Intermittent Calorie Deficit
brandigyrl81
Posts: 128 Member
The other day, I was reading through some of the threads and saw someone mention something about eating at a calorie deficit intermittently as long as you don't go over maintenance. An example would be:
Monday - 1200 Calories
Tuesday - 1500 Calories
Wednesday - 1700 Calories
Thursday - 1250 Calories
Friday - 1430 Calories
What are you guys' thoughts about this?
Monday - 1200 Calories
Tuesday - 1500 Calories
Wednesday - 1700 Calories
Thursday - 1250 Calories
Friday - 1430 Calories
What are you guys' thoughts about this?
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Replies
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Is there an example TDEE for the person following this plan? It's hard to evaluate without knowing which of these days are actually a deficit and which aren't.3
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janejellyroll wrote: »Is there an example TDEE for the person following this plan? It's hard to evaluate without knowing which of these days are actually a deficit and which aren't.
The TDEE would be around 1700.0 -
You could even go over maintenance occasionally. As long as you reach your calorie goal on average (for example over a week), it doesn't matter whether your deficit is the same every day or not.
Reasons can be linked to
- fueling exercise
- feeling more hungry on days following heavy exercise
- wanting to indulge a bit more during weekends
- ...
I would say: try it out and see if it works for you?6 -
You could even go over maintenance occasionally. As long as you reach your calorie goal on average (for example over a week), it doesn't matter whether your deficit is the same every day or not.
Reasons can be linked to
- fueling exercise
- feeling more hungry on days following heavy exercise
- wanting to indulge a bit more during weekends
- ...
I would say: try it out and see if it works for you?
What if you're not exercising at all? Do you think the method would still be effective?
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brandigyrl81 wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »Is there an example TDEE for the person following this plan? It's hard to evaluate without knowing which of these days are actually a deficit and which aren't.
The TDEE would be around 1700.
What the advantage of this strategy? If the thought is that it's easier to have a deficit some days than others, there is no reason not to do that.
It's an average deficit of 284 per day, which will result in a reasonable pace of weight loss that might be slightly disguised day-to-day by having higher amounts of food in the body between different days, but should be clearly discernable in a trend over time.1 -
brandigyrl81 wrote: »You could even go over maintenance occasionally. As long as you reach your calorie goal on average (for example over a week), it doesn't matter whether your deficit is the same every day or not.
Reasons can be linked to
- fueling exercise
- feeling more hungry on days following heavy exercise
- wanting to indulge a bit more during weekends
- ...
I would say: try it out and see if it works for you?
What if you're not exercising at all? Do you think the method would still be effective?
What do you mean by effective? As long as you are in a calorie deficit on average over the week, it will lead to weight loss. And you don't need to exercise for weight loss (but it's good for your health though).
So the precise numbers of calories in this type of plan need to be adapted to you.
What would you hope to gain from this type of plan, as opposed to just keeping the same deficit every day?1 -
What if you're not exercising at all? Do you think the method would still be effective?
[/quote]
What do you mean by effective? As long as you are in a calorie deficit on average over the week, it will lead to weight loss. And you don't need to exercise for weight loss (but it's good for your health though).
So the precise numbers of calories in this type of plan need to be adapted to you.
What would you hope to gain from this type of plan, as opposed to just keeping the same deficit every day?[/quote]
The hope would be, like you mentioned above, to be able to eat a little more but still be able to lose weight. But I see what you're saying, as long as your weekly average is still in a deficit, you should still lose weight.0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »brandigyrl81 wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »Is there an example TDEE for the person following this plan? It's hard to evaluate without knowing which of these days are actually a deficit and which aren't.
The TDEE would be around 1700.
What the advantage of this strategy? If the thought is that it's easier to have a deficit some days than others, there is no reason not to do that.
It's an average deficit of 284 per day, which will result in a reasonable pace of weight loss that might be slightly disguised day-to-day by having higher amounts of food in the body between different days, but should be clearly discernable in a trend over time.
No specific advantage, just looking at options.
