The FastDay Forum

I confess I haven't read the entire thread but here is my 2 pennies worth

For the most part, I do count calories on my 5 of the 5:2. At my age, height, my TDEE is 1300, yes it's low and its amazing how those calories add up. If I didn't count, I would not be able to maintain and go to the one or may be two social events a week

I also think that if you mix and match your calorie intake, 500 one day, 1300 the next and 1800-2000 the following, it confuses your body and doesn't negatively impact metabolism

I can't say I enjoy fasts per se but I do love the feeling I have when I do, freedom from thinking about food, the lightness in my belly.

It's a flexible WOE/WOL and that's why I think it works. Everyone can adjust it to suit their needs ...

Good luck

Hello

Einatbl is right fasting and 1300 calories isn't sustainable!

I have had about 6 weeks of not fasting, and I have put on 10lb!

I was calorie counting and netting after exercise ala MFP probably less than 1300, with a TDEE of 2400 it just wasn't enough, I got fed up, and actually a tad depressed so have knocked it on the head for a bit. However today starting again, and going to fast on Weds and Sat this week, see how I get on!

In a way it doesn't matter whether someone thinks its sustainable or not, if you're like me (as others have said) and are short and over a certain age then your TDEE will be LOW - mine is around 1300 so I have to keep to this or else I will not be able to maintain. Just my 2 cents worth

This is a flexible way of eating: is it good for you to have a TDEE of 2000 and restrict to 1200? I suspect not but only the person doing that can comment.

Some people are lucky. Others like me have a TDEE of around 1400. To lose weight I need to stick to this AND fast twice a week. I might shave a few grams, but to show a bigger difference I need to 4:3 and add 16:8 into the mix.

If I go over my TDEE I gain.

But it is more than about losing weight. I fast for the health benefits.

Well said rawkaren - Im in the same boat and it kind of sucks!!

I think the point is that for people who have lost a lot of weight, at their current weight their TDEE is lower than expected, lower than if they had always weighed that amount. So to maintain, something's got to give. I don't think is the whole story, but one reason the TDEE might be lower than expected is that they've lost muscle mass, and muscle is more metabolically active. Only exercise can replace it, and probably only certain kinds of exercise. This is my current understanding but I'm no expert!

Yep, muscle burns calories & is denser so you are smaller but heavier than a onlooker would guess at.

My TDEE is still 2250 even though I'm 5ft 3. I have a larger frame & am solidly built as first generation ex-farmer.

I think the point is that for people who have lost a lot of weight, at their current weight their TDEE is lower than expected, lower than if they had always weighed that amount. So to maintain, something's got to give. I don't think is the whole story, but one reason the TDEE might be lower than expected is that they've lost muscle mass, and muscle is more metabolically active. Only exercise can replace it, and probably only certain kinds of exercise. This is my current understanding but I'm no expert!

I think that may well be the whole answer, but just to throw in another possibility: maybe people who have lost a lot of weight were born with a lower TDEE, and that is why they ended up with a lot of weight to lose.

My TDEE is only 1243 but I'm pretty sure I exceed that very often even doing 16;8 as I'm a greedy guts! I think my saving grace is the fact that I exercise 3 to 4 times a week so hopefully my muscle mass will burn off more calories.

Yep, muscle burns calories & is denser so you are smaller but heavier than a onlooker would guess at.

My TDEE is still 2250 even though I'm 5ft 3. I have a larger frame & am solidly built as first generation ex-farmer.

Thanks.

What do you use to calculate your TDEE? I'm using the number provided in the progress tracker which takes into account the fact that I'm a 50 year old female along with my height, weight, and level of activity. What other parameter do you include to inform it of a higher muscle content?

My TDEE is only 1243 but I'm pretty sure I exceed that very often even doing 16;8 as I'm a greedy guts! I think my saving grace is the fact that I exercise 3 to 4 times a week so hopefully my muscle mass will burn off more calories.

Yep, same here

I use the tracker here but looked at this one earlier. It has types of exercise.


http://nutritiondata.self.com/

Plus I am getting visibly larger, cough!

[carorees]

You need to use the Katch-McCardle formula for TDEE which takes into account your percent body fat (I don't think there is one that includes an estimation of muscle mass, but this at least takes account of the fat). This site allows you to choose your formula for calculating TDEE: http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

wow! just put my data in there and with my 21% body fat it calculates my TDEE at 1533, quite an increase from the previous 1243 I'd been going on from my progress tracker. That would actually make more sense as I've successfully maintained, and even dropped a few more pounds whilst eating what I'd thought was way over my daily limit.

@Einatbl This WOL is not ever "relative misery" for me, or I wouldn't do it! And I do 3 x 36 hour zero-cal fasts a week! Yes I feel hunger pains, but that's a good thing! The fasts are helping me to differentiate between real physical hunger and "emotional" hunger. Since I have finally stopped eating all day every day! Fasting is also extremely liberating. It allows me to eat "normal" food on feast days. REAL food, not diet versions of everything. I also have much, much less of a desire to binge because nothing is off-limits, I might just have to wait until tomorrow to have it. I am feeling no guilt when I am eating or afterwards. A new experience for me! And not feeling guilty lessens my desire to eat too much of anything because eating that food doesn't constitute falling off the wagon like on most diets. Eating something like pizza and chocolate would normally trigger a binge because "I've blown my diet anyway" , so I might as well eat as much as I possibly can and start dieting again tomorrow. This terrible cycle has been going on for 25 years for me. And fasting has freed me from that. I plan to fast to some degree for the rest of my life. For me I feel it is completely sustainable.

@Einatbl This WOL is not ever "relative misery" for me, or I wouldn't do it! And I do 3 x 36 hour zero-cal fasts a week! Yes I feel hunger pains, but that's a good thing! The fasts are helping me to differentiate between real physical hunger and "emotional" hunger. Since I have finally stopped eating all day every day! Fasting is also extremely liberating. It allows me to eat "normal" food on feast days. REAL food, not diet versions of everything. I also have much, much less of a desire to binge because nothing is off-limits, I might just have to wait until tomorrow to have it. I am feeling no guilt when I am eating or afterwards. A new experience for me! And not feeling guilty lessens my desire to eat too much of anything because eating that food doesn't constitute falling off the wagon like on most diets. Eating something like pizza and chocolate would normally trigger a binge because "I've blown my diet anyway" , so I might as well eat as much as I possibly can and start dieting again tomorrow. This terrible cycle has been going on for 25 years for me. And fasting has freed me from that. I plan to fast to some degree for the rest of my life. For me I feel it is completely sustainable.

wow, what a well said summary @fastingqueen of why 5:2, or other forms of intermittent fasting is probably the only sustainable way of losing weight if one enjoys food as much as I do.

I think the point is that for people who have lost a lot of weight, at their current weight their TDEE is lower than expected, lower than if they had always weighed that amount. So to maintain, something's got to give. I don't think is the whole story, but one reason the TDEE might be lower than expected is that they've lost muscle mass, and muscle is more metabolically active. Only exercise can replace it, and probably only certain kinds of exercise. This is my current understanding but I'm no expert!

I think that may well be the whole answer, but just to throw in another possibility: maybe people who have lost a lot of weight were born with a lower TDEE, and that is why they ended up with a lot of weight to lose.

That's a really interesting theory, kentishlass. No doubt our actual TDEEs vary quite a lot, other things being equal.