Has anyone tried the calorie shifting diet... works on the premise that your body adjusts itself and burns according to calorie intake, so shifting number of calories every few days confuses your body into burning more ???? Anyone????? does this work?

I have no idea if you're really confusing your body, but I think for many of us, mentally it's nice to have some days we can eat more, knowing that other days we will eat less. The weight loss comes when the calories you eat over time are less than the calories you burn. So provided your average for a week is in the right range, it works!!

I know that if you look up "calorie cycling" that a lot of professional body builders do this to lose weight quickly. There are mixed reviews on this but most people say that even if it doesnt work to increase weight loss that it still works some and is nice to have days when you can have more calories. This does not mean having high fat foods though. From what I gather you would take your median caloric intake and go 500 less 2 days, 500 more 2 days and median 3 days. During the week you would have the same calories as if you did not do this but would be "fooling" you metabolism to lose weight. I am trying it. If you decide to let me know, we can compare notes and see if it works long term.

Laurie

It CAN work. But it all boils down to the thing that really works - consuming less calories then your body needs, so that it has to use the stored fat as energy. THAT'S what produces weight loss.

IMHO . . . I think "calorie-shifting / calorie-cycling / the WW Wendie Plan " or whatever you want to call it is kind of a natural event for most people. It is very, very difficult to eat the exact same number of calories every day, day after day, for any length of time. So, as long as your average daily calories over the course of a week (or whatever reasonable time-frame suits your system) is within your desired range, I think you are going to get the benfits of (a) controlling you calories, and (b) cycling your calories, without any real thought or plan being involved.

Linda -- I think you nailed it. Calorie cycling just kind of happens for me...

Calorie shifting works for me. I call it "zig-zagging" and I've been doing it since January and have been having steady weight loss every week that I've been dilgent with it. First I determined that a good calorie level for me to lose weight at a moderate rate is 1800. Then I designed a week with calorie levels like this:

1400
1800
1500
2000
1400
3000
1500

If you add those values up, it's the same total as 1800/day. It's great because there are a couple higher calorie days in there where I can really enjoy myself. I don't restrict myself from eating any foods at all...everything's game. I just restrict the calories. I can also move those values around each week to fit my calendar. So in other words, if I have a dinner party next Sunday, I'll make Sunday my 3000 day. And maybe the next week I have a big lunch planned for a Tuesday...I'll make Tuesday of that week my 3000.

No food is off limit. I still eat cookies, cake, etc. The only difference is, I eat portions that fit into my daily calories. As long as I do that, I lose.

Wouldn't this be something similiar to WW? What I mean is, don't you get something like a weekly amount of points and can't you save points for special days? If this is true, this "calorie shifting" may be effective and proof of that would be this plan reflected in other successful weight loss approaches. I don't subscribe to any single diet plan and am not totally positive.

It all boils down to keeping your calorie allotment over a 7 day period, BELOW what you need. Creating a DEFICIT. If purposely shifting your calories day to day HELPS you to stay in control and stick to your plan, then it will "WORK".

I find I naturally shift my calories. They are rarely the same day to day.

Dear Sassygirl,

Thank you for the information on calorie shifting, I found it very helpful. I just have one question - how often do you eat in between your meals during the day e.g. every 2 - 3 hours or just when you get hungry? Is there a time limit for how long you can go without eating?

Well done for the weight you've lost so far. Keep up the good work!

OSC

I thought it also worked in that it kept your body from going into starvation mode? I mean if I ate 1200 calories for 3 days my metabloism would start going down...but then if I go 3 days at 2200 calories...my body's like WTF...and that prevents a plateau. Oh well, that's what someone told me.

It's helping me lose weight, and I didn't even know I was 'calorie shifting'. I just do not eat more than 1500 calories, period. Of course, this varies. Sometimes I'll eat 1200, sometimes less. Sometimes more. I'm losing weight, so it's working somehow.

hi dose any one have more detail on calorie shifting? a plan or something?

As far as I know, there is no real calorie shifting plan but I've heard it many times, usually called zig zagging.

Basically you have a caloric goal (say 1600). So your average is that caloric goal but your daily goals are different. One day would be 1400, another 1700, another 1500, etc.

I've done zig zagging in a way but basically it is getting a treat meal on the weekend and eating stricter during the week.

nelie's right--there's really no set plan for zig-zagging calories. You can easily make up your own by taking what your daily calorie goal is, eating that once a week, and then eating, say 300 higher and 300 lower for 3 days a week each. Just work it out so your average is still the same as if you'd eaten the same number of calories every day.

I had a LOT of success with this in the past. I'm currently on a different plan because my high-calorie days were getting way out of control