500 Calorie "Diet"
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Lol, an average meal for me is at least 500 calories, so that would mean eating only one time a day and that'd be pretty difficult.
But whatever works for someone, as long as it's not causing too high of a deficit.
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Lol, an average meal for me is at least 500 calories, so that would mean eating only one time a day and that'd be pretty difficult.
But whatever works for someone, as long as it's not causing too high of a deficit.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Yep, i only had one meal on my down days which was a 500 calorie dinner.
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ncboiler89 wrote: »LandyBreigh wrote: »Good morning!
I recently read an article from the magazine Prevention online about the 500 calorie 'diet.' Instead of restricting food intake daily, it is only every other day. Today is day 1 for me. My intake will be 500. Tomorrow will be a normal day to eat what I would normally eat, then the following day is back to 500.
Has anyone had success using this method? If so, any pointers, menu ideas, etc.
Thank you!
B
Making easy things complicated imo
Or complicated things easy, depending on who you ask. For me, the down days are easy and simple with a small bunch of go-to meals. No extensive planning or brain work to fit in foods involved. The up days are easy because I eat to satisfaction without having to meticulously fit things around, and just stop eating when I hit (if I hit) 125%. I tend to end up at maintenance or slightly less.
For me personally, the less food decisions I have to make without constant restriction, the more sustainable and less complicated a diet is.0 -
I agree, it is a very freeing way of eating.2
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Just wanted to correct some statistics that were incorrectly provided. This is the accurate % quoted regarding how much the tests groups were able to eat back.2 -
I've decided to try this starting today as well. I haven't been successful in getting the weight off, so I'm hoping trying something new will help me keep a consistent deficit. I'm naturally more and less hungry on different days so this does feel somewhat natural.
Today, I had cereal for breakfast and then I was busy picking someone up at the airport and then hanging out with them so by the time it was 9pm, I hadn't had anything else to eat so I told myself to just make this day 1 and I treated myself to a Starbucks iced tea to bring me to my 500 total.
My maintenance is about 2000 cals (depending on the calculator) so that's what I'm going to aim for on feast days. I only want to do 2 fast days (so, 5:2). That gives me just under a pound a week loss before exercise is added in. I expect I'll earn another 800-1000 calories a week in deficit from exercise once I finish my move and join a new gym this week. I'm looking to lose 70-80 pounds, but I'm fine with a 1-1.5 lb/week loss rate.2 -
msalicia116 wrote: »
Just wanted to correct some statistics that were incorrectly provided. This is the accurate % quoted regarding how much the tests groups were able to eat back.
Yes, you are correct. She did say that. The 125% percentage I provided is based on these references as an acceptable limit but I wrongly used it as the average percentage usually eaten on up days. The 150% is an arbitrary self-selected limit that would make the diet viable for most people even if they were to really overeat.
Edit:WinoGelato wrote: »It sort of depends on what you normally eat... if your maintenance calories are 1500 for example, and you are eating 2700 cals per day normally, and plan to alternate that with 500 cal days, you could still be in a surplus.
These would have to be select cases, where someone starts at 300+ pounds and diets down to 120 or so pounds completely sedentary.0 -
As pointed out by others, this is called Alternate Day Fasting. Some people have success with this however the low calorie days are very restrictive which causes many people to binge. This is just another way to create a weekly deficit, so you still need to track your calories on non-fasting days.0
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I sort of take the idea that if you're not eating in a way you'd be happy eating for the rest of your life, it's probably not a good way to be eating now.
Agreed. As far as I can tell, those who lose weight on IF using the 5:2 method then move to 6:1 for maintenance (i.e. rest of your life). The idea is that the fasting day, even when maintaining, is still a good thing to do for the health benefits that come with fasting. IF seems to be a 'rest of your life' thing rather than a 'diet to lose weight just for now' thing. This is what I gathered going by the documentary Eat Fast and Live Longer by Michael Mosley .
I'm trying it out to see how it goes.
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baciodolce18 wrote: »I've decided to try this starting today as well. I haven't been successful in getting the weight off, so I'm hoping trying something new will help me keep a consistent deficit. I'm naturally more and less hungry on different days so this does feel somewhat natural.
Today, I had cereal for breakfast and then I was busy picking someone up at the airport and then hanging out with them so by the time it was 9pm, I hadn't had anything else to eat so I told myself to just make this day 1 and I treated myself to a Starbucks iced tea to bring me to my 500 total.
