The FastDay Forum

Hi,
I am a newbie too - can I just clarify - can you really eat ANYTHING on the feast days?

Yes. In sensible quantities, of course.

[janeg]

yes Claire - you can eat anything! BUT, and there's always a but, too much of anything and everything will not help weight loss. Work out your TDEE and eat within that amount. It can be anything you fancy. Nothing banned.

Forgot to say... Welcome!!!

Yes you can eat anything.

Dr MM makes the point in the Horizon program that it is difficult to eat more than you have fasted because of habit and psychology.

I haven't calorie counted, and I do stop eating when I feel full. It is nice to have the sensation of fullness, I have missed it for many years...

I used the TDEE calculator, put in my weight and age and it gave me a TDEE of 1800 cals. I have not had that many calories in over 6 months! Isn't that too much on this 5:2 diet? I don't want to over eat and see no results.

@makinithap2014 if you feel the TDEE is too high try changing your activity level.

I don't know whether you have been gaining/losing weight over the last 6 months but I know I could easily pack away 1800 calories a day. If you don't already, try tracking your calories on something like MyFitnessPal, which will give you a better feel for what 1800 calories looks like

The key thing is that the info has been put in correctly. As Sian says, if you think it's too high then take another look at your activity level to make sure that's right. Don't forget that the 1800ish cals are for 5 days, the other 2 days are 500 or less.

1800 cals per day, ocrrect?

Sorry, yes makinithap. 1800 cal each day of the 5 days 500 on each of the other 2 days.

Thank you, any tips to send my way to succeed on this 5:2 plan?

If you think your TDEE is high, have a look at mine, its 2635kcals a day. Your TDEE on this diet is what you need to eat to keep your weight level. The 5 days are not diet days, they are for you to enjoy your eating, for you not to feel deprived.The diet comes in on the 2 fast days, by reducing the calories drastically on those two days you are making a weekly deficit that's large enough to cause a discernible loss of weight.

Normal diets do the same, but they reduce a smaller amount every day. So you get your calorie reduction to 1200kcal EVERY day, which makes for miserable eating. But over a week you will get the same calorie deficit and the same weight loss. I would much prefer to be very, very good for two days of the week than be miserable every day of the week.

As for hints and tips.

On fast days drink lots, keep up your caffeine intake, if you get headaches or tired slumps have a salty drink like Bovril, OXO, stock cube, or miso soup.

Work out how many meals you are going to have. Most fasters eventually work their way to only having one evening meal, because as soon as they start eating they wake up the hunger monster, whereas if you don't eat breakfast or lunch you can get through the day with only a few tummy grumbles.

Plan your fast days, don't leave it to the last minute and find that there isn't anything in the house suitable for a fast day.

Get the tape measure out and measure everywhere, not just your waist and hips. There will be weeks where the scales don't show a change but the tape measure will.

Get your fast days under control first, don't start tweaking your feast days till you are solidly comfortable with fasting.