In my previous article, Fat Loss Pre- and Post- Christmas Season: An Effective Strategy, I talked about using Calorie Cycling to minimize fat gain around the Christmas season. Christmas is usually a time where I increase my calorie consumption, and this has been one of the most effective methods I've used for both avoiding excess fat gain and burning off fat after the season ends.
However, this method goes beyond any special occasion: calorie cycling can be effectively used for burning fat while building or maintaining muscle based on any schedule that accommodates your time, flexibility, and discipline.
This method will also be useful in helping individuals who've experienced stagnation in their fat loss progress, understand why it happens, and a corrective measure.
This method will also be useful in helping individuals who've experienced stagnation in their fat loss progress, understand why it happens, and a corrective measure.
Calorie Cycling: A Review
Calorie Cycling (also called calorie zig-zagging and calorie shifting) is the method of systematically varying your net calorie balance (calories in vs. calories out) on a daily basis; this is achieved by manipulating your calorie intake in a cyclical pattern of high and low days of calorie consumption.
A traditional, calorie-restricted meal plan usually follows a predictable, linear and continuous pattern: you're consistently eating at a calorie deficit day-after-day. Problems can arise from taking such a linear approach. For some, this can be very difficult and stressful, especially for people who work in physically demanding jobs or environments. For others, continuous calorie restriction can be obstructive to social plans and events. A lot of people have dinner-and-a-movie nights or family nights for example, and may not always have the opportunity to indulge and comfortably partake in these activities as their peers around them.
Creating a calorie deficit forces your body to tap into its stored energy reserves to compensate for any calorie reduction. Eventually this leads to the burning of fat for fuel. However, extensive durations of calorie deficits (on a daily basis) not only causes a reduction in fat mass and water weight, but can eventually trigger loss of muscle mass. Keep in mind that muscle is metabolically active, as we discussed in The Necessity Of Strength Training For Fat Loss; therefore losing muscle affects metabolism negatively. The goal of all good fitness plans involves minimizing muscle loss, not maximizing it.
Another common problem is the fat loss plateau. Fat loss plateau occurs when all efforts to reduce body fat are stalled, and fat loss stagnates. One of the main factors causing this is the fact that as a person continuously eats below their calorie maintenance requirements, their body interprets this change as a stressful internal situation. The end result: the body responds by resistance, whereby it produces hormones that slow down the fat oxidation (burning) process.
There is a hormone produced by your body's fat cells called leptin. Its function is to regulate appetite and hunger levels, calorie intake, and fat storage. As you lose fat over time, your leptin levels also reduce causing hormonal reactions. Eventually, it reaches a point where very low leptin levels triggers increased hunger pangs and appetite, and slows your body's metabolism. A decrease in metabolic rate in turn triggers more fat storage and less fat burning. The result of this situation is that your body resists any fat loss; it either fights to maintain current fat and weight, or you actually begin to increase fat and then gain weight, thereby stalling your fat loss progress.
Low calorie intake decreases leptin levels. High calorie intake increases leptin levels.
Many times I have experienced the situation where my fat loss came to a halt and even scale weight made no dramatic reduction. What was my remedy? Taking a day off from dieting, and slightly increasing my calorie intake for 1-2 days. Then the fat loss would resume. That's how I accidentally discovered calorie cycling, before even knowing about the science behind it.
Calorie cycling reduces the plateau problem by spiking your metabolic rate, thereby preventing it from slowing down (which would have lead to fat storage). It also makes provisions to incorporate a cheat meal into your meal plan. Cheat meals, especially those that contain good carbs, can boost your metabolism. It also gives a sense of comfort when approaching fat loss. A cheat day encourages you to enjoy a slight indulgence and is based on the work-reward system: you work hard on your high calorie day, then you deserve a treat. There's an expectation on the High Day to have your favourite meal (one of my favourites is pasta). Calorie cycling is also flexible in accommodating social events, so you can even plan your cheat meal on the day of that activity.
