Day 1 (Friday) : Mike and I decided to do our fasting days on Sundays and Wednesdays. So since today is Friday, we should just eat like normal, right?
But what I discovered is that there are varied opinions on how many calories you should eat on your 5 days of "feasting." I don't like this term -- feasting. We're just eating normally. But what is NORMAL?
I've been on a 1200 calorie diet for the past month and have lost 5 pounds...and gained 2 pounds...then lost it...then gained it back again. Whatever. So, I wondered if I should still maintain the 1200 calorie diet in addition to the 2 fasting days.
After some extensive research on message boards, articles from The Guardian and Mirror among others - I determined that NO, I should NOT stick to the 1200 calorie diet during the normal eating days. Why? Calories are crucial to keeping your body working. My personal basal metabolic rate (BMR...the amount of calories I'd burn if I did absolutely nothing all day) is about 1350 calories. But let's be serious - I move around during the day, even if it is from couch to kitchen. So, then we need to consider TDEE, the amount of calories I burn daily based on my level of activity. My TDEE is about 1850 calories. In other words, I need calories to function and if I ate 1200 calories 5 days per week and 500 calories 2 days per week, my body will have very adverse reactions (one article I read said if you eat too few calories, your heart may not pump your blood through your body regularly. YIKES!).
So, what is NORMAL? How many calories will I eat on regular eating days? Well, I'm going to eat somewhere between my BMR and TDEE. I've read all sorts of crazy things like "Oh, you should eat your TDEE minus 20%." Whatever. I'm going to eat what I like until I'm satisfied. If one day I eat 1500 calories and another day I eat 2000 calories, FINE. That's NORMAL. But 1200 calories...that's not normal and I know it's not because I'm constantly measuring portions.
It's Friday. I'm not eating 1200 calories anymore. And I'm excited because it's lunch time :-)
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