Calorie cycling, what do you know & have you tried it?

I havent tried this but i figured if my weightloss stalls i will give it a try. I read about it in a book before and it says it pretty much guarantees it works. it wasnt a huge difference maybe like by 200 calories. If you go on calorie count.com and plug in your weight etc it tells you how to do it but they call it zigzag. good luck,let us know if it works!

This is my natural diet. It seems there is always a reason to eat more calories. Birthdays, anniversary, holiday, eating out at restaurants, favorite foods that someone made that I just don't want to resist, are just a few of the reasons that come to mind that help me to calorie cycle without any effort. Does it work to help weight loss?, I do not know if it helps any but I don't think it has hurt mine.

It is best to keep calories consistent. Too much thought goes into calorie cycling. If you are not losing then decrease cals by 250. Keep it simple!

Why do you say that? Any solid proof? Not calling you a lier, just interested on the consistent part. The body seems to adapt to changes quickly, so in theory - Calorie cycling should work well...

Some people may cycle and think it helped, when in fact, it could have been something totally different. So it's hard to say any one thing was the reason...

It's also called Calorie Staggering and I lost weight consistently doing it (plus exercise). I had a weekly plan of calories per day so I knew what I was shooting for each day. As long as it equaled my daily calories x 7 by the end of the week, I was a happy camper. On the days you would have to go under 1200, eat 1200 calories and use your workout to bring your calories down. Just a suggestion.

Its also called Zig Zagging.

The focus is usually placed on adding or subracting carbs/fats not total calories. Not sure why anyone would want to decrease their intake of protein?

I've read that lots of people on here have used eating at maintenance calories (TDEE) for a couple of weeks can be very useful to break a plateau.

But if you're really active and only eating 1200 calories - are you sure you're eating enough?

It is best to keep calories consistent. Too much thought goes into calorie cycling. If you are not losing then decrease cals by 250. Keep it simple!

Thank you soooo much for answering! I am already at 1200 a day (that's what I need to eat according to my CF personal trainer) in order to lose weight. I also exercise 4-5 days a week (cardio and lifting) and live a very active life. So I am not sure I would be able to function on 950 cals a day. I also have hypothyroidism and have no metabolism But thank you for your suggestion!!!

Sounds like you are not eating nearly enough!

In my opinion, calorie cycling is most effectively used as a 'trick' to make it easier for the person to consume fewer calories by playing off their personal preference and timing higher caloric intake for the day/week when it'll best suit them. For example, if you like to go out and party on the weekend, having really low intake on Wednesdays and Thursdays can help. Or if you like big dinners, you can skip breakfast.

Trying to trick your metabolism into staying running, or any of that stuff, just seems like a whole lot of effort for something that probably doesn't work as well as you think it does anyway.

Ultimately, I really think the effectiveness of diets comes down to your ability to stick with them long-term. If it's extremist, or moderate, or whatever, if it suits you do that one.

1) Get adequate protein
2) Get adequate dietary fat
3) Eat enough calories to fuel your daily activity and set an appropriate intake target for your goals
4) Get adequate micro-nutrient intake
5 Optional) Get enough carbs to fuel your works
6 Optional) Figure out when you should eat to best suit your needs

It is best to keep calories consistent. Too much thought goes into calorie cycling. If you are not losing then decrease cals by 250. Keep it simple!

Thank you soooo much for answering! I am already at 1200 a day (that's what I need to eat according to my CF personal trainer) in order to lose weight. I also exercise 4-5 days a week (cardio and lifting) and live a very active life. So I am not sure I would be able to function on 950 cals a day. I also have hypothyroidism and have no metabolism But thank you for your suggestion!!!

I would recommend taking that advice with a grain of salt; plenty of people have done well on calorie cycling. You also don't want to decrease even further; you'll plateau even more, won't fuel your body, etc.

I lost slower when I consistently ate my goal calories, net or otherwise, of 1400-1500. Adding in a day of maintenance has resulted in faster losses for me; not necessarily the most "technical" calorie cycling, but again, I was losing (inches and/or pounds) steadily doing this. I stopped with the occasional one or two higher days and plateaued for two months. Went back, and I've lost weight steadily since (I have hypothyroidism, NO thyroid, I have unstable levels still, I recovered from adrenal fatigue, and I have a fairly small amount of weight to lose, etc.). Talk to your endo over your trainer about calories with hypothyroidism. You don't need to eat at a huge deficit to lose weight with issues like that (watching carb intake has some science with thyroid, however); you just lose slower, and if you lift, 1200 calories is most likely not doing enough for you (Good for you for lifting, though! Lifting has made a huge difference in my metabolism/hormones).

Check out Chris Powells choose to lose. There is also a group on here for the plan. It alternated lower cal and carb days with higher carb and cal days.

I am thinking about trying this but before I do I just want to see if it has worked for anyone else who has encountered a plateau. Or if you have any suggestions or advice on what worked to get you over it. I'd be forever grateful!

Plateau after a month, only 25lbs to lose, lift/cardio 4-5 days a week and only on 1200 cals and want to cycle lower? You actually should think about increasing your calories instead.