Calorie Cycling?

[Beeb]

I was looking at a calorie calculator and there was a reference to calorie cycling, which I have copied and pasted below. What it is seems to be is different calories every day. Some low, some higher, but they all equal the same amount of calories that I should do (according to this site) to maintain my current weight eating the same calories everyday.

I'm just wondering what my JUDDD BUDDDs think of this. I'm not sure if this would be something I would want to do because, 1. I JUDDDs health benefits and 2. it just seems so and I'm sure this old(er) lady would forget how many calories I was support to be eating that day!

I just wonder if a WOE like this would have the same or almost the same benefits as our JUDDD? I did find the idea a bit interesting.

7 day calorie cycle (zig-zag)

Maintenance Fat Loss Extreme Fat Loss

Monday 1469 1175 1096
Tuesday 1175 1096 1096
Wednesday 1762 1410 1316
Thursday 1469 1175 1096
Friday 1322 1096 1096
Saturday 1616 1293 1206
Sunday 1469 1175 1096

*Calorie cycling provides same amount of calories per week, but 'tricks' your body by constantly changing daily calories. This helps to prevent or break plateaus. Guideline only.

[KeirasMom]

I looked a little bit at cycling like this and decided it was just too confusing for me. I suspect you'd get similar results with weight, but I doubt you'd get all the other benefits we get with JUDDD. I also think it would be a little more like an "every day restriction" type of diet for my tastes. I'd still feel restricted.

[mykidsteacher]

I did this (sort of trying, sort of naturally) when I was adjusting to my new diet after the allergy diagnosis. Lost a pound that week, but no idea if it was from the cycling or the food eliminations. It's actually not that confusing, I just put a note on the fridge so I knew each morning what to eat.

Since I intuitively eat to about 1100 calories, I just had a sort of base for that, and went up with snacks or adding an item to an established meal to get the extras.

My numbers were a little lower, but not much. I figured I could do IF on the 2 lower cal days, then split the calories between lunch and dinner, and still get some 'magic' from the IF.

It's an option I'll keep in my pocket if I feel the need to change things up any. I get dieter's ADD and need to shake it up now and then. LOL

[KathyL]

Looks similar to the 'Wendy' plan that I have followed in the past. But I found JUDDD and other IF types worked better for me and are easier to keep track of.

[heyjupiter]

I don't think that a "mere" 300 calorie difference from day to day is enough to tell the body that things are "changing" and thus prevent a plateau. Even when not "dieting" my calorie intake varied.

That's just me, though. I'll stick with my 1500 calorie difference as it's serving me quite well!

[Beeb]

Originally Posted by heyjupiter

I don't think that a "mere" 300 calorie difference from day to day is enough to tell the body that things are "changing" and thus prevent a plateau. Even when not "dieting" my calorie intake varied.

That's just me, though. I'll stick with my 1500 calorie difference as it's serving me quite well!

This ^^^ was my thought, too!

[Dottie]

I like the simplicity of JUDDD

[SoHappy]

My thought is that one of the strong benefits of JUDDD is the strong spread in calories between low DDs and high UD, and the ZZ Diet misses both of those extremes. While it does have a variance of calorie intake from day to day, there isn't really that much of a spread between many of the days.

I know for myself, holding calories just within the numbers that would be my ZZ numbers, my metabolism would slow down somewhat to more closely coincide to that average. It's the high UD ceiling number paired against the low DD number that keeps my metabolism stimulated to its best with JUDDD.

Also, I'm a firm believer in the healing and health benefits that come to us through the fasting aspect of JUDDD Down Days. I started JUDDD to continue hoped for weight loss, but I've come to treasure it far more for the conferred health benefits I feel I receive from it. I love that the DDs are low enough (and I continue to keep them fairly low overall with some held very low!) to promote and maintain activation of SIRT1 and her beautiful siblings.

