16:8 fast

Trying the 16/8 fasts today. Does anyone else do this and had good weight loss results ?

Replies

  • rapidity
    rapidity Posts: 10
    I had some good experiences with this fast. My window was between 12.00 and 20.00. I would like to add this: because of different hormones male and females respond different to fasting methods. Important to keep in mind I think. So just experiment with it and see how it works out for you.
  • tricksee
    tricksee Posts: 835 Member
    I had great results. See my profile for the results pics.

    35lbs lost in total in 3 months.

    Worked great for me!
  • Amerielle
    Amerielle Posts: 153 Member
    I do it and have had great results. I don't think there is anything magical about it though...just an easier way for me to have a calorie deficit. I started 16/8 fasting (without even knowing it had a name) when I decided that breakfast isn't the most important meal of my day and I gave myself permission to not force myself to eat it. Now I can wait until I'm hungry to eat and enjoy nice big meals instead of all that constant snacky stuff that is so often encouraged for weight loss.

    I see comments from people about how hard it was at first. For me it was just a relief and I was so happy to go back to the eating habits I had before I gained weight. I swear eating breakfast and the "six small meals a day" are the worst things I could possibly do.

    That said, it probably isn't for everyone so if you find that it is torture for you keep looking for something that works.
  • HealthyWarrior
    HealthyWarrior Posts: 394 Member
    Tell me more about this fast and how to go about it!!!!!
  • tabinmaine
    tabinmaine Posts: 965 Member
    It's a wonderful tool however women should do more of a 14/10 fast.... over 14hrs for a woman apparently messes with your hormones...it's not recommended
  • HealthyWarrior
    HealthyWarrior Posts: 394 Member
    I actually just read an article on it and got the idea now. It says to take your body weight and multiply it by 10 to get your total daily intake. Once I actually start losing weight how often should someone change their daily calorie intake or should that always stay the same?
  • HealthyWarrior
    HealthyWarrior Posts: 394 Member
    It's a wonderful tool however women should do more of a 14/10 fast.... over 14hrs for a woman apparently messes with your hormones...it's not recommended

    Really? Is there an article I can read about that. I haven't tried the 16:8 fasting yet but wanted to start tomorrow.
  • gsgitu
    gsgitu Posts: 118 Member
    It's a wonderful tool however women should do more of a 14/10 fast.... over 14hrs for a woman apparently messes with your hormones...it's not recommended

    Really? Is there an article I can read about that. I haven't tried the 16:8 fasting yet but wanted to start tomorrow.

