The FastDay Forum

I haven't got much to lose - around 4kgs so my TDEE is therefore very low at 1450. To me that seems like a restricted calorie intake in itself (which is probably why I have 4kgs to lose lol). So.....question no 1 is:

do I try to stick to 1450 calories on my non-fast days? I thought this WOE was about NOT having to count calories? I'm not suggesting binge eating but I think without counting cals I'd definitely be over my TDEE limit

and question no 2:

should I therefore only be eating a quarter of my TDEE (ie around 350 cals) on my fast day? EEEEK if so.

Any advice from you experienced 5:2ers appreciated.

Most people start out on 500cals on fast days and on other days just eat a sensible, healthy diet. If you don't get a decent weight loss you can start tweaking but if you do then so much the better. I could never get below 500C and still be civil to those around me!

If you do stall then you can consider doing 4:3 or that could be the time to check your feed day intake and whether you are overstepping your TDEE by too much. For now I'd start with the basic format.

Im sure someone more knowledgable will come along soon. But why not try just eating sensibly on feed days with no counting calories and see how you go. If it doesn't work then go to calorie counting for a while. Good luck.
See told you a smart person would come along and beat me to it.

[Betsysgr8]

Follow Miffy's suggestion, no sense in overthinking this unless or until it doesn't work.

Agree with you all.....I'm just the sort of person that likes to have all the solutions to any possible problems that might occur. I don't want to make this any harder for myself that it needs to be. Thanks for your common-sense advice

Another consideration is to add exercise. My TDEE is 1500-1800 (depending on the site) but with logging 10,000 steps a day my TDEE is 2300. Steps equal more food and better muscle tone.

Thanks GoLinda. I thought I'd read in the FAQs that exercise doesn't mean you can eat more? I think I'd better go back and read them again

Ok, have read the FAQs and I misunderstood slightly. If you exercise you can't increase your FAST DAY calorie intake. Yes, that would boost my TDEE but I really don't like exercise (gosh, that makes me sound lazy!). I think it's something I might have to consider if my weight loss plateaus, but for now I'll do what I did last week and just eat sensibly on my non-fasting days.

Hi, my TDEE is also low (just over 1500), I have 5lb left to lose. I have to be careful what I eat on feed days basically, don't count calories or exercise much. But if you were to skip breakfast a few days a week, then be careful during the week there is still room for an ice cream or two at the weekends! I have managed to maintain a loss of 1lb a week with two fasting days. I don't calorie count on fast days either, just have one meal of salad with no dressing and a piece of salmon for dinner and nothing else. It seems to be working! Good luck, I think the advice to suck it and see is good.

My TDEE is between 1450-1550 (depending on the site) so I aim for approx 1500 cals on feed days but most of the time I don't log into MFP unless I am eating something I have not had before (especially if it seems very calorific). What I have found is that generally I am happy with a reasonably substantial breakfast 400-500 cal, a very light lunch ~300-400cal and then the rest of my cals for dinner. This allows for an occasional dessert (or raisin toast now that Winter has really taken hold).

I found that I (like many people) thought my TDEE was 2000cals (prior to and in the early days of fasting) and I found that after my initial weight loss I quickly plateaued and it wasn't till I really dug into the details of how much I should be eating that I found that knowing my real TDEE is liberating as with practice I have been able to guestimate pretty close to TDEE. Initially there was a lot of cal counting but after a while I was in the groove.

I have medical conditions that affect my weight loss and I find that with my lower TDEE I am feeling a lot better, I am losing weight and I am seeing my Dr tomorrow for my test results (hopefully they are improving too but I shall keep you all posted).

Mine is also low, around 1450. It's very depressing isn't it?!

I've been following the diet since early March and weight loss has been slow (apart from the initial quick loss in the first week). I realised that it must be so slow because I am over eating on feed days, so I tried restricting my feed day food intake, but that was difficult.

My latest plan of action involves doing the 16:8 on feed days (eating only in an 8 hour window during the day). I open my window between 12-2pm and close it between 8-10pm. - I'm not a breakfast person. I usually have a light lunch and a larger dinner. I have also significantly reduced the amount I eat on fast days to a <100 cal bowl of soup, so I am almost liquid fasting for 36 hours.

I'm usually not so strict on the weekends!

All of these ideas were implemented over time -- eating less on a fast day became easier the longer I followed the plan for, there was no way I would consider eating next to nothing at the beginning. The 16:8 way of eating on feed days began to happen naturally as my appetite decreased.

I exercise frequently (dance classes, cycle rides, walking, badminton, squash) but I am still static for most of the day (9-5 at a desk).

I am hoping that this will kick me off the plateau I have been on for a while...

I haven't a clue what my TDEE is, because it's totally irrelevant. This is a WOE that shouldn't be dependent on how many calories we eat on non-fast days.

It's good to see so many new people on the forum, injecting different ideas and opinions, but, equally, it must be confusing for them to see information that doesn't match what they have read in MM's book.

There is never any need to go hungry on non-fast days. As many of you know, I eat a low-carb diet, and am on the 5:2 WOE for the alleged health benefits.

[Moogie]

I would respectfully disagree and say that TDEE is important and is merely the real terminology for what Dr Mosley refers to in the book as a 'normal intake'. A lot of us have lost touch with what our bodies need and so getting an idea of the actual amount of calories we need can be really useful - though I agree we shouldn't have to calorie count on feed days.

Certainly with a low carb diet it would be hard to go over TDEE anyway as that's usually where the bulk of our daily calories come from, however I totally understand not wanting to cut down carbs that much as someone who loves her pasta, potato and rice (bread, meh, take it or leave it). I do find myself having smaller portions of these now but that's more through not being able to eat as much than being low carb

It's interesting to note that the official Fast Diet site has recently added an article about TDEE and indeed a TDEE calculator to tell users how much they should be eating on feed days.

Hi Moogie,

Those who are on a low-carb WOE tend to consume a lot of calories, because they can eat healthy fats liberally. I often eat up to 3,000 calories on non-fast days, because I love butter, cheese, cream and nuts.

It doesn't necessarily follow that low-carb foods are low in calories.

As well as walking as much as possible, I have a large veg box delivered every week. Eating my way through those, rather than excess carbs, helps a lot. I eat very little meat too, which is good for the environment. What's not to like?