Must one have to have the total TDEE calories suggested in order to lose weight?

This topic contains 9 replies, has 4 voices, and was last updated by bigbooty 7 years, 11 months ago.

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Mdesigner

10:11 pm
25 May 16
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My target weight is around 130 lbs. I don’t eat a lot so the fast days are not too difficult. If anything, I might have a problem getting to a target (TDEE) calories of 1757 on non-fast days.I might get to 1200-1300 calories a day on occasion, but typically take in around 1000 calories a day. So, need more information on how to balance that.

Is it imperative to eat that many calories in order to lose weight? I guess I might just have to eat higher caloric foods in order to reach the 1757 on non-fast days. BUT, is that necessary?

I’ve been this way all my life. I’m a small-in-stature person as well. When doing Weight Watchers, I had trouble getting to my amount of points. I felt like I was forcing myself to eat when not hungry. I have discovered though, that I need to exercise in order to lose weight. Just eating less doesn’t work for me. I have a very slow metabolism.

bigbooty

10:40 pm
25 May 16
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No you don’t have to eat up to your TDEE. What do you weigh currently? What is your BMI? Are you saying that you on average eat 1000 cal and are gaining weight? Not all calories impact your weight gain/loss the same way. So I suspect that what you are eating rather than the quantity is affecting your weight (gain??) and metabolic rate. Are you eating a diet based on simple carbs like pasta, bread etc and sugary drinks (including juice) and chocolate? This will spike your insulin levels and lead to fat storage. Describe what you would eat in a normal day.

Eating 5:2 will have a minimal impact on your metabolism, in fact for you it might even help speed it up. Try eating “normally” for 5 days and severely reducing on the 2 fast days.

Lays

10:55 pm
25 May 16
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I wrote a long reply and it all disappeared…oh, well. Writing again what has helped me.

I don’t know whether it is necessary to reach our target TDEE or not. But I do eat a lot on non fast days, including chocolate, cake and all sugary stuff and still don’t reach my TDEE which is 1825, probably around 1400 to 1500 calories is what I consume on non fast days. I can stay away from food, unfortunately I have a sweet tooth and don’t like to deprive myself. But I do stay well under 500 calories on my fast days which is Tuesday and Friday. Btw, I track everything on My Fitness Pal.

When I started this 5:2 diet on May 17th my weight was 139 lbs, and today morning it was 129.4 lbs which was really surprising to see. I checked my measurements just to check whether this was all water weight, but no, have lost an inch from my waist and hips. So thrilled!!

So I assume trying to eat as much as our TDEE on non fast days has helped me lose so much of weight so fast.

Regarding exercise- I do cardio 45 minutes daily even on fast days. Before starting this 5:2 diet, I was exercising 45 minutes twice a day, hardly lost a couple of pounds a month. I am 48 years old, have a slow metabolism as well and with age it sure seems to be difficult to lose weight, at least in my case.

Mdesigner

12:15 am
26 May 16
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I currently weigh 148 lbs, down from 153. I think my BMI is 28. I gained the weight after being sick, but I don’t know why. I eat fairly healthy by staying away from a lot of red meat, I do eat chicken and fish and pork on occasion. I eat WW frozen meals a fair amount of the time and try to eat low-glycemic foods so as not to spike my insulin levels (wheat breads, sweet potato fries, etc. I don’t drink sugary drinks, do drink flavored waters, water, coffee, and diet Zeroes, alternating them. I do have Kashi cereals here and there. But, I do eat a fair amount of fruit (apples, pears, blueberries, grapes, cantaloup, mandarin oranges, oranges, etc.) and some vegetables. I don’t have a sweet tooth unless it is for baked goods, so I don’t eat them very often. A normal day could be either cereal and coffee or an egg with salsa verde, a little grated cheese, and a wheat tortilla for breakfast. Lunch is typically either a bowl of Progresso Soup or a deli ham sandwich and a couple of mandarin oranges or fish tacos, and dinner could be a WW dinner or something homemade using fish or chicken or other meat and salad. I do Tai Chi 2 days a week and Silver Sneakers workouts 2 days a week and also try to get in a walk here and there. This has become my lifestyle. I think you (Bigbooty) and you Lays) have answered my question about whether or not I need to meet my TDEE amount so I thank you both for that! I guess I’ll just try to eat higher caloric things on my non-fast days. I do stick to the 500 calories on fast days (Mon and Thur).