    leangains.com and you can try the group on MFP http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/49-intermittent-fasting
  • HealthyWarrior
    HealthyWarrior Posts: 394 Member
    Thank you!
  • I've been doing a water-fast for about 4 and a half days now i'm doing it for 20 - 30 days. You ONLY drink water (or fresh fruit juice), and if you have to have a cheat or must eat-something it has to be raw, like fruit & veggies only and has to be small or you'll be right back where you started. Some of my friends do intermittent fasting and it's helped them slim down and keep lean while building muscle at the same time. If you've never done a fast I'd say start off with leaving out breakfast (Omg not a big deal) and then have lunch & dinner in your 8 hour time frame and make those meals total 600-800 calories. and then do the same the next day. and only drink water or fresh fruit juice in your fasting time frame. Just try a few things and see what works best for you. Go from a 14/10 fast first, some even do less than that to begin with, and then move up to you can do whole days. Your body will eat away at your fat stores & exercising during a fast day helps immensely. I wish you luck!!
  • sar1386
    sar1386 Posts: 39 Member
    Sorry if its mentioned somewhere, but what is the 16/8 fast? What and how often do u do it?
  • OP's post pertains more to Intermittent Fasting, not total starvation.
    I've been doing a water-fast for about 4 and a half days now i'm doing it for 20 - 30 days. You ONLY drink water (or fresh fruit juice), and if you have to have a cheat or must eat-something it has to be raw, like fruit & veggies only and has to be small or you'll be right back where you started. Some of my friends do intermittent fasting and it's helped them slim down and keep lean while building muscle at the same time. If you've never done a fast I'd say start off with leaving out breakfast (Omg not a big deal) and then have lunch & dinner in your 8 hour time frame and make those meals total 600-800 calories. and then do the same the next day. and only drink water or fresh fruit juice in your fasting time frame. Just try a few things and see what works best for you. Go from a 14/10 fast first, some even do less than that to begin with, and then move up to you can do whole days. Your body will eat away at your fat stores & exercising during a fast day helps immensely. I wish you luck!!
  • KMasz
    KMasz Posts: 2,731 Member
    I've been doing a water-fast for about 4 and a half days now i'm doing it for 20 - 30 days. You ONLY drink water (or fresh fruit juice), and if you have to have a cheat or must eat-something it has to be raw, like fruit & veggies only and has to be small or you'll be right back where you started. Some of my friends do intermittent fasting and it's helped them slim down and keep lean while building muscle at the same time. If you've never done a fast I'd say start off with leaving out breakfast (Omg not a big deal) and then have lunch & dinner in your 8 hour time frame and make those meals total 600-800 calories. and then do the same the next day. and only drink water or fresh fruit juice in your fasting time frame. Just try a few things and see what works best for you. Go from a 14/10 fast first, some even do less than that to begin with, and then move up to you can do whole days. Your body will eat away at your fat stores & exercising during a fast day helps immensely. I wish you luck!!

    Please tell me you are not serious. I feel like that's a great way to, oh I don't know, die (at least become VERY malnourished). You should probably start trying to loose weight a healthy way (and probably seek out some counseling for anorexia issues). I don't mean to sound too harsh (or maybe I do) but I do not think you should be giving other people healthy eating/dieting advice if you, yourself aren't actually eating.
  • rapidity
    rapidity Posts: 10
    I've been doing a water-fast for about 4 and a half days now i'm doing it for 20 - 30 days. You ONLY drink water (or fresh fruit juice), and if you have to have a cheat or must eat-something it has to be raw, like fruit & veggies only and has to be small or you'll be right back where you started. Some of my friends do intermittent fasting and it's helped them slim down and keep lean while building muscle at the same time. If you've never done a fast I'd say start off with leaving out breakfast (Omg not a big deal) and then have lunch & dinner in your 8 hour time frame and make those meals total 600-800 calories. and then do the same the next day. and only drink water or fresh fruit juice in your fasting time frame. Just try a few things and see what works best for you. Go from a 14/10 fast first, some even do less than that to begin with, and then move up to you can do whole days. Your body will eat away at your fat stores & exercising during a fast day helps immensely. I wish you luck!!

    This way is not recommendable, plus drinking fruit juice is by definition not fasting.
  • da_bears10089
    da_bears10089 Posts: 1,791 Member
    I've been doing a water-fast for about 4 and a half days now i'm doing it for 20 - 30 days. You ONLY drink water (or fresh fruit juice), and if you have to have a cheat or must eat-something it has to be raw, like fruit & veggies only and has to be small or you'll be right back where you started. Some of my friends do intermittent fasting and it's helped them slim down and keep lean while building muscle at the same time. If you've never done a fast I'd say start off with leaving out breakfast (Omg not a big deal) and then have lunch & dinner in your 8 hour time frame and make those meals total 600-800 calories. and then do the same the next day. and only drink water or fresh fruit juice in your fasting time frame. Just try a few things and see what works best for you. Go from a 14/10 fast first, some even do less than that to begin with, and then move up to you can do whole days. Your body will eat away at your fat stores & exercising during a fast day helps immensely. I wish you luck!!

    insane.gif
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    I've been doing a water-fast for about 4 and a half days now i'm doing it for 20 - 30 days. You ONLY drink water (or fresh fruit juice), and if you have to have a cheat or must eat-something it has to be raw, like fruit & veggies only and has to be small or you'll be right back where you started. Some of my friends do intermittent fasting and it's helped them slim down and keep lean while building muscle at the same time. If you've never done a fast I'd say start off with leaving out breakfast (Omg not a big deal) and then have lunch & dinner in your 8 hour time frame and make those meals total 600-800 calories. and then do the same the next day. and only drink water or fresh fruit juice in your fasting time frame. Just try a few things and see what works best for you. Go from a 14/10 fast first, some even do less than that to begin with, and then move up to you can do whole days. Your body will eat away at your fat stores & exercising during a fast day helps immensely. I wish you luck!!

