The FastDay Forum

[carieoates]

In a nutshell what results can I expect from doing 16.8 every day without a proper 500 cal fast?

I've still got to take painkillers, but i know that we have to eat so as not to damage our stomachs.
So I had a cup of tea with early morning tablets, then a biscuit with mid morning. So I'm not completely 16.8ing as I want to have a hearty lunch of poached eggs on toast. I will then have a little nap

[carorees]

Hi Caroline

I think that 16:8 is a little less stressful on the body than 5:2 but then the stress is every day so you have to see how your body responds. For me, I started 16:8 after 8 months of 5:2 and it seemed to speed up my weightloss at first. I feel that having done 5:2 my appetite was reduced so that I did not tend to overeat in the 8-hour window. I expect it will work that way for you too. I think that the 'eating window' idea should not mean 'eat continuously during the 8 hours' but simply eat normally during the 8 hours. I just skip breakfast, eat a light lunch, normal dinner, and maybe a piece of cake mid afternoon or some nibbles before dinner (but not every day), then no food after about 8pm. There seems to be some evidence that eating late at night is a bad idea so even if I have a late lunch I try not to eat after 8.30-ish. I've seen various recommendations as to how long to leave between the last food and bedtime but it seems like 3-4 hours is suggested.

Out of interest, when I calculated the actual hours of fasting with 7 x 16 hour fasts compared with 2 x 24 hour fasts per week (plus an assumed 12 hours overnight fast on the 5 'non-fast days') I realized that the number of hours of fasting is roughly the same.

For you, I think it's important not to over-stress your body at this stage of your post-op recovery so start gently and see how you go.

Good luck!

I must be a bit strange as I find 16:8 harder than a whole fast. I tend to need to compensate for the breakfast I didn't have which never happens when I fast where I have around 300cal.

Good luck

[carieoates]

I am being very relaxed about food at the moment, but with a reduced appetite from 5.2 and not reacting very well to anaesthetic, I'm not really hungry.
Interesting fact there Caroline about the actual hours of fast.
Manderley, I don't usually have that feeling about missing breakfast, but there's still time !

Hi Caroline

I would worry about 5/2, I mean look what it's done to your face now (avator)

Another changed avator to get used to

[carieoates]

@minigill that's hilarious
Lol lol lol ouch
Lol lol lol ouch

I seem to be a natural 16:8'er. If you count not having breakfast as a normal family 'thing'. We just eat a light lunch and a normal dinner. maybe a biscuit or a slice of toast, cake etc, after dinner. But its only a maybe. The tablets I'm on seem to be having more of an effect regarding weight loss now I've had to up the dosage. One of the first known side effects is weight gain, so I guess I'm lucky that I'm plateauing rather than putting on weight. Though I would be really pleased to start losing again.

Isn't it funny how with every diet you're told to always have breakfast yet this certainly proves otherwise ! As a matter of interest what hours do you all normally use for your 8 hour window ? Is there a time when it's too late to eat even though you may start later in the day?

[carieoates]

@muftanzaI refer to @carorees post in which she says that as long as you're not eating 3-4 hrs before bed it should be fine. I ate at 11.30 today as was needing to take pain killers and I'm not being particularly strict at the moment. So seeing as I'm usually tucked up in bed by 11, not eating after 8 and normally having lunch about 12.30-1 looks good to me.
It will be interesting to see what result a couple of weeks of this will do for my maintenance.

I'm in maintenance now and apart from odd days when I do have breakfast I eat 16:8, or a bit less. I usually open my window with lunch around 1330 and have dinner around 1900 - and that's it. I rarely snack now (although I certainly helped to demolish a tin of chocolates at work today).

I don't like eating late in the evening now as I find it harder to get to sleep with a full stomach.

Good luck with it Caroline. I 5:2 and 16:8 on the other five days and have done almost since the very beginning. It just suits the way I like to eat. As an example...... I had black tea all morning today, a poached egg and some baked beans on a slice of toast for lunch at about 13:45, some grapes, a banana and more tea this afternoon then a normal dinner of a small amount of beef casserole (home made in the freezer) and a small amount of mash. I am full up now and I shouldn't think I will have anything else until tomorrow lunchtime. I find it easy even either side of a fast day. It's the starting eating that sets me off!!

I have been following your other thread too and am so pleased to hear that you are recovering well now x

Hi:

What you can expect on 16:8 is what you expect to eat. As you can eat as much of anything you want, you simply have to expect to eat your TDEE or below every day. A simple eat less diet.

If I wanted to maintain my weight (as opposed to lose)I would do 20:4. To lose I would do 23.5:.5.

As they say, anything that works for you.

Good Luck!