how to make calorie cycling work on mfp

Grimmerick

So I have wanted to get out of this plateau for a while, and I am going to do it with a combination of upping my calories, calorie cycling and changing up my exercise routine. However I realized that calorie cycling is not going to be easy on here as you can't change your day to day calorie goals. If you are stuck on a plateau and want to try this and make it work here is what I did. I used freedieting.com's calculators to figure out what I wanted to up my calories to and then I used their zigzag calculator.
1. find out what you want your rough daily calories to be.
2. Then I put that into the zig zag calculator and it gave me zigzags for extreme weightloss and regular weightloss. I went in between those by subtracting the higher cal from the lower cal then dividing it by 2 and adding back to the low cal number. This put me halfway between the extreme number and the reg weightloss number which put me at 1436 cals a day then it zigzagged that for me. If I averaged the zigzag it would be 1436 a day.
3. I also wanted to know what my Carbs, Pro, Fat should be each day depending on the calorie intake, so I plugged each zigzag day into the macronutrient calculator and came up with the Carb, Fat and Protien for each day.
4. With this information I went back to MFP and customized my goal to 1436 cals a day I also put in the carb, pro, and fat estimate for that too. Since I couldn't customize a zigzag, I went into the food notes right below where all your information is shown in your food diary and I put in what my calories, carbs, protein, and fat should be for that particular day(it was a little time consuming but it will be worth it, I typed it in for the next month). It's nice that it's right below the other information because you can look right at it and then the amount you've had for the day and know if you are on target.

So while I know it's not going to subtract everything for me, at least I can look back and forth easily at what I have had for that day. I hope this helps someone who is trying to figure out how to make calorie cycling work on here. If anyone has suggestions or tips they have learned for this I would love to hear them. Thanks and Good Luck!!

marathonmom72

On my high calorie days, I go into my goals and change to 'maintain my current weight'. On the other days, when I am aiming to subtract another 500-880 calories for the day, I add those calories, using quick tools in snacks, so that when I glance at how many calories I have left for the day, I don't get confused. Then, at the end of the day, I delete those quick calories before I complete my food diary for the day.

sheffiej34

I've never heard of this type of caloric cycling before. Is it a long term program or just till you reach your goal weight loss? Do you have a recommended site for recipes? I usually end up eating the same thing as I am cramped for time. Thanks!

Grimmerick

They say calorie cycling is one of the best ways to break a plateau as well as keep yourself from getting into one because it keeps your body guessing. I am using it to break a plateau

bethechangeuwant

You were reading my mind this morning!! I was going to post a question about calorie cycling. You've done most of the work for me (thanks!!), and it seems easy enough to figure out from what you shared. One question: Do YOU eat back your exercise calories when you cycle (or regularly for that matter.)?

kel7298

When I was calorie cycling, this is how I did it.

First, I got my zig zag calculations from freedieting
Second, I placed in the "note" box what the daily allotment would be for that given day
Third, I changed my goals to reflect 1200 calories.
Fourth, I created a "new" exercise called Zig Zag Adjustment
Fifth, daily, I would enter the additional caloric amount required for that day using the exercise "zig zag adjustment"

foreverloved

I just keep track in my diet notes like the OP said. I just put like "high cal zig zag day, Net = 1800" or something like that. I only use half my exercise cals so I have to use a calculator to figure out my actual net cals every day anyway.