What to eat on NON-fasting days

SkezzaShredder

I'm doing the fasting 5:2 diet. The fasting days are easy. I plan my meals accordingly and I already feel a lot better because of it.

However, what's considered a good day when you're not fasting? Some people say you can eat almost anything, but I'm not having that. I haven't been eating much on my non-fasting days, maybe 900 calories, which isn't very much.

Today, my breakfast was an egg mayo sandwich + some porridge which I reckon takes me up to near 600. Which is a good breakfast to kickstart the day. Lunch will be a basic salad, no dressings or cheese or anything, just lettuce, peppers and leeks.

I've not thought about dinner, but I would love some advice.

TavistockToad

so you're eating 600 calories twice a week, and 900 calories 5 times a week... you must really hate your body... :frown:

yarwell

Have some fats and protein with very meal. Your lunch sounds like something a sheep would eat. Add some cheese, fish, meat or something with nutrition in it.

Make a quarter pound burger with a couple of vegetable servings for dinner ?

I would have thought that a guy on 5:2 would eat 1500-2000 calories or more on the 5 days ?

misschoppo

You need to eat more on your non fast days. The whole point of IF is that you don't then also restrict yourself to low cal on the non fast days. Eat more fat, eat more protein, if your having a salad then have the dressing and the cheese instead of a bowl of leaves. Have dessert after your meal, enjoy your food!

TeresaB1979

Just so you (and others) are aware- you are not doing the 5:2. You are eating a dangerously small amount of food which is not what the 5:2 is about. I love it and the reason is because on the non-fast day you can eat at maintenance and still have a weekly calorie deficit. That's the whole idea. You are restricting calories 7 days a week. Please for the sake of your health stop doing that.

sijomial

I'm doing the fasting 5:2 diet.
I haven't been eating much on my non-fasting days, maybe 900 calories

No you are not doing the 5:2 diet!
Two days fasting and five days eating normally (in calorie counting term your five days should be maintenance or TDEE). It is not a crash diet - if done properly it's slow, steady and sustainable.

Either do it properly or not at all. That is a ludicrous number of calories over the course of a week.
Just ask yourself if you want to lose fat or lose a whole load of lean mass along with your fat.

abadvat

Before doing and posting this kind of stuff do yourself a favor, read, acquire knowledge on how your body functions and eventually apply it in real life terms!

SkezzaShredder

Thanks for your replies everyone, much appreciated.

OK, point taken so I need to up my calories on my non-fasting days. I must admit, upping them isn't always that easy, because it involves me putting the things I'm desperately trying to keep away from I guess.

I might pop down the supermarket and grab some cheese or ham I can add to it.

Regarding my optimal calorie count, on myfitnesspal it says I need to eat just over 2000 calories on non-fasting days. It just seems harder to do than I first expected.

Anyway, thanks for your advice, I'm desperate for all the advice I can get tbh, I know very little about this kind of thing.

SkezzaShredder

Before doing and posting this kind of stuff do yourself a favor, read, acquire knowledge on how your body functions and eventually apply it in real life terms!

You're probably right!! Just haven't got the time to go about reading diet books etc

pyrowill

Time for my super helpful answer to your questions.

TavistockToad

Time for my super helpful answer to your questions.

QFT... there are no foods that you 'cant' eat and still be healthy... its about moderation....

jennifer_417

Really. You can eat pretty much anything you want, as long as it fits your calories.

It's a heck of a lot better than what you're doing now.

sijomial

You're probably right!! Just haven't got the time to go about reading diet books etc

Five minutes I would guess to read this link and you will be good to go..... (I'm sure you can find 5 minutes!!)

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

Worth joining the 5:2 group on here too.....

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/8005-5-2-fasting

SkezzaShredder

You're probably right!! Just haven't got the time to go about reading diet books etc

Five minutes I would guess to read this link and you will be good to go..... (I'm sure you can find 5 minutes!!)

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

Worth joining the 5:2 group on here too.....

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/8005-5-2-fasting

Thanks very much!! Yeah I can spare five 5 minutes of course. Just what with work and stuff I don't get chance to go through all these different diet books. I figured the 5:2 diet was good for me because it means I don't have to change too much about my schedule. I wish I could do more exercise, but football twice a week is all i can fit in really.

I know I've made myself look a bit of a muppet, but my intentions are genuine and all I want is to get on a good healthy diet which I can sustain in the future. I'm still very nervous about this diet, like whether I'm going to crash and start binging etc, but hopefully I won't. I feel good at the moment.

