The FastDay Forum

It was my feast day yesterday so today is a 16:8 and not my normal 18:6 because I was still feasting late into last night......cheese is my downfall! It's fast day today so I am behaving myself now.
Need help with that ironing @carieoates??

Dinner was pretty much always at a different time, but the general eating window came to about three hours each day. So in this tent's popular parlance, I was doing 21:3.

I followed '21:3' for a little over 3 months. I gained four pounds (the same four pounds I had lost the first month following 5:2) .
...

So, whatever works given your situation. For mine, 21:3 caused modest weight gain and an overall successful travel period. I'm now back on 5:2 and losing my pound a week - until I travel again.

Thanks @simcoeluv. I have similar problems with both 16:8 and 5:2 as well. For me, it's not enough to limit my eating window to <8 hours in a day or to be very good for 2 days every week, because I certainly can make up for lost time.

I find that if I don't keep track of calories during my eating windows (or my feed days) that I don't lose weight and I can even gain weight as you found yourself. Also I need to stay mindful of my food choices because eating lots of refined carbs and sugar really does a number on my appetite (this is true for alchohol especially).

Some find with 5:2 and with 16:8 that the act of fasting naturally regulates their appetite and they can keep their net calories at or below their TDEE during their feed days or their eating windows. I think one of the keys of Varady's studies was that during EOD fasting they assumed that people would simply eat more than 200% of TDEE on their feed days and it would cause no weight loss or even weight gain. What they found, however, was that most people left to their own devices ate about 150-175% of their TDEE on feed days which resulted in a net caloric deficit for a pair of days.

Of course most is not all. People like myself (and from what you say, sounds like yourself as well) cannot trust their natural appetites to limit food intake under these sorts of fasting strategies and we need some more tools. I use a Fitbit Flex device that tracks my activity and calculates my TDEE every day, and My Fitness Pal to track all the calories that go into my mouth.

I have found that exercise, especially high-intensity exercise (HIIT), just before breaking my fast on a given day or in the middle of a fasting day really helps suppress the appetite for several critical hours of the day.

This seems to work for me, in any case. Hopefully you find something that works for you!

ETA: I feel your pain when a technique that seems to be working well for others doesn't work as well for me the first time through.

[carieoates]

It was my feast day yesterday so today is a 16:8 and not my normal 18:6 because I was still feasting late into last night......cheese is my downfall! It's fast day today so I am behaving myself now.
Need help with that ironing @carieoates??

Thanks all done now, and put away, but it was really hard helping my daughter do her fractions homework at the same time. My brain now hurts. She followed me into the utility room....I couldn't even escape.

Another bacon sandwich at noon (my weekend treat - every weekend then a spot of regrouting round the kitchen sink and worktop. This has been bugging me for months,and had gone all split and bits of black mould etc, done by a MAN of course, never mind, all nicely done now, amazing what a tube of filler, a steady hand and a wet finger can do ....

(Do you think I might be catching some of @Julieathome's DIY skills?? )

Now will be doing my Homework for the online course I am doing - new career here I come, I hope ...

Then meal around 6-7pm, so I guess that's a 7 hour eating window - not eating too late as find this doesn't help with getting off to sleep.

Today was one of the days I had to.move my window to meet a friend for lunch. Very nice baked potato with prawn Marie rose and fresh salads. Filled me up for quite a while. Got home to.another huge salad then a huge Greek yoghurt with raspberries and things. Promised OH to sample his celery and mushroom soup (inspired by the last episode of Midsomer eek!) then my window closes (I see a big metal shutter come down and Darth Vader says "Your window is now closed" - you don't argue with that. Don't really like afternoon windows as I.might be a bit hungry by bedtime, and it's a longer fast tomorrow. Never mind, it's worth it.

