The FastDay Forum

I am new to the forum but have been using the 5/2 fasting since September 2012 and have lost 69 pounds, my blood pressure has reverted from very high(180/80) to normal range(130/60) I was surprised when I found this forum to see such emphasis on calorie counting; when I saw the BBC Horizon program the thing that really motivated me into trying the regime was that I could eat all the normal foods that I like for 5 days a week and on a fasting day eat only 600 calories. In my case on a fasting day I have one meal at lunchtime of a wholemeal roll with varied contents - cheese, ham or prawns, etc, an apple and a banana, and that's it; easy!
I find the discipline of this simple approach works for me, I don't crave food on a fasting day and can enjoy my food the rest of the week and I feel 100% better in myself.

Do you mean why count calories on a fast or non fast day?

That's what I was getting at in my thread about mixing diets. I've thought about it some & decided it depends on motivation and the amount one needs to lose.

So people wanting to lose a stone or so can achieve this quickly by fasting & cals counting. Those of us with a lot more to lose need the diet to be more sustainable over many months. Restricted diets tend to fail after about six months or so.

Other people are so used to cal counting, it would feel odd not to and the notion of eating whatever you want is scary if you've always had to restrict cals.

[carorees]

Hi, yes it is paradoxical that while not needing to calorie count, so many of us do.

We don't yet know whether restricting calories slightly on feed days results in better or worse weight loss than not restricting so it would be interesting to compare results between folks who don't calorie count and those who do (though of course the non-calorie counters would have to calorie count on a few days so we know whether they are eating up to their TDEE or above/below. We think that the process of fasting results in people eating less than they normally would on feed days but unless people calorie count we can't tell!

Personally, because I have an app on my phone that makes calorie counting really easy (though I don't weigh/measure a lot of stuff like veg and fruit, only energy dense foods), I do calorie count (by that I mean keep track of calories, I don't restrict my eating just count it!). I usually eat a bit more than my TDEE but not much and over the week my calorie intake appears to be about right for slow weight loss according to the app's calculations.

Bigmike - I like your stripped back approach!

Simple but effective!

Do you mean why count calories on a fast or non fast day?

On fast Fast days I stick to my set fast diet which I know is below 600 cal and non-fast days I just eat normal so I don't count calories at all.
just think it is better to keep things simple

On fast Fast days I stick to my set fast diet which I know is below 600 cal and non-fast days I just eat normal so I don't count calories at all.
just think it is better to keep things simple

Semantics. You have counted the calories then eat the same calorie counted thing every fast day ?

Yes, I see this is a continuing lifestyle regime, like Michael Mosely has described, when I reach my desired weight I will revert to one fast day a week and continue doing that.
This is why I don't consider this a diet as such. Diets fail because they are too difficult and boring to maintain in the long term, then after having slipped from the diet, the sense of failure encourages the person to give up and gorge ending up back where they started

exactly

On fast Fast days I stick to my set fast diet which I know is below 600 cal and non-fast days I just eat normal so I don't count calories at all.
just think it is better to keep things simple

Semantics. You have counted the calories then eat the same calorie counted thing every fast day ?

Yes but only once at the start of the diet back in September, I don't count calories now.

I'm not sure I would want to eat the same thing/s every fast day. I think its very important to count calories on fast days. You need to know you are consuming the 400-500 or 500-600, or if you are over and working your way down to this limit how far off you are.

Feed days it's up to you, if it helps to count then that's fine, if not.......

I did not count on feed days and dropped weight to a point where I was starting to be too thin, I now count to ensure I don't lose any more weight.

Totally agree with you Bigmike - my hubby counts calories on his fast days, but not on his feed days. I, on the other hand, count calories on feed days too as I've got far more to shed than hubby has. Ultimately, when target weight is gained then calorie counting will go out the window! Got a while to wait for that day, but it'll come.... eventually !