Calorie cycling

Not likely to get a consensus opinion on something so personal, but I can attest to some benefit with a “re-feeding” or “cycling” interval.

When I travel 3-5 days for work about 1x/month, I will eat according to my hunger level instead of maintaining a deficit. I’ve also been on a pretty dedicated body recomposition journey, so I lug around my smart scale like an insane person…I’ve noticed that during these refeeding windows, wherein I’m still eating healthy whole foods and tracking my calories, I can average 200+ calories/day greater than my deficits, but feel good with stable metrics. I don’t know if it’s “super important to keep losing weight”, and in fact, the opposite is likely true as I believe in thermodynamics, but it makes jumping back to a cutting calorie deficit that much easier when I get back home.

Just my personal experience, but it’s worked for the longevity of the cut for me.

quote:

---

The level of discipline involved here is staggering.

---

Lol it's hyperbole I'm nowhere close to that disciplined. I'll usually reverse up 25-50 cals a day each week for a couple months at a time after a cut but I can't take it that far. Point is that the trends show the same result everytime. Small increases in calories over time while maintaining consistent activity levels don't result in the weight gain that I get when I immediately ramp them up by 500+

I use it as a way to sustain long term weight control. I have no issues doing one meal a day while working and keeping calories around 1,000 below maintenance. On the weekends I don’t limit myself at all, most of my weekend eating revolves around family function like cookouts and going out to eat. I have found that for me it really isn’t even a diet per se, it’s just the most convenient way for me to eat for my lifestyle.