The calorie limit on fast days is twofold: 1. health benefits from giving your body a break, 2. weight loss. Increasing calories to compensate will begin to mess with #1, and will only slow the rate at which you lose weight.

For me, the beauty of this way of eating is finding a 500-calorie (or lower) routine that I can stick with and not even thinking about, “if I go for a run, then I can have x.”

On fast days, I try to think about food as little as possible. (After a few weeks, grocery shopping and cooking were doable, but meal planning is still a bad idea after 4 months.). Ultimately you’ll need to decide what works for you. Good luck!

I’ve tried various ways with the fast and for now (after 5 months) I find i eat all my fast calories at lunchtime which gives me enough in the tank to slow jog for an hour after work. Once home I have a small stash of bath bombs and such and have a long soak, as I often feel cold on the fast days and enjoy a bath as a treat. For me this works and hopefully you’ll find what works for you.

I exercise on my fast days, and don’t add the calories burned to my allowable consumption – found that helped with sticking to the 500cal rather than thinking i could have a bit extra due to exercise done.