The FastDay Forum

Surprisingly I am 420 ish cals today. So long as I don't have a late attitude problem, all should be well...wet fish is holstered and handy
@Clementine17, personally I would not be worried about being under on feed days, unless you find you are either not losing or too hungry on fast days and are in danger of going off the rails.

I'm fasting today but I have to say i don't feel like it I have to though because its not possible on Friday or saturday.
Weigh in tomorrow so hopefully that will keep me motivated

@Clemetine17 Bonjour and hello. Have you filled your details into the tracker as this will help you with your actual calorie intake for you rather than the average 2000. My TDEE is around 1800. So that's what I should eat on my normal days.
I am in properly today, as I did end up eating yesterday but gently after my tummy upset.
@Sallyohope you feel better soon.

I'm in for my second of the week. The other days have not gone well! I need to get a grip....

Well done @clementine17 on getting through your fast. I may be wrong, but as long as you don't go horrifically under your TDEE I would say eating a bit less from time to time would be an absolute bonus. It's all a bit swings & roundabouts - there will be days where you do extra well and then days when it's not so good & these will even out. I'm sure some of the experts on here will be able to advise you properly, but I have always understood that your TDEE is the number of calories you need to eat to stand still, i.e. what your body requires to function without calling on fat reserves. Dipping down occasionally probably won't hurt, but eating under regularly will mess things up....as far as I understand it. Maybe this would be a good time for a reminder for us all! Personally, I can't imagine having trouble eating up to my TDEE on non-fast days - but then, that is why I am in this mess! Best of luck to you anyway

Oh dear me @sallyo - so very sorry to hear about your wrist. Am off to read how you did it, but would like to send you a healing hug & get well wishes for a speedy recovery!

Good luck to everyone today!

Hazel nut you can do it. I seem to have let some things slip as well. But we did it before we can get a grip again.

On Tuesday and Wednesday I had problems in trying to eat the full 2000 calories and only managed 1350 and 1500 respectively. How important is it to eat 2000 calories on your non-fasting days? I had to boost my intake to those numbers by eating a load of almonds on the Tuesday and a big bowl of chocolate ice cream and a banana yesterday.

Is 2,000 calories your TDEE? http://the5-2dietbook.com/calculator/

The 500 calories for women comes from the average female consuming 2,000 calories rather than us needing to eat 2,000 calories.

At my height, current weight and age my TDEE is 1,450 so if I consumed 2,000 calories on a non fast day I'd be eating over my maintenance calories.

Eating 2,000 calories per day =
10,000 (5 days)
1,000 (2 days)
10,150 (7 x 1,450)
overeat of 850 per week

Eating TDEE =
7,250 (5 days)
1,000 (2 days)
10,150 (7 x 1,450)
1,900 deficit

Have I got that right more experienced fasters?

On Tuesday and Wednesday I had problems in trying to eat the full 2000 calories and only managed 1350 and 1500 respectively. How important is it to eat 2000 calories on your non-fasting days? I had to boost my intake to those numbers by eating a load of almonds on the Tuesday and a big bowl of chocolate ice cream and a banana yesterday.

Is 2,000 calories your TDEE? http://the5-2dietbook.com/calculator/

The 500 calories for women comes from the average female consuming 2,000 calories rather than us needing to eat 2,000 calories.

Thank you for the link, Cyclonet. I have used it to calculate my BMR but am confused whether that is the same as TDEE. As a beginner to this, I'd like to get it right as ther's no point in starving if I overeat on my non-fast days or make my metabolism slow by cutting calories too much. I've also just taken my 'before' measurements..... not good! No wonder my clothes are tight. Any help on working out what I really should be eating would be gratefully accepted.

At my height, current weight and age my TDEE is 1,450 so if I consumed 2,000 calories on a non fast day I'd be eating over my maintenance calories.

