Funny really because since January when I started cutting down to lose weight I didn’t count calories. I lost 2 stone 🙂 I then incorporated 5:2 into my routine and started to use the MyFitnessPal app and I do now count calories! (I have lost another stone! :-)) I only do it as a guild to keep me on track! I keep it real and nothing is off limits. It has just educated me a bit more as to what foods are high or low etc. The app is easy to use thank fully! I need easy! Lol! Will I always count calories? – who knows! I’m happy with it at the moment 🙂 good luck everyone!

Hi, everyone, I’m a non-counter. The thing that is so appealing about this plan for me is that I count very carefully two days a week and don’t think of myself as dieting on the other five days. I try to be careful and the fast days have made me more aware of what I eat on non-fast days. I think I can keep this up indefinitely because I’m not denying myself things I want to eat on non-fast days. If I were counting calories all the time then this would be just another diet and I would not have lasted this long (8 weeks.) I have come to welcome the fsst days because they are a bit hard and that makes me feel like I’m really doing something to tackle my weight. And then I’m very, very happy on non-fast days when I can still eat a bowl of popcorn or have a few slices of cheese without feeling that I have failed. Dieting and succeeding is such a mental thing and it means it’s important for each of us to do what works for her.

Hi!

I have been doing 4:3 for 6 weeks and have lost every week without counting anything on my non-fast days. Like you, I want this to be my way of life and not some fiddly diet. Weight loss: 11 pounds, gut fat has also reduced as I moved down from a size 16 to a 14.

I also tend to have a taste of foods I want. I can eat half a Mars bar or half bag of crisps and leave the rest – the taste is enough for me and most of the time I realise it is not what I want anyway. I know not everyone can do that, but like I said, most of the time, it is just a mental thing… “I can have that Mars bar (take a bite), not really what I want… move on”

I don’t count calories on non-fast days. That said, I tend to stay pretty healthy and avoid snacks because I feel like I don’t want to waste the work I’ve done on my fast days.

I haven’t been counting calories on “eat” days and haven’t experienced any weight issues as a result.

Hi all!

I am just a beginner but I think that if we become obsessed with the numbers of calories we eat on feed days, we will have lost the entire purpose of this diet (which i see not as a diet but more of a lifetime eating strategy.) The TDEE indicates how much you should eat in order to balance your food intake with your activity level (in light of your physical characteristics). But we are not there (yet). Probably all of us consume considerably more than this more or less theoretical figure. If we did not, we would not have been overweight.

In my mind, we should not aim to reach a certain amount of calories on feed dates. If any – more than our calculated TDEE. The whole point is not to set our bodies into a “survival mode” by giving it considerably less calories than it is used to. THAT is why we a re fasting – because we reduce the calorie intake without the body “realizing” it and setting measures to adjusting to it. Fast with the 500-600 cal level (and I am sure it can be even lower, if you can take it) – and then eat as normal (ie what you did the day before you started the 5:2).

One exception to this, which i think is important:

Do not eat massive meals with excessive amount of calories, even if your daily average ends up being OK. The point is that the body does not know this, and will store the extra calories as, we know, fat. So there are good arguments to eat more meals with less food.

But all in all I think: Don´t count calories on feed days.

Good luck all!

This is not a ‘one size fits all’ – it’s up to the individual whether or not they count calories…there is no right or wrong here. I have been losing weight steadily over the last year by keeping track of my calories because that’s what works for me and I don’t consider myself ‘obsessive’ or find it a hassle.

My TDEE is 1610 and I stay under that on my non fast days and have 400 cals or less on my fast days – because that works for me. Some people have zero calorie fast days – it’s what works for them.

We will NOT ‘set our bodies into a “survival mode” by giving it considerably less calories than it is used to.’ It’s ‘what it is used to’ that made us overweight in the first place so we have to reduce the overall calories if we want to lose. If you eat as you have always done on non fast days you may be in danger of ‘cancelling out’ your fast days.

