Some people do that as a strategy. For me it has the opposite effect--I stall my loss or gain weight. So if you want to try it you can, of course--but watch what the scale tells you, not just the next day but two days later.
Yes, I do calorie cycling and its working great. Have you read Glory 87's goal post? She had trouble losing the last few pounds and upped her calorie intake. Voila....those last few pounds came off.
Yes, I do calorie cycling and its working great. Have you read Glory 87's goal post? She had trouble losing the last few pounds and upped her calorie intake. Voila....those last few pounds came off.
Although, Glory was near goal when she made that change. Since the OP is just getting started, maybe it's better to stick to plan for a while.
So, do I ever eat 200 cals over? Too often, lately, which is why I've been kinda stuck!
Do you want to add calories just to see what happens? Or are you very hungry? Are you eating enough every day? Just some stuff to think about.
If you want to do calorie cycling, that involves eating more some days, but also eating less other days, to reach a planned daily average each week.
If I eat 200 extra calories, it fools my body into gaining weight. Alas!
I fervently wish that I was one who could lose weight by increasing calories. How cool would that be?? Sadly, my body is stupid and only loses weight when I decrease calories. When I increase calories, I gain weight.
Calorie cycling, as 3Beans says, is a whole different ball game. You're not increasing your overall calories.; instead, your weekly average is still the same, but you vary your daily calories -- some up, some down, but still coming out to the same average calories at the end of the week. Many people think that's a good way to keep your metabolism from getting too used to a certain calorie level.
My Hubby and I were just talking about this a few days ago. We've noticed that having one off-plan meal sometimes triggers our bodies to start dropping the weight again. Strange, I know. I often wonder if the extra calories are jump starting our metabolisms again. Typically, I vary my daily calories from 1200-1600 to equal my calorie requirement for the week. I use calculations from Jillian Michaels book 'Winning By Losing.'
it seemed too brief for me to make a clear discernment if that is what her body needed to lose weight. It is possible, and of course I am reading between the lines, that given her activity level (which if I remember was a lot) she may have inadvertently put her body in "starvation mode" so she actually needed to add calories to compensate for that phenomenon.
Maybe, Glory87, can explain why she chose to do that and what was happening preceding that.
Again, calorie cycling is not about eating more each day every day , like someone just said. For example, on the Wendie Plan which is one that was developed by a WW who had been plateauing, if you add up the weekly calories it still amounts to what you were eating before----you are eating 100+ one day, 100- the next and so on. However, the overall weekly total of calories is still the same as before.
I'm not calorie counting any more for a couple of reasons: 1) I've changed to a plan that emphasizes establishing long term healthy eating whose end result is losing the extra weight if I just give it time to work. 2) I am also a recovering emotional eater and I need to get "sane" about my relationship with food in general. For me, calorie counting only triggers my obsessive-compulsive aspect of my behavior that I hope to lose along with my big butt and belly!
I think calorie cycling can and does work (who hasn't cut back at some time right before a specific date or how about being under a lot of stress and losing weight because you haven't eaten at all or as much....). Again, like so many other things you need to do it with the idea that you are continuing to eat healthy during that time and you aren't ending up harming your body for some short term results.
My physical appetite waxs and wanes from day to day. With my current food plan, I have to be careful to eat everything that I need to eat because I don't have the same gnawing hunger than I used to have. It is a tightrope to walk some days. Other days, it is a breeze.
If I were following a specific calorie plan, I would be eating more on some days than I physically need. I am really working hard to get back to a homostatis and balance in my life. If you learn to trust your body it probably would happen (over time) naturally.
Let's hear from some people who have and are doing it successfully.
this post caught my eye... we do talk about it over on calorie counters. For me, if I try to decrease my calories to break a plateau it doesn't work. I did @1500 cals per day but as I lost weight, increased my muscle and decreased my fat with exercise, I couldn't break out of it. But if I take a week "off" and eat 1800ish, I usually lose a pound and that kick starts me again. And I average 1500-1600 per week, more one day, less the next, I try to follow my hunger level. Some days are better than others.
I really have to fight the urge to decrease my calories. It's just I wanted to find a solution that wouldn't encompass me living on 1200 calories for the rest of my life to maintain my weight. And considering my RMR is @1400 calories I know that that is extremely unhealthy for me.
Do you up your calories for a day to see some results?
I read the article too but....
