. I did the same diet 3 years ago and it was highly effective and not painful at all. I then got pregnant and gained weight in lockdown so am looking to get back to my weight 3 years ago.

It will be interesting to see if it is harder this time as I hit menopause, gained a kot of tummy fat and am now on hrt.

Hi
Just wanted to reply as a cheerleader for you all! I am approaching 1 year in of intermittent fasting and now it just feels a normal part of life and really easy. I had two stone to lose, have actually lost a little more than that but more importantly have been able to maintain the weight loss.

I find it super flexible and change my eating window up depending on my plans. There is no falling off the wagon, just some days have shorter fasts than others (I haven't said 'I'll start again on Monday' in a year, haha!).

I found 'fast, feast, repeat' by Gin Stephens a good resource and she also has a podcast with others telling their intermittent fasting stories.

Good luck all!

I've been doing this too for a few weeks and so far I've found it to be good. It's curbed my evening snacking which was mostly out of habit/boredom and not hunger.

Whoops didn't check this post for a bit but well done people! Encouraging to hear there's been good results from this for many.

I'm now over a couple of weeks in and I've only lost maybe 2 or 3 lbs. Should maybe be more careful about calories in my eating window, but I'm eating slightly lower than my BMR.

I've been reading so many posts about 16:8. Really considering starting from Monday!

I do a version of this on and off when I need to shift weight. I drink water in the morning and then a light lunch, fairly normal dinner so i eat between a window of 12.00 and 20.00. I also exercise 3x a week and cut the booze out except at the weekend. I'm lucky that I only needed to shift about 4kg and I've lost about 2.5 since the start of the year. It's definitely not dropping off as fast as it used to! But I am rarely starving hungry and have plenty of energy so heading the right way.

Well done getting moving, you're doing a great job!

So I was a bit disappointed to weigh in at just over 2lbs lost, usually first week of a diet is at least 5lbs. But then I started to look at what I had eaten over the last week. Its no different to the week before, I denied myself nothing but just ate in a 6 hour window.

I will carry on as so far its very easy and I dont feel deprived at all. In the past when on a low calorie or low carb diet I have constantly thought about food, what I will eat, when I will eat, its just not healthy. So if all I have to do is not eat from 7p.m to 1p.m then it is doable long term. Maybe forever.

Helps that I have been reading about autophagy and the science behind why it is good for your body, it does make sense that if your body is not constantly breaking down food it can do other positive things.

Me ! I'm on Day 5 and finding it easier every day. I don't weigh myself so not sure how much I have to lose so will go by my clothes. I feel less bloated already and, as someone who used to wake up hungry, I'm finding it surprisingly OK to wait until 12 or 1 to eat. I still have tea with semi skimmed milk, I can't see that making any difference really.

When I do this properly, I lose weight. I started 2 weeks ago, properly, and I've lost 5lb.
It suits me - I have brunch about 11am, then tea about 5pm. If I'm hungry during the day, I'll eat something small. I don't really count calories, just eat sensibly. Luckily, I'm not a snacker, so evenings I just drink water.
I'm 55 and like a lot of people, am finding it harder to lose weight as I get older.
I want to lose 14 - 20lbs in 10 weeks. 8 weeks left to lose 9lb. I think a pound a week is realistic.

I’ve been IF 16:8 for a couple of years, I lost a good amount of weight when I started (just over 2 stone) and I’ve generally maintained the loss. I do have milk in my tea in the morning - it doesn’t seem to make any difference.

I was pre-diabetic after having gestational diabetes and after doing 16:8 my last fasting blood sugar check showed I was back in normal range so that’s why I keep it going. I’m convinced it helps with blood sugar levels even though I eat very normally during my eating window.

My observations are that the rate of losing is slower but it does stay off for longer. I have plateaued and after a holiday or Christmas I sometimes do gain around 4-6lbs. If I do want to drop those I have to do a bit of a 5:2 16:8 combo BUT that looks like two days in the week eating a very low carb/calorie lunch and a normal dinner with no snacks at all. That usually sees me drop back down over 3-4 weeks.

Good luck with it and be patient! As another PP said, it’s been the only WOE that has worked and I’ve stuck to.

ok so didn't want to weigh in this week as to be honest its been a very full on time with visitors and eating out etc., only dipped into the 18 hour non eating window once but it was quite a dip that may have included chips...

However I lost another 1lb so just over 3 in total. It is not a lot, but I really haven't thought about eating lightly just not eaten before 1 or after 7. Also I love baking and have been baking pretty much every other day. So in terms of calories last week would have been more than usual.

In other news I worked out that if I lost 40lbs which is what some website suggested then I would be less than 7st which is not a good look for me so I figure I would be happy at about 8st.4lbs so in total I had 32lbs to lose, now have just over 28 to go. Much less daunting than 40😅Good luck everyone

I feel great. 10 days in and hardly thinking about food, just having lunch and dinner with no snacks. I feel more alert and no bloating, which has always caused me problems. I have a stone to lose, going to start weighing myself every few weeks. This definitely feels like a way of life and not a diet.

Brilliant stuff @rumporolypolyofthebailey and @Coveredinivy ! I've had a bad day, lot of work stress and was feeling quite upset and tired this morning so only lasted 14 hours and I've eaten a whole pack of cookies. But I'm trying to be kind to myself and remembered I'm eating much less than I normally would. I'm also hardly drinking these days - saves calories.

Even if I eat a really satiating evening meal with plenty of protein, some mornings it's much hard than others to wait to eat. I wonder if it's hormones this week, I feel so much hungrier and want to eat everything in sight 🤣. Well, at least I haven't gained any weight. That's something.