Calorie cycling is almost the norm amongst folks who are just naturally slim, without them ever really being aware that their daily calories vary somewhat. But naturally slim folks usually have naturally healthy metabolic function too. I rely on JUDDD to prod my metabolism. So far, so good! LOL

In actuality, I think most JUDDDers do a small bit of zig zag within the wide spread of their JUDDD days, as I think for many of us, UD and DD calories aren't always right at our true given Calorie Calculator number. We may zig and zag a bit over or under our numbers. A smidge.

[mykidsteacher]

Agreed that it doesn't give the same benefits as the wide spread between UD and DD. But it can provide an option for those times when a true rotation isn't possible. Although the lovely sirt enzymes seem to take care of those situations without much thought on our part.

[Muffabuff]

I tried one of those calorie cycling diets for a couple of weeks before starting Adkins, I didn't lose an ounce. I followed it to the letter, I think I may have even gained a bit. There just wasn't a big enough difference between the calorie cycles to make a difference to the body. It really wasn't any different than how a person eating naturally would cycle up or down on a daily basis with their calories. It was a waste of time.

[UtahMama]

I tried JUDDD and had a hard time with 500 calories every other day. I found the zig-zag calorie cycling info and decided to try it although I did modify a little. By alternating 1500 and 2000 calories, I have lost almost 10 pounds in 5 weeks. This is with a 3 day Easter cheat too. It has been the easiest "diet" I have ever done....and I have been on many.

[Beeb]

Originally Posted by UtahMama

I tried JUDDD and had a hard time with 500 calories every other day. I found the zig-zag calorie cycling info and decided to try it although I did modify a little. By alternating 1500 and 2000 calories, I have lost almost 10 pounds in 5 weeks. This is with a 3 day Easter cheat too. It has been the easiest "diet" I have ever done....and I have been on many.

I see you are doing LC, also. Can you give us your average carb grams a day? I'm wondering if the calorie cycling is doable if a person does LC with it?

TIA!

[UtahMama]

I'm not doing LC. I did that in the past with success but recent attempts were not as successful. My carb count is pretty high and that has been a huge change in mindset for me to deal with. I do try and eat whole grains but mostly I am focusing on my calorie count. I have been able to eat pizza, burgers, etc., but I'm learning a lot more about portion size. Typically I am more careful with breakfast & lunch and then allow more calories for dinner. I also don't expect to lose quickly. If I average a pound a week I will be very happy. This has been something that I can see myself doing for the rest of my life and I think that is the key.

I did try JUDDD for 3 weeks and lost 9lbs during that time. The first week was 6lbs, the second was 3lbs and the 3rd I didn't lose anything. I just felt really deprived on the down days and found myself dreading them. For those that can do it, I think it is a great plan. I am 6' tall and really do have a large frame so that could play into my calorie count a great deal. Some of the calorie calculators say I need between 2300-2600 calories a day to maintain, so in that respect I am cutting my calories quite a bit.

Beeb - you have done fantastic on JUDDD! WTG!

[Beeb]

Originally Posted by UtahMama

I'm not doing LC. I did that in the past with success but recent attempts were not as successful. My carb count is pretty high and that has been a huge change in mindset for me to deal with. I do try and eat whole grains but mostly I am focusing on my calorie count. I have been able to eat pizza, burgers, etc., but I'm learning a lot more about portion size. Typically I am more careful with breakfast & lunch and then allow more calories for dinner. I also don't expect to lose quickly. If I average a pound a week I will be very happy. This has been something that I can see myself doing for the rest of my life and I think that is the key.

I did try JUDDD for 3 weeks and lost 9lbs during that time. The first week was 6lbs, the second was 3lbs and the 3rd I didn't lose anything. I just felt really deprived on the down days and found myself dreading them. For those that can do it, I think it is a great plan. I am 6' tall and really do have a large frame so that could play into my calorie count a great deal. Some of the calorie calculators say I need between 2300-2600 calories a day to maintain, so in that respect I am cutting my calories quite a bit.

Beeb - you have done fantastic on JUDDD! WTG!

Thanks so much! And thanks for the info. I have been thinking about trying calorie cycling for awhile and you have given me more food for thought! The thing is I probably would be eating just about the same amount of calories I am now eating in maintenance with JUDDD.

Please keep posting, I would love to know your further results and weight loss!