weight loss/obesity - restricting eating to a certain window

[SparklyUnicorn]

Stopped eating at 10pm last night, had 1/4 of a protein bar at 11:30 this morning. Then had lunch at 1pm when I got home from the zoo. Scale was down again this morning, so I'm keeping up with it. And I'm about to head into PMS zone, so we shall see. 

 

This is very much my pattern. 

[Joyofsixreboot]

I do eat breakfast but my usual window is about 9-6. I just don't snack much at night. I can totally skip breakfast sometimes and sometimes I have a couple eggs or a protein smoothie. I follow my own hunger which also makes me point out that a little bit of hunger never hurt anything. My mom (ok, and me) told kids that being hungry meant the next meal will taste good.

[ktgrok]

I do eat breakfast but my usual window is about 9-6. I just don't snack much at night. I can totally skip breakfast sometimes and sometimes I have a couple eggs or a protein smoothie. I follow my own hunger which also makes me point out that a little bit of hunger never hurt anything. My mom (ok, and me) told kids that being hungry meant the next meal will taste good.

 

I think what I'm realizing is my natural pattern is to eat later. I just cannot seem to restrict food in the evening. It doesn't happen. So if I have breakfast when I get up I end up eating in too long of a window. I find it much easier to skip breakfast, when my will power is high, than to skip my bedtime snack, when willpower is low. 

[Heidi]

I'm doing the fast five diet, eating within a 5 hour window.

 

Free ebook: http://drbert.myshopify.com/collections/free-digital-downloads

 

1 lb a week is what it promises, and so far it has been true for me. I've lost 6 lbs in 6 weeks. Easiest diet ever. My husband and inlaws are also on it. We are all making it a life long change bc its so easy and we like how we feel. We have more energy and just feel better eating like this. My window is usually 2-7, but the book recommends 5-10.

[ktgrok]

Just know that the scale might seem like the enemy before your period.  I can be a good 1-1 1/2 lbs up during that time, but when it's over, I can be lower than my lowest.  So, stay strong, don''t get discouraged, & follow your plan.  

 

Yup.....that's it exactly. Today scale was up over a pound. For no reason that i can fathom (looking at calories/food/exercise) but my period is due in a few days, so I'm chalking it up to PMS. I generally lose that water weight the first or second day of my period. 

 

I also may be due for a dose of miralax......TMI I know but my only real side effect post weight loss surgery is a bit of constipation. Not blocked up, but not right either. 

[shawthorne44]

I'm doing the fast five diet, eating within a 5 hour window.

 

Free ebook: http://drbert.myshopify.com/collections/free-digital-downloads

 

1 lb a week is what it promises, and so far it has been true for me. I've lost 6 lbs in 6 weeks. Easiest diet ever. My husband and inlaws are also on it. We are all making it a life long change bc its so easy and we like how we feel. We have more energy and just feel better eating like this. My window is usually 2-7, but the book recommends 5-10.

 

what?   They recommend you wake up and then don't eat at all until 5pm?   

[katilac]

I'm having good results with the 12-hour window, which I started after reading this thread. Lost 2-3 pounds the first couple of weeks while also watching diet. Then had a long run of special occasions and trips and ate rather badly, lol, but kept to the window and exercise was roughly the same. Didn't lose anymore but didn't gain!

 

I gain very easily so that's a huge plus; it's very discouraging to work for weeks to lose a bit and then have it go down the drain with one weekend trip or such. 

 

Back to a normal schedule and healthier eating today. 

 

I just linked this thread in the "need to lose 8 lbs" thread. 

[JustEm]

I've been eating in an 8 hour time frame for a few weeks. It was been great because my downfall is late night snacking, which simply isn't an option since my eating window is 11am to 7pm. I've lost 5 lbs since starting, which isn't simply water weight because I lost that the month prior to starting this. I'll know tomorrow if I lost any this week.

[kiana]

Huh I missed this thread, but this type of eating worked really well for me for losing my weight. I had to alter it when I hit the weight I wanted to be as I found I couldn't fit enough food in to stop losing. 

 

I'd skip breakfast, have a late, light lunch, a hearty dinner, snacks if I wanted them, and go to bed full and happy. 

[Mom22ns]

I don't know that I'd consider that *skipping breakfast so much as operating on a different schedule.  I don't typically eat between 9pm and 9am, but I do usually eat 3-6 "meals"/day.

 

Yeah, I eat between 7-6, so I use an 11 hour window, it is just earlier than yours OP. I'm a morning person and the more I eat after lunch, the less likely I am to lose weight. Your body, your rhythms. There is nothing wrong with finding what works for you.

 

Congratulations on breaking your plateau.

[TranquilMind]

I've been doing something very against typical advice, and skipping breakfast. Yup. I'm a rebel :) And it seems to be working, I'm back to dropping weight again after being stalled for a bit. This article touches on why that may work. And when I think about it, many of my naturally thin friends skip breakfast, or don't eat after dinner, either way they have a 12 hour or less window in which they eat. And as I'm hungrier in the evening, it makes more sense for me to make my window 11am-11pm, or even Noon to 11pm, rather than 7am-7pm or whatever. 

 

I will say, I do still have coffee before that,with half and half and splenda. Hoping the lack of sugar keeps it from messing things up. So far so good. 

 

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/15/a-12-hour-window-for-a-healthy-weight/?_r=0

I've been reading about the short fasts and I basically do the same (though no fake sugars). 

 

Seems to help not gain weight.  I do like drinking coffee and now that I have found an organic that I love, I can drink coffee for hours.  ;)

Not eating after dinner is best, but eating a big dinner right before bedtime (which can happen here) is not best for me. 

[Mbelle]

I skip supper when I get stuck and it works.  Sometimes I will have some vegetables.  I do eat a good snack around 3 or 4.

 

 

[JustEm]

I don't skip meals. All 3 meals just fit in that 8 hour window, which mean there is really no room for snacking during the day because by the time I'm hungry again it is time for another meal. During the no eating time I'm just super busy getting kids to bed, catching up on my reading, and in the morning I do my workout before I eat breakfast around 11.

[JustEm]

Weigh in day and I'm down another 2 pounds. Still a long way to go.

[Soror]

I usually eat about 2 or 3 hrs after waking up too, I never feel like eating right away. BUT supper time is often later w/ our activities. Mon, Tues and Wed we don't get home until 8+ b/c of activities so I eat a big snack b/f we leave and a light supper when we get home. If I try to eat at 4pm and not again I wake up in the night.

 

Weigh in day and I'm down another 2 pounds. Still a long way to go.

Congrats!