finally tried 16:8 intermittent fasting

[♥ms.pacman♥]

yeah i'm about three or four years late on the IF bandwagon of the BBB (lol), but finally tried it by accident, after a crazy work day where i had meetings all morning and i had to go in the office. i noticed how easy it was and "lighter" it felt to not eat anything until lunch. Now I don't eat anything until 11 or 12 (drink just maybe green juice before that), and nothing after 8pm. Maybe one day a week i cheat and eat some cereal in the morning.

it's a HUUUGE change for me bc i was always one that had to eat every few hours, and couldn't eat a ton at one meal. and with the pandemic of course it got worse - lol .

been doing it a bit 3-4 weeks and steadily losing, now down 4 lbs. this is huge, especially since i'm in menopause and that's often weight gain central. i don't have an IF book or anything, i just try to only eat between 11-7 or 12-8 I eat whatever as long as it's within that time. it really works and i'm flabbergasted that i feel LESS hungry at 10am than i used to when i used to eat right at 8am (less hungry at 7am when i wake up, than when i used to snack at 10pm). Also i feel it is easier to stay focused in the morning and i feel less sleepy and when we go out to eat i can finish an entire meal (never used to be able to do that).
i feel less bloated too, in general.

i will never eat breakfast again. LOL.

[essnce629]

Congrats! I love intermittent fasting! You may notice even better results if you do a "clean" fast which is not drinking anything during your fast besides water, unflavored sparkling water, black coffee, green tea, or black tea. A green juice would definitely be breaking a clean fast so you may not be seeing the best results.

Sent from my SM-A515U1 using Tapatalk

[Globetrotter]

Wow, my transition was a lot harder than yours! Good for you!! Some people find it easy from day one, but it took me some time to adapt but now I love it. Agree that a clean fast might be good. We are on vacation this week so I haven’t been fasting more than approx 12 hours and I feel totally bloated- can’t wait to get back to IF next week. I have done some fasting before on holidays but this time we have been on a funky schedule with very late dinners and breakfast at 11, lunch at 4 lol

[citymama]

I was just coming here to start a new thread! I'm just getting back into IF. Here's the back story:

Influenced by Globetrotter, I started IF in late 2019, and although it took a little while to get used to it, within a month i16:8 or 17:7 became regular practice. Then came lockdown, kids around all the time, my teen exhibiting some slightly concerning food related behavior, and I basically gave it up. I have maintained 12 hours pretty reliably, but it was really hard to not eat till noon or 1 without them noticing. Once I stopped 16:8, I noticed my weight started to climb significantly for the first time in my life. I don't know if this has happened to others, but going off IF seemed to trigger weight gain. The pandemic eating + peri-menopause surely had an impact too, but I have been really surprised. I'm finding the visceral fat gain particularly alarming.

I started daily yoga + brisk walking in December 2020, which I have stuck to (more like 5 times a week). I'm now a few days into 16:8 and it seems easier to get started this time, like my body remembered how to do this. One reason I quit the last time was the insane strictness of the FB groups and the regimens - I really have to start my day with a cup of tea which includes a few drops of lowfat milk and half a spoon of sugar. I was told doing that would completely kill the effectiveness of the fast, which seems crazy. That is literally the only vice, and I've decided I need to do both IF and the tea to be healthy!

I would welcome any tips and tricks for weight management during peri-menopause and beyond, and for sticking to IF. Globetrotter, have you kept the weight off? Favorite foods or meal plans to support IF? Ms Pacman, can we do accountability checks here to see how it's going?? Thanks for starting this thread!

[twowhat?]

I initially lost 5 pounds over a year of doing IF 16:8 (not totally clean, black coffee + about 1/3 cup of oat milk in the morning) but then the pandemic pretty much made me fall off the wagon and I gained all that weight back PLUS another 5 pounds. I started using My Fitness Pal (recommended here!) to track calories, as I knew I was likely overeating and just plain snacking way too much. Interestingly as soon as I started tracking calories, I unintentionally fell right back into a 16:8 IF schedule (again, not totally clean with the coffee/oat milk every morning because I need something to start my day). I've since lost 5 pounds (about 1 lb per week which is WAY better than the 5 lb per year haha, and that's despite going over my 1200 calories per day - on average I go over by about 100 calories per day) and I'm trying to stick it out. I definitely feel like I can't eat as much as I want but with peri-menopause, I really needed to NOT be eating as much as I want haha. I didn't change anything else (no exercise though I walk about 30 min/day with the dogs which hasn't changed). I definitely feel a LOT better overall and not so heavy/sluggish. I'm not sure I look all that different and I'm not even sure about clothes since I haven't worn hard clothes in ages but my guess is that hard pants will also look/feel better now. I'm hoping to lose another 5 pounds and then try to maintain.

[citymama]

That's inspiring, twowhat!

[zukeypur]

I think I'm going to try this. I have gained 8 lbs slowly over the past 3 years, and I'm terrified that I won't be able to get it off. While I can't live without coffee in the morning, I am pretty sure I can live without breakfast most days of the week. I have gotten into the habit of cooking scrambled eggs several days per week, but maybe I'll switch to a hardboiled egg for lunch instead. Yesterday I didn't eat breakfast and just had a few strawberries around noon and some tomatoes and cucumber for lunch. We were super busy putting in a new flower bed, so I didn't have time to think about food. I think this will be much easier when I go back to teaching face to face in the fall, but I'm going to give it a shot a few days per week in the interim.

[citymama]

I think I'm going to try this. I have gained 8 lbs slowly over the past 3 years, and I'm terrified that I won't be able to get it off. While I can't live without coffee in the morning, I am pretty sure I can live without breakfast most days of the week. I have gotten into the habit of cooking scrambled eggs several days per week, but maybe I'll switch to a hardboiled egg for lunch instead. Yesterday I didn't eat breakfast and just had a few strawberries around noon and some tomatoes and cucumber for lunch. We were super busy putting in a new flower bed, so I didn't have time to think about food. I think this will be much easier when I go back to teaching face to face in the fall, but I'm going to give it a shot a few days per week in the interim.

Start ASAP. I waited till the 5 grew to 10 to 20...and it's harder

[Globetrotter]

I ate normally for ten days and I'm so bloated. As soon as we got home from vacation, I didn't want to eat again for some time as my stomach needs a rest. I think I could have done my first 36 hour fast! however, I met a friend for dinner and had to break my fast at 22 hours although I wasn't even hungry

On our next vacation, I will do as I've done in the past and skip breakfast if it's something ordinary. I can sip hot water (Which I prefer to plain black tea lol) to fit in.

Citymama, you're not going to like this, but I didn't really start losing until I started doing the clean fasting. I resisted dropping the morning tea for some time, but now I have it with milk before or after lunch - I got used to it so it's no longer an issue I have kept off the weight- it fluctuates a bit here and there after holidays but now I have full confidence that I'll go back to normal once I go back to my routine so no more guilt! I don't find the groups confining at all- honestly, I have read posts here about all the diets others do and find that much more constricting I think for me this works as a permanent lifestyle because I don't have to obsess with what i eat or avoid foods, and I am now used to fasting so it's easy (though that didn't happen overnight). overall I have a reasonably healthy diet - I have learned to listen to my hunger cues and I eat plenty of food but usually don't overindulge in junk. I have chocolate every day

More later but I wanted to give a quick update.

[daisyd]

Just curious about the bloating PPs mentioned. Is it puffiness of the face along with abdominal bloating/ fullness?