Female fast day 600 calories

This topic contains 11 replies, has 10 voices, and was last updated by _marmalade_ 9 years, 10 months ago.

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Jesska000

9:30 am
19 Nov 14
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Hey everyone,

i am new to the fast diet and this forum! Apologies if i’ve posted this in the wrong section.
Today is my second fast day of my first week on this diet. So far not too bad, a few hunger pangs but handling it ok.

Does anyone know how much of a difference it will make (for weight loss mainly) if i eat up to 600 calories on a fast day instead of the recommended 500?
The reason being is that i am quite tall (180cm) and have low blood pressure, so if i don’t eat enough i tend to pass out.
I’ve tried eating under 500 calories today, but ended up eating around 550-580. I find that between lunch and dinner i am absolutely ravenous!
As i said, im 180cm tall, weigh ~80kg and wanting to lose 10kg. I play basketball and netball 3 nights a week and go to the gym another 2 nights of the week, so am fairly active.

My general eating plan on a fast day is:
Breakfast: 1 boiled egg and a black coffee
Snack: Apple
Lunch: Rocket and Spinach with a small can of tuna in springwater (drained)
Snack: Pear
Dinner: Small piece of fish and some veggies.

If anyone has any suggestions on what i could change in my diet to keep full for longer and stay under 500calories or whether you think eating 600 calories instead will be ok, that would be great!

TIA

Lori_PA

11:29 am
19 Nov 14
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Hi Jess,

I’m far from an expert, but I think you will be fine with 600 calories. You are quite active and tall and burn more calories at rest than the average woman. I am quite active too and plan for 500, but will eat more if I feel I need to.

This is only my first week, so maybe I shouldn’t be giving advice, but thought I’d chime in. Good luck!

Matrika

12:29 pm
19 Nov 14
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Hi Jesska000

Well I am not sure… but I think you can find out how much to eat on your fast days by filling in the data on the tracker here to get your total daily energy expenditure estimate (TDEE). That will tell you how many calories you need to eat on your fast day…25% of your TDEE I believe it is.

Someone will know for sure and chip in .

Good luck.

kilda

1:59 pm
19 Nov 14
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I often end up around 600 on a fast day rather than 500 and I have still lost with no problem. The way I see it, as long as it’s working it’s fine and if it stops working I’ll get more strict. For people who have a low TDEE (for short women it can be as low as 1200-1400), 600 may be too much. For me it has been all right. Based on the numbers you posted, your TDEE is a good bit higher than mine so I suspect you’ll be fine.

The way I see it, if you are having a hard time sticking to 500 calories, better to up it to 600 cal than to not be able to fast at all!

You may also want to try having all your calories at one meal on fast days. A lot of people, me included, find the hunger is less bothersome that way.

Lichtle

3:43 pm
19 Nov 14
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@Jessca000, Kilda and other posters are right. I don’t think going up to 600kcals is going to be an issue at your height. The 500kcals for women and 600kcals for men comes from simplifying the rules since women have on average a lower TDEE than men.
In actual fact ideally we should eat a 20% – 25% of our TDEE on fast days, which for me, because I am quite small and maintaining is only about 300-350kcals. So, many women will be eating more than a quarter of their TDEE on a fast day but is still seems to work. At the end of the day it is all about calorie deficit.

However, I hope you don’t mind me giving you some suggestions. Eating small amounts during the day can be far more difficult than not eating until as late as possible and then have a proper meal with your 600kcals in the late afternoon/evening. You can have good amounts of vegetables and steamed fish or chicken and feel quite satisfied.

If I don’t eat in the morning, my insulin will not spike and I find I am OK with hunger until about two o’clock. Last week, I experimented and had two boiled eggs for breakfast, that caused me to be so hungry by lunch time that I broke the fast, gave up and re-scheduled for the next day.

Also having fruit as snacks will spike your insulin causing you to be more hungry than if you had not eaten. Dont’ get me wrong I love fruit, I eat tons it, just not on fast days. If you must eat something then try and eat some vegetables and a few nuts and maybe an egg, but try and delay for as late as possible and have a meal to look forward in the evening. Just a suggestion. Most people find that once they start eating it wakes up the hunger monster. Your low BP might not be as severe as you anticipate, but try it out in stages and see what works for you.

Jesska000

9:11 pm
19 Nov 14
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Thanks for your advice everyone!