TavistockToad

You're probably right!! Just haven't got the time to go about reading diet books etc

Five minutes I would guess to read this link and you will be good to go..... (I'm sure you can find 5 minutes!!)

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

Worth joining the 5:2 group on here too.....

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/8005-5-2-fasting

Thanks very much!! Yeah I can spare five 5 minutes of course. Just what with work and stuff I don't get chance to go through all these different diet books. I figured the 5:2 diet was good for me because it means I don't have to change too much about my schedule. I wish I could do more exercise, but football twice a week is all i can fit in really.

I know I've made myself look a bit of a muppet, but my intentions are genuine and all I want is to get on a good healthy diet which I can sustain in the future. I'm still very nervous about this diet, like whether I'm going to crash and start binging etc, but hopefully I won't. I feel good at the moment.

stop thinking diet... start thinking healthy lifestyle that you can sustain...

SkezzaShredder

Well, when I think healthy lifestyle, the main thing I think of is my diet and what I need to change and remove. I've now removed a number of those things (fast food being the main one).

TavistockToad

Well, when I think healthy lifestyle, the main thing I think of is my diet and what I need to change and remove. I've now removed a number of those things (fast food being the main one).

Nope! theres no such thing as bad food... just people who eat badly.

there are loads of people on here who have lost weight and maintained that loss through learning moderation, not just cutting out food.

you can easily have takeaway once a week and still hit you calories and macros and lose weight.

SkezzaShredder

Well, when I think healthy lifestyle, the main thing I think of is my diet and what I need to change and remove. I've now removed a number of those things (fast food being the main one).

Nope! theres no such thing as bad food... just people who eat badly.

there are loads of people on here who have lost weight and maintained that loss through learning moderation, not just cutting out food.

you can easily have takeaway once a week and still hit you calories and macros and lose weight.

So is it about moderation across the week? Say I go a bit higher one day then less on the other days + the fasting?

abadvat

Dude, you need guidance - a lot! If you really cannot take the time to learn, read and all the rest get on the adopt a noob group here on MFP and find someone to guide you thru!

AnnaChanges

first by eating 600 and 900 calories you are not doing 5:2 and you are going to lose first but you will plateau fast. Been there done that. Second I have been on this lifestyle for 7 months now and lost 33 lbs. I fast two times and eat my tdee or maintenance the rest of the days (put mine on sedentary).

It is difficult for you to eat 2000 calories? i dont think so... we ate much more than this.. that is why we gained weight ...but yes i understand that mentally linking the diet with 2000 calories seems too much and may be scary. I suggest you preplan your non fast day like you do on fast days for couple of weeks it really helps. I eat 6 meals on non fast days and stay within your macros. You can eat those 2000 easily by making healthy choices it doesn't have to come from junk. Nuts and avocados are high in calories but healthy.

SkezzaShredder

first by eating 600 and 900 calories you are not doing 5:2 and you are going to lose first but you will plateau fast. Been there done that. Second I have been on this lifestyle for 7 months now and lost 33 lbs. I fast two times and eat my tdee or maintenance the rest of the days (put mine on sedentary).

It is difficult for you to eat 2000 calories? i dont think so... we ate much more than this.. that is why we gained weight ...but yes i understand that mentally linking the diet with 2000 calories seems too much and may be scary. I suggest you preplan your non fast day like you do on fast days for couple of weeks it really helps. I eat 6 meals on non fast days and stay within your macros. You can eat those 2000 easily by making healthy choices it doesn't have to come from junk. Nuts and avocados are high in calories but healthy.

Thanks for your reply Anna, I really appreciate it. Yes, it's not the fact I can't physically eat 2000 calories, of course I can, and I certainly have in the past. It's the fact I've forcefully changed my mentality to consider calories in absolutely everything and some things I just say, "ooh i can't have that", even though I'm on a non-fasting day. Like even if someone offers me a biscuit, I have to think twice, whereas before I didn't. I guess my point is that I've been used to 2000 calories but now in trying to cut down I've become a bit scared of eating too much again.

Anyway, I added some nice ham to my lunch so that will have brought it up a bit. Might grab a bag of dry roasted peanuts. 166 good calories.

Are there any rules about the time I should stop eating? So say 6pm, 8pm?

sijomial

first by eating 600 and 900 calories you are not doing 5:2 and you are going to lose first but you will plateau fast. Been there done that. Second I have been on this lifestyle for 7 months now and lost 33 lbs. I fast two times and eat my tdee or maintenance the rest of the days (put mine on sedentary).

