Okay, calorie cycling is NOT eating whatever you want and just pigging out, then starving yourself the next day. That is binging and trying to make up for it, which is not calorie counting as it is to be done healthfully. I cycle, but it is all planned out and I eat the same healthy foods on higher days as lower days. The point in cycling is that your body doesn't get used to one calorie level and hit plateaus, plus it makes calorie counting a lifestyle I can stick with forever.
I have been calorie cycling for awhile now and I do not gain even a fraction of a pound from my higher calorie days. There is nothing to "make up for" if you are doing it right, it all just balances out. And a higher calorie day doesn't mean go grab some candy or eat an entire pizza...and honestly my high days wouldn't even be enough to eat the way I used to. I saw a mention of 2000 or 3000 calories in a day here
there shouldn't be a day that high in calorie cycling. My range has been between 1200-1700 calories, and now I have cut out all 1200 days because I exercise a lot and it wasn't enough for me. This week my range falls between 1500-1800 calories with 500 extra calories that I set aside for whenever I need them. Now, they are only that high because I put in mad hours of exercise, without my exercise I'd be cycling more like 1200-1600 a day. I will eat the same healthy type foods on a 1500 day or a 1800 day...I might just add a little extra cheese to a salad or have a special snack in the evening, that's about the only difference really. In the end, my body gets what it needs and I shed pounds...and have never hit a plateau!
Weight loss is not about what you eat one day, it's more the comibination of larger time frames like a week. I have my set calories for the week and I split them out, giving a little higher limit to days I may need them. This does not mean I go all out and eat like a piggie on those higher days, it just means I may be going out to dinner with friends or celebrating a birthday and want to have a peice of cake. Those things are planned and wrapped up in the overall week plan, I lose without feeling deprived or ever being hungry. If you go into this saying you will NEVER EVER eat those things you love, I don't see it sticking long term. Deprivation is not required to be healthy. But binging and eating 3000 calories a day is not going to make you healthy either. It's about moderation and changing your lifestyle, not depriving yourself.
I do agree that we should not go back to how we used to eat and the habits that made us fat to begin with...of course! This is a lifestyle change and should be something you can stick with forever. Calorie cycling makes it a natural fit for me. The calories I need change so often. As you age, increase or decrease daily activity, switch exercise hours, etc. you will require different calorie levels. What I follows accounts for all those fluctuations and I come to a healthy weekly calorie goal and how I break it down is up to me.
There is a big, big difference between cycling your calories to fit your life and avoid plateaus and going hog wild, eating out of control, then trying to make up for it. I do the exact opposite of that. If I have something higher calorie, or something lower calorie but not real healthy even, it depends on my calorie limit for the day and week...and in turn, the calorie level for day and week depends on my current weight, activity level, age, exercise I'm putting in, etc. It isn't even necessary to put in extra activity on a higher calorie day....and I lose after a 1800 calorie day the same as a 1300 calorie day because it's the overall week that brings off the pounds.
We are all different and thus all the different diet plans. I think the most successful plans are ones that you throw together yourself based on what works for YOU. I would totally respect someone saying cycling isn't for them, that's fine...BUT some of the posts on here are bashing calorie cycling without even understanding how it is done correctly. You don't eat the way you used to, there is no crazy eating or accepted binging. It is something that really works and can keep you healthy for the long haul because it so easily adapts to your life and changes while holding you accountable to health and weight loss...when done correctly!
To answer the original question that started this thread...calorie cycling does work, but it is not for making up for a slip or binge. It is not for allowing you to eat out of control either...actually, I laughed when I read that part in this thread about it allowing you to eat whatever out of control
cycling is all about controlling what goes in your mouth...I have never been in more control than I am with this way of eating. I can control even more this way than when on a strict daily calorie limit where it's the same everyday.