Litchle, i will try eating just one meal on my next fast day (saturday), hopefully i can make it through until dinner!! I guess i am a little bit paranoid about fainting as it has happened so many times in the past from low BP and one time it happened i ended up in hospital and having to have 3 bouts of surgery!!!
So i will try delaying eating for as long as i can, but if i feel light headed throughout the day will have something 🙂

Yeah i have calculated my TDEE to be just over 2,200cal a day. Which seems like quite a lot and i doubt i eat that much on a non fast day!

Thanks again!! 🙂

Lichtle

10:02 pm
19 Nov 14
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Hi Jesskaooo, maybe take it in stages for example, next fast day try and go until midday and extend the fast on subsequent fast days depending how your body responds. Your body might like to get used to fasting. I find it has got easier with time but every now and then I get a day when it’s just not working out like the day I had breakfast. The main thing is not to force anything and just re-schedule (not skip)

MiriamW

12:03 pm
23 Nov 14
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Hi Jesska000 and all – I read this thread with interest as, being a 6′ tall woman, I have always eaten more than 500 calories on my fasting days, despite which I lost c. 27 kilos over about 18 months i.e. went down from 16 stones to under 11 stones. I now take a size 12 UK size in clothes and have had to re-stock my wardrobe twice (thank goodness for charity shops!) My blood pressure, creeping steadily up is now well within normal.

Nowadays I do 6:1 and stil eat around 600 calories on my fasting days. Almost as revolutionary as 5:2 for me has been largely cutting out bread and other grains. I follow a fairly low-carb, high-fat vegetarian diet on non-fasting days. I feel and look a good deal better than I did in February 2013, when I started 5:2 around my 60th birthday. I am fitter and stronger and I now enjoy exercising.

People say that I look younger – apart from some, usually overweight, women my age who can be a bit bitchy. Watch out for that one and ignore them as the weight-loss and other health benefits kick-in for you!

I was constantly hungry as the weight piled on when I ate a supposedly healthy high-carb, low fat, vegan diet. Now I never am and I can miss meals if I really have to (I would rather not!). I don’t stress about food and I really enjoy it. If there’s only a sandwich available for lunch then thats what I eat and I will be eating dessert when I go out for a meal with friends next week. These are occasional treats, not a regular part of my diet and this works for me. I also regard fruit as a treat although I eat a couple of pieces on fasting days. Loads of veg and salad, though, every day. I drink alcohol (not on fasting days) but try to keep it under control……

As for when you eat your 600 calories, I would go with what suits you. It is clear that, for many, delaying eating for as long as possible works but I am Godzilla if I do not have breakfast (always a 2-egg omelette with mushrooms and half a grapefruit on fast days). I find it easy to miss out lunch but I keep drinking lots of herb tea, black coffee, water etc which works for me.

If you’re getting dizzy, I’d stick with ‘little and often’ but just up your calories a bit. I wish you and everyone else on here the very best of luck with 5:2 and I hope you’re soon enjoying the benefits.

Shropshire lass

10:34 am
20 Jan 15
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Try having soup for lunch. I found amazingly that Covent Garden Mushroom soup was only 86 calories per 300ml or half a carton which is great to make you feel like you are putting something in your stomach. This leaves you 500 for dinner if you are going with 600 cals. Good luck.

herewegoagain

10:51 am
20 Jan 15
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Hello All it is my first day (groan) finding it ok so far, doing it with my husband, question though, am I right in thinking that the 500 calories can be spent over the day as opposed to one meal? I am thinking three meals a day with two snacks of the right calorific proportions – I know that it will be small things, but kind of along the lines of Jesska000 above?

We have all the books so plenty to read and think about!!!

Jan

simcoeluv

5:21 pm
20 Jan 15
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Hi here and welcome:

It makes no difference what, when or how many times you eat as long as you stay under 500 cal. However, many people find after they get used to their diet days that it is best to eat one evening meal high in fat and protein.

Here are some tips: https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/the-basics-for-newbies-your-questions-answered/

Good Luck!

_marmalade_

3:29 pm
24 Jan 15
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Jesska, I am allowing myself up to 650 calories, if I need them. The 2 Day Diet book allows that, and also Mark Mattson, a fasting researcher is doing a 5:2 study on menopausal women allowing 4 Atkins shakes per fast day (that comes to 640 cals). I think you’ll be fine.