calorie cycling

[sweetdream]

So my goals for this month are to try and eat more clean but also give myself a few days to indulge in something good.

I don't know if anyone else on here is a member at www.livestrong.com but it is an awesome website with a TON of people who are all into being healthy, losing weight, ect.

I came across this post about calorie cycling and it seems like something I might be willing to try but wondered if anyone on here has done it and how has it helped/hindered you?

here are my stats according to the www.freedieting.com

RESULTS - GUIDELINE ONLY Maintenance: 1914 Calories/day
Fat Loss: 1531 Calories/day
Extreme Fat Loss: 1148 Calories/day

7 day calorie cycle (zig-zag)
Ex Fat Loss Fat Loss Maintain
Monday 1149 1531 1914
Tuesday 1000 1225 1531
Wednesday 1378 1838 2297
Thursday 1149 1531 1914
Friday 1034 1378 1723
Saturday 1263 1684 2105
Sunday 1149 1531 1914

I figure right now I am at what they call the fat loss stage with the way I eat.. what are some opinions??

Thank you!!

[Laurinsane]

Hi Talia,

The only thing that worries about the calorie cycling is that you have days where you are eating around 1000-1100 calories. Ouch!!! Have you ever done that? Trust me it's torture because you're hungry all the time. Makes me worry about binge eating and snacking.

I wouldn't go below 1400-1500 calories, as your fat loss says ~1500. I like the idea of changing up the calories, because it keeps your body guessing about what you are eating and how to process the calories.

What I would suggest is doing 2-3 days at 1500 calories, then jumping up to 1800 calories for 2-3 days, then coming back down again. I would not go above your 1900 to maintain because then you're just gaining weight back. Why put in extra calories you are going to have to burn off.

[Lady C]

Zig-Zag has been around for a long time in the professional bodybuilding market. You have the right idea. I've done it but it means planning, planning, and planning to stay on track.

Never drop below 1200 calories unless you are under doctors orders. It is very extreme to the body. I would target you low to be 1300, IMO. I would also add in a few days of 2200-2300 calories. The idea is to keep the body constantly guessing around the calories. The difference between calories is usually by increasing/decreasing carbohydrates and making sure you have adequate protein.

[Klide]

This sounds like carb cycling if nothing else... which in my experience is very effective.

[sweetdream]

I was planning on staying in their "fat loss zone" as the extreme fat loss zone as laurainsane mentioned is WAY to low and I would binge and never be able to obtain that!

I am going to try it for a few weeks. It seems, just by looking at my dailyplate that I kind of already do zig-zag, bug we'll see how this works out..

also, monday and sunday are the same..should I switch these to different numbers?

Thank everyone!

[minime]

also talia might I suggest that on your 'high calorie' days of over 2000 you work hard to make these GOOD calories for the most part. That is, don't use those days to load up on rum lol

[sweetdream]

LMAO MINIME!!!!

maybe I should try this AFTER the holidays then!!!



A problem I foresee in trying to make every calorie count for something "good".. I never know what the hell to eat. I try so hard to end up in my range for carbs/protein/fat that I am at a loss for what to eat when I have 400 more calories...

I do see this as being more planned out than I think it is...