Thoughts on calorie-cycling ?

icrushit
icrushit Posts: 773 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi All,

I have been pondering calorie cycling for a little, and wonder what your thoughts on it are, or personal experiences if you've tried it ?

Basically the form I've been giving thought to is that of maintaining the same weekly calorie deficit, but instead of having a constant deficit every day, instead maybe having 3 low days, 3 high days, and 1 day like I have now. So if my current daily calorie target is 2200, on the low days I would eat 1800/ 1900, on the high days 2500/ 2600, and then one day at 2200, thus the overall deficit would remain the same each week, just on each day it would vary.

The reason I've been pondering this is my weight loss plateaus seem to be becoming longer, and while I don't worry when I don't see the scale move for 7/ 10 days, I am confident in my methods, adherence and deficit to know the weight will fall eventually. Its gotten me wondering, or rather suspecting perhaps that its probably lower hormone levels from such a constant deficit that may be behind the plateaus, thus the thought of mixing up the daily deficits, to see if periods of higher than current intake might not stimulate some of those hormones, at least more than their current levels from a constant deficit day in day out.

I know some use this as a tool when closer to lower body fat %'s, and report good success, although personally I would be flattering myself if I said I was lower than 18- 20% body fat presently, and definitely have another 10- 15lbs to lose at the least. As such I wonder if I'm overcomplicating things, even if I am confident in my weight loss at the moment, and prone to dabbling/ experiementing when in such a position :)

By the way, I know some do a semi-fasting variation of this, where very low calorie days in the region of 4/ 5/ 600 calories are interspersed with more regular days. Such an approach is not for me, and even my brief experiments/ dabbling with some 16/8 intermittent fasting has shown me I don't like to go too long without food (14/10 suits me better, and have been doing that before any real IF dabbling) just out of personal preference, and also that very low calorie days are not for me, even if the overall weekly deficit is a reasonable enough one.

Replies

  • icrushit
    icrushit Posts: 773 Member
    No one doing or thought about this ? :)
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    I do it naturally. Since I began just following my body (eat when you're hungry), I have found that some days I eat a lot less and other day, a lot more.

    If you're sick of what you've been doing, try cycling. It can't hurt. Sometimes switching things up a bit is good for the soul. If it works for the body, too, yay that. :)
  • _Waffle_
    _Waffle_ Posts: 13,049 Member
    Thoughts on calorie-cycling ?

    I don't know how they keep going in a straight line.

    wa74z8i.gif?w=450
  • Chief_Rocka
    Chief_Rocka Posts: 4,710 Member
    The benefits would be personal preference/adherence. You weight loss would continue at the same pace.
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
    It's a good idea for some people. I personally prefer to keep my calories consistent each day but again, personal preference. People who tend to overeat on the weekends might find that eating less M-F to allow them more calories for Saturday and Sunday is a successful strategy. However you break it up is fine. I do caution against going to extremes. I wouldn't for instance advise someone with a 2000 calorie daily goal to eat 1000 calories M-F and then have 4500 calories on the weekend. While ultimately that strategy would work if it was adhered to, I feel like compliance would become an issue. It would be hard to maintain 5 very low calorie days for most people and I think they would become food focused through the week concentrating on the upcoming weekend binge.

    Basically however you want to play with your calories is fine. Find a method you can adhere to the best. As far as added weight loss, there simply isn't a lot of data supporting that notion. Calories in vs calories out be it for the day, week, or month is still going to be the driving force behind overall losses.
  • icrushit
    icrushit Posts: 773 Member
    Thoughts on calorie-cycling ?

    I don't know how they keep going in a straight line.

    wa74z8i.gif?w=450

    Haha, I read a book by an ultra-marathoner who used to have pizza's delivered to him mid-run for fuel, and worked out a technique to eat something like an extra large pizza with extra everything and sides, all without stopping. Allegedly the most difficult part was finding a pizza delivery company who would deliver to a moving target, and not the usual fixed address! lol
  • SpicesOfLife
    SpicesOfLife Posts: 290 Member
    i tried it after being stuck with my weight for 3 months and lost 1kg after the first week. :) i gave it up again just because i found a different program i wanted to give a shot but its definitely worth trying!

    its also nice because you can just switch around days and have your high calorie day when you feel especially ravenous, even if it was not initially planned that way, and have low cal days when you dont feel that hungry anyways.
  • icrushit
    icrushit Posts: 773 Member
    I do it naturally. Since I began just following my body (eat when you're hungry), I have found that some days I eat a lot less and other day, a lot more.

