Hazza, having experimented a bit with time restricted eating in the past, I am very interested in it now that I’ve returned to 5:2. I used to do a strict 8 hour eating window, but I like your approach better. The 8 hour window actually made me feel healthier. More energy, better sleep, but it was hard to stick to. (I’m female, and it didn’t negatively affect my hormones).

I am waiting to receive Dr. Mosley’s new book The Fast 800, as it is out for delivery today! I heard he has a whole chapter on complimenting 5:2 with time restriction, and I want to read it before I make up my mind what to do this time around.

Hi, I’ve been doing 5:2 for just over 2 years, and some form of eating window for about 3 years. For me an eating window is not enough to either lose weight or even maintain weight, but I have a very low TDEE. I’ve been maintaining for over a year but continue to do 5:2 as it keeps my weight stable.

I started the eating window by accident – I didn’t even know it had a name at the time. I noticed that snacking after my evening meal was a persistent and significant problem so I introduced a curfew – no food after dinner. I found that this had to be an absolute rule that I never compromised on or it didn’t work. The delayed start to eating in the morning came about when I realised that I rarely feel hungry before 11am, so I questioned why I was eating when I had no appetite. It seemed to be habit rather than need. Most days lunch is my first meal, but this isn’t an absolute rule for me. If I am hungry earlier then I will eat earlier – but it’s really rare for this to happen. Most days my eating falls into a 16:8 pattern.

I don’t think it’s had any impact on hormones or stress, but I can’t know for sure.

Hi Hazza and all,

Husband and I kept an eating window of about 8 hours for almost a year now. This very much agrees with us. We both lost more than 10 kg by skipping breakfast and stopping snacking after 8 PM.
As I still need to loose a lot of weight, I try to stay below my TDEE as well.
All this works remarkably well!

I noticed that lunchtime tends to creep up, which makes our window smaller. That should give still better health benefits. 😀

Hormone or stresslevels kept quiet.
I cycle daily to get around (we’re Dutch, so that is just normal here) and for sports I row on the C2 machine upstairs. There I try to incorporate hiit during a session, which breaks boredom too!

Tried to do 5:2 a few times, but it felt too much like dieting… 😕
The regularity of 16:8 makes it work for us, because it’s so easy. I never expected this after 40 years of struggle!

(Sorry, post came through twice. Don’t know why, but can’t get rid of it. 🤔)

Hi everyone. After reading the Fast 800, I decided to return to 16:8 along with 5:2. I’m totally convinced this is the best way to go, for my health. The book is loaded with great info about time restricted fasting.