Dieting but not super excessively every second day, anybody tried it? (1000 cals)

[MagalyMaman]

I'm about ten pounds overweight and for the last two years I've been trying to lose the same 10 lbs. I lose five and then they creep back on.

I have tried the 5:2 and in theory I like the idea, and the science but I find it really really hard.

So, this is what I've been doing for the last week and I think, so far, it's easy. But will it work??? In a normal day I probably eat about 1750 approx, so it's still a deficit of about 12,000 cals or 3 pounds in one month.

I'm not in a hurry. It is two years ago that I realised / accepted I'd gone up a dress size so I have patience. I want something that's going to work in the long term.

Anybody else tried this?

Are you sure you're on a deficit when eating 1750? Are you very tall and/or active?

I don't see why it wouldn't work if your TDEE is 1750 and you stick to that on non mini fast days ,means a deficit of 750 every other day.

What results have you got this week?

I've done three days at 1000, and yesterday, it was 'easier' than the first two times and I managed to come in at 800 (although I won't force myself to do that every time, just if I can, bonus). Today is a normal day. Only had a breakfast of cereal (all-bran). Not dieting or indulging today.

I'll come back and update thread in a few weeks as results are bound to take twice as long. I just want to find something I can stick to! And generally be in a steady one way direction with. Not lose five pounds, put them back on, lose five pounds, put them back on.

I know it's early with this, but I have found the 1,000 days easy, relatively, having tried 5:2 and found that a real challenge! I've tried to google dieting every second day but all that comes up is people fasting -500 every second day.

There was an article in woman's health about something similar- it was eat 800 every other day and lose a stone in a month. I know rosemary conley 5:2 is 800 on two days of the week then 1500-1600 on the other days and my friend lost weight on that quite quickly. Good luck! I might join you as finding 1200 hard to stick to every day!

I'm going to keep an eye on this
I'm 5:2 ing and I find it really hard. I can do it but I am very conscious that I would hate to it forever so I will be interested to see how you get on.

good luck and keep us posted!

I didn't know Rosemary Conley had her own version of it! I'll google that.

I'm only 5'1" and although I walk to work and back most days, I would guess that my calorie requirements are depressingly low! about 1650?, so when I say that on a normal day I'm taking in about 1750 I would have an awareness that I certainly couldn't eat that much every day. It's a figure picked more from realism than from the science of losing weight. On a normal day, I might well come in lower than 1750 but I wouldn't if I had a glass of wine, or lunch out instead of at my desk............

Will do achieve6 ! (that's green tea :-p )

I'm the same height as you, Magaly. I work out regularly and was honestly baffled when I began gaining weight. I don't have a car, live in London, hate public transport so walk for all errands.

I am slowly having to accept that my calorie requirements are much much lower than might be expected. My body just thinks all this activity is normal.

I can actually manage on 1500 cals so realistically I might have to do 1200 to lose weight - so depressing. Then I feel I haven't got enough energy to workout - which is awful because I love working out. So I am trying to learn to eat less generally and still finding my way round how to handle it all. Sigh.

Me too, I am 5 5 and really active too but after having my first baby I seem to really struggle to lose weight. I used to lose 1-2lbs a week on 14-1500 but now I barely lose anything on that and have got depressed and then binged! Try this calculator and set it to sedentary - thefastdiet.co.uk/how-many-calories-on-a-non-fast-day/

Oh, so sorry, I think I completely misunderstood that part of your OP. If the deficit of 12k kcals was coming from the days at 1000 kcals then that makes far more sense!

I'm taller than you, and I think to maintain I need 1300 calories- I would be really surprised if you would be able to maintain on 1600.

Have you been to the nurse to see if they can calculate your maintenance calories?

Are you sure that's not your BMR, Scarydinosaurs? 1300 is quite low for a TDEE if you're taller than 5'1, isn't it?

Yupp, that's me too achieve I walk everywhere, I wouldn't say I am greedy, I make good choices, but I think, over time, I have been consuming about 1.1 times as many calories as I need. It's not more complicated than that. And for some reason, bad genes? I need less than the calculators tell me!

It's always assumed that what we ('we' ??) require is more education, or more will power. But I think there's a significant number of people who are doing every thing right and they're still not slim. We do everything right, resist things..... and we expect to be slimmer, we deserve it? so for me, and others I'm reassured, I think the next thing is an acceptance that I have just got to eat far fewer calories than most other people

Thanks for link to the TDEE calculator. So, my tdee is 1440 but I set it to sedentary. I'm a little more active than sedentary!

