16/8

I did the fast 800 diet two years ago and lost loads of weight. Sadly I have put it all back on. I now believe that diets don't work unless it becomes a permanent change of eating habits

I have lost 11 lbs since lockdown and have no idea why. I eat a lot of chocolate and biscuits and have a large breakfast of granola and fruit. Lunch is a cheese sandwich. Dinner is usually meat and 3 or 4 veg, or fish 3 or 4 times a week. Might have a yogurt afterwards. I usually go for a short stroll if the weather is fine. I feel all right, just don't know why I have lost all this weight and am now the slimmest I have been for 25 years. I am 79, 5ft 4 and weigh 11stone 10 which is still very overweight. I have never dieted but the 16/8 sounds sensible to me.

The fast 800 is horrible if you are vegetarian. I did it with my husband for 2 weeks earlier this year and struggled to get enough protein without supplementation.
We were religious about it though and my husband lost some weight.

I was hungry all the time and lost 0.0 something kg!

I have tried a lot of different diets over the years the only thing that has worked for me long term is Bright Line Eating. Devised by a neuroscientist, the science behind it makes fascinating reading. It won’t be for everyone but reading the book really helped me understand the why I fell off the wagon after every diet.

fevertree thank goodness, it’s taken me about 2months to lose 10lbs on the 5/2. ??

Yes, I did the 8/16 diet with great success. Found it on here as a matter of fact. Late-ish breakfast and early-ish evening meal works very well with my lifestyle. Fact is I did not stop eating or drinking any particular item. I just consumed slightly less of everything. Saved me feeling deprived. I also set my target at a lowly 1lb loss per week rather than being ambitious. If I have lunch out - which I really enjoy - I won't eat anything much for the rest of that day. I eased up a little once I had lost my 4 stone target but really had lost my desire for the amounts I used to consume. Wonderful news is that I've kept this weight off for nine years now. It was inspired by the news that I was to be blessed with my first GC. Decided I wanted to be able to run around with this new wee person rather than 'huff & puff'. Incidentally the health benefits have been beyond belief. I was just smiling at my chosen first 'meal' of today. I would have laughed ridiculously if anyone had suggested this is what I would be eating. Now I love it. Crazy but......feels good

Yes, I combined it with a keto diet and was never hungry. I found that doing some form of exercise in the morning (even if just to walk the dog) really helped to suppress my appetite - then had a late breakfast. When I'm doing it strictly, I don't have breakfast until 10.30 and then finish eating by 6.30pm. Then only have herbal teas in the evening (nothing with milk in it; no snacking). Lost a stone very easily. Now I just do it occasionally, but am still low carb which, for me, is the key to beating cravings (I realised that I was a real emotional eater by doing this - have had to find other ways to soothe myself when I'm upset). One thing I would say is that you need to ease yourself onto it - e.g. if you're used to having breakfast at, say, 8 am - then slowly make it later; to 8.30 and then a few days later (or even a week) to 9.00 and so on. This really helps your body to get used to it.

Jillybird, there’s nothing stopping you hacking your porridge, banana and prunes within your 8 hour window. That’s what I did in a way, ate what was my breakfast bowl of fresh fruit at lunchtime. Win, win.

I am definitely going to start this on Monday! All my jeans/trousers are size 12 except two pairs of jeans size 14 for those weeks when I've been at the Magnums (these are my downfall!). Today, the 14s feel tight! So it's the 16/8 diet for me. I never used to eat breakfast, then I fractured my arm and was taking strong painkillers when I got out the hospital and couldn't take them on a empty stomach. So, 11 'till 7 will suit me. Thanks Gransnet for giving me prod.

Thanks for all the tips. I'll just add, I am not sure but believe the NHS 800 cal. diet they will be offerering is called Exante. I tried that for a week or two and was not happy with the meals. However, another company, Slim and Save, also does a very low calorie (VLC) plan and has a huge range of meals, shakes, soups and bars and last year I lost 2 stone over 3 months. I gained most of it back with the lockdown but am back on it again and find it so easy. You can also swap one of your package meals for 'real food', i.e. 100 gms of protein and 200 gm of veg which I enjoy. Fish, steak, pork, whatever. And I genuinely love broccoli so eat that most days. I think I may have first heard about this diet on Gransnet!

Pamela I hope I am like Jane10's husband and the weight just melts away.

I don't mind losing weight slowly, as long as it doesn't go up!

fevertree, We had been away on a long holiday and got back to lock down. Rediscovered baking and put on a few pounds.
Now my scales are my best friend. I am where I want to be now but I check regularly ( yes every day?) now. If I put on 3 pounds and it sticks then I will be strict again.

I never eat after 6 in evening as I have an ulcer and this was docs advice. I’ve stuck to it ( more or less) for two years so far and have gone from 11 stone to 9st . 12lb. I’m happy with that and will keep not eating after 6 for my health...not weight loss. That was just a bonus for me! I rarely sleep more than 3 to 4 hours a night and bounce out of bed at 5.30. Eat breakfast about 8ish.I NEVER snack..... and think that is the secret. If you have three proper meals , snacks are pointless ! So I fast for 14 hours ...and eat during the ten left to me.. suppose I could try 16:8... if I got up later!