I keep hearing and reading about ‘survival mode’ or ‘starvation mode’ – Michael Mosley says

“This is another very common myth. The initial response of your body to a reduction in calories is to increase your metabolic rate. This is because, in our hunter-gatherer past, survival in times of food shortage would have depended on our becoming more active, going out to hunt and look for food. Only under conditions of extreme calorie deprivation, when we have been for weeks without enough food and our body fat has fallen dramatically does the body go into “starvation mode”. IF is not the same as crash dieting. Starvation mode does not happen if you cut your calories for a day!!”

I think another important thing to mention, in the hopes of people not pushing themselves into ‘starvation mode’ is that if you’re counting calories or not your general aim for non-fastday intake should be between your BMR and your TDEE. Some people think that calorie reduction on their non-fastdays will also help them lose weight faster. That works up to a point but if you go too near to or under your BMR then you are not taking in your minimum requirement of calories to keep you ticking over (you do this on fastdays too but it’s just one day at a time twice a week so the body can cope), your body will panic and hang on to whatever it can if you do this too often.

Bigger people with TDEEs well over the 2000 mark (I was in that bracket when I started) can start out with just doing 500 calories on a fastday and ‘being aware’ of the choices they make on every other day without necessarily counting. Once you get under the ‘standard’ 2000 marker I find that I do have to pay a bit more attention to my intake on non-fastdays or I just maintain rather than lose.

Now if you’d told me 2 years ago that I would be under 12 stone in 2013 I would have laughed in your face, so maintaining at this level is not the end of the world for me – I’m the thinnest I’ve ever been as an adult – but it would be nice to get that last 1 & half stone off and be 10 stone and somewhere close to my apparent ‘ideal weight’ so I’m not into counting every last calorie but I do want to be on top of it and make sure I continue to lose slowly over the next year or 2 (however long it takes) while happily maintaining my new and permanant lifestyle.

Kalle …my point, and I may not have made it clear. is ….if you eat at or just under your TDEE but ABOVE your BMR (as tracy says) on non fast days you will never go into ‘starvation/survival mode’. If you regularly exceed your TDEE you may ‘cancel out’ your fast days.

How would you know? That’s why I would always advise people to track their calories for the first couple of weeks at least so they can get an idea of correct portion sizes and the calorie value of foods. It’s too easy to underestimate how much you are eating and tracking means you can see where the ‘sneaky high cals’ creep in. When you get to know that then it’s up to the individual whether they count or not.

However we do it, we’re all on the same journey.

Good luck.

I am so glad that other people are not counting on non fast days! I started this at the beginning of Dec and had a slow but steady couple of pounds! However I was counting religiously using the MFP app and I think that when Christmas came I went a little bit crazy and stopped fasting altogether! I started again on Monday and have decided not to use MFP on the other days. I am a bit concerned though as with 3 kids I find I tend to pick at bit (lot) at their food and am worried that this will cancel out my good work on the other days. How do others cope with this? Any ideas greatly received! I find it very difficult to loose weight normally and it is a slow process so need some strategies to not sabotage!

I seem to vary- I don’t have much to loose- just half a stone and am up to 4lb I’m mainly doing 5:2 to support DH who needs to loose stones. So some weeks on non-fast days I count cals at 1850,and sometimes I just eat what I crave. My logic is that I’m still trying to work out a way to make this long term- as I’m a big yo-yo. Typically loose 10lb on diet then put it back on over a few months, so if I can find a way to incorporate the skinny days I can do this for years ! I have ordered some Japanese popcorn tea as recommended on another thread to try and cope better on fast days.

I dont count calories, firstly because I’m too lazy, secondly because its a huge part of my childhood memories, my mother counting hers and not getting anywhere. Ive got a sort of emotional block on even contemplating it and associate it with her self-loathing sessions and chocolate binges afterwards!