My maintenance is about 2000 cals (depending on the calculator) so that's what I'm going to aim for on feast days. I only want to do 2 fast days (so, 5:2). That gives me just under a pound a week loss before exercise is added in. I expect I'll earn another 800-1000 calories a week in deficit from exercise once I finish my move and join a new gym this week. I'm looking to lose 70-80 pounds, but I'm fine with a 1-1.5 lb/week loss rate.
Just a comment for the bolded...if you haven't been successful doing a consistent deficit chances are you weren't in a deficit.
Doing ADF or IF won't help that....you need to log accurately and consistently and stay in goal regardless of what day you eat the calories...that probably will require you to get a food scale....I say this because you are apparently not in a consistent deficit.0 -
amusedmonkey wrote: »msalicia116 wrote: »
Just wanted to correct some statistics that were incorrectly provided. This is the accurate % quoted regarding how much the tests groups were able to eat back.
Yes, you are correct. She did say that. The 125% percentage I provided is based on these references as an acceptable limit but I wrongly used it as the average percentage usually eaten on up days. The 150% is an arbitrary self-selected limit that would make the diet viable for most people even if they were to really overeat.
Edit:WinoGelato wrote: »It sort of depends on what you normally eat... if your maintenance calories are 1500 for example, and you are eating 2700 cals per day normally, and plan to alternate that with 500 cal days, you could still be in a surplus.
These would have to be select cases, where someone starts at 300+ pounds and diets down to 120 or so pounds completely sedentary.
Thanks. Admittedly I know virtually nothing of how this approach is supposed to work, I was just trying to plug in numbers in my head that could potentially invalidate the weight loss if a person was not careful. I'm sure there are people like yourself who find this to be a very successful strategy and go into it doing the proper research ahead of time. If OP decides to go with this approach I hope she will also read up ahead of time as I think being pragmatic about any approach to weight loss is important, but especially one in which there are wide swings in calorie amounts.
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@WinoGelatoWinoGelato wrote: »JessicaMcB wrote: »Christine_72 wrote: »JessicaMcB wrote: »It sounds complicated, especially if your intake on "off" days is high and negating your 500 days on the regular.
If you count your calories then there shouldn't be a high day (over TDEE) on up days. It's 500 calories on low days and TDEE on up days, simple
That makes more sense but the way the OP has it written it sounds like she would just eat "as normal". Does that mean eating whatever she wants to hunger in this case (which is where I would be hooped lol) or to TDEE which is sensible? I just don't know not being familiar with that level of IF.
That's what I tried to point out up thread too. Depends on what OP is defining as normal, she needs to eat at maintenance cals on the off days, not necessarily eat the same calorie level she's eating currently.
Actually that's not how the IF plans tend to work. You can calorie count on the high days but it's not compulsory.
Eating "normally" is how the 5:2 (The Fast Diet) describes the five days, calorie counting only required on the 2 fast days.
Dr Krista Varady's plan (The Every Other Day Diet) is also "eat whatever you want" on the non-fasting days.
People tend not to be able to cancel out the fast day deficits by massively over-eating on the normal days.0 -
It wouldn't work for me. I'd be all bad attitude and lethargy on the low cal days and beast-mode binge on the alternates. I'd probably gain. Whatever works for you, though.0
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I don't like that they call them "diets". But hey, find something that works for you and stick with it for as long as you can. Don't listen to the nay sayers / haters... they'll be there, trust me. I've been practicing CRON for years. Still waiting for the big crash and burn that everyone warned me about... still waiting.... Anyway, I like the idea of IF, as long as that day doesn't fall on my birthday, or a holiday, or a party I enjoy my plan because there is no higher calorie or treat/cheat day. About once a month or twice a month my body tells me I need more... and I listen. But until then I restrict on a daily basis, keeping a large deficit. It works for me. Keep things simple and logging is easier. Anyway, good luck, I am interested to hear how you're doing so please report back! 0
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@WinoGelatoWinoGelato wrote: »JessicaMcB wrote: »Christine_72 wrote: »JessicaMcB wrote: »It sounds complicated, especially if your intake on "off" days is high and negating your 500 days on the regular.
If you count your calories then there shouldn't be a high day (over TDEE) on up days. It's 500 calories on low days and TDEE on up days, simple
That makes more sense but the way the OP has it written it sounds like she would just eat "as normal". Does that mean eating whatever she wants to hunger in this case (which is where I would be hooped lol) or to TDEE which is sensible? I just don't know not being familiar with that level of IF.
That's what I tried to point out up thread too. Depends on what OP is defining as normal, she needs to eat at maintenance cals on the off days, not necessarily eat the same calorie level she's eating currently.
Actually that's not how the IF plans tend to work. You can calorie count on the high days but it's not compulsory.
