The Fast days

This topic contains 4 replies, has 5 voices, and was last updated by PoshBird01 10 years, 7 months ago.

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Albertine Frederick

10:24 pm
29 Jan 14
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Hi, On any normal day my total consumption of food is at maximum 650 calories. I am a size 18. I do aerobics and walk dogs after work.

I have recently started the 5:2 but have opted for a max of 150 cals on fast days. This seems pretty rational to me considering what i eat normally and consists of a head of broccoli for tea with fresh ginger, two tangerines and an apple breakfast or other veg variations. Weight watchers , Slimming world regimes which i stuck rigidly to put weight on, and an attempt at Cambridge diet for ten days i lost a pound and was constipated for the following ten days. I am hoping this works as i dont have to increase my intake of food which results in weight gain.
Albertine

double happy

12:30 am
30 Jan 14
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Hi Albertine I am not a medic so hesitate to make a comment.But for what its worth I would say there is a real mismatch between your everyday low calories, your physical activity and being size 18. Your body could be in famine alert so in fat storage mode instead of fat burning.the suggestion in the book is to work near TDEE rate on non fast days
To me for fast days 150 calories with no protein may not be helpful/healthy.
Personally when I couldn’t shift my weight under a strict regime I had my doc check out my thyroid and sure enough I have hypothyroidism and that affected my weight–may be worth a check. I also put on weight with WW–maybe the carbs.

hope you can get it sorted.

sylvestra

12:50 am
30 Jan 14
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Hi Albertine at 650 calories on non fast days and 150 on fast days is not nearly enough food. Not eating enough prevents weight loss and can lead to eating disorders and poor health.

You need to be eating more than your BMR – your Basic Metabolic rate (the amount of calories your body needs just to survive if you lay in bed all day) This will be around 1400 calories if you are a size 18 – and up to your TDEE – your total Daily Energy Expenditure, the calories you need based on your BMR and activity. Increasing your food to this level will aid your weight loss.

There is a calculator and an explanation of these at the ‘how?’ link at the top of the page. If you calculate your personal levels you will see how much you should be eating on non fast days.

xx

TracyJ

10:07 am
31 Jan 14
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Please take the advice you’ve been given above – it’s all good!!!

You might need to have a sacrificial week of eating right up to your TDEE calorie level just to shock your body out of starvation mode and stop it storing fat. Once you’ve normalised you can then eat somewhere between your BMR and your TDEE on non-fastdays and whatever you decide on fastdays (25% of your TDEE, 500 calories or nothing – whatever works for you).

If you do this, for gods sake lock your scales away and just let it run its course. You will put on a little weight until you start burning rather than storing fat again but even then, it may not show up on the scales. Once you’re into fat burning 5:2 will also help you replace the fat with muscle (which weighs more than fat but burns energy more efficiently) so although you may start to notice that your trimming down a little, you won’t necessarily notice a ‘weight’ loss.

You NEED to sort out your metabolism – it sounds like your body has been in severe starvation mode for a while and it needs time and patience and help to correct the damage this has done.

PoshBird01

10:53 am
31 Jan 14
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Hi Albertine I am also a size 18 and started this diet on 13Jan this year. My total weight loss to date is 7 1/2 pounds and i have been eating around 1880 cals on a non fast day and 500 on a fast day. I agree with the other post your body must be in total shut down and you must be constantly starving and dare I say not feeling well. I eat what I want on NFD (smaller portions than i would have had) and just 1 meal on FD with maybe a yogurt for a treat after.

Hope this post helps. I am a 50 year old woman and I am aiming to loose approx 30lbs. I dont do any exercise other than dog walks and general stuff around the house but I feel really good about loosing half a stone so easily.

Good Luck