    If you're sick of what you've been doing, try cycling. It can't hurt. Sometimes switching things up a bit is good for the soul. If it works for the body, too, yay that. :)

    Haha, indeed :) At the moment I just watch my calories weekly, letting myself go over or under a little every day if I want to, and I'm still within my calorie limit for the week.

    I think the reason I've been pondering calorie cycling is mainly to play with any hormonal effects that are contributing to the plateaus I usually have. I've been dabbling in a little carb-refeeding, which seems to be good at breaking the plateau, but curious about calorie cycling also, thus this thread :)
    It's a good idea for some people. I personally prefer to keep my calories consistent each day but again, personal preference. People who tend to overeat on the weekends might find that eating less M-F to allow them more calories for Saturday and Sunday is a successful strategy. However you break it up is fine. I do caution against going to extremes. I wouldn't for instance advise someone with a 2000 calorie daily goal to eat 1000 calories M-F and then have 4500 calories on the weekend. While ultimately that strategy would work if it was adhered to, I feel like compliance would become an issue. It would be hard to maintain 5 very low calorie days for most people and I think they would become food focused through the week concentrating on the upcoming weekend binge.

    Basically however you want to play with your calories is fine. Find a method you can adhere to the best. As far as added weight loss, there simply isn't a lot of data supporting that notion. Calories in vs calories out be it for the day, week, or month is still going to be the driving force behind overall losses.

    Yes, I know what you mean. The M-F thing appeals to me, and think that will likely be my go-to strategy during maintenance.

    Re: calorie cycling before then, I agree about compliance, and if I try it, don't think I would go over or under excessively, and more around in the region of 3/ 400 calories on an intake of 2200 every day.
  • icrushit
    icrushit Posts: 773 Member
    i tried it after being stuck with my weight for 3 months and lost 1kg after the first week. :) i gave it up again just because i found a different program i wanted to give a shot but its definitely worth trying!

    its also nice because you can just switch around days and have your high calorie day when you feel especially ravenous, even if it was not initially planned that way, and have low cal days when you dont feel that hungry anyways.

    Might I ask what you gave it up for ? I'm all about the experimentation at the moment, lol.

    Re: high days, know what you mean, although for personal self-discipline I try not to go over unless I planned ahead to have a high day, lol :)
  • Flookbird
    Flookbird Posts: 81 Member
    I've lost 5 stone on Weight Watchers. That is basically calorie cycling. I get 26 daily points plus free fruit and veg (around 1300 cals a day) and 49 weekly points (around 2000 cals) that I can use whenever I like through the week. I use them to fit my week. Ie if I'm having a night out at the weekend I usually use most of the weeklies on food/drinks at the weekend. If not, I'll have a few extra 'points' some days. I think this way of eating suits my lifestyle better and is a healthy way of viewing calorie intake. I can have days where I eat a bit more than usual, but I have to eat a bit less on other days to maintain my weight/lose weight overall for the week. So some days my deficit is huge (although I always eat a healthy amount I feel) where others it is less. When I get to maintaining I'll keep that view of 49 weekly points for treats!

    All I can say us continue logging accurately, don't eat back all exercise cals earned and drink lots of water. If calorie cycling suits your lifestyle, why not give it a go!
  • SpicesOfLife
    SpicesOfLife Posts: 290 Member
    a friend of mine pointed me to this http://www.muscleforlife.com/the-ultimate-bodyweight-workout-routine/ and i fell in love with the intensity yet simplicity of it so i bought the accompanying (that looks weird, did i spell that right? :D) book in which he talks a lot about nutrition as well. i realised i would never be able to meet those high protein goals on low cal days so im back to stable calories.
  • funchords
    funchords Posts: 413 Member
    I did this diet in the 80s called the Rotation Diet. I needed to lose enough weight in order to get into the USAF. It's essentially the plan that you outlined except the variations happen daily. Martin Katahn is the author and part of the synopsis is "Men and women vary the number of calories they consume during a three-week period (the rotation for women is 600/900/1200 calories; for men, 1200/1500/1800); after three weeks and presumably a hearty weight loss, the dieter takes a breather and is allowed to return to "normal" eating habits."