My appetite is massively reduced now (I’m a few weeks in). I’m actually eating less than my kids do, but they are growing lads. I’m a shrinking mummy! We all have a maccys breakfast on fridays before school, and I eat food cooked with ghee on my “feed” days, but I dont eat after 4pm, so I suppose that cuts down on the extras I used to scoff in the evening in front of the telly. It is working for me though, 7lb gone!

Carm

I did my best weight loss at the start of the 5:2 by using MyFitnessPal to count calories on all days. I dropped from 187 lbs to 176 in about two months. I gradually discontinued counting and I believe I started “drifting” to higher calories on my eating days, and thus my weight has stabilized at 177 or so. I want to get down to 170-172 as that will put my BMI where I want it.

I find looking up foods and continually entering them into MFP to be rather burdensome but I may need to get back to it to get down to the weight I want to be at. After reading various posts on here today, I’m going to start tomorrow (Monday) with a true fast, eating nothing from Sunday night through Tuesday morning, and no calorie counting on fast days. So then perhaps I won’t find it such a task to count on my five eating days. Once I reset my “body weight thermostat” to 172 then I’ll continue with the normal 5:2 and discontinue calorie counting.

Hi there!

I am at a bit of a standstill at the moment on my 5:2 journey and would love any opinions/suggestions you have. I began in October last year when I weighed 65kg (160cm tall so I have curves that’s for sure) with the hope of shedding 10kg by the end of 2014. Throughout Oct-Dec I lost 4kg however as Christmas/New Year came around, put on 3kg. Since mid January until now I have been religiously sticking to the 5:2 diet however my weight has not shifted at all from 63kg. After some online research last night I self-diagnosed that I have put my body into a state of starvation as I only eat around 1200 calories on my “feast” days, and feel SO GUILTY when I treat myself on those days (even to something as simple as a homemade mini cupcake!). I found my TDEE last night which is 1890. In your opinion (just from your research), would you agree with the conclusions I have come too? I fasted yesterday so today is a “feast” day, and I am trying to make sure I eat around 1600-1800 calories today (as I also fast tomorrow) however I am finding it hard and have this mindset that I should go and drink a glass of milk or something as my plan I have made for today will only have me sitting just under 1600. I guess I was in disbelief last night when I read that I was eating too few calories on my “feast” days and don’t see how by eating MORE on my feast days will make me lose the weight? Sounds too good to be true don’t you think?

I’m not counting on my non-fast days, I really want to avoid doing that as I might as well be doing WW or something if I do and I HATE it, I do however try to be a bit more aware, and think more about if I really do need to eat whatever it is I’m thinking about. As many have said, this is a way of life, not a diet as such, I’m on my third week and so far so good.

Best of luck 🙂

Kits

Hi Deboehg38! I have good and bad news for you 🙂

1. there is not such of thing as ruined metabolism 🙂 that’s a good news!

2. Bad news is you weight lose is slowing down when you are closer to the target. You need to ‘save’ 3500 kcal to loose pound of fat, when you are shrinking your TDEE SHRINKS TOO, so general lose will be smaller. I’ve been doing ADF for 3 months now, and for a while i was loosing 2 pounds a week, now I’ve calculated I need to fast 4 days to loose 1 pound (with my TDEE 1300 kcal each fat ‘saves me’ only 800 kcal in a day, sticking to 1300kcal my non fasting days/ counting calories if you have to helps too, so you know if you going overboard with your kcal intake) but I am still going. Knowing your numbers will help you to understand what and why your body is doing 🙂 good luck! xx

Kits good for you, I am anti counting myself, but I do look at kcal when buying food I am not sure of. Changing eating habits will pay off long term, like swapping cream for yogurt, having sandwich filling without the bread, or having coffee without milk or sugar. Anyway it is nice to have occasional cake or glass of wine, we are humans at the end, and if you want to stick to the plan long term, saying no to everything makes it tiring, boring and hard to achieve. 🙂

Not counting on feast days and never will. What I AM doing is learning to eat mindfully on feast days.

