Hi Everyone,

If you happen to follow my blog you will know I am a huge fan of intermittent fasting. I recently discovered 16:8 intermittent fasting which incredibly, helps to lose weight while you sleep! I decided to give it a go and so far I have lost 2kg/4.4lbs by following the simple fasting basics for just over a week!

I have been doing the new 5:2 diet by Michael Mosley on and off for a while and am seeing some steady results, losing around 2lbs/.9kg a week which is a healthy progress. There are so many health benefits involved with intermittent fasting, apart from the obvious weight loss. I have wrote an extensive article on it here.

The difference (and it is a big difference) between the 5:2 diet and the 16:8 intermittent fasting plan is that instead of having to fast on only 800 calories for 2 days a week out of 5, you implement the 16:8 intermittent fasting approach at night while you sleep! This means you can literally lose weight while you sleep.

There is way less effort and willpower involved, as you start your fasting after your last meal or last snack of the day. You can decide on the time, but it works best if you start it earlier in the evening, for most people. The 16:8 is where you fast for 16 hours and eat normally for 8 hours. It sounds like a mean feat but actually it is surprisingly easy to achieve once you get into it.

The idea is to begin your fast, for example at 6pm in the evening, then do not eat anything until 10am the next morning. This is 16 hours fasting throughout the night. You can drink water, tea and coffee but avoid adding sugar or syrup. I find that drinking a glass of water when hungry suppresses my appetite so I do this if I have a hunger pang in the evening and it seems to work.

I had been on the 5:2 for a while but I often felt it was quite restricting, if we went out for lunch or were meeting with friends etc. That is why I have decided to swap over to the 16:8. The 5:2 helped me to get back to my pre-baby weight quickly so I still highly recommend it to anyone wanting to lose weight healthily.

The 16:8 fits in with my lifestyle perfectly. So far I have been able to stick to it, however you don’t have to do it every single night to avail of the benefits! You can still have nights off as you please, such as evenings socialising, having some weekend drinks, weekends away, holidays etc. This is why I love it so much! It is not restricting at all, yet you are reaping the benefits of intermittent fasting once you still stick to it regularly.

Another huge plus point to the 16:8 intermittent fasting plan is that you can basically eat a lot during the day. A study was done on the “Effects of 8-hour time restricted feeding on body weight and metabolic disease risk factors in obese adults” in the Nutrition and Healthy Ageing Journal in June 2018. It concluded that an 8 hour time-restricted feeding produces mild caloric restriction and weight loss, without calorie counting. It may also offer clinical benefits by reducing blood pressure.

So apart from losing weight without restricting calories, blood pressure was reduced. This study was done in comparison with another study on alternate day fasting where the subjects were allowed to eat normally, without calorie restricting one day, then fasting the next. This consisted of 25% of energy needs on fast days; 125% of energy needs on alternating “feast days”, calorie restriction (75% of energy needs every day), or a no-intervention control. The trial involved a 6-month weight-loss phase followed by a 6-month weight-maintenance phase –

Effect of Alternate-Day Fasting on Weight Loss, Weight Maintenance, and Cardioprotection Among Metabolically Healthy Obese Adults: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

The conclusion when comparing both the 16:8 fasting process and the other fasting plans mentioned above, was that people consumed on average 350 calories less on the 16:8 intermittent fasting, than those on any other plan. The rate of dropouts for the alternate day fasting was also quite high when compared.

The bottom line is that according to studies, the 16:8 plan is more sustainable, less restricting (requiring less willpower) and subjects lost the same amount of body fat, yet systolic blood pressure dropped by an average of 7 millimeters of mercury. I guess that shows us that we can still gain the same benefits of lower cholesterol, weight loss and insulin resistance whichever intermittent fasting route we take.

For me, willpower is much easier to control in the evening and mornings. I suppose it feels like cheating the intermittent fasting system a little by doing the 16:8 but hey, if it is the easier route then why not?!!

I tend to fill up during my evening meal, by eating lean meat with plenty of healthy vegetables and protein. I often have a Greek yoghurt and fruit for dessert afterwards. I have also eliminated as many bad carbs as possible, such as white bread, white rice, white pasta, etc. I wrote an article about switching to wholegrain alternatives and I also follow the Mediterranean diet as much as possible. I wrote a blog post on it recently, if you would like to read more, My weight loss journey.

So far, I am feeling really optimistic and hoping to hit my goal weight in the next 8 weeks so I’m very motivated and excited about this. I feel like the weight loss is getting easier all the time and I am maximising my health at the same time!

I have to admit, I have been a little lazy on the exercise front recently but I am going to be upping my game starting this week. I am aiming for 30 minutes a day minimum, with various exercises to work on toning and building muscle. Here are some at home exercises that don’t require any equipment if you are interested! Best exercises for people with limited time and no gym membership.

Wish me luck!

Have you tried intermittent fasting yet? If so, let me know how its going in the comments!

Chat soon!

Ciara x