Creating a calorie deficit forces your body to tap into its stored energy reserves to compensate for any calorie reduction. Eventually this leads to the burning of fat for fuel. However, extensive durations of calorie deficits (on a daily basis) not only causes a reduction in fat mass and water weight, but can eventually trigger loss of muscle mass. Keep in mind that muscle is metabolically active, as we discussed in The Necessity Of Strength Training For Fat Loss; therefore losing muscle affects metabolism negatively. The goal of all good fitness plans involves minimizing muscle loss, not maximizing it.
Another common problem is the fat loss plateau. Fat loss plateau occurs when all efforts to reduce body fat are stalled, and fat loss stagnates. One of the main factors causing this is the fact that as a person continuously eats below their calorie maintenance requirements, their body interprets this change as a stressful internal situation. The end result: the body responds by resistance, whereby it produces hormones that slow down the fat oxidation (burning) process.
There is a hormone produced by your body's fat cells called leptin. Its function is to regulate appetite and hunger levels, calorie intake, and fat storage. As you lose fat over time, your leptin levels also reduce causing hormonal reactions. Eventually, it reaches a point where very low leptin levels triggers increased hunger pangs and appetite, and slows your body's metabolism. A decrease in metabolic rate in turn triggers more fat storage and less fat burning. The result of this situation is that your body resists any fat loss; it either fights to maintain current fat and weight, or you actually begin to increase fat and then gain weight, thereby stalling your fat loss progress.
Low calorie intake decreases leptin levels. High calorie intake increases leptin levels.
Many times I have experienced the situation where my fat loss came to a halt and even scale weight made no dramatic reduction. What was my remedy? Taking a day off from dieting, and slightly increasing my calorie intake for 1-2 days. Then the fat loss would resume. That's how I accidentally discovered calorie cycling, before even knowing about the science behind it.
Calorie cycling reduces the plateau problem by spiking your metabolic rate, thereby preventing it from slowing down (which would have lead to fat storage). It also makes provisions to incorporate a cheat meal into your meal plan. Cheat meals, especially those that contain good carbs, can boost your metabolism. It also gives a sense of comfort when approaching fat loss. A cheat day encourages you to enjoy a slight indulgence and is based on the work-reward system: you work hard on your high calorie day, then you deserve a treat. There's an expectation on the High Day to have your favourite meal (one of my favourites is pasta). Calorie cycling is also flexible in accommodating social events, so you can even plan your cheat meal on the day of that activity.
Creating An Ideal Schedule
From my own personal experiences, calorie cycling is much more manageable than traditional calorie restriction methods. Be mindful: overall fat loss occurs over a period of time, therefore your focus should be on creating calorie deficits weekly, as opposed to daily.
The Low Calorie Days: For Fat Burning
The great thing about calorie cycling is the fact that you can create multiple combinations for a 7-day cycle.
Have at least 2-4 consecutive Low Calorie Days
Have at least 1-2 consecutive High Calorie Days
Here's a few combination samples I've used in the past:
SUN, MON, TUE, WED, THU, FRI, SAT
LOW, LOW, HIGH, HIGH, LOW, LOW, HIGH
LOW, LOW, LOW, HIGH, HIGH, LOW, LOW
LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, HIGH, HIGH, LOW
HIGH, LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, HIGH, HIGH
Example with calorie intake values:
For Low Days, calorie intake range is about 1800-2100
For High Days, calorie intake range is about 2400-3000
MON: 1900 calories (LOW)
TUE: 1800 calories (LOW)
WED: 2500 calories (HIGH)
THU: 2100 calories (LOW)
FRI: 1900 calories (LOW)
SAT: 2800 calories (HIGH)
SUN: 2200 calories (LOW)
A WORD ON CHEAT MEALS: as stated earlier, one of the advantages to calorie cycling is the inclusion of cheat meals during the cycle's high-calorie days. However, it is not to be abused. Be flexible, but also be disciplined about it. My best advice is to plan your cheat meals a day or two in advance, so you'll know what you want, and the estimated calorie content involved. Furthermore, based on the cheat meal's carb and calorie content, it's a great idea to recompensate those calories put in by a performing a workout to avoid excess fat gain. Balance things out. Moderation is the key: failure to exercise moderation will result in fat regain.
