Hi ladies! I haven't been on here in a long time, but I am "back" on the wagon and exploring some options to try and prevent the invevitable weight loss plateu and stumbled upon calorie cycling. This is gonna be kinda long, but will someone who's doing this tell me if this looks right?

Based on my BMR, I should have 2729 cals/day to maintain my weight
Since a lb = 3500 calories, then my goal per week being to lose 3 lbs will = 10,500 cal deficit that I need to create.

So to create a deficit, here's my plan (again, open for discussion or correction).

My goal for 7 days is to average 1400 calories/day, so 9800 total in a week.

Beginning Monday I'll shoot for: Mon, Wed, Fri and Sun-1250 cal/day then Tues, Thurs and Sat I'll shoot for 1600/day which= 9800 (avg 1400/day).

If I achieve that, then based on my 19103cal/wk(2729/day) to maintain, I'll have a total deficit on day 7 of 9,303 or 2.66 lbs.

So if I want to get that to 3lbs, I need to have a deficit of about 1500 more cals per week that I will try to achieve by working out 4x wk with a goal burn of 375 cal per session.

So calorie cutting deficit (with cal cycling) = 9,303 + 1500 workout deficit= 10,803 / 3500 cal per lb= 3.08 lbs in 7 days.

Now, that's IF my math is correct and I'm notoriously terrible at math! lol

Also, if that is correct and my goal is working out 4x/wk, would it likely be best to work out the days that I eat more? I don't want to get into starvation mode and I'm afraid if I've only eaten 1250 and I burn 375, that a net of 875 would make my body go there. (Then again, it may not matter).

The reason I am so interested is because *this* (hopefully, last!) go round, I am really trying to learn more about my bodies chemistry.

In the past I just went by the "eat less/move more" mentality, which is perfectly fine and it works-but because I didn't know how much less to eat or how much more I needed to move, I would get really discouraged when the weight didn't stop coming off and that discouragement led to me falling off the wagon and losing/gaining 50 lbs twice now since 2005.

I want to lose right at 115lbs and STAY THERE forever. That would still put me about 20lb over my "ideal" weight (which at 5 ft 6 is supposedly 130 lbs, but I'd feel like I was too thin!) but would get me in a "normal" BMI range (which I doubt I've seen since I was a preteen!).

I don't want to do a specific type of diet, I am best at calorie counting and making my calories count (IE: Trying to use them for good foods that are nutritious with the occassional splurge).

If my math up there is right, I will give this 7 days with cycling (never done this before!) and let yall know by next Monday if I am 3lbs lighter or not!

PS: I need to change my signature! LOL Needless to say, that's heinously out of date!

Good luck! One thing I've learned is that our bodies are not math equations and the scale lies. But exercise and tracking calories is a great way to go!

Thanks seagirl! You're right-I think this is mostly a way for me to shake it up some and see if it works for my body. I have been back to calorie counting for about 3 weeks now and am very happy with what I've lost thusfar, I just know it will even out and stop soon, it always has. Just working on something different to see how it shapes up.

calorie counting & exercise are definitely help! but even if your math is 100% on the dot & you stick with it, our bodies don't always listen so some weeks might look good, and the others not as much. (:

but what i learned is i tend to do heavier/more intense exercise the days i eat more (or the days with higher calorie limits) cause a hard workout always makes me really hungry later in the day + i need it to fuel my workouts. continue to experiment and find out what works best for you~

I completely agree with this. If you keep going though, the scale will eventually get caught in the lie and fess up.