Another "1000" day today. I have no idea how many calories I consumed yesterday but I wasn't tempted to 'make up for the day before' in any way.

In fact, I'm trying to grow to love green tea, so I even had a few cups of that yesterday which would have saved me a few cals from milk.

Off I go today. Feel confident it'll be no problem as I've nothing planned (wth other people I mean). So it'll be easy. (That is the good thing about 5:2! It makes this seem easy!)

how was it Magaly?

When I first started 5:2 I thought it would make 1500 cals per day easy but mostly my fast days just really get on my nerves so I sort of lose the psychological benefit?

it's been OK! Yesterday I found it manageable to come in at 860. I log everything on my fitness pal.

Normal day today but already I feel like my pot belly is a little bit smaller. I'm not going to shop for bikinis yet though! I felt full after one weetabix this morning. I felt like I was making myself eat half of the second one because I didn't want to find myself starving mid morning and make a bad choice. Only ate 1 and a half weetabix this morning. Sandwich for lunch. Kids want meatballs for dinner tonight, no idea how many calories but I won't have grated cheese over mine like kids do.

So, early days, and nothing to report so far. I don't even have a scales. I must buy one.

But I'm not dreading another -1000 day tomorrow. I am thankful to the 5:2 diet though! Because it's that that makes this seem easy. I used to survive a 500cal day with great difficulty. Headaches, and unbelievable hunger, and before I'd fallen asleep on one 500 day, I'd already be dreading the next one.

glad it went well

I'm fasting today

main thing is my concentration is shot to pieces by this time. (working at home)

didn't happen first couple of days, seems to have got worse as I've gone along? odd.

smilla only a touch taller- I've calorie counter quite religiously for a long time and feel quite sure. 1300 is quite a lot really.

Ok, this morning is my 5th day of -1000cals and today was the first day that I woke up thinking, oh cuff. But I stepped on the scale and after ten days of alternating, I appear to have lost 2lbs. From 9 stone 10 to 9 stone 8. Obviously this is just an initial drop. That's the easiest weight ever comes off. But I'm encouraged so far. It will slow down for me now I suspect.

Achieve normal day for you! Enjoy! I know, it's not like you're going to put your head in to a trough, but it's just the weight off your MIND when you wake up knowing that if you're hungry you can eat! One less thing to be concerned with. And it's a big concern (for me anyway).

How are your results? Do you do the fast day twice a week?

Updating here. I was 9 stone ten on the 11th of August.

another 1000c day here, but finished at 900c. I nearly always manage to have it beneath 1000. So normal day tomorrow. But I was 9 stone 4lb this morning. I started this 2 days before the thread, about 2 weeks +1 day ago. This is my 8th day of eating -1000. It seems to be working. I don't feel that it's been a really tough ride.
Last weekend, I couldn't do a 1000c Sat or Sunday, so I just picked it up on monday..

I know that this may not bring with it all the numerous health benefits that the 5:2 claims to have, but it's working just for weight loss anyway.

That's amazing Magaly. Like you I've done 5:2, v successful for quite some time but found I couldn't do it forever, made me h'angry (hungry angry!) I think I'll give this a shot myself, makes sense really - having lighter days. Did you do any exercise alongside it? Do you plan on continuing?

I'm kind of giving myself a few weeks off exercise to see the effects of purely eating less (nice for me).

I dragged myself out for a short run about three times a week but I never seemed to get any slimmer. I do want to do it though, for fitness reasons.

the beauty of having done 5:2 is that -1000 doesn't seem too bad in comparison!! I was less crazy. When I was on the 5:2, I kept accidentally telling everybody. The postman, fat colleagues who couldn't give a sh1t. I was unable to button it because all I could think of was "oh I'm so hungry but don't eat mustn't eat can't eat arghghghhg". In contrast, I just quietly get on with -1000. nobody knows. I haven't got any headaches or snapped at anybody.

Haha snap on the loose lips, and then having to argue the point that no it wasn't hard while wanting to cry and no it wasn't dangerous which it is for anyone who annoys you on 500 days
I'm excited about having something new to try! Thanks for sharks your experience. I'm pretty active, 3 hours bootcamp a week, a couple of runs and a decent amount of walking. I should be invisible if exercise really helped but I just can excercise away my eating. I do feel like one of them off secret eaters swearing blind I've no idea why I'm 2.5 stone overweight but I swear I'm not in the fridge drinking pints of cream (wine maybe, not cream, ohhhh lightbulb moment)
On hols at the minute, will start this Sunday I'm thinking once I brave the scales. Nothing to lose, well lots but you know what I mean