Can I increase calories on fast days?

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Can I increase calories on fast days?

This topic contains 7 replies, has 8 voices, and was last updated by  SSure 10 years ago.

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  • I am so happy to say I am getting really close to my target. Have lost almost 5 kg in 5 weeks, and plan to loose about 1-2 more. (The last of my baby weight 🙂

    For maintenance I still want the health benefits of fasting, and will continue to go 16 hours without food at least 2 times a week, then eat within 8 hours and wait until next morning. I think its called 16:8?

    So – How many calories can I have those days, do I still have to stick with 500? Or can I allow myself some more and yet have the health benefits, but not loosing more weight?

    Will be glad to have some advice 🙂

    I would like to know the answer to this too. I can easily manage 600 calories on a fast day but not 500 cal. I am worried that I lose the health benefits by increasing my calorie intake. I am still very much trying to embed the 5:2 diet as the ‘norm’ for my weekly diet but I must admit I am struggling with that and been trying since last year. I am not looking to lose much weight and really just trying to maintain my weight for my wedding in August. However, i do want the health benefits that this diet brings long term so I really need to make this diet sustainable. I can go all day without food but I have always tended to binge in the evenings.

    Hi:

    I don’t believe there are any human studies showing the hoped for health benefits of 5:2 (other than weight loss). However, if there are health benefits, they come from calorie restriction. 16:8 carries with it no calorie restriction as you can eat as much as you want during your 8 hour eating window. If you want the potential health benefits, you will need to insure you restrict the number of calories you eat when you ‘fast’. Without calorie restriction, there is no fast. You can then eat more calories on your non fast days so you won’t lose any more weight.

    Good Luck!

    @jules2084 the 500 figure was chosen as 25% of the ‘average’ woman’s required intake (TDEE) of 2000 calories per day. Michael Mosley found that eating 25% of TDEE got the best results.

    If by eating 600 calories on a fast day and still staying within your TDEE on non fast days then that’s fine. It’s whatever works best for you – there are no ‘rights’ and ‘wrongs’ with this way of eating. If what you are doing works and fits your lifestyle then it is the right way for you.

    If you are going for maintenance rather than weight loss you may find that 600 cals on a fast day is the best way. ‘Try it and see’ is the answer.

    xx

    I think the calories for your fast day on maintenance of weight loss will be a bit hit and miss and something each of us will have to work out for ourselves.
    But if we are maintaining this way of life for the health benefits, our fast day calories should probably continue to be 1/4 of our TDEE, and our normal days be up to or slightly over our TDEE. Normal days eating will be a personal thing as none of us would want to increase our weight I am sure.

    Actually there’s one published research paper on a 4 month test in which the results were that “Intermittent energy restriction may result in greater improvements in insulin sensitivity and weight control than daily energy restriction (DER)” & insulin “Reductions with the IECR diets were significantly greater compared with the DER”.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23591120

    I am trying to lose weight not much only around 2kg but I really struggle with the 500 especially as I am at the gym most days so I have 600 a day instead which leaves me with 200 for every meal and I find that more achieveable.

    Can anyone tell me if this extra 100 cals is going to stop the diet working?

    I have only been on the diet a few weeks but had a massive blowout on the weekend which I think counteracted the good work from last week so starting again this week.

    “Can anyone tell me if this extra 100 cals is going to stop the diet working?

    I have only been on the diet a few weeks but had a massive blowout on the weekend which I think counteracted the good work from last week so starting again this week.” No, the extra 100 calories on your fast days is not going to stop 5:2 from working for you – if anything, it will slow your progress by such a small amount that it’s not readily computable 🙂

    ‘Massive blow-outs on the weekend’, however, are a very different matter, as I’m sure you already know. That’s quite a common pattern, as I’m sure you know – so, best wishes for getting that in hand.

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