How little is unacceptable on non fasting days?

This topic contains 11 replies, has 4 voices, and was last updated by SkinnyMe45 8 years, 10 months ago.

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JamesFromOz

10:08 am
21 Jan 16
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I started this diet only two weeks ago and I have found 600 calorie days so easy that on the other five days I find it hard to achieve more than 1100 to 1200 calories.

Accordingly I have lost 6Kg in just two weeks and have another 6Kg to go before I will review if I need to lose more.

Is it bad to only have 1200 calories five days a week does someone have a view?

JamesFromOz

10:24 am
21 Jan 16
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I forgot to mention that the first week of the diet I did the two fasting days in a row.
Through having to find healthy choices for those two fasting days, I developed a taste for fresh vegetables and it seems my taste buds came back. I no longer can eat hot chips at the shops (used to be a favourite) now I can taste the fat on them more or something.

I also stopped all the snacking in between now I understand the importance of being hungry before eating again (keeping insulin levels low) so now three meals a day add up to 400 on average mainly due to it being healthy food maybe my stomach shrank if that is such a thing?

Thanks so should I force feed myself up to at least 2000 calories for five days?

SkinnyMe45

1:03 pm
21 Jan 16
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I am really interested to see what responses you get to this question as I have something similar happening (although eating more high fat / low carb). I had a sick day when I started followed by b2b fast days and now only eat when hungry which means I only eat 350-550 cals most days. I am a female so my fast day limit is 500 cals but that has turned into pretty much every day. Right now my body seems perfectly happy just converting my stored fat to energy and my mood/energy levels are quite good.

Lost 10.5lbs in first 2 weeks but BMI was already in healthy range when I started (although bit upper). Personally I am planning to continue only eating when hungry for at least another 3-4 weeks when I should hit my goal weight and then I’ll see how my appetite is.

bigbooty

1:11 pm
21 Jan 16
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Really depends on how much you currently weigh and what your TDEE is as to whether or not you need 2000 cal? I suspect that the 3kgs was mostly water, maybe 1kg was fat in that first week. Unless your TDEE is up around the 4000 plus range?

If you can sustain that level of calorie deficiency then I suppose continue with it. My only concern is that you may “crack” and regain the weight. Personally Id go for a slightly slower rate of loss so that when you get to the maintenance stage it will be easy to do.

Amazon

1:19 pm
21 Jan 16
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The less you eat the faster you lose weight and if you have found a way that works with you that’s fine. The only rules are 500-600 calories on fast days and no more than your TDEE on non fast days.
Force feeding yourself will slow down the weight loss and make it more difficult for you to sustain your loss once you reach your goal weight.

Good luck.

SkinnyMe45

2:15 am
22 Jan 16
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Thank you for your responses. I think my hunger will kick in more as I get closer to my goal weight. I am trying to make sure that the calories I do eat give me some protein as well as the fats that are keeping me so full on fewer calories. If I get to my goal weight and keep losing then I’ll get my blood work done, should be less than a month from now at this rate.

JamesFromOz

7:21 am
22 Jan 16
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Thanks to all for your comments on my question. I am now reading the book (after starting the diet 🙂 and it says that if you reduce calories every day you burn up to 30% muscle but that assumes there are no fast days at all. I am still confused on this as if someone told me to eat 1800 a day I would lose weight and also lose some muscle.

Now I am doing 1200 a day when not fasting that seems even worse (than 1800)? I tried to day to eat 2400 but couldn’t do it (unless I chose fast food) I felt like falling asleep after having a big lunch (used to be normal for me).

So I hope that 600 x 2 and 1200 x 5 does not burn muscle and only fat.

That is my hope.

JamesFromOz

8:22 am
22 Jan 16
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Thanks for your feedback, I used the calculator and TDEE is 2240

I guess if comfortable with 2 x 600 and 5 x 1200 I can just enjoy dropping off those kilos

I wanted to avoid burning muscle along with the fat which according to the book happens when you diet everyday. Maybe my body won’t think 1200+ is a diet if two days are 600?

No way of knowing really.

This diet has changed my sleep patterns I no longer get up at midnight but sleep through and I have stopped snoring!!! Positive side effects 🙂

bigbooty

8:36 am
22 Jan 16
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As a variation why not try 2 x zero on you fast days that way you can add 240 cal onto the other 5 days? Just a thought. I had the same benefits with sleep as well. No snoring and sleep a lot better whereas before I would wake up quite often during the night with headaches.

JamesFromOz

8:38 pm
22 Jan 16
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Thanks bigbooty I was thinking of trying that today. Thinking the difference between zero and 1200 should be significant enough to make my body switch between building and recovering and back again.

What if zero makes me satisfied with 800 a day???? Oops

I will try zero for one day and just have dinner on the second fast day and see how that goes.

I think you mentioned you were going to “demand feed” – eat when hungry on non fast days?
How did that go? Did you eat a little more or still happy with restricting calories every day?

bigbooty

9:08 pm
22 Jan 16
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I think you got me confused with someone else. My pattern is to essentially do 2 consecutive fast days that are zero (well nearly zero as I have about two coffees with skim milk on fast days). For my non fast days I eat normally. I don’t count calories, cant be bothered. Ive cut out all easy sugars. No chocolate, chips, biscuits, icecream, fruit juice, breakfast cereal etc. Other than that I eat normally on my non fast days. Ive naturally found that Im opting for more healthy foods without really trying. I don’t miss sugar junk foods at all. Find something that works for you. This works for me but everyone is different.

SkinnyMe45

4:04 am
23 Jan 16
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Hi James – I am the one who is only eating when hungry but I do make sure to stay under 500 cals on my fast days, eating 4:3 is a lot easier when not hungry. At the moment I’m eating quite little most non-fast days but not really hungry and still losing weight. I dropped from 151 to 140.5 in less than 2 weeks and then plateaued there for a week (I think my body was readjusting and it had been a few years since I was I the 130’s). Just kept eating when hungry (about 500 cals per day) and finally broke through the plateau losing 1.3 lbs for Thurs morning and another 0.9lb this morning (very fast weight loss after a week on nothing).