The FastDay Forum

Sorry TML, did you mean OUTSIDE my 8 hours? During my 16 hours+ fast I only have water or black coffee, no calories whatsoever otherwise I feel I am not fasting if I'm ingesting anything which I have to digest. But that is only ever in the mornings when I'm not hungry anyway. Once my 'window' opens, so to speak, then I eat and drink whatever I want till 'closing time'

Hope this helps,

Ballerina x

Thanks for that info Ballerina. I am doing the 16/8 for the first time today and was having a browse around to see what you actually are supposed to eat on these days You answered my question perfectly thank you

16:8ing seems to be working for me after some ups & downs since returning from our holiday. I have also started Tai Chi classes. & am now using my free bus pass to get into town & then walking to & from the bus station. There are advantages to be over 60 years of age
I have lost 3 lbs this last week which is much better than my usual 1/2 to 1lb.

There you are nursy
Ballerina jumped it for me
So i've jumped it for you to read Sue

I finally tried this and am thrilled with the result! I fasted as usual on Monday and Thursday, but within the 16:8 framework - lunch at noon and finished all eating by 8:00 pm. Tuesday and Wednesday I skipped breakfast and ate normally at lunch and dinner. This morning I woke up 3#'s lighter! I had sort of hit a plateau and was simply maintaining.

Mind you my Tuesday night dinner consisted of wild duck, a yam with a little butter and maple syrup, some pickled figs and pearl onions. Wednesday I had a slice of pizza for lunch that was topped with figs, Humboldt fog cheese and arugula. The pizza was so large I ended up taking it home and having another slice for dinner. By no means did I overeat, but I wasn't exactly eating boiled chicken breast on a bed of steamed greens either.

I plan to try eating breakfast Friday through Sunday and then go back to fasting Monday and Thursday and eating in the 16:8 time frame. We'll see how it goes.

If you can get your heads round this,
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2622429/
which is the background to Dr.Mosley's investigations I think,
then it would appear that IF works better than CR (calorie restriction giving the negative aspects long term) and gives far more benefits than just weight loss. I am in for the long run and doing 4:3 and 16:8 for the extra benefits it gives. This whole thing is having a profound affect on my husband and I: for the better. Why this information took so long to come out of the closet we shall never know.

Could you tell me what 4:3 is? Four days on and 3 days off? Thank you.

Could you tell me what 4:3 is? Four days on and 3 days off? Thank you.

3 days fasting in one week instead of 2. Welcome Mouse

Hi Mouse,

It means that you eat normally for 4 days every week and fast for 3 days, the days are alternated, by the way

Ballerina x

Ballerina,

Thank you for the reply.

I was looking at another post of yours where you said you don't count calories ever (paraphrase). Does that mean you do 16:8 only and don't count calories on 5:2 days? I'm still experimenting here.

Hi Mouse,

I only ever do 16/8 now, every day, and never count calories but that does not mean that I eat mindlessly as my eating has changed so much since I started 5:2. I eat much less sweet things, a lot less bread, potatoes, rice and pasta but I never feel deprived and I drink wine most days. I am extremely happy with this way of doing things and cannot imagine ever going back to my old eating habits. I am having a liquid only fast today but that is because I seriously overindulged over the weekend and I really cannot face food today, my system is begging me for a rest so I am going to oblige

Ballerina x

Ballerina,

Thank you for always answering and so promptly.

My next question is whether you think I should continue 5:2 within the 16:8 timeframe until I reach my target weight and then convert to 16:8 24/7 from there. Does that make sense? I can do 16:8 no problem for the rest of my life, but getting these last 5 pounds off is proving a little difficult.

Hi Mouse,

Well, I found that on my fast days I was eating within a very reduced window anyway so it made sense for me to carry on doing that once I reached my target weight, it's worth a try and see how it goes, you can always change things again if it does not work. Good luck and let us know it goes,

Ballerina x

I've been wanting to try 16:8 for a long time but I've never been able to skip breakfast, then yesterday I had a eureka moment and tried changing everything around. I had breakfast at 8.00 am so had a very early 'evening meal', it was quite strange eating dinner halfway through the afternoon but it worked - sort of (I absentmindedly ate a few grapes during the evening). Now I know it's doable I'm going to try again today....
OMG, it's 3.37 pm, dinner time already!!

Maybe, and I apologise, if so, this is the wrong place to put this post.
I have searched on this site for any reference to the 'new' Mini-Fast Diet.
It reads well to all those of us that are doing the 16/8 (and why isn't it written the same as 5:2??? Just a thought)
From what I am reading, it actually came out in July, but today is the first day that I have come across it. However, I am sure that it will be included on here somewhere. I just could not be bothered to trawl through 765 posts including the words mini, fast and diet.
If anyone wants a link or a look. I shall post one to this site. The 3 Amazon reviews are good too. Ahem!!!

[carorees]

First I've heard of this book. It seems like a variation on the 8 hour diet which in turn was a variation on the leangains method, so not new really. We call it 16:8 in keeping with the general format of 5:2, 6:1 etc. Some people do the 'fast five' which we would term 19:5.

Do you know if the mini fast diet just means skipping breakfast or do you also not eat after dinner? If it's just skipping breakfast then it's really the same as the "no breakfast cure" which was introduced to the world in the 19th century!