My window opened at about 12:00 today with a sausage, 2 rashers of bacon, tomatoes, mushrooms, some beans and a poached egg. Having roast chicken tonight, no potatoes but maybe a glass of wine. Not sure about a dessert yet. My window will close easily by 8 but I expect I will have a cuppa at some time during the evening. I am maintaining now, was 1lb under target on Friday and yesterday, up to target today, so it will be interesting to see how this works out. I may try to lose another 7lb, but I'm in no hurry. I will carry on with 5:2 and 16:8 this week and monitor with daily weighing.

[Tracieknits]

I woke up feeling well enough to get on the treadmill this morning before I broke my fast - first time in a week and a half! It was also the first time I didn't wake up actually hungry, so it's my first 16:8 since then. BruceE and I had my favorite healthy take on a hash.

Today I made it special by frying up bacon first. I left a wee smidge of bacon grease in the pan and then threw in 3 large onions, sliced. Let those soften and start to brown, then I threw in a bunch of sliced bell pepper/green pepper/sweet pepper (in winter, I get them in frozen strips - very convenient!). then I add garlic powder, seasoned salt and lots of hot paprika, as well as a few handfuls of frozen, shredded potatoes. I use about half as much potato as I use onion. Fry that up, letting it get nice and golden brown with lovely crispy bits. Then I chop up a few of the rashers/slices of bacon into it and I add several large handfuls of baby spinach - about 100g/3.5 ounces or so. Once the spinach wilts, softens into the mixture, I push it to the side and fry up two eggs over easy, which I serve on top of the veggie hash. Depending on what I throw in, the whole thing, including the eggs, is usually between 400 and 550 calories per serving.

It feels a lot more decadent than it is, because when it cooks this way, the onion somehow seems like potato. So it feels and tastes like a huge plate of potatoes, but it's really not.

I'm one of the lucky ones who doesn't feel the need to overcompensate and cram all the eating I can manage into an 8 hour window. So 16:8 works for me. The calories I don't consume in the morning do not show up on my plate later in the day.

Today my eating window opened at 12.30 with a bowl of butternut squash soup and a slice of pumpernickel bread. At 5.45 we had the Hairy Dieters' Paprika Chicken and I had a few new potatoes and a large portion of kale with mine. I'll probably have a snack of Greek yogurt and a mug of tea at around 9pm and that will be me done till probably 1pm tomorrow as I go to the gym on Monday mornings...yes! on an empty stomach!

[carorees]

Broke my fast at 12:30 with a small packet of salted almonds, followed by lunch at 1:30 of leek and potato soup and a slice of bread and butter and an apple. Prepped the evening meal of pot roast lamb (one that had been running in our fields last year and belonged to our neighbour who pays us in lamb for the use of our fields for his sheep), with boulangere potatoes, and got that in the oven. Went off to cheer DS's soccer team in their county cup quarter final match (they won 5:3, DS got man of the match ). Dinner is ready, just steaming some green veg to go with it. And there's a bottle of red wine already open from yesterday. Should close the eating window by 7:30.

I failed miserably in my 8 hour window. Today ended up being a carb fest of epic proportions. I think I will label today as a high carb day and hope I can keep it nice and steady tomorrow.

I really can't undestand why it all went so wrong, I had a decent sized dinner with plenty of meat and vegetables. but I also had a cherry tart and custard for dessert. We don't normally have deserts so I think that carbs really are my enemy. Once I start, I can't stop. Lunch tomorrow is going to be a massive bowl or two of homemade soup, just to fill me up for the day.

Firstly thanks Carorees for starting this thread. I've just started 16:8, and unlike 5:2 there isn't an overabundance of forums, facebook groups and what have you, and those that I've found tend to be posted to very infrequently. So I am very keen to follow this thread and everyone's experiences.

Personally, I feel that just as every body is different, and some diets work better for other people (as in low carb vs. vego vs. no sugar, etc etc), so too different fasting approaches will work better for different people. People are always going to argue vehemently in favour of the fasting approach that has worked for them - and this is only natural, what is more persuasive than first hand, 'I did it myself and it worked', proof!?

