5:2 up to 500 cals on FD, any benefit of having less than the 500 cals

[40somethingwonderful]

I am doing the 5:2 with my sister, I have about a stone to lose and my sister has 3 stone to lose to get to our goal weights.

On FD's I do not eat breakfast/lunch and save all my calories for my evening meal where I usually have about 450 cals. My sister is the same and only eats in the evening, but she usually has less than 200 cal. She is typically losing more weight than me (usually by .5 - 1lbs a week) she has said that she feels its because she has less cals than me on a fast day. I think its perhaps she has more weight to lose.

Has anyone found a letter weight loss when having much less than the 500 cals.

FWIW I am happy losing the amount I am losing as each week I lose .5 lbs - 1.5 lbs and the weight is coming off, but I feel so much better in myself.

It's because she has more to lose than you do.

Agree. Though I think BCF said 300 was optimal... 500 is more sustainable, though.

Men usually lose much more quickly than women.

For the same gender, those with more to lose will lose more quickly because, ntbo, it is easier to access body fat for burning when you have more of it.
Taller people also tend to lose more quickly, as do exercisers - IF they don't eat back more than they burn.

Very important is whether you significantly overeat on NFDs, i.e. if you average >> TDEE, because that means you are eating back the FD deficit.

Varady did a human study on FDs at various % of TDEE and found 25% TDEE was the optimum combination for weight loss and muscle retention.

However, she and Mosely both recommend 500 cal FDs (600 for chaps) because it works in practice, even for those with a low TDEE.
FDs of say 300 are less sustainable longterm for most folk, but fine if that works for your sister.
You do what works for you and your aims

Thanks :)

She keeps telling me that if I have less than 500 cals I would lose more weigh.

I am happy doing what I am doing, the weight is coming off slowly, but I feel better and do not feel deprived.

I have less than a stone and it's very slow progress. However it is progressing in the right direction. If I had less than 500 on fast days or less on nfd I'm sure I would lose quicker but I just don't want to feel that I'm dieting. A friend has much more to lose and it coming off her much quicker but her tdee is so much more than mine.

Sustainability is the key.
Also, learning good habits for maintenance