Intermittent fasting

luv2chewbaca2
luv2chewbaca2 Posts: 15 Member
edited December 2 in Health and Weight Loss
My weight loss has not only plateau'ed but Ive gained back 15 pounds!!! Im still counting cals, nothing in that arena has changed. Im thinking of doing the intermittent fasting (alternating days) to recharge my metabolism. Im curious if anyone knows the answer to this. On my "down days" when I only eat 500 cals, Is this my NET cals? Or is this my total cals for the day? For example, if I burn 500 extra cals that day, can I essentially eat 1000? My NET cals would then = 500. OR....If I burn 500 extra cals that day and only eat 500 cals, my balance would = 0....? PLease help!!

Replies

  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    Questions to ask yourself:

    1) Why do I think this is a good idea?
    2) What, exactly, is this supposed to do?
    3) Why am I not looking directly into this plan?
    4) If I don't actually know what I'm doing, how do I think this is going to work?
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    No one re-charges their metabolism. How are you measuring your calorie intake? Are you using a food scale, if not you could be eating more than you think.

    As we get closer to goal weight loss slows down. At 15 pounds you are looking at about 1/2 pound a week loss. This can be easily masked by water weight....time of month, high sodium, sore muscles.

    5:2 - eat 500 calories 2 days a week and MAINTENANCE the other 5. You get your entire deficit from 2 days of dieting.

    I didn't exercise on those days. You can it's up to you. But close to goal I kept the deficit moderate. I wanted to help maintain existing lean muscle mass.

    How are you measuring calorie burns? Eating 100% of exercise calories would keep the deficit more moderate. But calorie burn estimates can be way off.

    Alternate day dieting is an aggressive form of 5:2 for those that are very over weight.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    Here's a link to the group
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/100058-5-2-fasting
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  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    0, because I ate them all. Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.
  • cwang125
    cwang125 Posts: 76 Member
    We need more information. How long have you been tracking? Have you incorporated a new exercise routine?
    Whats your daily goal now? How accurate are you with your tracking? What other factors have changed in this timeframe?

    "Recharging metabolism" is a stupid concept. If you are alive then your metabolism is going. Your basal metabolic rate is how much your body requires to maintain itself if you were lying in a coma.

    IF isn't a magic bullet. You still need to maintain a caloric deficit overall to lose weight. If you fast for a period of time then consume 2500kcals when you break your fast then it may neutralize the net deficit.

    Need more info.
  • luv2chewbaca2
    luv2chewbaca2 Posts: 15 Member
    You burn cals just getting out of bed every day. On the average, (without even exercising) I burn 300-600 extra cals above my BMR every day. I understand that I have to consume more cals on my NON-fasting day. My question was not about my NON-fasting day. I track EVERYTHING that goes in my mouth and if you look me up on MFP you will see that Ive logged well over 500 days. I am currently eating 1300 cals/day. I WAS eating 1200 and my weight loss stopped after 6 months then I started gaining the 15 lbs back. I tried upping my cals a bit to see if that would help, but it hasn't. This is why I have researched intermittent fasting and was thinking of trying it. Hope that answers all the questions. Now, if I could actually get some answers to MY question, that'd be great!
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  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    luv2chewbaca2 wrote: »
    You burn cals just getting out of bed every day. On the average, (without even exercising) I burn 300-600 extra cals above my BMR every day. I understand that I have to consume more cals on my NON-fasting day. My question was not about my NON-fasting day. I track EVERYTHING that goes in my mouth and if you look me up on MFP you will see that Ive logged well over 500 days. I am currently eating 1300 cals/day. I WAS eating 1200 and my weight loss stopped after 6 months then I started gaining the 15 lbs back. I tried upping my cals a bit to see if that would help, but it hasn't. This is why I have researched intermittent fasting and was thinking of trying it. Hope that answers all the questions. Now, if I could actually get some answers to MY question, that'd be great!

    Of course upping your calories didn't help you lose weight. That wouldn't make sense. I'm guessing you are eating more than 1200.

