Hi,

I have a couple of questions about this style of eating. I HATE counting calories and LOVE good healthy food. I don’t eat junk. I have been stuck at the same weight for a couple of years now and don’t need to lose much more than about 3 kg, but am getting frustrated because I would like to find a method that I can stick to. I decided to try this 16:8 (skipping breakfast) because if I eat breakfast and even a light healthy lunch I am ravenous by the afternoon and likely to break the fast. So:

1) Do you do 16:8 every day?

2) Do you also calorie restrict(every day), or is it sufficient to just restrict the window for eating?

3) Is it ok to change the “window for eating”, e.g. do breakfast and lunch, for 3 days and lunch and dinner for 4 days? what about breakfast and dinner as MM suggested worked for him?

4) How important is varying the routine in order to confuse the body and prevent it from adjusting to the pattern?

5) How soon can you expect to see weight loss?

Any advice appreciated! 🙂

Hi Hara:

16:8 is the ‘8 Hour Diet’. There is a book, websites and forum you can access to answer your questions. The book says you can eat as much of anything you want without calorie restriction and lose weight as long as you only eat in your 8 hour window. Like many things, individuals have ‘modified’ 16:8 to something they personally want to do, so you can do anything you want and still be following 16:8 as long as you only eat in your 8 hour window.

This is a 5:2 forum.

Good Luck!

Unless you restrict your intake of calories you won’t lose weight. The times of day you eat are as relevant to weight as your star sign is to personality traits. I’ve always eaten within an 8 hour window simply because I don’t want to eat when I get up. By 16:8 logic I should have wasted away years ago.

Hi Hara:

I have never tried to trace the origin of the term ‘fat burning mode’, but it is used in connection with the 16:8 or ‘8 hour diet’ book. My 6 Dec 15 post on this thread addresses ‘fat burning mode’: https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/the-basics-for-newbies-your-questions-answered/

The research I am familiar with does not support any positive results from eating all of your calories in an 8 hour period (or five hour period, or one hour period). However, I am aware of no harm that can come from eating that way. So it is up to you.

My advice is simply to do 5:2. The research shows 5:2 is a safe and effective weight loss way of eating. I am not convinced that doing anything different is better in any way.

Good Luck!

I started the 5:2 program just after Christmas. It’s been easier than I thought it would be. On my 2 fast days (Mondays and Thursdays) I eat around 400-500 calories. I generally eat breakfast and an early supper, around 4 or 5.On the other days I don’t count calories specifically but I do try to eat sensibly. My daughter convinced me to try Whole 30 with her so I’m doing that as well. Yesterday, for some reason was tough. I was hungry all day and could barely wait for supper. Most of the time, though, I feel great! I’m new to this so I’m anxious to read others’ posts about what works for them. I’m a 58 year old grandmother to three beautiful little girls. They are my main motivation for getting healthy and staying healthy.

No need to count calories! unless you are silly enough to eat things with sugar or high carbs. If you stick to standard protein and vegetable/ salads, and get slow release carb like porridge or better still oatbran, then you will find you can stay with the 16/8 much longer. Increase water. And don,t have drinks with sugar, that includes alcohol (sorry ) or hot chocolate as example. Will be glad to try and answer any-ones questions.