5:2 exercise question

fstephanie4
fstephanie4 Posts: 196 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello!

Ok so now the easter break has passed and I'm back working silly hours I have decided to do the 5:2 thing (don't like the word diet). I believe as I'll be distracted by work this should help me succeed but I have a question about exercise.

If I eat 600 calories on my fast day should I still exercise like, vigorously? I'm doing the 30ds (not exactly vigorous but still tiring) and I burn around 200 calories. That means my net is 400...so that's good right? I dunno.

I'm trying to work out whether I should do 30ds and fast on the same day or go for a walk on fast day and exercise my butt off on the other days.

Anyone know what I am talking about or done/doing the 5:2 that can help me? I want to make this as effective as possible.....

Really hoping that makes sense and doesn't sound too stupid.

Steph :flowerforyou:

Replies

  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    It really depends on what you can tolerate. Some people feel very energetic when they fast, so exercise isn't a problem. I tend to get tired, plus I'm borderline hypoglycemic, so exercising fasted can be a little tricky for me. Try some light exercise, like walking, and see how you do. I don't think it's harmful to exercise fasted, it's just a matter of what you can sustain and tolerate over time.
  • kepete
    kepete Posts: 268 Member
    I did the 600 calories a day in the past and as others will tell you it's too few! My metabolism is very out of whack because I ate too few calories for years. Where has it left me? If I don't do hard core cardio workouts 5 times a week I gain large amounts of weight at a time. In fall I was injured and took a break from running for one week. I walked but it wasn't enough. I limited myself to 1200 calories a day and still gained 8 pounds. Eight pounds just because I didn't listen to my docs, my friends or my body for years. At 51 years old and having done it myself, I'm begging you ... Eat more calories!!!
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
    I think you need to do a bit more research - there's 2 groups here on MFP and I'd recommend that you spend some time reading through the various discussion threads.

    But in short:

    If you're female, it's 500 calories on the low days.
    If you exercise on "fast" days, you don't eat back those burned calories. Many people find exercising on a fast day is fine.

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

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/8628-5-2-diet
  • MsPudding
    MsPudding Posts: 562 Member
    I did the 600 calories a day in the past and as others will tell you it's too few! My metabolism is very out of whack because I ate too few calories for years.

    600 calories a day, every day, is indeed far too few - but the Op is talking about 5:2 which, as the name suggests, is a fast two days a week (non-consecutive days at 500 calories). The other 5 days is eating at maintenance level.

    So...it's not a case of too few calories because it's working on weekly averages and it doesn't put your metabolism out of whack because it's actually a very moderate weekly deficit.
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
    I did the 600 calories a day in the past and as others will tell you it's too few! My metabolism is very out of whack because I ate too few calories for years. Where has it left me? If I don't do hard core cardio workouts 5 times a week I gain large amounts of weight at a time. In fall I was injured and took a break from running for one week. I walked but it wasn't enough. I limited myself to 1200 calories a day and still gained 8 pounds. Eight pounds just because I didn't listen to my docs, my friends or my body for years. At 51 years old and having done it myself, I'm begging you ... Eat more calories!!!
    It's not 600 calories a day, every day. It's 2 days a week of eating 600 calories, and then 5 days a week eating whatever calories you need to maintain a reasonable calorie deficit overall for the week.

    OP - I'm not sure the answer to this, I think you need to work out what works best for you. I've played around a bit with Eat Stop Eat, (fasting for 24 hrs straight) and Lean Gains style fasting, as well as the 5:2 diet. I personally do not do well exercising while fasted. For others, they do great, and for some, training fasted is kind of the main point or intermittent fasting in the first place. I would experiment a bit and see what suits you.

    In addition to the forums linked above, this one might be of interest too: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/66-intermittent-fasting
  • fstephanie4
    fstephanie4 Posts: 196 Member
    I did the 600 calories a day in the past and as others will tell you it's too few! My metabolism is very out of whack because I ate too few calories for years. Where has it left me? If I don't do hard core cardio workouts 5 times a week I gain large amounts of weight at a time. In fall I was injured and took a break from running for one week. I walked but it wasn't enough. I limited myself to 1200 calories a day and still gained 8 pounds. Eight pounds just because I didn't listen to my docs, my friends or my body for years. At 51 years old and having done it myself, I'm begging you ... Eat more calories!!!

    No way would I be able to do that everyday! I get grouchy if I've eaten less than 1200! Which is why it's only two days. Science has come into it and blah blah blah. It's supposed to be very good. I want to try it for a month or so. If it's not for me, its not for me. I'm not bother as long as I give it a go and try to shift these last 10ish lbs :) Thank you for your concern though :)
  • fstephanie4
    fstephanie4 Posts: 196 Member
    I think you need to do a bit more research - there's 2 groups here on MFP and I'd recommend that you spend some time reading through the various discussion threads.

    But in short:

    If you're female, it's 500 calories on the low days.
    If you exercise on "fast" days, you don't eat back those burned calories. Many people find exercising on a fast day is fine.

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

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/8628-5-2-diet

    Thank you, I have done a bit of research on it and have the book however, 600, for me, feels more managable than 500, I get very bad when it comes to limiting myself.
  • fstephanie4
    fstephanie4 Posts: 196 Member
    Thank you for all your responses. It's helped no end :)

    :flowerforyou:

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