New 5:2 Guidelines-Thoughts???

flossyruby1

Hi everyone! Didn't know if you saw the news, but Michael Mosley has relaxed the calorie guideline on FD's. He said that calories could be increased by 200 with similar results as his old guidelines. That's 700 cals for women and 800 for men. Anyone see this? Thoughts? Concerns?

orlcam

I've always felt that too...but sometimes I do better not eating at all. Interesting info...thanks.

rouhnaz

Interesting!

flumi_f

Haven't seen that. IMO - it depends a bit on your goal. If your goal is weight loss and your maintanence cals are low, like mine...400cals more or less on the two fasts can make a difference on the weightloss end. Of course it depends on how 'good' you are on non fast days too. If you are after the other health benefits of 5:2, I think a few cals more don't change much.

yamsteroo

I spotted this in the paper the other day too.

I have to agree with Flumi_f - if your maintenance calorie level is quite low for whatever reason, then an extra 400 cals per week might slow down weight loss but it depends on what your goal is etc. I'm super-slow to lose weight so rather than grab the extra 200cals per fast day I'd prefer to see a result on the scale each week... even if it is fractions of a pound these days (arrrghhh!).

Maybe try it for a few weeks and if it isn't working for you, then go back to 500/600?

flossyruby1

I'm combining my weekly update with my observations in the new guidelines. I read them on Monday, which was also my first FD of the week. I decided to plan for a 700 cal dinner. It happened to be a difficult day to fast as I became overwhelmingly hungry by 3. Thinking the extra 200 calories would help me get through it, I had a snack. But it deteriorated into eating well beyond 700 cals. I decided to fast again yesterday as I was subbing and would be busy. I planned for 500 like usual and wound up eating around 650. When I think back to my typical FD, I realize I've always hovered around 700. My intention is always to only eat 500, but in the end I think I have inadvertently given myself about 200 calories of wiggle room. This has worked for me. From a "mind game" standpoint, if I go into a FD planning on 700 cals, knowing myself, I would quickly eat more around 900. So I am going to continue planning for 500, but staying flexible when I eat a little more because, mentally, it makes sense. I am struggling with FD on days I dance. Dance days are especially active because I also walk and lift weights. I've never been good at only having one day between fasts, but I'm going to revisit this and try fasting T/Th. I'm finding about halfway through a 2 hour class, my energy tanks despite eating an energy gel. We'll see...I feel like a lab rat right now.

flumi_f

Yup that happens to me too. So staying at 500 in planning.

carriepbm

I record the known cals in all my supplements, so if I need the calories I allow myself to go over 500 but not by more than the value of the supplements. I seldom need them all. I'll continue to plan for 500 since I don't track my food the other 5 days.

If I ever decide to try a 4:3 week I might use the extra cals on one or more of the fast days.

Actually, since the 500 is based on a percentage of the maintenance cals it's already high for some. Men are already allowed 600, so why would men and women both be allowed the same increase? 600-650 (depending on activity level) for women makes more sense if we were to try it.

Meghan509

flossyruby1 wrote: »

Hi everyone! Didn't know if you saw the news, but Michael Mosley has relaxed the calorie guideline on FD's. He said that calories could be increased by 200 with similar results as his old guidelines. That's 700 cals for women and 800 for men. Anyone see this? Thoughts? Concerns?

Below is a link to an article with an update. I Googled.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/12/good-news-dieters-52-relaxes-rules-allows-800-calories-day/

rouhnaz

I like this new guideline.
This definitely makes it more doable for me.
I'm entering an April challenge for 5:2 and will likely aim for 500 on my FDs but knowing I can have up to 700 gives me hope!

Also, it means that I'll be less likely to go overboard on my NFDs, as I really want to shed the weight. Somehow, I think this does a mental trick for me... I hope.