Has anyone tried calorie cycling?

JulieB21
JulieB21 Posts: 492
edited September 18 in Food and Nutrition
I'm trying to break out of yet another plateau. Two weeks now with no weight loss. My clothes feel looser so I know I'm still on track exercise wise, but the scale is stuck. I searched & found an article about calorie cycling. This is the thing-I am SO into making my new choices work for me that I'm afraid to eat more than I have been. I rarely go over my calories unless it's a special occasion. I even made all healthy snacks to eat during the football game the other night (GO GIANTS!) & was very careful. I input my info into the calculator that they have & it said for extreme weight loss I should eat at least 1500 calories and up it to 1800 two days a week. I have been eating 1200 almost religiously. The last thing I want to do is GAIN.

Replies

  • JulieB21
    JulieB21 Posts: 492
    I'm trying to break out of yet another plateau. Two weeks now with no weight loss. My clothes feel looser so I know I'm still on track exercise wise, but the scale is stuck. I searched & found an article about calorie cycling. This is the thing-I am SO into making my new choices work for me that I'm afraid to eat more than I have been. I rarely go over my calories unless it's a special occasion. I even made all healthy snacks to eat during the football game the other night (GO GIANTS!) & was very careful. I input my info into the calculator that they have & it said for extreme weight loss I should eat at least 1500 calories and up it to 1800 two days a week. I have been eating 1200 almost religiously. The last thing I want to do is GAIN.
  • dulceluva
    dulceluva Posts: 728 Member
    I don't think you should eat 1200 religously. Go over a little bit here and there. I have issues too but I don't stick to 1200 on the dot. i eat all my exercise calories.

    It could be that your body is bored and needs to get out of rut, so maybe you need to eat some more calories and tell your body to get back to work.
  • Rosette
    Rosette Posts: 34
    I am following this calorie/carb cycling method... it is really working but slowly.. but i just go up to 1400 calories twice a week
  • ConnieLynn
    ConnieLynn Posts: 242 Member
    Hi,

    I heard Rush Limbaugh lost his weight doing this. If you don't know who he is, I bet there are other examples of people who have lost weight this way if you google it.

    Thanks for the idea. I will try this down the road when I need to change things up.

    Connie Lynn
  • lizard9800
    lizard9800 Posts: 474 Member
    I don't do it on purpose, but I end up eating 1400 or 1500 calories a few times a week and I haven't hit a plateu yet. I read somewhere that changing it up once a week is good for your metabolism. I use it as my cheat day and we go out to eat. Just don't go overboard!:laugh:
  • krazykayzy
    krazykayzy Posts: 51 Member
    I'm cycling my calories.....I've done it in the past (after the birth of my first child) and am doing it again (after the birth of my second child). It worked like a charm the first time and is working again this time. Because I'm breastfeeding I cycle my calories 1400 on days one and two and then 1800 on day three....and then I repeat. (However I don't calculate in any of my exercising, I eat 1400 regardless of how much I've worked out that day) I think normal cycling can be between 1200 and 2000 depending on your gender, weight loss goals, etc. What it does is tricks your body from thinking it's going into starvation mode. When you deprive your body of the calories it needs on an ongoing basis it thinks it's starving and starts to hold onto the calories in the form of fat (hence you don't lose you gain) When you cycle it, the body gets tricked into thinking it has enough because you bump it up to 1800 every three days. As soon as it starts to think "uh oh I'm getting hungry".......you give it more and it says "oh, phew that's a relief". It's like Songbirdysweet has said in the past, your body is not on a 24 hour clock (to a certain extent) If you average your calories on those three days it equals 1533 which is still a good average to lose weight assuming you're exercising regularly.
  • SGFlyinHi
    SGFlyinHi Posts: 469 Member
    When I first started on this site, my trainer had me doing 1500 for 2 days, then 2000 for the third, then repeat. I lost 10 pounds the 1st month. I was doing that for the first 2 months, and it seemed to work. Now my trainer has me on 1800 per day, no changing. I am still losing going this route, in fact I am still averaging about 10 pounds per month. I am also working out for at least 45min to 1 hour 6 days a week, taking 1 day off a week.

    Do what works for you.

    Good Luck. :glasses:
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