Some blogs I read recommend "calorie cycling" for people who are losing weight (at a healthy, moderate pace, accompanied by lifestyle changes, etc). Supposedly, if you alternate eating at the bottom and the top of your calorie range, your metabolism is better maintained and you don't plateau or enter starvation mode.
Any truth to this?
-- Carrie (last name unknown)
Fremont, CA
Calorie cycling -- also known as calorie shifting -- is popular among bodybuilders, especially in the days before a competition.
I don't particularly find it very effective with the rest of the population looking to shed some weight.
For one, it is very rare that someone is eating the exact same amount of calories every day, even when following a meal plan created by a dietitian (there is usually a 100 - 200 calorie window).
Therefore, it can be argued that there is always a fluctuation in caloric intake (especially in meal plans that allow a "cheat meal" or "cheat day.")
Secondly, the number of calories burned each day also varies.
If you are following a meal plan and exercising four days a week, your net caloric intake is not the same every day (i.e.: you may consume 1,600 calories one day and burn an additional 200 in your workout, whereas another day you may consume 1,550 and not exercise).
Lastly, I find that calorie shifting adds more numbers and stress to what is already an adjustment for many people.
Worrying about eating 1,300 calories today and 1,800 tomorrow (even though, as luck would have it, that birthday dinner is today) isn't worth the trouble.
Besides, there is plenty of proof that people successfully lose weight in a healthy way by sticking to a certain (small) caloric range over a period of time.
As far as starvation goes -- that is reserved for caloric intakes falling below 1,200 calories a day.
Cutting down a 2,500 calorie diet (that has led to weight gain) into an 1,800 calorie one will never result in starvation.
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