    That's not intermittent fasting.

    That's anorexia.
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
    Trying the 16/8 fasts today. Does anyone else do this and had good weight loss results ?

    I love it. It didn't help me with regards to weight loss or make a difference, I just prefer to do things this way. It makes my meals huge and I like that (some of them being 2000 cals).


    ...and I'll pretend that person that thinks fasting means hardly eating period didn't reply.
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
    It's a wonderful tool however women should do more of a 14/10 fast.... over 14hrs for a woman apparently messes with your hormones...it's not recommended

    Really? Is there an article I can read about that. I haven't tried the 16:8 fasting yet but wanted to start tomorrow.
    Some women (me) do fine on it. I prefer it. I'll mention personally that I'd never exert myself on a empty stomach, my workouts were while I after I fueled. But there is reasons to suggesting it is not as effective for women and can cause problems. Just a blog but they look through several studies (keep in mind some of these are rats and not people) and have a pretty good believable comprehensive read:
    http://www.marksdailyapple.com/women-and-intermittent-fasting/#axzz2Yl5DmsGn

    Just a random unfact based thought to throw out there. I half wonder since many women who IF eat significantly less then the men...if it would make a difference for women on higher calorie diets who IF. Particularly because all the girls I know do fine with it. And all of them are taller and exercise since they eat more and get more nutrition and tend to concentrate on nutrients.
  • alanlmarshall
    alanlmarshall Posts: 587 Member
    I had some good experiences with this fast. My window was between 12.00 and 20.00. I would like to add this: because of different hormones male and females respond different to fasting methods. Important to keep in mind I think. So just experiment with it and see how it works out for you.

    The author of the 16/8 fast (or leangains) recommends 14/10 for women.
  • ItsCasey
    ItsCasey Posts: 4,021 Member
    It's a wonderful tool however women should do more of a 14/10 fast.... over 14hrs for a woman apparently messes with your hormones...it's not recommended

    The 14/10 recommendation is not absolute. It has been SUGGESTED that because women have a higher amount of estrogen, it is more difficult for women than men to go 16 hours with no food. For adherence purposes, some women start off on a 14/10 protocol and gradually increase their fasting window (or not, if 14/10 works for them). I have done 16/8, 20/4, and currently more of a 22/2 schedule with no problems. The key issue is whether or not you can stick to the protocol. If 16 hours works for you, despite having lady parts, then do 16 hours.
  • obum88
    obum88 Posts: 262 Member
    I did it before i got pregnant last year, going back to it post breastfeeding,. Doing a lose 14/10 fast as that's what my body naturally does, tried going longer one day and significant dip in milk supply. I have had great results with the 16/8, Like CoderGal mentions still have to get in your calories in your eating window, this was hard for me. I did fasted workouts with supplements but broke my fast right after the workout. I have also seen some people drink black coffee or green tea (no cream or sweetner) to help them from wake up time to start of eating time.
  • Melissa11412
    Melissa11412 Posts: 145 Member
    I've been doing IF for over a year. I'm usually doing a 16:8 (16 hours fasted, 8 hours eating window) although sometimes it will be a 6 hour eating window. i haven't had any adverse effects from it and i'm a woman. i'm also going through menopause (so my hormones are pretty jacked anyways LOL)

    i follow the IF method everyday, including cheat days. my eating window is usually 1-9pm or 2-10pm. i eat what i want on my cheat day but only within the window. i also don't log what i eat on sundays. i weight train during lunch so i'm training fasted (which i prefer. i feel more energetic and "light" if that makes any sense). i'm currently doing stronglifts 5x5 and all my lifts are going up. i'm currently doing deadlifts at 165, benching 120 and squatting 130 for reps. i also run 3-4x a week.