Eating 2,000 calories per day =
10,000 (5 days)
1,000 (2 days)
10,150 (7 x 1,450)
overeat of 850 per week

Eating TDEE =
7,250 (5 days)
1,000 (2 days)
10,150 (7 x 1,450)
1,900 deficit

Have I got that right more experienced fasters?

Hello - I'm fasting today, 2nd one overall so hoping it feels better than Mondays. Armed with my Gingerbread Green Tea (yum!) and a 1.5ltr bottle of water. On Mon I had a breakfast smoothie and then struggled with hunger ALL day. Today I've decided I'm going to hold out as long as I can and just have an amazeballs dinner

Good luck everyone - and @Sallyo hope your wrist is better soon!

im in today for my 2nd this week

Hello @Cyclonet, @hazelnut20 and @Clementine17!

I think BMR stands for basic metabolic rate and is the number of calories your body needs when you don't do any activity. TDEE is the total daily energy expenditure and takes into account your level of activity - the more active you are, the more calories you can have! Do remember that the BMR and TDEE you calculate by inputting your sex, age, height and weight is an average from studies of others with the same characteristics - there is individual variability, so just use it as a rough guide.

Cyclonet, your calculations are correct as far as I understand things. That deficit roughly equates to just over half a pound so that loss in fat can be masked easily by other things that impact on your weight such as water retention, body waste etc.

Ideally on non-fast days you would eat the TDEE for the weight you are aiming for, but if you have a lot to lose, that might be too restrictive, so set an interim goal and work out the TDEE for that - then revise once you reach that goal. I think it can also be good to vary the amount you eat, so some days go under, some days a bit over - keep the body guessing! Also aim to eat healthily with very few processed foods and reduce sugar as much as possible.

Hope that helps. Please ask if you have further queries.

Clementine, you do need to calculate your TDEE, as it is may well be less than 2000. (NB I'm with Hazelenut, I would have no trouble consuming that number of cals; I can eat twice my TDEE without noticing it...!!! )

Thank you for your replies and help. I've now found out that my TDEE is 2177 and my fast day target is 545, both of which sound incredibly high! I logged in my activity level as light because I do about 2 hours gardening every day on average, I do a big swim once a week and walk about 3 times a week (40 minutes or so). However, if I find i'm not losing any weight, then I could change my activity level to sedentary.

Starting to get hungry now! Have just sourced a jar of Bovril (had to go to M&S during lunchtime...never doing that to myself on a fast day again!) and now sipping on that in the hope it helps

I'm in!
First one for a fortnight because I was away all last week and I just couldn't face it on Monday morning (really shouldn't have any wine on Sunday evening!) I was more mindful about what I was eating though, so didn't do too much damage. My OH has been 5:2ing with me for while, but the week off has tempted him even more than me, so today he had cereal this morning, then tortured me by having toast at lunchtime. Grr! Luckily it's a lovely day so I went outside to do some gardening. Tummy is now rumbling, but I'm feeling pleased with myself.

Sorry to hear about the injury @Sallyo and hope it heals really quickly
Welcome @Clementine17 , I hope that you manage to sort out your calorie intake. It does seem a bit mad to deliberately eat extra food that is not very nutritious just to reach your TDEE. I try to fast for two days (at about 500 though that is more than 25% of my TDEE which is about 1600), eat slightly under TDEE for three days, and allow for eating slightly over TDEE at the weekend.

Eurgh. I'm up at 670 cals for the day and struggling not to cram everything in my face right now. Turns out I really am an emotional eater (bored in front of the TV). Now trying to distract myself on here reading about the benefits of 5:2... is it too early to go to bed? Haha

Good morning everyone. It is Wednesday morning here. I did fast yesterday, Thursday. I had surgery at 9 am and it was the easiest fast ever! I slept all day. I looked at what was for dinner and put it away! I didn't even drink the tea. Only water. I am now being offered a shower so I will finish this and come back later to tell the awful tale! I have a plate and eight screws in my left wrist. Take care GMH