Question about 500 calories

This topic contains 3 replies, has 2 voices, and was last updated by TracyJ 9 years, 8 months ago.

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366to266

10:54 am
10 Mar 15
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Hi folks… going to try this, first day of fasting today.

And I have a burning question!

Is it true that the 500 for women/600 for men is based on women being generally lighter than men and having a lower TDEE etc… that it’s going by rough averages, and that there isn’t anything intrinsic in being male that means they “deserve” an extra 100. And is it also based on roughly 25% of these stereotypes’ TDEE of about 2,000?

The reason I ask is, I am female but I weigh 332 pounds so my TDEE is 2,400 on a sedentary day and 2,800 on the three days that I exercise. Does this mean that my fast days should be 1/4 of this, i.e. 600 to 700?

Thanks in advance!

366 to 266 (name is the change in weight I intend to achieve)

TracyJ

12:16 pm
10 Mar 15
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Yes to most of those questions. I’d recommend you use the site’s own TDEE calculator (How Tab above) and be very honest about your exercise level (if you’re not sure go for the lower estimate). This will give you some good guidelines but only FOR NOW.

If you want to see what you’re aiming for, do the same TDEE calculation but put your TARGET weight in. When I first started I hadn’t a clue about TDEE etc. and just did the 500/2000 calorie thing on my 2/5 days respectively. That worked REALLY well to start with, as I was WELL over 2000 calorie TDEE (being VERY overweight). However, as I got closer to Ms. Average the weight loss tailed off accordingly.

You CAN be extra nice to yourself to start with and have an extra few calories (25% of your ACTUAL TDEE) if you want to but I’d recommend you cut that back down to close to 500 asap once you’re used to the lifestyle. It won’t be sustainable for long if you do shift some weight and it’s better in the longterm if you start to get comfortable with portion sizes and total calorie intakes that are closer to what you’ll be doing at maintenance.

Oh also – take no account of exercise differences from day to day. Just work out your TDEE and use that number as your ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM intake for non-fastdays.

366to266

12:50 pm
10 Mar 15
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Thank you Tracy. One more question, when you say “take no account of exercise differences from day to day. Just work out your TDEE and use that number as your ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM intake for non-fastdays” I am not sure what you mean.

I exercise on 3 days, sometimes 4, and the rest of the time am desk-bound and immobile. Which of these do I base my TDEE on?

TracyJ

1:47 pm
10 Mar 15
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All of them together. The TDEE calculator asks you for your weekly activity level and gives examples of what you should choose for what you habitually do. Having a different TDEE for every day of the week is very confusing and needlessly complicated. The tool will give you your ‘max’ for the other 5 days and you’re having 500 (or a bit more if you want to begin with) on fastdays. That’s enough to be worrying about for now.