    like another poster said, i don't see it as making me lose weight any faster, i just like the eating style. i'd rather "eat big" than graze over 6 meals a day. when i did that, i was always hungry. counting down the 2 hours until my next snack, then feeling ripped off after the apple and cheese stick snack was consumed. it was not a good fit for me. after training heavy, there's nothing like sitting down to a ribeye, baked potato with real sour cream and butter (portioned out of course) and a big salad with real salad dressing. (later on for my 2nd meal i'll usually have 2 slices of ezekiel bread, 2T peanut butter and protein ice cream (2 scoops protein, 1/8c. almond milk and 4 frozen strawberries, blend and freeze)

    i'm so grateful for IF. it doesn't feel like a diet yet i'm losing inches (i don't weigh myself) i went from a size 16 in January. Currently i'm wearing a size 10. pics are on my profile before and after

    good luck with whatever works for you!

    Melissa
  • I've been doing IF for over a year. I'm usually doing a 16:8 (16 hours fasted, 8 hours eating window) although sometimes it will be a 6 hour eating window. i haven't had any adverse effects from it and i'm a woman. i'm also going through menopause (so my hormones are pretty jacked anyways LOL)

    That's very inspiring! I asked my mom to join me when I started IF and she said she couldn't do something like that because of her age. I too started thinking that maybe fasting might not be such a good idea for someone who's older but maybe she'll change her mind after reading this :)
  • Val_from_OH
    Val_from_OH Posts: 447 Member
    That's interesting - I never thought of skipping breakfast as fasting. For those that do this successfully - do you ever get light-headed or fatigued from the low blood sugar? The 14/10 is pretty similar to what I do already (eating from 10 am - 8 pm) - but my weight is not budging :-(
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
    That's interesting - I never thought of skipping breakfast as fasting. For those that do this successfully - do you ever get light-headed or fatigued from the low blood sugar? The 14/10 is pretty similar to what I do already (eating from 10 am - 8 pm) - but my weight is not budging :-(
    When I was constantly eating little meals if I was in a rush to get to work and needed to skip breakfast by 8 oclock I'd be grasping something somewhere trying not to pass out (usually ate at 6). After switching to IF that problem quickly went away. Now I can go until about 2pm before I'm hungry and I put back a "impressive" amount of food my bf tells waiters lol.

    About the weight not budging...changing the timing or frequency of your eating will not help unless it changes your calorie deficit. I do IF for convenience and I enjoy it, not because I think it's a magic trick of some sort for weight loss.
  • Amerielle
    Amerielle Posts: 153 Member
    That's interesting - I never thought of skipping breakfast as fasting. For those that do this successfully - do you ever get light-headed or fatigued from the low blood sugar? The 14/10 is pretty similar to what I do already (eating from 10 am - 8 pm) - but my weight is not budging :-(

    I'm not hypoglycemic so I have never had any problems. Really IF isn't a magic weight loss tool. I just take my daily calorie intake and shove it into 8 hours so I can eat lots at a time and feel nice and full. If you have problems with low blood sugar it probably isn't the best eating schedule for you.

    Hope your weight starts budging soon!
  • Here is a link for a intermittent fast calculator the best one ive came across yet - www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc/

    Here is the most knoledgeable guy I know on Intermittent Fasting - www.leangains.com

    I too do this program hope this helps ive lost almost 15lbs doing this fasting one day strength training next day rest walk the dod on my rest days following day after rest day arobics then again rest day I get 4 workouts a week 3 days rest days and make sure to get a minimum 8 hrs sleep and dont make the mistake of most and workout everyday your body needs rest to gain muscle and lost fat