The FastDay Forum

Today I reached my first milestone: under 130 lbs.! I've been practicing this WOE since the middle of March and didn't have much to lose, but was really interested in fat loss and health benefits. I lost a couple of lbs. in the first couple of weeks and then wobbled back and forth with another couple of lbs. until this week. I've seen my clothing get looser before I saw lbs. lost and saw my shape toning up. So I stayed patient, sure that if I kept this up, I'd see weight loss or be satisfied with a trimmer figure. And lo and behold, that's what's occured!! Only 1.5 lbs. to go to my goal!

What lessons have I learned from this? 1) Don't expect a steady downward progression on the scale (I've weighed myself 1-2 times/week). 2) Don't get upset if my weight goes up and down a couple of lbs. or so. 3) Be patient since I don't have a lot to lose. 4) Notice looser clothing and general toning up. 5) Keep on keeping on because I WILL move in the direction I want to go.

I hope my lessons can speak to someone else's experience. It's the long game here that matters....

Hear, hear, you got that right. Well done,

Ballerina x

Thanks, Ballerina! I've been inspired by your posts and am considering the 16:8 approach when I reach my goal weight...

Good morning RubyLucy,

You are doing very well and isn't it a wonderful feeling? I cannot imagine what it would take for me to give up this wol as it suits me so much. 16:8 is not for everyone but it is worth a try and if it works for you then you will NEVER look back.

It is SO easy, skip break and don't nibble late in the evening, easy peasy, job done, no calorie counting, no doing without foods you love just stick to your 8 hour window. The reality for me is my window is more like 4-6 hours, I usually start eating anytime between 12 and 2p.m. and rarely eat after 6 or 8p.m. I get a little peckish around mid/late morning but it is almost enjoyable as I know that a lovely meal is not far off. Yesterday I went into Nottingham and had lunch at 1p.m. I couldn't finish it,(WHAT??? I hear you ask? YOU DIDN"T FINISH IT????) and was so stuffed that I have not eaten since. This is quite common, not so much the stuffing bit, but only having one meal especially if I have had a late lunch with friends and had lots of wine. I shall probably have 2 smaller meals today but not before 1p.m. which means that I will have fasted for 24 hours, not sure if fasted is the right word when you have started SO full of food!

I am having an evening meal out next week but I shall just have a small, late lunch to tide me over then eat whatever I want later, we are going out for a curry, oooh, lovely.

My weight was rock solid for weeks doing this and then I did a 36 hour fast, actually it was over 40 hours, to see what it felt like and how my body coped with it. To my horror I lost 7 lbs and now I gain and lose 2 of those lbs every other day. I really enjoyed the fast but will not it again as it was TOO successful, can you believe that?

So, after all that, are you still up for it? I hope so and if you want to ask me any more questions, well, you know where I am,

Good luck and let us know how you get on,

Ballerina x

Thanks for the details, Ballerina! Yes, the 16:8 sounds really appealing to me. I could see skipping breakfast (my least favorite meal!) and having a chai around 10:30a or so, with lunch around noon. Lunch has typically been my main meal. I don't like to eat heavily at night.

Your 36-hour fasting experience is astonishing! So far, I've kept with a 500 c. spread out over lunch & dinner in order to take advantage of the fast from dinner the night before to lunch the following day. (The health benefits are a key part of this for me....)

I've not far to go, so I'll be looking further into the 16:8 probably this month or next. I appreciate the offer of advice as I move ahead. I'll take you up on it!

I would just like to chime in that I started 8/16 with my husband, and I'm really enjoying it. It's such a pleasure not to worry about calories - just the timing of my eating. I can live with that! The book I have says to do it a minimum of 3 days a week, but I'm going to do it every single day I can.

Hi Rainbow,

Nice to hear that you and he are doing well. I just love my eating window and can't imagine what could ever induce me to go back to my old ways, nope, no more counting calories EVER, woo hoo, how good is that?

Good luck and keep posting,

Ballerina x

Thank you Ballerina. Your success is just awesome.

I agree with you. I am going to lose all my weight on 8/16, no matter how long it takes and without counting calories. When I read about all the other health benefits, along with fat burning, it's very convincing that we're doing something very positive for our health.

I know you mentioned that your window is really more 4-6 hours. Do you know there is a book here in the U.S. called The Fast Five? That one talks about the 5 hour window. I bought that one too! ha ha! I'm reading all I can about this way of eating to get every tip that will help me along the way.

Ballerina, your posts are very motivating and inspiring to us. Thanks!

Love the sound of your new book, like you I sometimes think I am becoming rather obsessive, evangelical even, must learn to behave myself,

Ballerina x

Hi, me again, is the book "the fast-five diet and the fast-five lifestyle" by Bert Herring MD ? I have just downloaded that one onto my kindle, hope it's the same one,

Ballerina

Ballerina, yes that's it! My apology (I blame my 59 year old brain) for not mentioning that you can download it for free! I bought it from amazon because I hate reading from my computer.

Oh, I've got to add there's ANOTHER book coming out about 8/16 or 16/8...not sure what the proper term is !

The title is the Mini Fast Diet. Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/160961 ... UTF8&psc=1

I researched it a bit and it's another 8 Hour Diet book. Good grief now I have that one on pre-order! It comes out in June.

Thanks for that, I started the other one last night and am enjoying it, will have a look at this one. You would think we would now be walking experts on this topic but I never tire of learning and reading about it which is what keeps me hooked on this forum actually, it is the people on here that keep me coming back day after day,

Ballerina x

Ballerina, just tell me if you get tired of these links, but here's some more info on the mini diet. Whereas we're warned about fasting being potentially dangerous for diabetics, Dr. Whitaker has apparently been doing studies in his clinic since 2010 on intermittent fasting (8/16 like we're doing). Check out this youtube from 2010:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRse6g_FI98

I sure hope that link works. If not, the title of his video on youtube is Mini Fast Diabetes-Diabesity-Challenge Dr. Whitaker.com

Also, here's a link to his study, also done in 2010:

http://www.lifescript.com/health/center ... t.aspx?p=1

He's just publishing his book now, so he's spent a few years working on this. And it's encouraging to know it helps diabete as well as obesity. Although not diabetic, I have blood sugar issues controlled by keeping my carbs down (although that never helped to keep my weight down!), and my family was full of diabetics.

Ballerina, this is the first time I've heard of the 16:8 diet and it sounds fantastic. I've been on the 5:2 for over a month now and am getting good slow results in terms of weight loss but fast days are still a challenge for me. After reading your posts and doing a bit of research Im thinking of converting to 16:8. It sounds very doable and each day is the same, no counting calories. And still getting flexibility with the ability to alter the parameters is great. Just two questions. Have you found the weight loss as consistent as 5:2? And do you incorporate exercise everyday?
Thanks for the info provided in your posts.