The FastDay Forum

Hello all,

Just wondered if anyone had tried say, a 12/16 hour fast with success ? Or is this shorter period not going to have the same effect ? I appreciate we are all different so what works for some won't work for all..

Perhaps some of you have done shorter fast periods more frequently ?

Maybe some people would find this option easier to fit around daily life ?

Knight.

Hi! I normally do my 500 cal days on Mondays and Wednesday.

We normally eat quite late, so often I will have my evening meal between 8 and 9 on the night before.

Lately I've then been having brunch at about 10-11, followed by evening meal at about 6pm. Always sticking the 500, usually a bit under, probably 470-480.

I have lost 27 pounds since January. So it works for me! I think the health benefits are supposed to be greater if you fast for a min of 24 hours, but that is something I haven't got involved with - for better or worse, I'm doing this to lose weight (at the moment).

The most common pattern on this forum is to fast from after dinner the night before a Fast to breakfast the day after a Fast, with just 500 or 600 cals (depending on gender) consumed on the Fast day. There is nothing to stop you spreading those calories through the day, but most people save the majority for an evening meal.
Other people on her could answer regarding the science of it, but this pattern makes sense to me, is doable and works for me

I basically follow what SianS has laid out. My advice would be to avoid eating earlier in the day because, paradoxically, it's eating a small amount that tends to make you feel hungrier whereas actual hunger pangs only last a couple of minutes and occur every couple of hours.

I've changed to 16/8 from the start of this week and shall keep going with it until the start of May. It is a lot easier to eat too much though I try to stay within noon to 7pm with a little leeway. I have to calorie count daily and I've found there isn't the latitude for the odd sugary snack that there is on 5:2. However it has sorted out my 'bunged -up -ness' so I feel better for that, just my weight is more critical. I intend to return to 5:2 in May and see if the change unstalls the plateau. It's an experiment and they say a change is as good as a rest!

thanks Azureblue, I wondered how the 'window' system worked.
Once i've hit my goals I'll see what i need to do for maintenance, probably 6:1 but 16/8 could be an alternative if the routine suits.

There was a discussion on 16/8 earlier this week, which may be of interest...

HERE