Just cannot stick to 500 calories! (but losing weight anyway)

This topic contains 4 replies, has 2 voices, and was last updated by AnnaQ 8 years, 10 months ago.

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AnnaQ

8:04 pm
8 Jun 15
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Female, middle-aged (I suppose), not grossly overweight but would like to knock off a stone. But I simply cannot stick to the 500 calorie limit. Technically I should be doing 400, as 25% of TDEE. I don’t go over by much each fast day – probably not even 75 calories over, and am still losing close to a pound a week (5 weeks, one week cheated too much). The 500 is what kills me. I am beginning to believe that it really is all and only about simple overall calorie reduction; I’m still running a calorie deficit of +/-3000 a week because I’m not a big eater on non-fast days anyway and have upped my activity level. But I have seen elsewhere that you can’t eat a few extra calories on fast days and do extra exercise to compensate. I find this hard to believe. Why not? Surely the worst that can happen is the weight comes off a bit slower? Am I really going to lose all the other alleged benefits of fasting? This rigid 500 max limit is what is likely to lead me to chuck it in!

simcoeluv

8:43 pm
8 Jun 15
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Hi AnnaQ and welcome:

All you need to do to lose weight is to cut your calories, that is what having two low calorie days a week is all about, and it sounds like you are doing just fine. So if losing weight is your goal, just stay the course! There is no need to stop a successful weight loss program because you are not hitting a ‘certain number’ of calories.

Good Luck!

AnnaQ

9:28 pm
8 Jun 15
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Yes, at least it’s working, though slowly. But I’m still confused about whether I’m losing out on some of the supposed main advantages of the diet – the longevity factor, for example. But I’m going to do what I can, and if I go over the limit I’ll have to try to compensate somehow and be grateful for small mercies.
Thanks for your reply! Monday fast day nearly over now, thank goodness…

simcoeluv

9:42 pm
8 Jun 15
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Hi AnnaQ:

Weight loss brings with it better cholesterol numbers, better triglyceride numbers and, usually, better blood pressure numbers. They say all of these things are helpful and not to be discounted.

There is no evidence one way or the other on ‘other health benefits’, nor can there be. No one will ever design an experiment putting one group on 5:2, one on something else, following the groups until they all die, and seeing which group, on average, lived longer or had less Alzheimer’s disease.

So my opinion is simply to enjoy the weight loss 5:2 can provide, in the way it provides it, and not worry if you might live longer if only you had eaten 100 or so fewer calories twice a week.

If you become interested in how 5:2 progresses over time, here are some tips: https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/the-basics-for-newbies-your-questions-answered/

But you are doing just fine – keep up the good efforts!

AnnaQ

9:49 pm
8 Jun 15
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Thanks again – I actually bought the book, but am bothered by some of the claims made. But then again, if it leads to the desired weight loss over the coming months, without weeks of general deprivation, then it has to be a good thing!