Eating "normally" is how the 5:2 (The Fast Diet) describes the five days, calorie counting only required on the 2 fast days.
Dr Krista Varady's plan (The Every Other Day Diet) is also "eat whatever you want" on the non-fasting days.
People tend not to be able to cancel out the fast day deficits by massively over-eating on the normal days.
Yeah, I'm starting to realize my off the top of my head number crunching yesterday may have been naive about how this approach actually works.
Just want to be clear that I'm not in any way trying to deter OP or anyone from IF if it is done sensibly and is something they find sustainable. It sounds like OP hadn't yet done a lot of research about this approach and was starting here, and I think she got some good info from those who have had success with it. It's not for me and clearly I don't have a lot of knowledge about it so I will defer to those who have a lot more expertise to provide her advice.0 -
It definitely can be done, and a lot of people have success with it, but if you are already eating at a deficit you want to make sure that you are eating more than "Normal" on your non-500 days, because then you are just restricting yourself way too much.0
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WinoGelato wrote: »
@WinoGelatoWinoGelato wrote: »JessicaMcB wrote: »Christine_72 wrote: »JessicaMcB wrote: »It sounds complicated, especially if your intake on "off" days is high and negating your 500 days on the regular.
If you count your calories then there shouldn't be a high day (over TDEE) on up days. It's 500 calories on low days and TDEE on up days, simple
That makes more sense but the way the OP has it written it sounds like she would just eat "as normal". Does that mean eating whatever she wants to hunger in this case (which is where I would be hooped lol) or to TDEE which is sensible? I just don't know not being familiar with that level of IF.
That's what I tried to point out up thread too. Depends on what OP is defining as normal, she needs to eat at maintenance cals on the off days, not necessarily eat the same calorie level she's eating currently.
Actually that's not how the IF plans tend to work. You can calorie count on the high days but it's not compulsory.
Eating "normally" is how the 5:2 (The Fast Diet) describes the five days, calorie counting only required on the 2 fast days.
Dr Krista Varady's plan (The Every Other Day Diet) is also "eat whatever you want" on the non-fasting days.
People tend not to be able to cancel out the fast day deficits by massively over-eating on the normal days.
Yeah, I'm starting to realize my off the top of my head number crunching yesterday may have been naive about how this approach actually works.
Just want to be clear that I'm not in any way trying to deter OP or anyone from IF if it is done sensibly and is something they find sustainable. It sounds like OP hadn't yet done a lot of research about this approach and was starting here, and I think she got some good info from those who have had success with it. It's not for me and clearly I don't have a lot of knowledge about it so I will defer to those who have a lot more expertise to provide her advice.
Here on MFP our experience is different to "in real life" !!
I did 5:2 and did actually count calories every day as unfortunately the only super power I was given was the ability to eat far too much....
I found it far easier and sustainable than every day restriction to achieve a sensible weekly deficit but do realise it's not for everyone. Maybe IF is best described as a viable option for some?0 -
I made it through my first day with 1 calorie left. I felt a little hungry, but nothing crazy. Today, I've mapped out a 1500 calorie menu and so far so good.2
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JessicaMcB wrote: »Christine_72 wrote: »JessicaMcB wrote: »It sounds complicated, especially if your intake on "off" days is high and negating your 500 days on the regular.
If you count your calories then there shouldn't be a high day (over TDEE) on up days. It's 500 calories on low days and TDEE on up days, simple
That makes more sense but the way the OP has it written it sounds like she would just eat "as normal". Does that mean eating whatever she wants to hunger in this case (which is where I would be hooped lol) or to TDEE which is sensible? I just don't know not being familiar with that level of IF.
One theory with IF is that people don't tend to increase calories that much to make up for the low days, so for many people it's actually a simpler way to lose--you only have to count on fasting days and they are easy to count.
Edit: oh, I see that was covered.
I'm sure that doesn't work for everyone.
I'm good at not logging but mindfully eating at maintenance, so I'd likely eat as normal (currently, maintenance) and take the two low days and see if it works. If it doesn't I'd try counting on the high days too.
I find this method really appealing, but need to work out how it fits into my workout schedule.0 -
I've heard people have a bit more success with 5:2 than 4:3, in that 4:3 can be too difficult. So 5 days a week at maintenance calories and 2 days a week of your choosing at 500.
I did 5:2 for a while and I sure lost weight! But I am not sure if I had a little hormonal trouble at the same time, which can be a side effect. You only know when you try though.
The trick is that you still have to log your food on the "feast" days - to prevent eating way more than your maintenance and nullifying the fast day effort. I did find that some feast days I was STARVING and some I was fine.0
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