    It did work.
  • icrushit
    icrushit Posts: 773 Member
    @Flockbird, yes, and you've actually sparked some thought about my maintenance plans. I wouldn't be one for the weight-watchers way (it's just not for me personally, that's all), as I it would entail counting forever, but it has made me think about an easy way of maintenance for me, potentially being low-carb Monday-Friday, and then treating weekends as higher carb/ carb re-feed days where I could loosen the reins. Apologies if all this low carb stuff doesn't make much sense to anyone, its simply how I'm eating right now, and find it a good way to get the basic levels of fuel into my body without much excess, thus the correlation between low-carb & restricted weekdays :)

    @SpicesOfLife, yes, sounds quite interesting. Must read that link more later, as bodyweight training and calisthenics are areas I have a lot of time for, and to be honest once I knuckle down soon, intend to use it to fill my need for resistance training :) I couldn't do high protein myself, as there's only so much protein I can eat, lol. That said, doing low carb right now, calorie-cycling where you eat low carb on non-training days and then higher calories and higher carbs on training days seems to be a popular form of calorie cycling by many too..

    @funchords, had not heard of that diet, but it sounds gruelling, lol. I hope I never have to do such a diet, and glad I'm confident enough I could lose 2lbs a week with ways that would be less gruelling to me, if I so needed, lol. Slightly more seriously, I think I would worry about the potential for muscle loss with such low deficits too if one wasn't careful. Perhaps the book & program guards against that possibility with sufficient protein levels though, so I don't wish to appear unfair if it does :)
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,261 Member
    It's akin to crossfit............you think your doing something special but your body couldn't really care how you did it.
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
    calorie cycle is how you do body recomp. Yes I do this.
  • icrushit
    icrushit Posts: 773 Member
    Have been giving a little thought to this during my morning walk, and think I may try out a 4 high day/ 3 low day split, basically maintaining the same weekly deficit as I am currently, just instead dropping my current daily calories by 400 on the low days, and upping them by 300 on the high days.

    I'm thinking I shall always try to put at least two high days back to back, and also ensure I do no more than two low days together. I think I might try this for a week and see how it goes, as the constant daily deficit is getting a little dull, and its either something like this or else a short dietary break for 7/ 10 days. I don't want to sacrifice the 7/ 10 days weight loss though, so think I shall give this a go, and see if a little calorie cycling can't give a little of the impetus a dietary break would give, in terms of replenished levels of key hormones which may be a little on the low side after 10 weeks of dietting.

    Anyway, from my current programme of eating 2200 calories each day, with an approximate deficit of 750 calories a day, and expected loss rate of 1.5 lbs a week, I may switch over to the below for a week;

    Mon - 1800
    Tue - 1800
    Wed - 2500
    Thu - 2500
    Fri - 1800
    Sat - 2500
    Sun - 2500

    I think 1800 is as low as I care to go to on the low days, without feeling deprived, and 1800 I can live with, giving me 3 x 500 meals and 300 calories worth of snacks on those days. Also low carb on these days shall help a lot too I think. The extra 300 on the 2500 days I think I may use to bump my carbs, from the relatively low levels I currently eat on my current low carb intake.

    Re: body recomp, this is something I would like to make my next priority, and maybe calorie/ carb cycling shall be helpful in that goal, so shall see if my brief experiment does not become a longer one :)
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    I'm doing IF. I like it. I don't think I'm doing "something special", I just find it a nice change and it seems to speed up the losses, but it's only been a week so hard to say.
  • Grankakes
    Grankakes Posts: 128 Member
    I read something several years ago called the EODD - Every Other Day Diet. it seems it was something like you are talking about.

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