16/8

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.

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!

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!

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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 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.

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 read that 15:9 suits females better.
I tried 5:2 but found that made me fixate on what I was 'allowed' on the 2 days and made up for it on the 5 days.
Re comments on 'starvation mode'. That has been disproved. Giving the system time to fully digest then recover has been found to be better for us. As animals we were never mean to eat off and on all day.

Jillybird, as I see it you don't have to miss breakfast
It would seem that I have almost been doing this 16/8 diet since I retired without knowing it.
I have muesli at about 8:30am and have finished the evening meal by about 6:30 pm so more of a 14/10 diet I suppose.
I wouldn't like to go without breakfast.
We were always told that it was the most important meal of the day.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

I've lost 21 lbs (since March) on Zero app (16:8) it's free and I've found it really easy and not been hungry and now also have much smaller portions. Just tackling my last 7lbs (target before Christmas) and I'll be back to my pre-menopause weight.

I started the 16/8 'diet' at the beginning of the year and I've now lost 2 stone. I've never been a great fan of breakfast and find it very easy to not snack after dinner, so this plan was made for me. I'm also very careful with carbs and sugar (which is a bit more difficult) but I feel much healthier for it....

I have always viewed weight loss like thermal dynamics. What you put in produces energy ie what you eat is either used up by your body or stores itself as fat. Eating less energywise automatically produces less energy - less fat. Its what and how much you eat that makes you fat. Exercise, but a lot if it, does use up fat. All of us who are overweight know what we are doing wrong but look for other avenues to blame. Lockdown has enabled people to exercise but if you are a gym fanatic that isn't really to maintain a healthy weight, its probably to produce a certain physique.

I have been doing the 16/8 diet for a few years, mostly because I don't feel hungry in the mornings. But the pounds crept on during early lockdown, as I was indulging myself at night both with luscious meals and wine. I am now also following the 5:2 diet, and have lost over a stone. For the five days I eat/drink as before. On Mondays and Fridays I restrict myself to three diet replacement meals which are completely balanced nutritionally. No alcohol on those days. I can honestly say that I find it quite easy. Knowing that I can eat what I want the next day is comforting, and if I feel a little hungry at night encourages me not to pick. I feel so much fitter and have dropped a dress size. Worked for me, I now have a normal BMI and am considering changing to 6:1.

Never heard of the 16/8 but started the 5/2 a few, years back. I lost a stone and have not put it back on. I have stopped the 5/2 as I have found it changed my eating habits and now I never eat every last crumb on the plate and am full more quickly. Have breakfast and evening meal and that is it. Anything that can change your habits is good. I am not a Saint so a chocolate hobnob is my go to favourite when I feel the need.

Isn't this similar to the 5/2 diet?

Same here Merylstreep!id never heard of this 'diet' but it sounds like my usual way of living! (However, was told by a clinic nurse its wrong thing to do as body puts itself into 'starvation mode' so that creates more calories in long run- something to do with cortisol i think?) But if you can't face food earlier in day it can't be helped.im not going to force myself to..if im a bit peckish i will eat something.if not im not going to.Cant say ive lost hardly any weight though lately.So maybe clinic nurse was right?

I did plateau when doing 16:8. Will try to avoid that if poss but I think my genes might be against me. I seem to have acquired the body shape and size of my grandmother and great aunt! My mother was an avid smoker so was thinner.

PamelaJ oops, don't know what I did there, trying to convert from kgs to stone to lbs ... anyway I've lost 1 kg plus.

I was eating from morning until night before!

MerylStreep yes I found I only needed a few tweaks to my normal preferred eating pattern.
Reading up about the benefits of the fasting hours on the body was very interesting.
All I really had to make a conscious effort with was drinking more, I decided on black coffee and sparkling water.