“Calorie Cycling” diets are also frequently referred to as calorie-based rotational diets, calorie shifting diets, and zig zag diets.
Unlike a normal low calorie diet that requires you to eat low calorie meals every day, a calorie cycling diet is a fast weight loss diet that requires you to “cycle” your nutritional intake daily or occasionally.
Why is this so?
Because according to recent research, when a person is consistently taking in a very low quantity of nutrients on a fast weight loss diet, his or her body will automatically be alerted that there is insufficient food. In turn, the body will go into ‘starvation mode’ and burn calories at a much slower rate so that it can store more energy for future use.
As a result, a general low calorie diet will be far less effective in the long term than a CALORIE CYCLING diet, since it will trigger this situation just described. The body, whilst trying to ensure it is receiving enough nutrients to function efficiently, will work against you as you try to achieve fast weight loss.
Calorie cycling is a fast weight loss strategy that has been developed to tackle this problem.
Generally, a person’s energy expenditure becomes less as they get lighter – meaning that they will inevitably hit a weight loss plateau. The amount of food intake that once lead to weight loss, will now only maintain.
Whether or not you are using a calorie cycling diet, Always try to aim for a “Fat Loss” daily calorie level. The “Extreme Fat Loss” level is effectively a rock bottom calorie level, quite different to using a calorie cycling fast weight loss strategy. Do not attempt to immediately drop your calories to this level hoping for the quick fix – this may ultimately backfire.
Again, this is why calorie cycling is better for your body in both the short and medium term. If you are using a calorie cycling diet, you need not have to deal with exhaustion, cravings and hunger pains as you lose weight.
It truly is better to burn the fat than to starve it, and calorie cycling is a powerful way to help you do this.
Avoiding The Weight Loss Plateau Using Calorie Cycling
Calorie cycling helps to overcome the weight loss plateau
When we reach a weight loss plateau, options to boost metabolism include; increased cardio, weight training, ‘cheat’ meals (i.e. occasional high-calorie meals), calorie cycling.
You often find that the nearer you get to your goal weight (or body fat percentage) – the harder things get! It is easy to give up when your weight loss seems to have hit a dead end, and this is why a calorie cycling diet can be a more effective weight loss strategy in the medium term.
Continually dropping calories only serves to lower metabolism even further – the moment you return to ‘normal’ eating – the weight comes back on. But in a calorie cycling diet, you are eating ‘normal’ foods anyway, but are just varying the quantity and order you consume them in.
Minimum daily calorie intake on a calorie cycling diet.
It is difficult to set absolute bottom calorie levels whether or not you choose to use a calorie cycling diet, because everyone has different body composition and activity levels. Health authorities do set some baselines – these are 1200 calories per day for women, and 1800 calories per day for men. This doesn’t really make too much sense – are you are sedentary person with little muscle mass? Or someone who is tall, muscular, and exercises a lot? Absolute levels don’t work – but do give us a starting point.
Regardless, what you don’t want to do on a calorie cycling diet, is to drop well below these healthy recommended levels. It is unsafe and counter-productive. And the point to a calorie cycling diet is that you don’t need to starve yourself to lose weight fast.
In order to keep losing fat and toning your body, calorie cycling is an essential part of the program. As a matter of fact, recent research points to the fact that you lose weight faster (up to twice as fast) by using calorie cycling than simply by dropping your daily calorie intake.
When calorie cycling:
Try not to lower your calorie intake by more than 1000 calories below maintenance. Doing so may invoke the bodies starvation response, which can lead to a weight loss plateau, as we have discussed earlier.
When you are on a calorie cycling diet, don't drop your daily calorie intake too low.
Try to gradually lower calories on your calorie cycling diet. A sudden drop (such as 500 calories or more) can cause your metabolism to slow. Learn to eat slowly, and have smaller portion sizes more frequently – research shows that faster eaters are heavier people.
Eating too few calories also leads to tiredness, and extreme hunger, which is really miserable.
Calorie cycling is a powerful weight loss technique you can use to circumvent this situation.
What happens when calories are too low on a calorie cycling diet?
Below are some compelling reasons why you should not drop your calorie intake too low on a calorie cycling weight loss plan.
1) Muscle mass rather then fat is broken down for energy (catabolism). Not good news, and completely avoidable on a calorie cycling diet.
2) Metabolic rate will begin to drop (typically) after 3 days of very low calories – this is related to, and compounded by the loss of muscle mass. If you use calorie cycling rather than the traditional low calorie diet, you negate this situation.
3) With very low calories you risk sluggishness, nutritional deficiencies, fatigue, and often irritability. You are completely set-up to regain fat if you suddenly return to your previous eating patterns. These are all issues a calorie cycling diet is designed to avoid.
Lose Fat AND Build Muscle on a calorie cycling diet?
Most people lose muscle mass when restricting calories on a typical low calorie diet. It takes great effort to maintain muscle tone – and it is even more tricky actually building muscle while losing fat.
As mentioned above, tricking the body by using calorie cycling can be extremely helpful – particularly for those who have hit a weight loss plateau. In a calorie cycling plan, rather than eating “diet food”, or minimal calories you simply vary the amount of high quality, nutritious food you eat.
Carbohydrate cycling on a calorie cycling diet
To extend the concept of calorie cycling even further, carbohydrate cycling is an option especially for those who have hit a weight loss plateau.
This involves manipulating your daily intake of carbohydrates in order to maximize fat loss, and it helps to keep you in the right ‘headspace’ when you have 1-2 days of restricted calories, which is the case on a calorie cycling diet.
The Fat Loss For Idiots weight loss plan is an excellent example of a calorie cycling diet which can lead to fast weight loss.
Fat Loss For Idiots is the calorie cycling diet I have used and recommend. You can read my full review of the Fat Loss For Idiots calorie cycling diet here … Fat Loss For Idiots Latest Review