calorie cycling

millymoo81
millymoo81 Posts: 20 Member
edited September 21 in Health and Weight Loss
Has anyone had any success with calorie cycling? A friend mentioned it to me, did a little research and it's supposed to prevent weight loss plateaus and maybe burn additional body fat.
Wanted to see if anyone's had any luck with it before give it a go!

Replies

  • poustotah
    poustotah Posts: 1,121 Member
    YES!!! I lost a crapload of weight calorie cycling.
  • MsElphaba
    MsElphaba Posts: 432 Member
    Is that like a Spin class or actual cycling?
  • SammyLynn010
    SammyLynn010 Posts: 293 Member
    I am curious what people might have to say about this! ... bump, well sort of! lol
  • bonnienm
    bonnienm Posts: 329 Member
    I believe what they're talking about is cycling your calorie intake up and down so you don't plateau. Your body gets used to the amount of calories you take in regularly like going into starvation mode so if you raise your calorie intake it kicks your metabolism back up. When I hit a plateau it usually helped me to raise my calories for the weekend, then I would start to lose again. You can also increase your exercise and it will help too.
  • millymoo81
    millymoo81 Posts: 20 Member
    From what I understand you still maintain a calorie deficit but it's spread out over the week, so some days you'd eat more than others and vice versa.....

    Look something like this

    Monday: 1998
    Tuesday: 1599
    Wednesday: 2398
    Thursday: 1998
    Friday: 1799
    Saturday: 2198
    Sunday: 1998

    If it stops the slumps in weight loss then I'm prepared to give it a shot, I am worried about how I'd monitor it through MFP though...
  • Holton
    Holton Posts: 1,018
    Yes! I hit a plateau and actually increase my caloric intake by 300-400 calories and lost weight! IT was GREAT!!!!
  • lutzsher
    lutzsher Posts: 1,153 Member
    I am on day 10 of a low glycemic plan that purposly cycles calories up and down day by day. I get in approx 1150 to 1400 calories each day. I have been exercising every day, mostly walking and jogging for about 45 minutes, then sometimes another 30 minutes on my stationary bike in the evening in front of the tv.
    I HAVE LOST 7 LBS IN 10 DAYS! I have not had these type of results before . . . oh . . . we also eat completely clean in our house so every calorie is all natural/organic/homemade too. Absolutely nothing processed goes into this body!

    I now truly beleive this approach and will continue this way for a long time, of course shaking things up on occassion to keep my body "guessing".
  • pajamamama
    pajamamama Posts: 61
    Tag... I want to see what others have to say!
  • de1amo
    de1amo Posts: 266 Member
    i am 8lbs away from my goal but have just joined here after 6 weeks of self denial of calories and heavy exercise--im sure i went up and down during that time in my intake but from little to normal--somedays i was eating as little as 850 and maxising at about 1200--i lost regularly and hit no stops--i am not going to rise to the eating of huge credits of calories because i think thats what i was doing before i started--eating too much and my body will become used to it--i have brooken the cycle on food --i think cycling is a good idea on the face of it
  • misc02u
    misc02u Posts: 25
    It does work!! I have started doing this myself & it has me loosing weight again. For example I get 1600 calories per day.
    1600 times 7 days=11200 for the week.

    here is an example of a 1600 caloire per day on calorie cycling:

    Sunday: 1600
    Monday: 1400
    Tuesday: 1800
    Wednesday:1300
    Thursday: 1500
    Friday: 1700
    Saturday: 1800

    I find this MUCH easier as well. helps me have more on the weekends too!
  • immacookie
    immacookie Posts: 7,424 Member
    I am on day 10 of a low glycemic plan that purposly cycles calories up and down day by day. I get in approx 1150 to 1400 calories each day. I have been exercising every day, mostly walking and jogging for about 45 minutes, then sometimes another 30 minutes on my stationary bike in the evening in front of the tv.
    I HAVE LOST 7 LBS IN 10 DAYS! I have not had these type of results before . . . oh . . . we also eat completely clean in our house so every calorie is all natural/organic/homemade too. Absolutely nothing processed goes into this body!

    I now truly beleive this approach and will continue this way for a long time, of course shaking things up on occassion to keep my body "guessing".

    Can I ask what plan you are on?? :flowerforyou:
  • Clew
    Clew Posts: 910 Member
    Interesting .... I've heard of this before and am wondering if this is why my weight loss has stalled. (I'm a new member here but started long before I joined :tongue: ) I'm going to keep this in mind if my next check in is again lackluster!