Hi. I am doing ‘16-8’. Started on July 16 2020 and up to now have lost 10 pounds. I am intermittent fastening. I usually do more than 16 fast. Average seventeen and a half to nineteen. I stop eating and drinking after 8pm. But do drink sparkling water (which I didn’t like, but do now ?‍♀️. Nothing then for at least 16 hours and longer if I am busy. You can drink Black coffee too. NO sugar or milk or sweetners whilst fasting. No flavoured water. The longer fast takes you into ketosis . And the best thing is I then eat ANYTHING, nothing is ‘wrong’. All you are doing is delaying what you eat until you have fasted. I listen to podcast intermittent fastening and use two apps, Happy Scale and Life. Happy scale tracks your weight showing your average weigh going down. I would say the first two or three weeks I didn’t lose and put on a couple of pounds. Then yo-yo with that two pounds on and off for a couple of weeks. I have done every diet in my long lifetime but this is great. It’s FREE, no special food, no classes, just delay, don’t deny. I can go 16 hours no problem but can start to clock watch after 17. But nothing to stop me eating. I just want to be in ketosis so the fat burns. I definitely will stick to this. Funny some days at 3.30 having my sugar puff breakfast ?. Try it. It’s free. Eat anything. Just delay!

Annefozzie thank you for info about the 16-8 intermittent fast. I think this is the way forward for me and my lifestyle. I need to lose about a stone, I eat a fairly well balanced diet I'm just too greedy when it comes to portion size! I can blame lockdown etc but I know I need to be more active generally. I'll have a look at the two Apps and will listen to the podcast.
I realise other posters mentioned 16-8 and other regimes, but I think your post was most effective when I read `I have done every diet in my long lifetime but this is great'.
I'm starting immediately so no food will enter my mouth before midday tomorrow and I'll be sure to eat a smaller portion when I do!
TallyHo

Can anyone explain why you can't have even low calorie drinks other than water, black tea or coffee, please? I don't really like hot drinks, other than a coffee with milk and sugar in the morning.

I can forego that, or swap it for fruit tea (oh, is fruit tea ok?) as I would fast until noon, but the thought of going all evening with only hot drinks is miserable. I don't drink alcohol, but I do enjoy cold drinks in the evenings - either cordials mixed with sparkling water or alcohol-free fizzy wine.

It marks the transition from the working day to the evening, and is a habit that I would really miss. A bottle of alcohol free wine is only 150 or so calories, so would it really matter if I had a glass or two during the fasting period?

Doodledog the wine or cordials will contain sugars, so that would break your fast (or be a "dirty fast"). Why not try just the sparkling water without the cordial?

PamelaJ having posted on a recent thread that I couldn't think of a reason to weigh myself daily, now I have one!

Doodle what about sparkling water with a slice of lemon or lime?

Yes any milk or sugar in your drink spikes your insulin so you have broken your fast, I am not at all keen on black coffee but I say to myself , it’s Medicine just take it? . When I stop my fast I have a lovely mug of white coffee with sweetener, yum! You just have to delay. Same with flavoured water. Just plain water in fast time , just delay , then once you end your fast you can drink anything! The line to remember is ‘delay don’t deny’.

Doodle dog . I said exactly the same as you, no ‘decent’ hot drink from 8 at night until two the following afternoon, I can’t. But I have! I drink sparkling water in the evening after 8. You could also have black tea or black coffee ? but I stick with the water. My daughter introduced me to this. She lost a stone in about ten weeks. She has ‘told me the rules’ and introduced me to different reading and podcasts. So I’m giving a a go. There are health benefits too. When you listen to podcasts or read the I books it makes sense?‍♀️. I have done every diet going, lose weight, then put it back. What I like with this is, no special food, eat anything, just delay, don’t deny. No cost!! No club weigh in. I am 69 so fed up of ‘not being allowed’ that cake. Or not allowed chips. I am allowed anything on this. It’s the fasting which is magic! I’m happy to lose a pound a week. 50 in a good year. I enjoyed my stew and dumpling this evening followed by bread and butter pudding! Not a bad diet. Good luck ?

Deedi,
I am 69 so an old hand at diets?. What have I got to lose? I just delay and now can eat anything. I am not living the rest of my life refusing cakes , chocolates. I made rhubarb crumble last week , I enjoyed every bit.
I lost my husband some months ago and thought ‘what’s the point?’ . The point is to try and be happy and not intentionally hurt anyone.
Eat your cake, just later on. Have a glass of wine (if you want one) just later on. I do it everyday, but you don’t ‘have’ to. Some people do every other day. Whatever suits you, but clean fast, no tiny tweaks. Then enjoy your meal.
You can choose your hours to suit you. You may want to eat in the morning and maybe do lunch and then maybe nothing from 4 or 5 in the afternoon until 9 or 10 next morning. All your choice.
The virus has us all in it’s grips. Let’s have a diet where we can still eat what we enjoy, and have some normality in our life. Wishing you all the best.

Sorry no lemon or lime , that is ‘dirty’ fasting ?
Ladies you can do this! You are awesome.
And no one is making money out of us! So that is a bonus?

Thanks everyone. Not what I wanted to hear, but it’s good that I know, or I might have been tempted to just drink it, thinking it wouldn’t matter. I’ll think about changing the hours so that I can please myself in the evenings.

I like the sound of this, but what happens if I want to go out for a meal in the evening? (I’m venturing out to Prezzo later this week unless the hospitality industry is shut down again).

I follow the Ketogenic way of eating and feel great. I have two meals a day and do not get hungry. Feel so much better not having carbs or sugar. Don't crave anything either.