Apricot

12:21 am
26 May 16
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I’ll be interested to see what others say, but I’d suggest that the sugary stuff is the problem, on several counts. It’s hard to estimate it exactly, especially with cakes and chocs, so there’s a good chance you’re eating too much of them. Also, getting fatter has a lot to do with the storing of unburned (as energy) sugar and carb as fat, plus the action of the body to stop that stored fat being burned later – which it doesn’t need to do if you are giving it more sugar to run on! It’s like never getting to the reserve tank because you keep filling up the main one. So you need to cut the sugar.
Try to have one meal a day of some form of protein plus vegetables or salad and no other added sugars or carbs such as bread, potato or pasta ( or cake, pudding etc.). Try to have some protein at each meal eg not just toast for breakfast but an egg too. That will give your body a chance! Your sweet tooth can still have something now and then. You could give it a treat at the weekend maybe.

There’s more to nutrition than calories.

Mdesigner

12:28 am
26 May 16
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To Apricot:
Don’t know what you read, but it doesn’t sound like you saw my post a few minutes ago that stated that I don’t eat chocolates and sweets, except very minimally. I do try to eat with protein most of the time, but not every meal. There isn’t much sugar in my eating habits except what I get from fruit.

But thanks for your comments anyway.

Apricot

1:24 am
26 May 16
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Sorry, MD, I didnt, was writing at the same time, but came back after checking something and muddled your q up with Lays, who’s doing well to lose with all that sugar! Blame my slightly feverish cold! Good luck, I’m sure you’ll lose ok, just give it time.

bigbooty

1:34 am
26 May 16
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Sounds OK to me what your doing. Really depends if youre struggling or not. If you think youre eating routine is do-able forever more then no problem. Or even once you get to your goal weight and back it off to 6:1 then no problem. Maybe you could tweak it a little bit. What’s in the flavoured water? Read the label. Personally Id make grapes a sometimes food. Id limit my cereal intake on fast days and go for more fat and protein. Sound OK to me though. Id definitely give 5:2 instead of 4:3 a go and really reduce the intake on the two days (zero if you can do it) and up the intake on the other 5 days to compensate. I suspect it will speed up your metabolism which will help immediately and in the long run.

Mdesigner

1:49 am
26 May 16
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Currently I’m not struggling. I’m working on better dividing my two meals on a fast day and the last one I did went well (scrambled egg, mushrooms I cooked myself, asparagus I cooked myself and herbs). I realize that I must have some protein in my first meal on a fast day – it works better. The flavored water has no calories and flavors vary. The grapes are a once in awhile choice. I switch around different fruits, but apples and oranges I buy all the time. Nothing like an apple when I feel a little hungry. The cereal does not last very long so I’ll save that for non-fast days (but thanks for your comment). I think I’m doing OK, I was just curious about the non-fast days and if I had to meet my TDEE number. I’m steadily losing it seems (for now), so I’m happy. I don’t know where you got 4:3 because I’m doing the 5:2. I can’t do zero calories on a fast day, or rather I should say that I won’t do zero calories. I wouldn’t be able to maintain the diet if I tried that.

I want to thank everyone who responded to my query. The comments were very helpful.

bigbooty

1:55 am
27 May 16
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Ok must have confused your post with another I was reading that was talking about 4:3. All good. Looks like you have it well in hand. Its interesting to note the absolute range of results people have, from this is easy to I cant do this and Ive just binged again. I suspect that a lot of the problems are psychological and not physiological. Good luck with it.