Calorie Cycling or "Can I save my calories for that party/event/pigout on the couch?"
Alatariel75
Posts: 18,349 Member
I started back properly on MFP in January 2014. Since that time I'm down 27kg/60lbs and cheerfully continuing to drop. It hasn't been a smooth road, but overall it has been consistent.
The biggest tool in my arsenal, to be honest, has been calorie cycling. I'm a foodie. I love food, I love making food, and sharing food and a lot of the fun things I do tend to be food-centric. So often you hear people say "weekends are my downfall" and that has been SO true for me, especially with a husband who doesn't need to lose weight.
A lot of my previous failure to lose weight and keep it off was that I'd blow whatever deficit I achieved during the week on the weekend. This time around though, I've used calorie cycling with a decent amount of success. Basically the theory is that your body doesn't magically reset at midnight or whenever MFP does, and fat isn't gained, stored, or lost in a day. A weekly deficit is just as effective. So. I have MFP set to 1500 a day, which works out to 10,500 a week. Generally, my week will look like:
Mon-Thurs at around 1200 = 4800
Friday at around 1800 = 6600
Leaving me 3900 for Saturday and Sunday = 10,500
For my height and weight, even 1500 a day can be a bit aggressive, so often weekends will go over the 4000 mark. Depends on the event. The point is, though that I'm losing weight steadily without really having to say no on the weekends, or blowing my deficit. I don't go nuts on weekends, it's not like I have a season pass to the Chinese buffet but it means I can have a dinner party and not worry about going light on the dessert (or the wine, for that matter). I can go to the food and wine festival and have ALL the samples. I can have fish and chips on the beach with the family of an evening, after having brunch with friends that morning. Honestly, it keeps me sane.
The biggest tool in my arsenal, to be honest, has been calorie cycling. I'm a foodie. I love food, I love making food, and sharing food and a lot of the fun things I do tend to be food-centric. So often you hear people say "weekends are my downfall" and that has been SO true for me, especially with a husband who doesn't need to lose weight.
A lot of my previous failure to lose weight and keep it off was that I'd blow whatever deficit I achieved during the week on the weekend. This time around though, I've used calorie cycling with a decent amount of success. Basically the theory is that your body doesn't magically reset at midnight or whenever MFP does, and fat isn't gained, stored, or lost in a day. A weekly deficit is just as effective. So. I have MFP set to 1500 a day, which works out to 10,500 a week. Generally, my week will look like:
Mon-Thurs at around 1200 = 4800
Friday at around 1800 = 6600
Leaving me 3900 for Saturday and Sunday = 10,500
For my height and weight, even 1500 a day can be a bit aggressive, so often weekends will go over the 4000 mark. Depends on the event. The point is, though that I'm losing weight steadily without really having to say no on the weekends, or blowing my deficit. I don't go nuts on weekends, it's not like I have a season pass to the Chinese buffet but it means I can have a dinner party and not worry about going light on the dessert (or the wine, for that matter). I can go to the food and wine festival and have ALL the samples. I can have fish and chips on the beach with the family of an evening, after having brunch with friends that morning. Honestly, it keeps me sane.
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This really is an excellent point, and one that can continue into maintenance. For instance, if I want to have a pizza day (one where I don't just have one piece per the moderation theory), I can eat a couple of hundred calories under my maintenance calories for a few days, and then have my pizza meal, enjoying several pieces at once.
Monday - Thursday around 300 calories below maintenance, this leaves me an extra 1,200 calories for my pizza on Friday. Even though my total calories for that day will be higher than my maintenance level, the weekly total will still be correct.0 -
I do this also, usually at least once a week I have some sort of event that I know will involve more calories, so I try to end the days leading up about by about 100-200 under my goal, giving me 500-1000 extra on the weekend.
The other thing I try to make sure to point out to those inquiring about this approach is that for many people using MFP who are set up to lose 1 lb/wk, there is a built in buffer of 3,500 cals for your week before you should theoretic start seeing any weight gain or "undoing of progress". I think the calorie cycling should be sufficient so that you don't have to tap into the built in deficit, but if you end up having a weekend of indulgence instead of just a day, it's probably not going to set you back that much.0 -
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I've done this and it works out great, especially since we do Disney all the time, then I can have soft Mickey pretzel or Peanut butter chocolate ice cream sundae or whatever else I want.
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I usually bank some calories for the weekend during the week..so I will try to be 100 to 50 under and then if I go over on friday and saturday I know that things should even out...0
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