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5.2 diet. why is eating 750 calories and burning rest through exercise not the same as eating 500

Hannahjane123456
Posts: 116 Member
ive been researching questions on google about the 5.2 diet. ive read that u have to stick to the 500 calories on fast days, but i thought it was fine to eat around 750- 800 and exercise quite a bit in the day, which i was assuming it was the same. am i wrong?
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The 1,200 calorie minimum is there for a reason0
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Because that program isn't worried about net calories and 750 calories isn't considered a fast on that program?0
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I have no experience of this, I would say you're probably fine to do it the way you want... the 5:2 diet works in the same way that MFP does, it limits your caloric intake for the week leaving you at a deficit - but instead of being spread over the week its consolidated....
...Except I do not know that I would be confident to e.g. go for a run on a fast day, I'd be concerned about it making me more hungry and therefore less likely to stick to my '2 day'. I suppose there are some potential health risks too (lightheadedness at the least?)0 -
The purpose of a fasting day isn't *just* to consume low calories, but also, in doing so, to give your body's functions less work for the day - so the digestive system gets a break with not having a lot of food come through, etc. Giving the body a break from the rigors and recovery involved with exercise is meant to be part of that too, so fast days should be 500 calories (600 for males) and just a whole lot of taking it easy.0
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ok also ive read that you can eat a quarter of your tdee, my tdee is 2400 so does that mean i can eat 600?0
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If you're exercising and hungry, eat.0
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hannahjanerhoden24 wrote: »ive been researching questions on google about the 5.2 diet. ive read that u have to stick to the 500 calories on fast days, but i thought it was fine to eat around 750- 800 and exercise quite a bit in the day, which i was assuming it was the same. am i wrong?
500 and that's it - you can't eat back exercise calories on a fast day. I wouldn't use Google questions for correct answers! Better to go to the source http://thefastdiet.co.uk/
Or join the 5:2 groups on here?
As for the quarter of TDEE, yes that is where the 500 (women) and 600 (men) targets came from.
Funny enough I found it really hard to stick to 600 and really easy to stick to 650. For me it wasn't worth making fast days harder for the sake of 50 calories.0 -
Look at your daily calorie average over a week's time. Is that number enough for you to lose 1/2 to one pound per week? Are you losing 1/2 to one pound per week? If so, you're doing fine. No plan is one size fits all--tailor it to make it work for you. (As long as your average stays above the minimum.)0
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well ive been eating around 700-800 calories 3 days a week and eating about 1600 calories for the rest of the days, which so far ive lost 4 pounds and im nearly at the end of the third week and i havent lost any weight. so thats why i was thinking about going down to 500 but i dont think i can cope with so little calorie.0
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Four pounds in less than 3 weeks is great. You can keep doing what you're doing or eat less or eat more. There's no magical 5:2 calorie level. It's normal to go a week or so without a loss, especially after significant losses in prior weeks.0
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The point of the 5:2 diet is that some people have trouble restricting their intake on a daily basis, so they focus on restricting it two days a week with more calories allowed on the other days. There is no reason why you couldn't exercise and eat more than the 500 calories, other than the fact that the whole plan is probably based on your average TDEE for a week, and may have already taken exercise into account. As long as you are at a calorie deficit for the week, you will lose weight.0
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