Hi Sheryl joie,

Below is a link to the interviews with Dr. Mosley that you can read yourself, in which he explains that 5:2 revision which to me clearly states a 200 calorie increase from the original protocol.

Yes, the Blood Sugar Diet allows 800 calories, though those 800 calories are meant to be eaten every day for 8 weeks.

Women consuming 800 calories on FDs only may make intermittent fasting more doable though may take longer to achieve weight loss results. If it is a whole group that has decided to raise their consumption to 800 calories, well, it is up to each of us or collectively as a group. However, if following Dr. Mosley’s research and findings, he states that his recommended intermittent fasting calories are 700 for women and 800 for men on fasting days. Here’s the excerpt from the interview in which he clearly states that and find the actual link following…

“You don’t need to stick to 600 calories. Cutting down to 800 calories a day seems to be almost as effective and for some people much more ‘doable’.”

“It’s low calorie, without being superlow-calorie. And if you want to have lunch, you can slip those extra 200 calories in there.”

Note that Dr. Mosley himself is a male. He speaks for himself that he consumes an extra 200 calories on fasting days which raises his total fast day calories from 600 to 800. The newspaper then extrapolated that everyone can now eat 800 calories because those who wrote the article never read the book or practiced 5:2 so don’t realize that women were only afforded 500 calories in Dr. Mosley’s Fastdiet book, so it is really a false headline and misleading article. Men have always been allowed a higher fast day calorie count. As you read above, Dr. Mosley speaks of adding an extra 200 calories to his own regime which brings the tally from 600 to 800 and I did hear him speak of this when being interviewed by a male Australian journalist who was also on a fasting day at the time. Below is the excerpt from Dr. Mosley’s interview that draws me to conclude that the new revision means adding in an extra 200 calories for men which equates to 800 calories for each fast day and 700 for women.

“You don’t need to stick to 600 calories. Cutting down to 800 calories a day seems to be almost as effective and for some people much more ‘doable’.”

“It’s low calorie, without being superlow-calorie. And if you want to have lunch, you can slip those extra 200 calories in there.”

He told the Mail on Sunday: “If you are going to have lunch, have something like a nice bowl of hearty soup, or grilled fish and a decent pile of vegetables or salad.”

I read it as adding in an extra 200 calories. It is the newspaper that concluded that everyone is plentifully afforded 800 calories whether male or female.

FDs. This whole announcement of 800 calories in the headline just wreaks of inaccurate misleading journalism. What else is new, Lol! Anyway, that’s my two cents and it really doesn’t apply to me since I focus on sticking to eating 25% of my TDEE on my fasting days which has worked for me.

Here’s the link…

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/12/good-news-dieters-52-relaxes-rules-allows-800-calories-day/

Here’s another forum discussion about the same that point out some interesting aspects of the revised 5:2 version

https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/52-diet-vs-the-8-week-blood-sugar-diet/#post-200964

There was no science behind the value 500/600 calories on a “fast day”. It was just a number that Mosley thought most people could handle rather than a complete fast which people seem to struggle with. I suppose if more people attempt to do 5:2 as a result of upping the value to 800 then that’s a good thing. Personally I find it easier to go with zero on my fast days rather than fuss about what to eat. To each their own I suppose.

The original 500/600 calories was 25% of TDEE for average woman/man (whoever they might be….) rather than an arbitrary figure.
Whether anyone decides on 700 or 800 calories for a revised version of 5:2 is a personal decision but the fact is that weight loss will be slower than traditional 5:2 which is probably why Michael says “almost as effective” but if it means that someone is able to stick to it that is better than aiming to eat 500/600 calories and failing.

Femme Anglaise, your TDEE is what it is according to your statistics but IMO it would make sense to eat 100 calories less on non fast days to compensate for the increase on FDs and you might be able to lose 1lb per week.

Hi All. I also Have the book The 8 weeks Blood Sugar Diet. Dr Mosley says 800 calories for every day but only for 8 weeks based on Med. Diet (stage 1) to reverse type 2 diabetes. Also, losing weight fast has better result and then the maintaining phase (stage 2) is up to dieter if they want to continue with 5:2 800 cls or 6:1 800 calories(when they reached the target) and for the rest of the life (stage 3) stick to the Med. diet. it means low carbs, high protein and fiber.

This is my understanding. Please correct me if I’ve got it wrong.

My weight loss is slow enough on two 500 calorie FD. Granted, I’m not always super careful on NFD and rarely count calories on those days, only FD. For me, that’s doable. FD aren’t too hard because it’s only twice a week. My weight loss is just over a pound per week. I would be less motivated to stick to it if the loss was even slower.

In the end, it all boils down to calories. The 5:2 is an effective way to reduce them overall without have to count every day. Calorie usage and rate of burn may be imprecise, but overall that’s what causes weight loss.

Well, I wish that Dr Mosley would make this point clear for all soon if dieters can switch to the 800 cls without making any interference into the weight loss process.

I had stopped fasting for a while. Now I would try 5:2 800 calories Mediterranean diet to see how it works on my waistline size.
Best of luck to all 🙂

I’d love to read updates from anyone who is practicing 5:2 and consuming 800 calories on fasting days. So far, I’ve yet to read of anyone who has stuck with it for at least 6 months and reported results. For example, how much weight are you shedding per week on the 800 calorie 5:2 plan? Are you continuing to find it as easy as described in some of the posts above? Thanks.

I’ve just been browsing through the active topics and came across this one about upping the 2 FAST DAY calories to 800.

I’ve tried the 500 5:2 and failed miserably. I upped my calories to 800 5 weeks ago, and am pleased to tell you all that I have lost TWO pounds, just shy of ONE kg, EVERY WEEK.

It’s so much more realistic and I have had no problem sticking to 800 calories. To compensate for the extra calories I have reduced my TDEE, which was 1800, to 1500 on NFDS.

My weekly calorie consumption works out as follows:

FDs 1600
NFDs 7500
Total 9100

An average of 1300 CALORIES/DAY

I do not do a huge amount of exercise, but enjoy a good brisk walk, and I do a 15 minute yoga routine each morning, oh and my two granddaughters keep me active! I am 65 and have hypothyroidism which has played havoc with my metabolism, but even so doing the 800 DEFINITELY WORKS.

Give it a try.