Calorie Cycling

graysmom2005

I just came across freedieting.com and they had a neat option that gave you your calorie goals and then a cycling regime. Who here does cycling and did you have any success from it? Thanks!

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

I don't agree with that site because the recommendations are too low BUT if you used fat2fit for the calorie target and set up your own cycling it could be useful.

At the end of the day you have to do what YOU CAN STICK TO. Every single method that you find will have worked for someone at some point BUT that doesn't mean that it's suitable for you.

Do you respond better to a routine? Are you fairly regimented? Well, in that case you wouldn't want to calorie cycle because you have HIGH days that might be 800-1000 calories more than your low days--not fun.

kalynn06

I've done strict calorie cycling that was basically like the version they give for fat loss on the freedieting site. It only worked for me when I cycled carbs too. It worked well, but it was a headache and felt like too much bookkeeping. I was usually starving on my low days and not hungry on my high days. I did lose weight, but I'm not eager to try it again in such a rigid form. Instead, I work to a weekly average, but I let the low and high days sort themselves out. Some days, I don't eat much. Other days, I eat out or want a treat or just feel hungry. As long as I average about 1450-1600 net calories for the week, I'm good. It works for me, and it fits the natural way I eat.

I should add that I make sure I get at a minimum 0.8g of protein per pound of lean body weight every day and usually get closer to 1 g/lb of LBM even on low days.

graysmom2005

I don't agree with that site because the recommendations are too low BUT if you used fat2fit for the calorie target and set up your own cycling it could be useful.

At the end of the day you have to do what YOU CAN STICK TO. Every single method that you find will have worked for someone at some point BUT that doesn't mean that it's suitable for you.

Do you respond better to a routine? Are you fairly regimented? Well, in that case you wouldn't want to calorie cycle because you have HIGH days that might be 800-1000 calories more than your low days--not fun.

You know I heart fat2fit. I listen to them religiously and use their tools. :-) I still don't go up to their highest amount they have for me (2700) but I'm inching my way up slowly to 2300...although I can tell already I'm gaining I'm trying not to panic. Even my low days on that site were pretty high. Trouble is I haven't been using my HRM lately. Just my BMF. So I don't know how to figure out what my weekly goal should be. I know how many cals I've eaten, and I know my TDEE but I don't know how to figure out that weekly deficit. That would probably help me on days I want to eat more so that I could meet my weekly goal. Do I just figure out my deficits of the week and add them up?

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

Your weekly deficit is your TDEE -calories eaten. If you want a 500 avg deficit then you could alternate between 1 day @ a deficit of 700, another at 300, then 500...repeat.