It is difficult for you to eat 2000 calories? i dont think so... we ate much more than this.. that is why we gained weight ...but yes i understand that mentally linking the diet with 2000 calories seems too much and may be scary. I suggest you preplan your non fast day like you do on fast days for couple of weeks it really helps. I eat 6 meals on non fast days and stay within your macros. You can eat those 2000 easily by making healthy choices it doesn't have to come from junk. Nuts and avocados are high in calories but healthy.

Thanks for your reply Anna, I really appreciate it. Yes, it's not the fact I can't physically eat 2000 calories, of course I can, and I certainly have in the past. It's the fact I've forcefully changed my mentality to consider calories in absolutely everything and some things I just say, "ooh i can't have that", even though I'm on a non-fasting day. Like even if someone offers me a biscuit, I have to think twice, whereas before I didn't. I guess my point is that I've been used to 2000 calories but now in trying to cut down I've become a bit scared of eating too much again.

Anyway, I added some nice ham to my lunch so that will have brought it up a bit. Might grab a bag of dry roasted peanuts. 166 good calories.

Are there any rules about the time I should stop eating? So say 6pm, 8pm?

Finish eating before you fall asleep otherwise you will choke.

Unless you get indigestion from a late meal it really doesn't matter when you eat or how many meals or snacks you have. Meal timing concerns are for the 1% of elite athletes and not the 99% of us mere mortals. The things you should be concerned about is nutrition and calories – the rest is just background noise.

Don’t be scared of food, I’m twice your age (OK, OK - and a bit more!) and lost my weight eating an average of just under 2,500 a day.

SkezzaShredder

Thanks, hopefully I can stick to this and I'll begin to lose weight

dbmata

Regarding my optimal calorie count, on myfitnesspal it says I need to eat just over 2000 calories on non-fasting days. It just seems harder to do than I first expected.

Follow it. Especially since you know how to eat more calorically dense food, considering how much you want to reduce.

The point of a fast is to eat nothing, but not to follow that up with a crash diet and severe restriction. Fasting is sustainable, fasting like THAT is not, and potentially could be dangerous to you. I have a couple friends who have been 5:2 since high school, and they're in their mid-50s now (both indian, which is an interesting coincidence.) neither eat like jackwagons, and are both in excellent shape/health.

As for "desperately trying to stay away from" things... dude, just stop. Eat in a coherent manner that you'd be able to sustain for the next 10 years. That doesn't ean cut out the most recent food villain, it means eat reasonably, and be aware of what your body needs.

Meerataila

When I ate anything I wanted on Alternate Day Fasting (one more fast day than 5:2) I gained weight, even when I ate absolutely nothing on fast days and stretched them into the 40 hour mark. You can't out-exercise a bad diet, and you can't out fast one, either. Or I couldn't.

I do 5:2, my diary is open. I did miss a couple days a few weeks ago because I had a head cold and couldn't eat enough on feed days. Also, I'm a vegan, and I naturally tend to zig-zag anyway, so not sure how much help it will be to you. My diary even confuses me. But it works out to my calorie allotment in the end.

Laurenloveswaffles

Non-fasting days: Your TDEE (maintenance calories)
Fasting days: 20% of your TDEE


This is a good website to calculate your TDEE
http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

Eat anything that makes you hit your TDEE. If that is a spam sandwich and 8 oreos, then eat it. The weight will still come off as long as you're in a deficit.

Iwishyouwell

I intermittent fast. I do actual fast days, not low-calorie days labeled a "fast". I do whatever I want during the weight loss phase, with no prescribed eating plan, but will be doing 5:2 for maintenance (again with real fast days).

I eat what I want on my eating days, as much as I like. It makes no sense to intermittent fast and then undereat on the days you have food.

At this point you're not IFing. You're just doing a VLC diet 7 days a week.

binniesmart

I'm doing 5:2 at the moment, but the odd 4:3 to boost things to compensate for bigger eating days i.e. takeaways or meals out. I learnt the hard way about not being able to out-exercise a bad diet....
I set my daily calories to 1600 so on eating days I usually don't exceed that, and fasting days are obv well under. I fast from 4pm-4pm, so that skews the MFP logging process. If I fast successfully i.e. 500 in 24hrs, then thats a fab deficit. If I lapse, then the damage isn't hellish. The Fast Beach diet is all for a lower eating day calorie intake, but designed for the short-term. Monitoring it closely over the next 6 weeks, then will tweak and reassess as required. Aiming to lose 10kg, but realise with 5:2 it'll be slow. Also hoping my family history of type 2 diabetes will be delayed/prevented by this way of eating :-)