At the time of writing this (April 2015), I began a calorie cycle that looks like this:
From my own personal experiences, calorie cycling is much more manageable than traditional calorie restriction methods. Be mindful: overall fat loss occurs over a period of time, therefore your focus should be on creating calorie deficits weekly, as opposed to daily.
The Low Calorie Days: For Fat Burning
The main characteristics of this day is a reduction of calorie intake below maintenance requirements. Reduction in calorie intake coaxes the body to tap into its energy reserves. Minimize (but do not completely remove) your carb intake. These factors create the optimum environment where your fat stores are eventually oxidized (burned) and used as energy. Perform strength training for maximizing fat loss while simultaneously minimizing muscle loss (critical component). In terms of cardio, keep it to LISS (Low Intensity, Steady State) such as a slow jog or a fast walk.
The High Calorie Days: For Muscle Building
Eat within maintenance calorie range or slightly above it. Increase your carbohydrate intake: a high-calorie day that contains a slight increase in carbs replenishes your glycogen (long-term energy) stores. It is also the days we'll be using to avoid fat loss plateaus, and should fall on your strength training days, as the high calorie intake can benefit a good workout for building muscle mass, especially when protein intake is increased. With this in mind, you can definitely include a cheat meal on your high calorie day, but DON'T GO OVERBOARD! In terms of cardio, keep it to HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) such as rotating periods of jogging and power-walking. HIIT also helps minimize fat gains from the increased calorie consumption in conjunction with your.
Calorie Cycle Schedule Samples
The great thing about calorie cycling is the fact that you can create multiple combinations for a 7-day cycle.
Have at least 2-4 consecutive Low Calorie Days
Have at least 1-2 consecutive High Calorie Days
Here's a few combination samples I've used in the past:
SUN, MON, TUE, WED, THU, FRI, SAT
LOW, LOW, HIGH, HIGH, LOW, LOW, HIGH
LOW, LOW, LOW, HIGH, HIGH, LOW, LOW
LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, HIGH, HIGH, LOW
HIGH, LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, HIGH, HIGH
Example with calorie intake values:
For Low Days, calorie intake range is about 1800-2100
For High Days, calorie intake range is about 2400-3000
MON: 1900 calories (LOW)
TUE: 1800 calories (LOW)
WED: 2500 calories (HIGH)
THU: 2100 calories (LOW)
FRI: 1900 calories (LOW)
SAT: 2800 calories (HIGH)
SUN: 2200 calories (LOW)
A WORD ON CHEAT MEALS: as stated earlier, one of the advantages to calorie cycling is the inclusion of cheat meals during the cycle's high-calorie days. However, it is not to be abused. Be flexible, but also be disciplined about it. My best advice is to plan your cheat meals a day or two in advance, so you'll know what you want, and the estimated calorie content involved. Furthermore, based on the cheat meal's carb and calorie content, it's a great idea to recompensate those calories put in by a performing a workout to avoid excess fat gain. Balance things out. Moderation is the key: failure to exercise moderation will result in fat regain.
My Current Calorie Cycle Schedule
At the time of writing this (April 2015), I began a calorie cycle that looks like this:
MON - HIGH
TUE - LOW
WED - HIGH
THU - LOW
FRI - HIGH
SAT - LOW
SUN - LOW
Obviously calorie requirements vary from person to person. Keeping this in mind, my next article we will finally begin talking more about calories, calculating calories, how I approach my fat loss goal, and discuss the Low Calorie Days in depth. Stay tuned for that one.
Thanks for reading!
References
1. What Does Leptin Do?
http://www.news-medical.net/health/What-Does-Leptin-Do.aspx
References
1. What Does Leptin Do?
http://www.news-medical.net/health/What-Does-Leptin-Do.aspx
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