A bit of background before I get into my dilemma; I started a concerted effort to lose weight on 1st March 2016, and as is detailed in my profile, I started with the Exante diet for 4 weeks and then onto Fast800. My starting weight was 123.8kg, I am now 84.7kg, and will be a healthy BMI once I hit 82kg. Apart from a holiday in June and a 2 or 3 cheat days since the holiday, I have stayed in Fast800 and the weight continues to drop off.

Up until my holiday I supplemented the diet by walking, but since getting back I decided to up the ante and start going to the gym. I’ve now been going for 4 weeks and really enjoy it, however I’m finding myself being really hungry on the days that I go, and on occasion feeling light headed. My work out generally consists of 20mins cross trainer, 20mins weights, 25mins bike, 15mins rowing machine. In cardio alone I’m burning 550 calories per session, and have no idea what calories i’m burning while lifting weights. I do this 3 times a week.

Can anyone give advice on whether I can stay on Fast800 while doing this?
If not how should I be managing my calorie intake on workout days?
800 calories a day is fine on my rest days, but how can I stay in ketosis on work out days if i increase my calorie intake?
If my ultimate goal is to stabilise my weight around 78-80kg, what is the best way to transition off Fast800?

That’s some great results! Well done!

I’d say that level of exercise on 800 cals is at the top end if not a little too much.

If I were you I’d be tempted to start transitioning onto the 5:2 (maybe start with 4:3) and training on your full calorie days.

I’m not even counting calories (at a guess I’m consuming 1200-1600) and am doing a similar level of exercise to you and it’s still flying off. I’m only 5kg off my target weight too.

Hi bigP
What a fantastic weight loss you have achieved…..( I had to look up the kg thingy and convert to pounds btw!!!)
Well done. Don’t know how to transition off Fast800 as this is also my dilemma now I am close to my BMI.

However whilst we are all individuals and our fitness levels can be rather different.
I can say for me that I am able to exercise perfectly well on 800 calories a day but I was doing exercise before this diet …..just huffing and puffing more! At first I felt rather tired towards the end of an exercise session….now I have masses more energy.
In February I was 81kg and I am now 63kg. I’m 63 and 5ft 2in.
I regularly play tennis and I also go to some quite demanding fitness classes like body pump, body combat and spin…..not all at the same time!!!!
Hope you feel up to going to the gym. Think the exercise is worth it for the health benefits and the help with the weight loss.
Take it easy at first…..but don’t be overly afraid 🙂 Good luck.

hey,

inspiring story, Im 4 weeks in on the 800 on Monday, i lost half a stone in the first 2 weeks, last week stepped up running, I ran a half marathon in May before I started this regime, i got things the wrong way round! Last week ran a 5k, 7k and then run london 10k on Sunday, for the 10k i ate some porridge made with water and a banana for fuel in the morning. After the race I kept to the diet pretty much but due to the breakfast was 200cal over, but better than stressing about breaking down was my feelings on it.

I started at about 120kilos, I have found myself the last 3 days feeling hungry which I guess is due to the additional exercise last week so calming it until tomorrow this week.

So , yeah it is tricky, however my understanding is that your body starts to pull on the fat rather than carbs for fuel. However I heard a programme which suggested your “turbo” comes from carbs! Who knows, I know I feel better on this diet but gusto when running etc. definitely slower..

Hi BigP! Wow, great results on your weight loss! As an exercise addict, I have had a lot of experience with the BSD and working out and my experience is that I had to figure calories burned and eat at least fifty percent of the calories burned in addition to the 800 calories allowed. If I did not add in more calories I would hit a wall and just be starving/weak and unable to satisfy my hunger no matter what I ate. So I ate more on workout days — specifically protein and fat — and the results were perfect, I retained myscle, lost fat and really importantly lost most of the fat from my waist (10 inches overall). I really think it is important to supplement protein and fat for energy. I usually had extra steak or chicken and extra cheese — all very satisfying. I credit the workouts for my now skinny waist because they seemed to make the biggest difference in WHERE I lost weight. I always encourage people who are not losing at the waistline to do more hard cardio and weight lifting. Hope that is helpful! Huge congratulations on your success!
Julia

Hi Saloh
Wow really impressed by your running. Only think I can manage a small trot! Think will shift your weight pretty quickly but you do initially hit a bit of a wall. My Diabetic nurse suggested eating a banana…but that is not a very good option on BSD so nuts would be good. Anyway when I went to a cardio class I kept forgetting and now I have lost more weight I don’t seem to run out of energy in the same way. I’m sure you will need to work out what feels right for you.