For me, 5:2 just didn't work. Mainly because I struggled to stick to it. And yes - being able to stick to it is IMPORTANT. I'm not saying the 5:2 approach failed, but rather it wasn't compatible with me. I tried it for about 3 months last year, and again recently for a shorter period before switching to 16:8, and never got past the overwhelming hunger, the foul moods, the dizziness, the binge urges on non fast days, the lack of energy, terrible insomnia...etc etc. I'm sorry but life just wasn't worth living, and because my hunger was out of control, I struggled to lose weight. When I forced myself to eat less than my hunger demanded on feast days, yes I lost weight, but then I couldn't maintain it because the constant hunger lead to bingeing. When I ate to satisfaction on feast days, I didn't lose weight.

But 16:8 works a treat. I feel like I am actively doing something for my weight loss every day, which keeps my motivation up. I am ravenous by mid morning, but can handle it because I get a good filling lunch. I sleep well because I eat a satisfying dinner. I have energy to exercise every day. I exercise fasted 5-6 days per week. I don't get the foul moods, dizziness, or any of the other crappy side effects I got from 5:2. And most of all, most importantly, I can STICK TO IT.

Anyway just my two cents. I think it's wonderful that some people can lose on 5:2, but I don't think not being able to do 5:2 should be viewed as a failure, or as an attack on 5:2. Ultimately we need to find an approach that is liveable. So if you're contemplating a change to 5:2, don't think of it as quitting 5:2 or having failed at 5:2, just think as the first step of the journey to finding the fasting plan that works for you.

Yesterday was eating and drinking in EPIC proportions. We were at our neighbours for a late lunch and the food never stopped coming but the strange thing is that I didn't want any bread with the soup, had only one or two small potatoes and loads of other vegetables, a small portion of dessert with cream, not custard and some cheese but without crackers, boy, oh boy have my choices modified. The best bit is that these were not deliberate choices, I ate exactly what I wanted and in quantities I wanted. It was the only meal of the day for me, thank goodness, so my window was only open for as long as we were sat at the table. Today will be zilch as my system needs a rest after yesterday, liquids only today.

Ballerina x

Gosh that vegie hash sounds delicious Tracie. I'm going to try it with all that onion.
It's heartening to hear you're not needing to squash in lots of food into the window...i would hope to be lucky and be like this too when i try it.

I'm going to try that.
I'm still reading 16.8 and making my mind up about it. I have been ok last two feast days, with bread not rationed as well as i would like. But carb consumption still lower overall.
I think 16.8 might show up next week.

Broke my fast at 12:30 with a small packet of salted almonds, followed by lunch at 1:30 of leek and potato soup and a slice of bread and butter and an apple. Prepped the evening meal of pot roast lamb (one that had been running in our fields last year and belonged to our neighbour who pays us in lamb for the use of our fields for his sheep), with boulangere potatoes, and got that in the oven. Went off to cheer DS's soccer team in their county cup quarter final match (they won 5:3, DS got man of the match ). Dinner is ready, just steaming some green veg to go with it. And there's a bottle of red wine already open from yesterday. Should close the eating window by 7:30.

This window thing looks really doable when i look at what you all are eating. It sounds nice and substantial meals, but just with one less meal and probably less snacks. I'm going to bake a piece of meat too now. I'm allergic to lamb, but I can do a chicken or beef in a pot roast. yum

My Window has been open since my post on Friday saying I'm taking one week off!!!
I can't take anymore I've been eating 3 meals each day just ended my 4th day and at 7pm tonight I closed all doors and all windows and all times.
Will reopen at 1pm with a light lunch and make the rest of the week all at 16:8 plus a fast on Thurs.
I've restarted my walking and although they won't be long walks I will do at least 3 each week and leave my tracker set at no exercise, also a return to low carbs because I feel bloated with my returning to cereal breakfasts which I haven't enjoyed at all, so thems my new plans a bit earlier than expected coz I can't take anymore food as in 3 meals a day here's hoping my body is totally confused and ready to release some fat Please.