Study after study shows when you slow down your eating you eat less calories, so that is what I’m doing.

If I’m going to count every single day…may as well go back to Weight Watchers.

Like everything else about 5:2 ….it’s whatever works for you.

xx

That’s how I hope to do this diet. Fast on fast days and be “thoughtful” on feast days but try never to allow myself to feel deprived in a way that starts making me obsess over the choices.

OK, well, I can understand if people have not yet become that educated regarding calorie count that it would be helpful to do it for a while.

But I think a LOT of people have done low calorie diets for YEARS and are generally well aware of calorie counts and are just sick and tired of it and don’t feel it’s sustainable to do that for a lifetime without becoming “resentful” after a while.

One thing that always pissed me off about “dieticians” is how they talk about how (fat) people need to be “educated” on nutrition. I’m sorry, but no one can recite calorie counts/carb counts and nutritional values BETTER than a fat person. Most “heavy” people I know are more knowledgeable about those things than most trained dieticians, IMO.

If I’m trying to be careful on feast days I’d prefer to do “tricks” like eat from small plates, eat half of what is on my plate, don’t have second helpings etc…

I do NOT count calories. I agree with most people. This diet is a simple way of eating. So to count calories destroys that. However, I am coming from a background of eating healthy food. I minimise all sugar and wheat foods on any day of the week, as they cause me to bloat. I have lost 10 kgs in 3 months and am down two clothing sizes. I walk every day, a minimum of an hour. I drink a lot more water than I used to.

The whole point of 5:2 is that you only have to think about calories on the fast days. As such it appeals to me very much. I now think about my food as I eat it. I don’t emotionally eat any more. Thanks be to 5:2. I eat way less than I used to, have stacks more energy, and enjoy my fast days. 🙂 🙂

I’ve just started 5:2 and I don’t know what TDEE IS? If it was mentioned in the book I musta missed it so no I have no intention of counting on non fast days. I eat relatively healthy on regular days…aside from the odd bar of chocolate but I love health foods such as nuts and nut butters which on other diets are considered high in fat/calories so I hope I can still lose without cutting those out and from reading this thread I think I can 🙂

Lana86, I don’t count calories on non-fasting days, but I do measure out my portions of some higher-calorie foods, including nuts and nut butters, because I have found that I will serve myself more calories than I intended if I don’t. I’ve lost 40 pounds in 40 weeks, and I do still eat almonds, cheese, peanut butter, chocolate and ice cream 🙂 I do weigh my portions of nuts, cheese, and chocolate and stick to one scoop of ice cream 3 or 4 times a week, however. I’ve actually cut back more on many starchy foods like bread, potatoes, and rice, because although they are not as calorific as nuts and cheese they are also not as satisfying and provide fewer nutrients. I have found that I can eat whatever I want, just not as much of it as previously, if I want to lose weight and keep it off.

One tip is to calculate the TDEE for the weight you would like to be instead of for the weight you are now, and use the non-fasting days as practice days for learning how to eat in a satisfying way for that many number of calories. That way you are prepared for maintenance when you get to your goal weight.

Lana, it would depend on how hungry I was and what else I was eating; nuts are a nutritious and filling food, I just try to remember than an ounce (28 grams) of almonds is ~168 calories, a tablespoon of almond butter almost 100 and not serve myself more than that unless I’m still hungry *after* eating that much and waiting 15 or 20 minutes. Nuts are just one food that I tend to go overboard on if I’m not careful. There are other things I can pass up without a thought, lol.

Definitely not counting! I have done a bit of counting on the fast days just to make sure, but now am mostly ok with that. I refuse to count the rest of the week, having counted calories most of my adult life! I always said I’d never do another diet, but thought I’d try it to keep my sis in law company.