Use the resources section on this forum to calculate your TDEE. It is based on your current weight. As you lose weight you need to recalculate. The 125% reference you make is I think a comment that one of the researchers Michael talked to who said some people over ate up to 125% of their normal eating pattern as a consequence of doing fasting. Try and stick to 100% or less on non fast days.

The TDEE calculator is an approximation. It can be easily be +/-10% out. Of course you don’t have to eat up to that amount. Im 54 yo male 5′ 11″ so not too dissimilar to yourself.

What you want to do is get yourself into a routine that is do-able for the rest of your life and not treat this as a diet. Most diets end in tears as people can not sustain that sort of effort. I started out doing 5:2 and my two fast days were water fasts. I then ate normally for the other 5 days. I just found this easier to do rather than eating 600 cal. Over the course of a year I lost 20 kg (44pounds). I now do 6:1 and the one fast day is still a water fast. I maintain this for the other health benefits associated with fasting. Im not saying that you need to do this, Im just saying this is how I did it. You need to find a routine that works for you.

To make life easier for you I would avoid sugar (real hard to do as processed food has buckets of it) and simple carbs like, bread, rice, pasta potatoes etc on my fast days. Even on your non fast days I would treat these foods as sometimes foods.

Just a simple activity like walking for one hour per day will help. It doesn’t even have to be a power walk, I just amble along. Doing this will result in a loss of about 15 pounds over the course of a year.

Good luck, develop a routine that doesn’t feel like a diet, it works.

thanks for that info i restarted yesterday and thought i can’t eat that much.

Hi ido,

You don’t have to eat up to 2825 cals if that is what your current TDEE is. If you eat less and can do this comfortably then no problems, eat less. Most of the people on this forum have the opposite problem in that they find it too easy to eat over their TDEE on their non fast days. If your struggling to eat too much all the better.

Hi ido:

Did your reading explain why you should eat your total TDEE?

I’m not aware of any reasons why you should if you don’t want to, but I’m always ready to learn.