    Thanks for sharing :heart:
  • jmarie66
    jmarie66 Posts: 17
    bump:bigsmile:
  • funkyspunky871
    funkyspunky871 Posts: 1,675 Member
    I've heard of this before, but I think it'd be kind of hard for me right now. I have trouble on most days getting to the minimum of 1200. Sounds like a good idea though.

    Just so I know: should I try calorie cycling when I hit a plateau? Or while I'm still losing steady weight?
  • jillybeanruns
    jillybeanruns Posts: 1,420 Member
    I started doing it (very loosely) at the beginning of last week. I was within my last 6 pounds at the time and was starting to see a lot of 0.4 pound a week losses. Upon further analysis, I realized that I wasn't getting enough net calories most days due to burning 600-800 calories a workout. So I dropped my workouts down a bit and started calorie cycling. My net aim is 1500 but I've yet to reach it while on this site. My original aim was to cycle with 1000, 1400 and 1200 being my goals, but it's not always that easy. If I have 2 days in a row where I only hit 1000, I make sure my next 2 days are at least 1200...1400 is hard to hit, and I almost hit it yesterday (because I didn't work out).

    I think the key is to keep your body guessing. For me, it's really to try and average 1200 net calories a day. Easier done when you're not working out though.
  • circusmom
    circusmom Posts: 662 Member
    bump
  • mamitc01
    mamitc01 Posts: 43
    Interesting... how does this work if my calorie intake is supposed to be 1200 each day? I know I'm not supposed to go below that for the day, so adding more on other days would result in a surplus for the week... thoughts?
  • millymoo81
    millymoo81 Posts: 20 Member
    If I can get more calories on the weekends and make up for it on a week day then I reckon I'd be sorted!!! Weekends are my killer :)
  • ryssaan
    ryssaan Posts: 44 Member
    maybe MFP can add a place to add up the weekly calories.
  • ryssaan
    ryssaan Posts: 44 Member
    maybe MFP can add a place to add up the weekly calories.
  • kdiamond
    kdiamond Posts: 3,329 Member
    Yes, I think it is extremely helpful. Go to this link, you can put in your details and it will give you an example of calories needed to cycle.

    http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm
  • tjptaylor
    tjptaylor Posts: 21 Member
    Yes -- Its been a sucessful plan for me. I googled Zig Zag dieting and found tons of information.
  • misc02u
    misc02u Posts: 25
    take your weekly total (1200 per day times 7 days.= 8400 calories)
    As long as you total that at the end of the week you should be OK. 1100 one day-1300 the next.
  • lutzsher
    lutzsher Posts: 1,153 Member
    I am on day 10 of a low glycemic plan that purposly cycles calories up and down day by day. I get in approx 1150 to 1400 calories each day. I have been exercising every day, mostly walking and jogging for about 45 minutes, then sometimes another 30 minutes on my stationary bike in the evening in front of the tv.
    I HAVE LOST 7 LBS IN 10 DAYS! I have not had these type of results before . . . oh . . . we also eat completely clean in our house so every calorie is all natural/organic/homemade too. Absolutely nothing processed goes into this body!

    I now truly beleive this approach and will continue this way for a long time, of course shaking things up on occassion to keep my body "guessing".

    Can I ask what plan you are on?? :flowerforyou:



    It is actually a "plateau breaker" plan that my Mom got through Herbal Magic. I have tweaked it to only include "clean" foods but made sure they were similar on the glycemic index as the original item and am following it otherwise. There are a few days that I have been a bit hungry but with snacks (which are predominately fruit) it has been plenty of food!
    I can type it out if you would like too . . . . .
  • lutzsher
    lutzsher Posts: 1,153 Member
    Interesting... how does this work if my calorie intake is supposed to be 1200 each day? I know I'm not supposed to go below that for the day, so adding more on other days would result in a surplus for the week... thoughts?

    Some days eat more of your exercise calories . . . .
  • ccgisme
    ccgisme Posts: 239 Member
    Thanks! I am going to try this.
  • KimbersNewLife
    KimbersNewLife Posts: 646 Member
    Yes, I think it is extremely helpful. Go to this link, you can put in your details and it will give you an example of calories needed to cycle.

    http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm


    Thanks the link is very helpful in understanding how this works!!
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