The FastDay Forum

My TDEE!

It's low at 1500, yet I regularly eat like a pig on feast days, wishing my TDEE was 2000. Not every feast day, but enough to mean that my weight loss has been painfully slow/non-existent despite fasting for 2, sometimes 3 days a week. I've known for a while that I could be putting a bit more effort into my feast days, but have just been hoping that one day the weight will just fall off. But no.

So with 3.5 weeks until my holiday (where I will not be fasting) I am going to greet the elephant in the room and welcome him into my life.

I've worked out that to create a 3500 calorie deficit I need to take in 7000 calories a week. This is my plan:

Monday: 400 cals (fast)
Tuesday: 1200 cals
Wednesday: 400 cals (fast)
Thursday: 1200 cals
Friday: 800 cals (fast until dinner, but have a normal meal)
Saturday: 1500 cals
Sunday: 1500 cals
Total: 7000 cals

If I have a social event on a Thursday (Thursday is the new Friday after all), instead of a weekend, I will just switch the calories around.

Counting at home doesn't faze me too much, I have some good kitchen scales and enjoy using MFP. It's the going out for dinner/picnics/drinks that worries me. I am so used to fasting now that I think my best chance of success will come from saving my calories for dinner on days like that, so I can choose what I like from the menu.

So, almost 3 months in and I'm finally taking proper notice of my TDEE. Let's hope it makes a difference! I'm enjoying fasting and don't want to stop doing it. I just would like to reach my goal weight eventually!

Will this work? Does it matter if I go a little bit under or is there a level I should keep to for optimum fat loss?

I think you should try it and see how you go. I use excel to log my weight loss and what cals I have and whether or not they are biological reasons that would affect my weight being female.

I do love Excel (I am a web analyst by profession). Might have to join you on this! In fact I'm fairly shocked I haven't already got a spreadsheet going.

I'm an Excel logger, too, cals and daily weight. I also check with Fitbit to ensure that my exercise exceeds my calorie intake. It might be a bit obsessive, but not doing so will result in weight gain and therein, misery.
Good luck and let us know how you get on.

The problem you might run into here is that any weight you lose with such a drastic amount of calorie restriction is going to have to be maintained with the same amount of calorie restriction going forward. Are you really up for that?

I ask because I went through something similar years ago. I was eating a diet that was easy to stick to, but after an initial weight loss I stopped losing and couldn't get another pound off. OTOH, I was going to the gym, fitting a nice size of pants and looked good.

Eventually I started cutting calories and managed to lose another 15 lbs. But ugh, maintaining that weight loss was much, much harder, and when I wasn't able to, the weight that came back was all fat, so when I got back to the same weight I had maintained so easily, I was wearing a bigger size of pants and didn't look anywhere as good.

I think we smaller people with the very low TDEE may have to become more realistic about what is a good weight. For me, it is one I can maintain eating in a way I enjoy. Right now my weight loss on 5:2 has slowed considerably compared to 2 months ago, but if I had to limit my eating any further, I would not be able to maintain for the next ten years and that would mean I would get back up to the same weight I dieted down from but be even fatter.

Something to think about, and one reason, I suspect, why so many people lose weight but can't keep it off. They get down to a weight where the only way to maintain it is to eat a stringent diet for the rest of your life. If you aren't getting paid to be a supermodel, that's very hard to do.

Hi @peebles,

I am confused - I am technically just cutting out 1lb worth of calories a week, so isn't this kind of a variant on 5:2/4:3 anyway?

My total cals on 5:2 (assuming 1/4 of TDEE on fast days and full TDEE on feast days) would be 8250. On 4:3 they would be 7125, so I am eating just a tiny bit under 4:3.

Do you think I should just forget about aiming for 1lb a week and up my cals a bit?

I want to lose weight but you're right, I don't want to have a nightmare maintaining when I get there!

Hi @lottie89 - I'd give it a go - it is about finding what works for you. I think you have got the balance right. Good luck, let us know how you get on. I'm six months in with a 22lb loss - my tracker today says "you should be eating around 1352 calories on your feed days and 338-500 calories on your fast days in order to lose weight" I have not counted calories but I do weigh daily. Never thought I would at the beginning but as @PennyForthemsays it helps keep that elephant out of the room and keep me on track! I have lost weight through cutting out bread, potatoes, pasta etc and replacing with yummy food. So I don't feel I miss out at all, in fact it's the opposite I have gained a happy approach and enjoy my food. I hope that helps Lottie, it can be done

I'm approaching goal - 3lbs to go so it is very slow now ........... I'm hopeful for a flight to a soft landing to maintain. @peebles thanks for sharing your maintaining experience - I have never lost this amount of weight before so maintaining is completely new to me. I have arthritis in one knee - and the horrid pain suffered for the last three years has disappeared - amazing! I do need to read up on maintaining and understand what my maintaining calories and routine should be to work for me.

Good luck everyone.....

Thank you all

I've decided to readjust a bit and basically remove the Friday half fast to give myself a few extra cals, so I'm trying to create a 0.75lb calorie deficit instead (2625 cals). For a shorty like me this is a reasonable amount (I'm 5'2). My average loss so far has been 0.43lbs a week, but it fluctuates so much and I'm currently 1.5lb above the lowest I've been since starting (1.5lb on a 5'2 person really shows). I only have 11lb to lose so technically this should take around 4 months if I can successfully up my rate to 0.75lb a week. I'm hoping I can do it by Christmas.

Here's the revised plan:

Monday: 400 cals (fast)
Tuesday: 1350 cals
Wednesday: 400 cals (fast)
Thursday: 1350 cals
Friday: 1350 cals
Saturday: 1500 cals
Sunday: 1500 cals
Total: 7875 cals

I only got to 1032 yesterday, and having put today's food in my tracker I'm on 1142 (and that includes some dark choccy and a white wine and cream sauce for my chicken!) so trying to eat more to lose more feels really counter-intuitive. I'm scared! Might melt a bit of butter on my asparagus and have a few grapes to make up the extra 200 cals...feels naughty.

This is oh so confusing, but I'm willing it to work because I really feel like I can keep up 2 fasts a week for life.

The above still averages out at 1125 which is about 100 cals a day under my BMR. Is it actually bad to average out under your BMR? Or is it okay because I am eating over it 5 days a week and it's only on my fast days that I eat below?