Hi Californiagirl
I really envy your skinny waist. I keep hoping for the Jessica Ennis torso but i can only manage slightly flabby bulge!
I certainly think that exercise is really important and I also think you need to mix it up a bit. The 3 S’s.
Strength, suppleness and stamina.
Ie: something weight bearing/ lifting….could be a Body pump class, the Gym or swimming.
something to stretch your joints …like Yoga, Pilates or the Gym
something to increase your heart/lung rate……anything cardio that has some intensity in a short burst…HIT

Note to self. Need to work on my waist more.
Off to a spin class this morning and as I haven’t been for weeks the Instructor will know that the red and puffing pensioner on the bike at the back is not putting up the resistance too high.

Hopefully she will smile indulgently to herself and note that I am wearing jazzy leggings !!!!

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for all the responses, it’s given me a lot of food for thought (pardon the pun), and also congratulations to all at whatever stage you are at.

To give a better insight to how i currently tailor my meals on a workout day I’ll run through a typical meal plan:

Pre workout – Porridge (oatmeal) – 220kcal – I have this around 5am and start my workout at 6am
Breakfast – Yoghurt, berries, peanut butter – 175kcal – post workout around 8am
Lunch – Brocolli and Tuna (or Chicken) – 155kcal
Dinner – Cottage cheese, Chicken (or tuna), tomato, spring onion – 250kcal

Before starting at the gym i never had the porridge and would add calories in the other meals, but from the reading I’ve done your body needs the carbs for the workout to get you going. To be fair I always burn off that amount of calories on the cross trainer, so the hope is the rest of the workout starts using fat stores in my body.

If i’m being totally honest the hardest part about adding more calories on a regular basis is mental. I’m not sure how others feel, but for me the the control aspect of the diet, coupled with the rapid results, are addictive. There is an inherent fear that by adding calories the weight loss will stop, or at the worst increase, and being so close to a healthy BMI makes this even more daunting.

The realist in me understands that even at say 1200 calories a day (on work out days) my weight will still drop, but really convincing myself of it is another matter.

It’s a non workout day today and generally I don’t get very hungry outside my regular meals, so I’ll take some more time to think about what I’ll do next, and if anyone can add more insight I’ll be happy to take it on board.

Hi BigP, from my rudimentary knowledge your meal plan looks spot on. Especially given that you are doing cardio. The danger in doing cardio is that your body can go into a catabolic state which means that your body may look to your muscle mass as a fuel source, rather than that pesky fat.

Eating carbs pre workout is a good way to prevent this, so you are spot on there. I would be tempted to chuck a boiled/poached egg into your breakfast too. Your body will need essential amino acids (“usable” protein) post work out to help repair/build lean muscle mass (and more lean muscle mass means faster metabolism). From memory eggs have more usable protein than any other food source, something like 28g of usable protein per 30g of protein.

I know what you mean about adding the calories. Only thing I would say to that is if you are adding more, add it protein and good fats. Also, it’s not all about the weight, but the removal of fat. Don’t forget lean muscle is twice as dense as fat, so your weight could stay the same, or even go up, but your body fat could go down too!

Hi Everyone,

After some pondering yesterday I’ve decided to increase my calorie intake on workout days as suggested by Timmy and Californiagirl, but will do so slowly. I just had a work out this morning and added some boiled egg and spinach to my post workout breakfast, adding a “massive” 103kcals to my daily intake.

Again, thanks to everyone for their advice, and if anyone else can shed some light or offer some knowledge, it would be much appreciated.

Hi bigP
Do whatever is comfortable for you.
Keep on rocking 🙂