calorie cycling

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yopeeps025
yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am just wondering if anyone else is using calorie cycling rather than try to hit the same calorie goal every single day?

I use calorie cycling as a way to maintain muscle.
I thing I should never see a plateau that a lot of people do on here.
Days when I eat calorie surplus is great to handle any cravings. Although I do not crave high calorie low nutrient foods anymore.

It feels good to know I can go into a day if I want to eating almost whatever high calorie foods because I cycling it out of a different day to equal a lost at each weigh in. If the scale says different I know it is from high sodium intakes and bread makes me feel like my body is jacked since studies now claim bread in a inflammatory food.

I will say that me working out with weights fives days a week my actually waste some time as for reaching my goal. I love lifting though and it is not like to am at the gym so long. Hour tops 5-6 days a week. Friday weigh in will tell me if I can use the extra workout or not.

Replies

  • newyorkmo
    newyorkmo Posts: 32 Member
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    yes, I suppose this is what I do, although not in any formulaic way, and I hadn't used that label. I probably don't eat quite enough calories most days of the week to maintain my weight (I eat around 1400ish per day and probably need 1500ish - don't exercise and am a smallish middle aged woman). Keeping myself a tiny bit under leaves room for a night out on the weekend or a little more flexibility on vacation, or ability to eat some passed appetizers at a work event, etc. occasionally. the idea of having the same caloric intake day in day out no matter what seems 1. super hard to achieve unless you always eat at home, 2. Dull and limiting, 3. not representative of real life (mine at least).
  • maizerage66
    maizerage66 Posts: 367 Member
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    This is actually a great method to use to go through a body recomp. People do it when they get close to their goal weight or body fat percentage, and then do a +20% from maintenance on lifting days and -20% from maintenance on rest/cardio days. It's a slow process but it is supposed to keep you right around the same weight while cutting the last bits of fat and adding lean muscle. I will be doing this in about a month or so to see how it works.
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
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    If it works for you, that's great. Because it means you will stick to it. There isn't any science (that I know of) to back up calorie cycling - it its just a hypothesis. I'm pretty sure our bodies know when there is protein available to build muscle whether you worked that muscle that day or not. Repairing a muscle from a work out takes more than one day.
  • mamaoftwins9197
    mamaoftwins9197 Posts: 142 Member
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    I'd never heard of this term before, but the idea makes a whole lot of sense. Especially since this is how real life goes.
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
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    Just my two cent because yes we all have a goal but we never want to be where we were before the goal was met.

    Lifestyle change not just to meet a goal.
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
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    In reality calories cycling is just the NEAT method that mfp uses. Your calorie will change depending on exercise. Either that it it's s piece of cake on a bike

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