Net calories in the 5:2 diet?

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Krislynell
Krislynell Posts: 38 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Thinking about the 5:2 fast.......do we eat net calories or not? My fit but gives me exercise calories. Do you eat those?

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  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
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    I did...but I think most don't.
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
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    Fast days should be a set amount, maintenance days should be at maintenance.
  • StealthHealth
    StealthHealth Posts: 2,417 Member
    edited November 2016
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    If I remember correctly the book recommends that you do not eat exercise calories. That is what I did when running 5:2.

    I think that if you do a lot or cardio, distance running or the like, this could cause you problems in as much as you would be eating a vlc intake on fast days and a deficit on fed days (fed days are supposed to be your "normal" eating which I read as maintenance).
  • ClosetBayesian
    ClosetBayesian Posts: 836 Member
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    StealthHealth wrote: »
    If I remember correctly the book recommends that you do not eat exercise calories. That is what I did when running 5:2.

    I think that if you do a lot or cardio, distance running or the like, this could cause you problems in as much as you would be eating a vlc intake on fast days and a deficit on fed days (fed days are supposed to be your "normal" eating which I read as maintenance).

    Wouldn't that be maintenance given the person's actual activity level? So, maintenance calories, taking into account that the person is active, not maintenance for someone who is sedentary. TDEE, not NEAT, if I have my acronyms right.
  • M3andA5her
    M3andA5her Posts: 2 Member
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    I used to eat mine back, or some of them, as I did alot of running and also rode my horse generally on fast days. If I didnt eat some back I was a mess.
  • dice80
    dice80 Posts: 84 Member
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    Wanting to start this. Has anyone tried and succeeded with it? I just want to get my binging under control. I tried to start it yesterday and did great at first but then my husband suggested we go out to eat and my will power is very shaky.
  • Krislynell
    Krislynell Posts: 38 Member
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    dice80 wrote: »
    Wanting to start this. Has anyone tried and succeeded with it? I just want to get my binging under control. I tried to start it yesterday and did great at first but then my husband suggested we go out to eat and my will power is very shaky.

    I am so right there with you. I do great all day then get home and the hubby has made dinner or bought dinner or the kids made cookies and every night I have to add a generic "bad" to my MFP with at least 1500 calories. Last night I binged on candy and cereal. :neutral:
  • MaybeLed
    MaybeLed Posts: 250 Member
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    So I tried it, it wasn't sustainable for ME. I became a raging nightmare.... but I did read up about it before my 3 or 4 abortive attempts.

    The idea is to eat 500kcal (women) or 600kcal (men) gross on 2 non-consecutive days and eat ‘as normal’ the rest of the time. The primary aim is to lost weight without tracking along with other health improvements. When you get to your maintenance range it was suggested changing to 1:6 regime, unless you start to gain.

    Obviously if you think it will work for you OP give it a go, it was not sustainable for me and I gave it a damn good go.
  • StealthHealth
    StealthHealth Posts: 2,417 Member
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    ClosetBayesian wrote: »
    StealthHealth wrote: »
    If I remember correctly the book recommends that you do not eat exercise calories. That is what I did when running 5:2.

    I think that if you do a lot or cardio, distance running or the like, this could cause you problems in as much as you would be eating a vlc intake on fast days and a deficit on fed days (fed days are supposed to be your "normal" eating which I read as maintenance).

    Wouldn't that be maintenance given the person's actual activity level? So, maintenance calories, taking into account that the person is active, not maintenance for someone who is sedentary. TDEE, not NEAT, if I have my acronyms right.

    You're right. Maintenance would be TDEE But, I don't think that the book goes into that kind of detail about calories out.
  • StealthHealth
    StealthHealth Posts: 2,417 Member
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    I ran 5:2 for ages and didn't have any problems on it. Later i switched to a modified 8:16 fasting protocol - again no issues. I guess I'm just set up for fasting.
  • CooCooPuff
    CooCooPuff Posts: 4,374 Member
    edited November 2016
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    I've been doing 5:2 for a while and have been doing pretty well. I actually started this fasting because I was eating out more than usual and wasn't pleased trying to use NEAT with a constant deficit. I used a TDEE calculator to determine calories for both sets of days:
    http://calendarscripts.info/weight-loss-calculator.html

    As for Fitbit, you can test the maintenance calories from them for the 5 days. Access your profile on the desktop website, your average calorie output for the month should be there.
  • flumi_f
    flumi_f Posts: 1,888 Member
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    trigden1991 wrote: »
    Fast days should be a set amount, maintenance days should be at maintenance.

    ^^this
    The goal of 500cals on fast days is not just about weightloss, but also about giving your digestion a bit of a rest and your body time to get into repair mode. 5:2 helped me lose and maintain my weight, but it is about more than 'just' weightloss.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    trigden1991 wrote: »
    Fast days should be a set amount, maintenance days should be at maintenance.

    This^

    Fast days 500 (women) - 600 (men)

    The remaining 5 days are maintenance.....google yours (include exercise). Then skip the whole "net" thing because exercise will be accounted for.

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/100058-5-2-fasting

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/8628-5-2-diet

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