The FastDay Forum

Hi All

So the past 4 weeks I've been doing 5:2 on and off, some days I am good, some fast days I am fab and others I am just plain rubbish....

I don't actually know why I do it to myself because I always feel so good on/after a fast day then just blow it.

My question is according to the Fast Diet TDEE Calculator on non-fast days I should be eating 1707 calories (or less) in order to lose weight - is this correct? On non-fast days should I be eating my TDEE or less?

Many thanks all

Welcome Kf2018 !

Tell us a bit more about yourself - your goals , etc - when you get a chance.

Hmm..... good, fab and rubbish sound familiar...

It depends on what you mean by rubbish! Are you feeling a bit tired or weak, or lightheaded when you stand up? If so, increase your salt intake by sipping a cup or two of stock drink (bouillon cube) during the day to quickly correct this.

With consistent 5:2, you are already cutting your weekly calorie intake but some 20% !!, so there's far less concern needed regarding TDEE or careful "feast" day calorie counting. Yes, for a short while you may eat a bit more on feast days - around 15% or so, but even that can't make up for the calories not eaten on a fast day, so you can relax a bit.

By "just blow it", I assume you felt that you ate more that you "should"? See previous paragraph.

We've been there. The first few days are the worst in terms of hunger, but because the human body is so amazingly adaptable, it gets better very quickly after that.

I tend to disagree. The calorie deficit on fast days is assuming you can maintain your weight on 2000 calories (which for me is not even close to true.) But if that were true, then the deficit on fast days is 1500 a day which is 3000 for the week, barely a pound. So, if you overdo it on non-fast days, you won't lose anything. Just my thoughts from experience!