Calorie Cycling: Should You Change the Number of Calories You Consume on a Daily Basis?

When you’re trying to lose weight, making healthier food selections should be the focus but calories still count. Creating an energy deficit requires taking in fewer calories or burning off more through exercise. Some people use a calorie calculator to determine how many calories they need daily be based on their height and activity level. But there’s another approach that’s growing in popularity. It’s called calorie cycling.

What is Calorie Cycling?

Calorie cycling is where you rotate your daily calorie consumption rather than taking in a fixed number of calories each day. At the same time, you maintain enough of a calorie deficit for the week to lose weight. For example, if you need 1600 calories a day to lose a pound a week, you could take in 2000 calories one day, 1600 the next and 1300 the next as long as it averaged out to 1600 calories daily for the week.

Why would you want to do this? When you consume a reduced calorie diet consistently day and day, your body theoretically adapts to your lower calorie intake. As a result, you might experience a slowdown in your metabolism to compensate. That’s one reason people reach a weight loss plateau.

Consistent calorie restriction can also cause your leptin level to drop. Leptin is an appetite hormone released by fat cells. Leptin tells your brain you have enough energy stored up. This, in turn, reduces your appetite and desire to eat. When leptin levels drop it also slows your metabolism. On days where you consume more calories, your leptin level rises. This speeds up your metabolism and helps to keep hunger in check.

Having higher calorie days also comes in handy when you schedule them for the weekends, a time when you feel like lightening up a little. There’s another benefit too. Some people find it’s easier to stick with an eating plan like this. With calorie cycling you have days where you can enjoy eating more and can squash those cravings.

How Effective Is Calorie Cycling and What Are the Downsides?

Unfortunately, little research has been devoted to calorie cycling so there’s not a lot of scientific evidence to support its benefits. There is anecdotal evidence that calorie cycling works for people. It makes sense too. If you’re maintaining a calorie deficit for the week, you should lose weight.

What about potential downsides? For calorie cycling to be effective, you have to stick with the plan on lower calorie days. On those days you might feel hungry and be tempted to cheat. One way to reduce hunger is to avoid wide variations in the number of calories you consume. You don’t want your low-calorie day to be so low that you’re fighting hunger all day. Keep the range around 300. On your lowest calorie days, take in 300 fewer calories than what you need to lose weight and on the highest calorie days, eat 300 more.

Another drawback is you have to focus on taking in the appropriate number of calories every day. Calculating calories isn’t for everyone. Plus, it’s tempting to eat too much on low-calorie days and not compensate for the excess. That could stall your weight loss.

Whether cycling calories works better than simply reducing your daily calorie intake is unclear. Both should work since you’re consuming the same number of calories on a weekly basis. It really comes down to your personality. If you’re a person who likes days where you can eat more and don’t mind cutting back on other days and you don’t mind changing your diet daily, it may work for you. Plus, it may keep your body from adapting to the point you reach a weight loss plateau. Much like people periodize their workouts, calories can be periodized too.

If you have certain medical conditions like diabetes or have hypoglycemia, calorie cycling may not be for you. The low calorie days may be enough to cause your blood sugar to drop.

Too Much Emphasis on Calories?

Another drawback to the calorie cycling concept is it doesn’t emphasize food selection enough. The quality of your diet counts not only for weight loss but for your health. Build your diet around processed carbs and foods high in sugar and you create a hormonal environment (higher insulin levels) that makes it easier to store fat – not to mention the impact it could have on your health. Don’t focus only on calories when you calorie cycle. Make sure you’re choosing mostly whole, unprocessed foods, and sugar in your diet regardless of how you’re structuring your calories.

 The Bottom Line?

Calorie cycling may work well for you, depending on your personality. Just make sure you’re getting your calories from unprocessed foods as much as possible.

References:

The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. Volume 96 Issue 9 | September 1, 2011.

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