The FastDay Forum

Hi, I've just started out on this diet (currently on 2nd fast day).

So far I'm not finding the fast days too hard, but I am uncertain about how much I should be eating on the feeding days. I use a fitbit and this monitors my activity and total calorie burn based upon my age/weight/height/gender and level of activity.

I use the fitbit app to track calories too, and have it set to recommend a 1000 cal deficit.

I typically burn around 2,700 cals a day (inc my BMR estimate). Am I alright to stick with eating approx 1700 cals on the feeding days, or should I up this to the 2700 level?

Welcome any thoughts on this? Am hoping that there will be quite a few other fitbit users who might have already worked through this question

Thanks!

[Moogie]

Hi allic & welcome to the forums!

I'm not a fitbit user myself and certainly I don't burn as many cals as you do on an normal day, however the joy of 5:2 is that you don't need to worry on your feed days. You should just keep eating as normal on those days, whatever is 'normal' for you, ie the way you were eating before you started 5:2

Hi allic

I don,t use fitbit, I use myfitnesspal, it has a funtion which allows you to enter exercise done, it then deducts the calories burned from the food consumed calorie total, EG it gives you back anything burned in exercise to eat again that day. I don,t use this as I,m sure it would mean I eat more than I need.

Like Moogie says you could just eat what you normally eat on feed days and see how you get on, then adjust this if you want to lose or gain weight.

Steve

[janeg]

Previously, I had 1200 calls on feed days as my metabolism is shot to bits. I lost 3 a
Nd a bit kilos and was well chuffed. Since New year, when I resumed properly, I've need eating normally on feed days and not tracking calories. I've also been exercising , so I've changed 2 variables BUT, it's fair shifting the beef. Won' t get numerical results until a week on Sunday, but it looks as though sensible eating and not going hungry on feed days works. How strange!

[Moogie]

I started out on 1400-1500 cals on feed days because that was how I had been eating before. I've now found I can continue to lose weight even having the full 2000 (or more ) a day!

Funny, I was just going to create a post on this same subject. I'm new here too and have just calculated I need 1700 calories per day to maintain & 1300 calories to lose. I'm afraid I won't lose anything at all if I stick to 1700 per day, 5 days a week. My thoughts are that to maintain my glorious chubbiness I would have to eat 7 x 1700 = 11,900 calories a week. To lose even a pound a week, I need to have a deficit of 3,500 calories, so eating 8,400 calories a week I should lose a pound. If I follow 5:2 as recommended that would be 2 x 500 calories plus 5 x 1700 calories (no need to diet on your feed days) so that's a total of 1,000 plus 8,500 = 9,500. Only a deficit of 2,400 a week. It will take me forever to lose a pound at that rate. It looks like I'll have to do 2 x 500 and 5 x 1,300 (calories per day recommended for my height, age etc to lose weight) so I will have 1,000 + 6,500 = 7,500 calories per week. That's a deficit of 4,400 calories a week, so I should lose a pound & a bit a week. Exercise should help increase the deficit I suppose. I was getting quite excited about having 5 normal days of 1,700 calories but I think I will soon get disheartened if I don't lose anything. Am I calculating wrongly? Sorry for the length of this garbled message. Many thanks, Andie

[Moogie]

Try it without counting on your feed days first and see how you get on eh? it's worked for all of us, no need to overthink it - the joy of this lifestyle is its simplicity!

[carorees]

At the risk of throwing a spanner in the works, I have to tell you that if you only need 1700 to maintain, then on fast days you should only have 425 cals!

Oh gosh Carorees, thanks for that info - I definitely missed that very important detail I tried the calculator website that was recommended in one of the downloads. Age 50, 5.5' and 12st (there, I've put it in writing), and the results were 1700 (and something) to maintain. On top of that I'm in the middle of the menopause & my once very over-active thyroid, which took me down to 7st 12 five years ago, is still playing up & now I have both Graves and Hashimoto - over and under at the same time (didn't know that was possible). So its' 425 on fast days - first one tomorrow. I've ordered the book & I guess I will do as Moogie so wisely recommended - no over-thinking. Thanks again

I too have just started, no problem with my fast day, but eating what I like on my non fast days takes some getting my head round. I have just stuck to my normal healthy diet, nothing outrageous, but I think its the years of failed dieting that has got into my psyche and telling me I should be counting what I eat on my 5 non fast days. Have to keep reminding myself about what attracted me to the plan in the first place and that was that it was easy to adopt as part of a lifestyle change not to be seen as a diet. I am not massively overweight my BMI is 27.1 so, the potential to change my lifestyle permanently to achieve such significant health benefits is why I am following the 5:2 plan.

[carorees]

Andie, Yes you need to reduce to 25% of maintenance and then eat up to maintenance on feed days, this gives an overall decrease of 20% which is the kind of drop they use in studies of weight loss. Of course you can eat over some days and under on others as long as it averages out to about 1350.

So I have been on to work out my BMR which is 1584 - so does this mean that I should only be eating just under 400 calories on my fast days? ahhhh that is very low.


Angela x

[Moogie]

I'd base it on what you actually eat on feed days, calorie wise.
That said, when I started I was only having 1400-1500 cals a day and kept to 500 on my fasts and still lost loads of weight

I had my first fast day yesterday with great success. No headaches or anything. i even got the wii fit out and done some step excercise! (after dusting off the cobwebs). I thought I would wake up really hungry this morning but didnt. After cooking myself 2 eggs on wholmeal toast, I found I could only eat one of them and I was 3lb lighter!!!! I know this will even out as my fast days are going to be Tuesday and Thursday with a whole weekend in between,but I feel really good. Where I am going with this, is that working out all the calories that I should have on feed day is beyond me. Anything is better than what I was doing as an emotional eater and snacker before. Seriously, I would eat just for the sake of eating. I actually enjoyed the mug of Marigold Veg Bouillion I had yesterday so might try and stick to that at lunchtime rather than the usual sandwiches, crisps, chocolate I was having before.

Hi I'm new to this too. Started just after new year. I need about 1700 calories a day but only reduce that to 500 on a fast day.. But I also can't get out of the habit of monitoring what I eat on feed days. Anyway seems to be working.. Lost 4 pound so far