The FastDay Forum

It's Thursday so I'm fasting, going into my third week with this. I'm a bit hungry but I really don't feel like eating.

Am i "allowed" or "supposed" to eat my 600 kcal?

It's evening now and I've only had about 100 kcal, and I don't really think I want to eat 500 kcal more, maybe 100-200 instead. I don't know yet.

Is eating less than your dose of calories counterproductive in some way, for weight loss or health purposes?

It's a rule of thumb generalized for a large population.

Allowed is the answer. You can eat less - or up to 1/4 of your calculated TDEE - but not generally more.

I find that I always eat less than my TDEE on feast days and right at 600 calories on fast days.

I eat a single fast-day meal in the evening rather than dividing it across the day. I appreciate it more and there's evidence in the book that nibbling them away during the day reduces weight loss.

John

Hi:

You can eat 600 or less. Many people start at their 'allowance' and work down - sometimes to 'liquid fasting' or 0 cal. on fast days. They usually do this in an attempt to lose weight a little faster, but some just like not eating for a day. As you probably know, 5:2 was not designed as a weight loss diet, and the 600/500 number was picked as a minimum number that produced the desired changes in body function and blood work for life extension purposes (hopes).

I quite often will only have a cuppa soup for my fast, 50-100cals. Today however I feel like I really want something solid so will have a giant salad for around 200-250 cals, and that'll be all