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Eat a little more compared to what? Are you already eating at a deficit, or just starting your diet?
If you are already eating at a deficit and you're aiming for that same deficit in this new plan, you won't only be able to eat a little more (on some of the days), but you'll also have to eat less (on the other days)
Personally, I can't do 1200 calorie days, not even if I can go higher on other days. But everyone is different.0 -
Adherence would be the biggest factor when it comes to nutrition. Changing your caloric intake daily will most likely have you fall off or give up. It's better to have something you can stick with long-term. There are no shortcuts. I'd keep the caloric intake 100-200 lower than your TDEE for the week. Adjust as needed weekly depending on your goal and progress.1
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If it helps you adhere to your deficit then sure. As mentioned you can distribute your calories how you want over the week (even over maintenance some days) as long as you are hitting your goal overall. There are different ways to do it, alternate day fasting (something like 5:2, five days at maintenance two really low days) or calorie cycling where you have a different calorie intake each day. Just make sure you aren't overcomplicating it or going too extreme where it causes you to have low energy days or binge. What you can stick to will be key.3
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Adherence would be the biggest factor when it comes to nutrition. Changing your caloric intake daily will most likely have you fall off or give up. It's better to have something you can stick with long-term. There are no shortcuts. I'd keep the caloric intake 100-200 lower than your TDEE for the week. Adjust as needed weekly depending on your goal and progress.
This makes sense. I feel like I would be more likely to fall off the wagon if there is no consistency. Thank you!!!0 -
If it helps you adhere to your deficit then sure. As mentioned you can distribute your calories how you want over the week (even over maintenance some days) as long as you are hitting your goal overall. There are different ways to do it, alternate day fasting (something like 5:2, five days at maintenance two really low days) or calorie cycling where you have a different calorie intake each day. Just make sure you aren't overcomplicating it or going too extreme where it causes you to have low energy days or binge. What you can stick to will be key.
This makes sense as well. Thank you!0 -
It’s effective as long as you have a total deficit at the end of the week. I’m hungrier some days than others. If I work a 10-12 hour day, I don’t think of food and have a larger deficit without feeling hunger. On my day off, I’m relaxing and watching Netflix and I’m hungry all day. As long as I stay under maintenance calories on that day, and don’t steal from my weeks total deficit, I’m still losing weight.2
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It’s called zig zagging calories.2
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This is what I have done with excellent results over the last 2 years:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10735146/the-six-day-calorie-deficit-aka-banking-calories/p1
It has the advantage of being consistent and still giving a maintenance day each week. I personally love it and I am not sure I would have been successful at first without always having a controlled treat day for an incentive and a mental break.
As time has gone on entering and exiting maintenance one day a week has also helped me when taking diet breaks, eating maintenance while sick or recovering from a surgery, and special occasions. Some people are resistant to relaxing. I am not.
The only way to know what works for you is to experiment. Don't get too invested in a plan. Just try it and if it fails try to learn something about yourself and why it didn't work for you. Use that knowledge to craft a better idea to try.3 -
Yer I do this all the time. My tdee is about 2200. I aim for 1800 when I’m losing. Some days I have 1700 others 1800 or 1900. Today I had 2200. Oopseys. I’m slower than I want to be really, but who cares if it takes a few weeks longer.3
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This is what I have done with excellent results over the last 2 years:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10735146/the-six-day-calorie-deficit-aka-banking-calories/p1
It has the advantage of being consistent and still giving a maintenance day each week. I personally love it and I am not sure I would have been successful at first without always having a controlled treat day for an incentive and a mental break.
As time has gone on entering and exiting maintenance one day a week has also helped me when taking diet breaks, eating maintenance while sick or recovering from a surgery, and special occasions. Some people are resistant to relaxing. I am not.
The only way to know what works for you is to experiment. Don't get too invested in a plan. Just try it and if it fails try to learn something about yourself and why it didn't work for you. Use that knowledge to craft a better idea to try.
This is very helpful, thank you!!!!
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