How much?

This topic contains 1 reply, has 2 voices, and was last updated by  Stef. 9 years, 12 months ago.

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  • My objective to semi fast Monday thru Thursday and semi indulge Friday thru Sunday. I estimate my metabolism to be 1,800 calories a day. I’ll get confirmation from an expert but let’s assume it to be correct for now. Assuming a 1/3 Calorie Restriction my daily allowance should be 1,200 calories per day or 8,400 per week.

    If I eat 700 calories daily, 4 days a week (for a total of 2,800), and based on a maximum weekly allowance of 8,400 per week, it should allow me 1,867 calories to indulge on each of the remaining 3 days. Is this calculation sound, and would I still enjoy the benefits of calorie restriction?

    Now let’s assume I exercise 5 days a week, burning 500 calories per session, for a total of 2,500 calories per week. if I divide them by 3 indulging days and add them to 1,867 it would allow me a whopping 2,700 calories per indulging day. My question is, would I still enjoy the benefits of Calorie Restriction on this plan?

    Hi there,

    At the end of the day, if you calculate your TDEE and you multiply it by seven you should get your weekly calorie allowance for your current weight, which would mean you would maintain your current weight if you ate that amount over the duration of a week.

    Any calorie reduction to that number should result in weightloss, whether you create this deficit by diet (easier) or by exercise (harder) is irrelevant, assuming that you measure your exercise calories with a good heart rate monitor and a device that can calculate your VO2 max. Also for being able to deduct exercise calories you will have to set your level of exercise to “sedentary” when calculating your TDEE!!!

    None of the above though means you are following the 5:2 diet nor does it mean that you learn portion control. 5:2 is very simply 500/600 calories on two non consecutive days per week and up to (not more) than your TDEE on the other five days.

    Also people tend to easily overestimate their calorie expenditure for exercises and underestimate their food intake!

    Nobody will be able to tell you whether you can achieve the same results, particularly the ones health related by any diversion of the 5:2 approach! You might lose weight by your method but it is not 5:2, but another form of dieting.

    Stef.

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