The FastDay Forum

Current UK guidelines on average energy requirements :-

Yep - mines really low too

1452 with 363 on a fast day!!!

As it is, i have been trying to keep fast days to 500 and feed days to 1200, so maybe this balances out?

1452 x 7 = 10164 per week
(1200 x 5)+ (500 x 2) = 7000 per week

So........... if i can cut my weekly calroie intake by around the 3000 mark, i should still be able to lose weight doing 5:2

[carorees]

The easiest way to work out your actual (or near actual) TDEE as opposed to the guesstimate based on height, age and weight is to look at how much weight you are losing per week and what your average calorie intake is. For example, if you lose 1lb per week, you must be eating around 3500 cals less than your TDEE. So if over the whole week you eat 10000 cals, your TDEE would be 10000 + 3500 = 13500/7 = 1929 per day.

I thought the progress tracker TDEE calculation looked about right for me.

I'd recalculated mine not long ago so it isn't a surprise for me..... 1443 and 361

I have switched fast days recently to liquids at around 150 - 200 cals per fast day and had much easier losses than when I was aiming for 500, and I typically aim for less than 1150 net of exercise on days when I am not fasting, sometimes more on weekends, and am losing steadily.... tracker says at current progress will take me around 6 weeks - given there's a week in the Lakes in that time I think it will be more like 8 weeks if I can stick to my current regime

I always look at sedentary TDEE and then allow myself extra calories for exercise on non fast days - that also seems to work quite well as I can then use those calories for extra carb or extra treats if I have burned calories off in the first place

Mine was pretty low for a sedentary lifestyle, but I exercise at least half an hour every day so I'm going to stick with the "active" lifestyle TDEE for now, which is where I've been aiming for anyway.

It is a bummer though to realise your calorie needs aren't what you thought they were. This realisation has been dawning on me over the last few years since having children (and facing the reality that, once I finished nursing my youngest, if I wanted to be healthy I would have to be on some form of "diet" for the rest of my life). Though I enjoy cooking, I do not have time to make every single meal from scratch, and I get very frustrated at restaurant meals that take a "one size fits all" approach and expect me, at 5'3 1/2" and 10 stone, to eat (or at least pay for) the same size portion as my 5'11" and 14+ stone husband would eat. He always eats whatever I don't, but in all honesty he doesn't need it - he just doesn't want to see it go to waste. Grr...

When I used the TDEE calculator linked elsewhere on this forum, i think in 'resources' it had a section to add how active you are to the calculation. As I attend the gym most days, it said something like 2300 on feed days, so i have been able to stick to 500 on fast days. I have a Polar 60 training monitor and it tells me how many calories I use in each workout, that is very helpful. Increasing the amount of activity you do is the best way to get a higher TDEE! Once you've been active for a few weeks, it becomes an easy habit to stick to.

PhilT - interesting table...

If I ate at the UK guideline calorie intake for me (2103) compared to TDEE 1443, that would be 660 excess calories per day, 4620 excess calories per week....

It's easy to see how I would gain substantial amounts of weight and even if you factored in exercise of the recommended 10,000 steps, which equates to about 3 miles of walking for me and say 240 calories or 1680 for the week, I think I would still be over eating by almost 3,000 calories per week....

I find it shocking that the advice given in the UK to the public is so far off the mark....

BTW, by sedentary we mean "no exercise", right?

A desk job is the usual definition - spend most of the day sat down.

TDEE estimates are +/- 10% at best, and even then 30% of people will fall outside that range, so it's a useful starting point but your ongoing weight loss (or otherwise) will confirm how accurate it is.

I find it shocking that the advice given in the UK to the public is so far off the mark....

It's based on the average height, so I'm guessing you're not 162 cm / 5'4" ??

Being tall is sometimes an advantage My TDEE is about 1800.
However, I am always surprised that exercising (60 min gym or swimming for an hour) does not add that much allowed calories compared to how hungry I feel afterwards. Even if I like to exercise, just going for a walk, taking the stairs ect add relatively to my increase in hunger more calories

Desk job it is for me!!!

My weight loss says that my TDEE is around 1500 but when I follow that I don't lose. Weird?

I find it shocking that the advice given in the UK to the public is so far off the mark....

It's based on the average height, so I'm guessing you're not 162 cm / 5'4" ??

Actually I am... or very nearly - I fit into the upto 44 years - 163 height category which shows 2103 cals per day if I am reading it right?

But, I am now down to 9 stone 1.5 lbs, and for a sedentary lifestyle TDEE as per tracker is 1443, which seems about right based on my eating patterns and current weight loss progress - BMI is 22.6 and I am a very light build

SO 2103 cals daily even with moderate exercise would be well in excess of what I need - and is part of the reason that I was 10 stone 10 in January - I was over eating for my needs and level of activity...

Actually I am... or very nearly - I fit into the upto 44 years - 163 height category which shows 2103 cals per day if I am reading it right?

agreed, so as you are a close fit to their average person it has to be levels of activity.

To be fair to them they do say

It is important to note that DRVs should be used to assess the energy requirements for large groups of people and populations, but should not be applied to individuals due to the large variation in physical activity and energy expenditure observed between people

So I guess we're meant to use the number if we're feeding a prison or something, but not use it for ourselves.

I've downloaded the report and wil have a read... I think you're right that activity levels are the key - I think their usage of 1.63 as a median probably over states what activity levels really are....

If I didn't run or go out hill walking at weekends and didn't make a conscious effort not to use the car, my day would consist of get up, drive to the office, drive home, ferry kids about to activities (all by car due to taking amps, or time constraints, or distance) - most housework is not exactly strenuous - thanks to iRobot and others...

Weekends could easily be drive to town or cinema or restaurant etc....

I know from many of my colleagues and friends that that is not atypical for many of my age group / neighbourhood etc so their PAL of 1.63 is a area for debate...

Even if you're feeding a group such as a prison - my work takes me into prisons quite often, and the activity levels again can be much below average

Which is why I now use a sedentary TDEE and then allow myself to eat back exercise calories as either extra fuel or weekend treats....

Mine comes in at 1700; I'm sure I eat more than that and I've maintained my weight for years now so I'm not going to worry too much about it!