    If you are not losing @ 1200 seven days a week, then eating TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) five days a week and 500 calories 2 days a week isn't going to be any more productive until you can get a handle on how much you are actually eating.

    Do you weigh solids using a digital food scale 7 days a week? Double check your entries. There is a lot of garbage in the database. Many entries are just flat out wrong.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1

    Your actual question was answered to the best of my ability. I read the Dr. Mosely 5:2 book. Nothing is said about eating more on 500 calorie days. But (in my opinion) exercising for 500 calories on a 500 calorie fast day is a bad idea. Fast days were light exercise or rest days for me.

    If you are eating 1300 + 500 exercise calories regularly.......again, how is exercise measured? HRM's are only designed for steady state cardio.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,458 Member
    I'm with teabea. I wouldn't exercise on that 500 calorie down day. That would be my rest day.

    I've been doing 16:8 for years - it works for me. Having a fast day is miserable in my opinion. It won't reset your metabolism or whatever you are calling it. It's just another way to work in a calorie deficit and it works for some people to help them adhere to a lower calorie week.

    I also agree that if you are really weighing everything on a digital food scale and not losing weight on 1200, then there is some other health issue going on and you should see a doctor.
  • luv2chewbaca2
    luv2chewbaca2 Posts: 15 Member
    What is 16:8...? I dont exercise and still burn more than my BMR which is approx 1450/day. You burn cals even when you DONT exercise. Yes I do weigh with a digital scale and as I already mentioned, track everything. I have read several posts where folks UPPED their cals because they were not eating enough on the 1200/day and they actually started losing again by doing that. I am only eating 1300/day which is still below my BMR. Since I don't stay in bed all day,, I am burning more than my BMR daily (just by getting out of bed daily). Yes, Noel_57 I am talking about the JUDD diet. My question was... should the 500 be my NET cals at the end of the day? OR my TOTAL cals, regardless of how much I have burned thru out the day?
  • dbashby
    dbashby Posts: 44 Member
    This is the best explanation I've read on the subject of plateaus/starvation mode . http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/starvation-mode/
  • msalicia116
    msalicia116 Posts: 233 Member
    I'm doing 5/2 as well. Only eat 500 calories, not more. The reason for this is not just the benefit of a calorie deficit, but there are huge health benefits you gain from "fasting". If you ate more, you're body wouldn't gain those benefits, one being going into repair mode.

    Stick to 500 or less. As far as working out, keep it lighter on fast days or rest.
  • chiptease
    chiptease Posts: 70 Member
    16:8 is fasting for 16 hours and eating window for 8 hours. Typically, people stop eating in the evening (let's say 8PM) and don't eat until afternoon (12PM) the next day. The easiest way to stick to the 16:8 diet is skipping breakfast.

    I recently reached my goal weight (145) and I took a month off and ate at maintenance. At least I thought. I gained 3 pounds in a month! Now I'm getting back into it and will return to my deficit. Weight is weird, it fluctuates, sometimes you eat more than you need and not realize it. Try eating at a larger deficit for a month and see if the scale moves.
  • tashygolean730
    tashygolean730 Posts: 92 Member
    ADF, JUDDD, EOD, 5:2, 4:3 on the fast days you eat up to 500 calories if you're a female. You eat TDEE on your feast days/up days. Exercise calories are not added on fasting days. I do ADF so I eat 500 or less every other day. I work out on both up and down days. I try to get the majority of my down day calories from lean protein and then focus on protein on my up days to ensure I'm getting an adequate amount of protein on average to be a muscle sparing as possible while maintaining a deficit.
  • luv2chewbaca2
    luv2chewbaca2 Posts: 15 Member
    edited June 2016
    Thank you tashygolean730 !!! Finally an answer to my question. How much have you lost doing this intermittent fasting?
  • tashygolean730
    tashygolean730 Posts: 92 Member
    You're welcome. I've lost 18lbs in 6 weeks.
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